Teacher as Reader - Criss Cross

I have read the first half of Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins and so far, I am really enjoying it. I have come to notice that this isn’t a storyline that is incredibly easy to follow. This, I believe, is the actual premise of the book. The “tagline” if you will is “She wished something would happen” and that is how the story begins – with Debbie wishing for something to happen to her ---soon. This made me, as the reader, put my own kind of spin on everything that I read. With each event, each new character, each minute detail, I find myself asking the big question “IS THIS IT? Is this the ‘something’ that Debbie asked for?” Not only does this questioning help me to really pay attention to the story’s events, but it keeps the novel suspenseful and engaging.

I think the main thing reading the first half of Criss Cross has taught me is to really pay attention to the text that I am reading, and this would be a great thing to pass on to students and other readers. Many times, when reading, I know that I become confused and just don’t understand what is happening. Then I realize that I missed a sentence, or filled a word in a sentence that wasn’t actually there, or just plain read it wrong. When reading comprehension begins to break down is when a reader has to carefully go back and step-by-step figure out where they went wrong. We all do it, and, thankfully, it is so easy to rectify.