Reimagining the Books That Shaped Us

In this four week Delve, we’ll revisit four iconic works of middle grade fiction—Island of the Blue Dolphins, Hatchet, Julie of the Wolves, and Jacob Have I Loved. We will come to these books as adults with new questions. Part of our exploration will be the books’ covers: how they changed across decades, how marketing shaped their reception, and how visual design influenced the way young readers approached them. Throughout the course, we will weave between how the books existed in their time and what they have to offer us now.

We remember the class sets of these books or a well-used copy found in the room of an older sibling. Now, decades later, these stories can offer us something new. They become artifacts of our own reading histories that can provide comfort in stressful times, as well as teach us new things about gender and why certain books get canonized for children. If these books are new, we will also have time to discuss the books you do remember and how different educational experiences shape the titles children are exposed to in formative reading years.

Week 1: Island of the Blue Dolphins: The Complete Reader’s Edition by Scott O’Dell. Edited by Sara Schwebel. University of California Press: 2016. We will be using the annotated version of the text.

Week 2: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: 2006.

Week 3: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George: Harper Collins: 1997.

Week 4: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson. Harper Collins: 1990.

Access Program

We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.

Liaison position

Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.