Avi

word craft

blog

Listen to Those Feet

Start­ing this week, I will be read­ing a new book to a class of 6th graders. I’ll be read­ing it even though it is not tru­ly fin­ished. Indeed, even as I read it, it sits on my editor’s desk, wait­ing for her first response. I’m doing this because this kind of read­ing is a vital part of my writ­ing process. That’s why, as I read, I will have a pen in my hand. 

Many, many years ago I worked as an appren­tice in a sum­mer stock the­atre com­pa­ny. The the­atre was a con­vert­ed barn, which meant it was built entire­ly of wood, so it was rather like a sound studio. 

For one pro­duc­tion I was in charge of props and sta­tioned under the floor of the audi­to­ri­um. Being in such a place I dis­cov­ered some­thing fas­ci­nat­ing. When the pro­duc­tion was going well, when it had achieved a cer­tain emo­tive rhythm, the feet of the audi­ence above me were still. When the per­for­mance mis­fired or lacked ener­gy, the feet moved a lot. Ever since I’ve learned that it’s not the applause at the end of a per­for­mance that’s vital to note. You have to lis­ten to those feet. 

Speak­ing for myself I have always want­ed my books to not just read well, but to sound well. I love the notion that they will be read aloud. In this, I con­sid­er myself a fol­low­er of Jim Tre­lease, and his thoughts and teach­ings about read­ing aloud. (His Read Aloud Hand­books are still great guides to the prac­tice and choic­es of books for read­ing aloud.) 

The school where I read, the Den­ver Acad­e­my, offers as its mis­sion: “Our pas­sion for learn­ing allows stu­dents who may not thrive in a tra­di­tion­al set­ting, includ­ing those with dyslex­ia and ADD/ADHD, to achieve their dreams.”

Denver Academy

From my per­spec­tive, this means I am read­ing to stu­dents who often have trou­ble read­ing, which actu­al­ly makes them excel­lent lis­ten­ers. At the same time, this is a school whose librar­i­an, Jolene Gutiér­rez (an up-and-com­ing writer in her own right), has as her mantra a quote from Ray Brad­bury: “There’s no use going to school unless your final des­ti­na­tion is the library.” 

Crispin The Cross of Lead

The first book I read in the school was Crispin: The Cross of Lead, my New­bery win­ner, so I have been doing so for a good num­ber of years, the pan­dem­ic peri­od excepted. 

Read­ing my new book aloud allows me to note things in the text that I can rewrite, cut, and adjust. And—my the­atre back­ground persists–you may be sure I am also lis­ten­ing to the feet. I will sense where atten­tion lags and mark my text accord­ing­ly. The student’s polite silence teach­es me much. 

I make revi­sions and ship them off to my edi­tor, who will there­by read a bet­ter manuscript. 

It is not beside the point that the teacher that I’ve worked with for many years, Joe Senne, is not just in the class­room when I read, he is an intent lis­ten­er. I’m sure his stu­dents note that. 

Let it be admit­ted that I am some­what ner­vous as I approach my first read­ing of this new book. It’s a bit like the open­ing night of a new play. 

But it’s not the cur­tain I can’t wait to open, it’s the first page. 

3 thoughts on “Listen to Those Feet”

  1. We are so hon­ored by your vis­its, Avi! Over the years, you have helped our stu­dents (and me) see that with hard work and per­se­ver­ance, any­thing is pos­si­ble. You’ve been vul­ner­a­ble in the shar­ing of your expe­ri­ences and your sto­ries, and you have inspired count­less stu­dents to read, write, and dream. I’m for­ev­er grate­ful for your gen­eros­i­ty and friendship.

    Reply
  2. Dear Avi,
    As a par­ent, I am so hon­ored that you would read to our stu­dents!! Your words about how you lis­ten to the feed­back from stu­dents, spo­ken and unspo­ken, are beau­ti­ful. Thank you SO much for doing this for our students!!
    Warmly,
    Michelle Klem

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts