Mentor Texts

Check these books out from the library and pay attention to the writer’s craft.

Writers have a lot to teach us.

Here are some of Ms. Crystal and

Mr. Patrick’s favorites. Remember to read these like a writer!

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Owl Moon is a story about a young girl’s memorable place and time with her father.

When you read, pay close attention to the details of the story. Also, look closely at the variety of sentences beginnings. Yolen creates a balance between short and long sentences.

Ralph Fletcher

I pretty much have a writer’s crush on Ralph Fletcher. Anything he writes can guide you to being a better writer. Also, check out his “how-to” writing books. Ralph Fletcher ROCKS!

Van Gogh Café, Cynthia Rylant

The author uses a unique structure when she gives the reader the title of the next chapter in the last line of the previous chapter. I LOVE so many of Cynthia Rylant’s books.

Owen Jester and How to Steal a Dog

by Barbara O’Connor

O’Connor uses the “rule of three”. She uses three details to make sure the reader can “visualize” each main idea.

Knots in My Yo-yo String is a memoir. Spinelli uses a conversational tone and has the reader laughing at times. He also uses the senses to create pictures for the reader.

Feel like writing in letters form? Persuasion?

Do you have an issue or a cause you want to highlight? You can write a book like Diary of a Worm. This is a great book that brings science, specifically recycling, into a story. Great IDEA.

Jon Scieszka

Anything that Jon Scieszka writes usually makes me laugh. Scieszka is another of my writer’s crush. He is definitely one of my favorite authors. ABSOLUTELY!He has a great voice. Check out a few of his books.

Roald Dahl, as we know, is a talented writer. In Boy, he writes about his childhood. Pay special attention to the characterization in Boy. Dahl really paints a picture of his characters through their descriptions and their interaction with others. Obviously, since it is a memoir, the internal thinking is great too.

This is a great example of how there are story ideas EVERYWHERE. We just have to pay attention to the little things happening “on 90th

Street”.

I love words. I love vocabulary, and I love this book. This is a very clever book by 90th Street author RoniSchotter.

Can you mimic this? Try and see. It’s a great exercise in word choice.

This is a just right book for most fourth and fifth grade students. Cynthia Lord does a fantastic job of creating character and an internal conflict in this book. I highly recommend proficient readers in grades four and five read this book.

I love Rules.

More to come… We have hundreds of “favorite” young

adult novels.