When my twins were ten years old, I wrote Jerry McAllister to be a fun story with tight, clean writing and solid moral values. In fact, I was working from the erroneous impression that there was a lack of "real literature" in the market, and I had hoped to fill that hole. Today, I know there is no lack of "good literature" for kids. I had only to look around.
There are several themes discussed in the story. Slavery and oppression (both racial and religious) are a couple of the big ones. (Several characters share a birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr.)
In conjunction with the racial oppression thread, a boy named CJ befriends Jerry early on. CJ is a biracial child who is firmly grounded in his understanding of his own racial identity. (Three of my own adopted children are of mixed race heritage. CJ's character allowed me to breach this conversation with them from a "safe" perspective when we read those sections at bedtime.)
Also, as the boys begin to understand what the antagonist has in store for the Earthen Realm in the second book, I get into a discussion that looks at both the physical effects and sociological implications of global warming; in particular, what could happen to Western Society as deteriorating weather conditions create scarcity of food and other natural resources.
And of course, there is the ever-popular theme of enlightenment and self actualization. Jerry McAllister is not necessarily a "Christian" story, but the value of forgiveness of self and others cannot be missed as the story draws to a close.
In short, I wrote this to entertain and spend quality time with my children, but education has always been a high priority in our household. My wife, Cynthia was teacher of the year her last year in the classroom, and I wanted to impress her, as well. I am proud of this story and would read it to your kids too, if only I had the time.
I am hoping to have Jerry McAllister recognized
as an Accelerated Reader selection. For those of you familiar with the
program, you know how successful it can be in helping to instill a love
of reading into students. The best way for Jerry to become an AR book
is for multiple schools around the country to request it as a quiz from
Renaissance Learning at their quiz store. This can be found at http://www.renlearn.com/store/quiz_home.asp. I will keep you posted here as Jerry progresses down the AR path.
