Students star in movie to promote reading

Most middle school students admit they're pretty picky about their books.

You have to feel like you're part of the adventure, said Maddie Siefert, a sixth-grader at Central Middle School. It can't be boring, according to Elle Seawel. And if the book doesn't enthrall you after the first page, forget it, Gabriella Knox said.

A task force assembled by the Missouri Association of School Librarians found that books selected as Mark Twain Award winners were not appealing to older readers. The award is meant to provide students in fourth through eighth grades recommended reading; students vote on a list of nominated books to decide the winner.

As a result of the task force, a new award was created, the Truman Readers Award, for students in grades six to eight. The Mark Twain award is now directed for students in grades four to six.

Vickie Howard, librarian of Central Middle School, was selected as the state's Truman Reading Chair, given the task of promoting the award and getting students interested in reading.

The librarians' association decided to create a movie, featuring Howard's students, presenting the nominated books. More than 60 students auditioned, and 13 were selected. Filming took place in Independence, Mo., the location of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, in early February.

"We had to leave early to get to Independence because it was right before the big snow, and they didn't think we were going to make it," said Brendan Williams.

On Tuesday, students and their families will view the movie for the first time, at a "red carpet," formal attire, invitation-only event at the middle school. "We don't know what to expect," said Howard, referring to the 30-minute video.

She describes the movie as having elements of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "The Polar Express" and "The Wizard of Oz." Videographers filmed the students riding the Amtrak train to Independence -- a first for nearly all the students -- who are then asked by a wizard-like character to pick their favorite book and develop a presentation about it for a board of directors. Students were responsible for saying the lead-in to a pre-made preview of the book.

The video will be shown to 1,200 librarians from across Missouri at a conference April 12 in Osage Beach, Mo. Copies of the video will be sold for librarians to show at their schools.

Twins Chandler and Austin Bagley were assigned the book "The Black Duck" by Janet Taylor Lisle.

"It's about a rum-running ship called the Black Duck and a 14-year-old kid who has a big-time dream of being a newspaper reporter. You'll have to read the book to find out the rest," Chandler said.

Tanisha Watkins said reading isn't too popular among her peers, but after reading "Hurt Go Happy" by Ginny Rorby in preparation for the movie, reading has become part of her daily routine after school. "A good book can take you anywhere," she said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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