Why start with The Bluford Series/Background
There are several reasons why students reach for one of the many books written in The Bluford Series published by Townsend Press. Students relate to the setting. The school, Bluford High, is a contemporary urban high school. The school was named after America's first black astronaut, Guion Bluford. The characters within the book are African American. Each book focuses on modern day concerns and struggles. For example, family, friendship, trust, violence, and peer pressure are all real life topics in today's society. These trials and tribulations that impact the lives of the characters within the novel are parallel to the demographics of my students' personal lives.
Books are written with an audience in mind. A book written about sports is gender biased to males, whereas, a book written about romance is generally intended for females. The Bluford Series focuses on both male and female protagonists. The benefit of having male and female characters woven throughout the series is that it allows both males and females to be drawn towards these books.
With the number of books that are now available within the series, it allows the reader opportunity to continue to follow the characters. At the present time there are eighteen books in the series. When the series started in 2002, there were only seven books. The demand for more books had grown and over the past few years and eleven more books were added.
The old adage "never judge a book by its cover" doesn't apply to a reluctant reader. One look at a 300-page book and many readers are instantly turned away. A benefit for using this series is that each novel within this series averages 175 pages; therefore, intimidation by a book's size is eliminated. The paperback books, with average size print and colorful graphic covers are very appealing and non-threatening.
In today's economy having a well-stocked classroom library is not an inexpensive task. I was fortunate enough to stumble across the Townsend Press, an independent educational publisher website. They sell the books directly to schools for $1 each through their website. If you want to build your library with an even more diverse set of books, the Scholastic Book Club is a great way to get started. I invite any student in the 6 th grade to take a book order. This club is a win-win situation for all involved. Students are able to purchase books at a reasonable price. The teacher earns bonus points that are redeemable towards books. Lastly, if your school is a participant in the National School Lunch Program, you may qualify for one of the several special offers on the Townsend Press website. For example, two sets of the first fifteen books in The Bluford Series can be obtained at no cost to the teacher or the district. The teacher must contact the company through mail with a letter of request stating how the books will be used in the school. The media specialist and the principal must sign the letter. The mailing address and instructions can be found on the website on the Special Offers page.
First Novel: Lost and Found
It requires willingness to take time and use the imagination to experience a story. Reading independently allows readers to associate themselves to character(s) in a story, relate to a similar situation, or escape for a brief moment from their current situations. The initial text to be examined in this unit is Anne E. Schraff's Lost and Found, the first novel in The Bluford Series. The book focuses on developing the first character in the series, Darcy Wills. Darcy is a sixteen-year-old shy, scholarly student who is perceived as stuck-up by her peers. She lives at home with her younger sister, Jamee, her mother, and her grandmother.
Darcy is presented with many complications throughout the book. The first conflict she must deal with is that she is placed in an uncomfortable situation at school that she must resolve. Darcy learns that you can't always judge a person by his or her outward appearance and gains more than just a lab partner. The only support she gets is from her best friend. Her mother does not provide sympathetic consolation because she is always working and too tired to know that a family member is facing a dilemma. Grandmother is bedridden and suffers from a stroke. Jamee, Darcy's 14-year-old sister, is more interested in boys and loud rap music. Embedded in the story is her sisters' abusive older boyfriend. To compound the lives of the two sisters, their father comes back into their lives after leaving five years ago. When Jamee doesn't come home one night, Darcy reflects on the past to find her sister.
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