Earrings!  

by Judith Voirst  

Illustrated by Nola Langner Malone

Earrings! is a humorous book about a girl who really, really, REALLY wants her ears pierced. Her parents say no, which—-of course—makes her want her ears pierced all the more! 

Book Talk:   

A young girl wants her ears pierced so badly that she  promises to do all kinds of things—like walking the dog, reading a book (one a week) and even being nice to her brother!!!

But Mom and Dad won’t give in to her arguments and they have all kinds of (good) reasons for her to wait…

The girl is a great example of persistence—-she doesn’t give up in her desire to have pierced ears!  (She doesn’t get them by the end of the book—-but the reader has the strong feeling that she will definitely keep on trying!)

The book is written in a fun, first person dialogue as the narrator (the young girl) explains to readers how seriously—(and desperately!) she wants earrings.  Voirst’s writing style in this particular book and the way she uses the narrator’s voice would be an interesting study for perhaps grades 5-8 in Writing Workshop.  (It is similar to Alexander’s ‘voice’ in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.)

My favorite lines from the book:

“I tell my mom and my dad all the things I would do
If only
If only
If only
If only
If only they would let me have pierced ears:
Like, walk our dog everyday for a whole year.”

Suggested Uses as a Mentor Text:

Genre: Realistic Fiction   (strong female character)

Reading comprehension strategies: Predicting, Inferring, Connecting

Writing Workshop:  Opinion/Persuasive language, Personal Narrative, Use of Narrator’s Voice

Curricular connections: Character Ed /Lifeskills (persistence, patience)

About Judith Viorst: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Judith-Viorst/707395