ALT ED
By Catherine Atkins
About the book:
Susan Calloway, bullied and overweight, faces daily humiliation at the hands of her classmates—and she's had enough. With her anger about to reach the boiling point, Susan lands in an alternative education class, a sort of group therapy for the nearly expelled. School is bad enough, but facing off with five peers, including her cruelest tormentor, is worse. Now Susan is being forced to do something she's always avoided—talk about herself and listen to what other people have to say about her. She has two choices: find her voice, or be prepared to take the insults in silence. It won't be easy, but alt ed may be just the last resort Susan needs.
“Carefully nuanced connections between characters plus insight into the adolescent ability to use low self-esteem as a cruel weapon catapults Atkins's novel of troubled teens well above the familiarity of its trappings. Each of Atkins's characters emerges, fully formed from these pages.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Pre-Reading:
What is Alt Ed? What do you think it would be like? How would it be different from typical high school?
Good readers make predictions about what they read as they go along. They formulate questions and make hypothesis based on the evidence given in the story. After reading each chapter, take a moment to answer the following questions, or create one of your own. Research has shown that students who take the time to pause and think about what they’ve already read and then formulate ideas about what might happen next understand what they are reading much better than those who just blaze through. So, add a question of your own at the end of each chapter and develop a habit that will help you comprehend anything you read.
Prediction Questions:
Ch. 1
Will Susan avoid Brendan Slater?
Do you think any of the rumors are true?
Ch. 2
What do you think Susan did to get assigned to Mr. Duffy’s program?
Will her brother pull away from her too?
Ch. 3
Will Randy be nice to Susan again?
Who are these other people? What do you think they are like?
Ch. 4
What will happen in this class?
What will Kale do?
Ch. 5
How did they get caught?
Will Kale find out?
Ch. 6
What do you think Kale will do if he finds out?
Will Susan become friends with Brandon?
Ch. 7
Who called?
Will Susan tell anyone she wasn’t involved?
Ch. 8
Where is Susan’s mom?
Will Susan ever tell her dad about Kale’s threats?
Ch. 9
Why doesn’t the extended family like Susan’s dad?
What will happen next?
Ch. 10
Will the kitten in the story come up in Alt Ed?
Will Susan’s dad ever talk about her mom?
Ch. 11
Will Susan change her look?
What will Kale say next?
Ch. 12
Where is Tom going?
Will Dad notice the hedges?
Ch. 13
Will Randy sign the petition again next year?
Will the “what’s said here, stays here” rule always be followed? If not, who will tell what?
Ch. 14
Will Susan ever call her dad out on his treatment of her and Tom?
Will he ever show interest in either of their lives outside sports?
Ch. 15
How will lunch go?
Will Brendan and Susan become friends? What makes you think so?
Ch. 16
Will Randy continue to be nice to Susan? Will anything ever happen between them?
Will anyone find out who Brendan’s secret boyfriend was?
Ch. 17
Will Susan’s dad ever see her list?
Will she share it with anyone else?
Ch. 18
Will Kale make it through the class?
Will Tracee find out about her boyfriend?
Ch. 19
Who is calling?
Could they be for real?
Ch. 20
Does Amber have friends?
How has this changed?
Ch. 21
Will Susan tell?
Will they become friends too?
Ch. 22
Will Susan call her aunt?
Will things, “double back on you. And me.” like Tom says? How?
Ch. 23
Will things change at school between Kale and Susan?
Who is calling then?
Ch. 24
Will Dad ever know about the torture or will she tell him?
Will Susan continue to change her looks?
Ch 25
What will happen next for Amber?
What will Tracee do with this information?
Ch. 26
Will Susan confront her dad?
Will Tom apologize or get used to Brendan?
Ch. 27
Do you think Amber will stay?
Will Susan’s changes stick? What makes you think so?
Ch. 28
Will Brendan and Susan tell the truth?
What will Kale do?
Ch. 29
Will her dad find out?
What would he say?
Ch. 30
What will happen at the last class?
Will Susan “cut that kid loose?”
What happens after the close of the novel?
Discussion Questions for ALT ED by Catherine Atkins:
Discuss how Brendan and Susan react differently to the abuse and bullying they both suffer at school. Is there a good way to react to thugs? How would you react if you were either of them? What CAN someone do to not make the situation even worse?
Reread page 66. What did you think of Susan’s defense of the way she chooses to be alone instead of like Shelly Martin who she deems a “mascot.” Do you think Susan is partly to blame for not trying to get involved at school at all? Do you agree with Susan completely, Tracee completely or with a combination of their beliefs? Do you think Tracee really is a friend to Shelly Martin or that she has Susan’s best interest in mind?
Discuss teenagers and body image. Do you think teens are more sensitive about their bodies than college age students and older women? Why is this so or not? How can girls live with society’s expectations of beauty without being chained to some unrealistic expectation? How do we raise girls who actually like themselves?
Tracee blames Amber for what happened to her. Is this a typical response to girls who have been raped? How can girls protect themselves and each other? Girls who have been brutalized often become promiscuous after the event. Why do you think that is? Could Susan have done anything else to help Amber?
Do you think Kale represents the typical teenage boy or some hideous anomaly? What pressures do young men face that are different from young women? How can young men learn to treat women (and even their own peers!) in a respectful way? Do you agree that “boys will be boys?”
Do you think Brendan’s life could be in danger? Why, do you think, some areas of the country accept homosexuality while others are less tolerant? How would Brendan be treated in the school you attend? What can be done to protect students who are gay?
Susan has a massive crush on Randy. How does it affect her behavior? How are crushes different than real love? Can real love develop from a crush or not? Do you think teenagers suffer from crushes more than adults? Why or not? What do you think Randy would say if Susan ever got her nerve up to ask him out?
Discuss the bumper stickers that are given in the final scene. Which one was your favorite? Why? Whose is the best match for them? What bumper stickers would you find for your own friends, teachers, classmates?
Susan’s relationship with her brother Tom is both distant and difficult. What do you think of the way her brother treats her? Is this relationship a typical portrait of siblings? Who do you blame most for the state of their relationship- Tom, Susan or their father? How would it be different if their mother were still alive?
How does Susan change from the beginning of the novel to the end? Is she better off? How so or not? Do you think the changes she made will be lasting? What makes you think this? Predict Susan’s life five years into the future.
Make a chart including the ALT ED main characters:
Description of each character:
Why in Alt Ed:
How they change:
Kale Krasner
Tracee Ellison
Amber Hawkins
Randy Callahan
Brendan Slater
Susan Callaway
Projects:
Art:
Create a piece of abstract art as if you are one of the characters from Alt Ed. See if others can guess who your piece represents without any clues. (Teachers may need to assign a character to be sure enough different people are represented). Explain on the back why you chose the palette and form of your piece.
Music:
Choose a theme song for the movie adaptation of the book. Explain in a brief paragraph (along with a copy of the lyrics) why you made this choice.
Drama:
In pairs, act out your favorite scene from the book. Or, write a new scene that was deleted from the original or takes place before or after the timeline of the novel.
Language:
Write a letter to one of the characters in the book. Prove that you read the entire novel by the depth of your work and your understanding of the motivations of that character.
http://www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com created this teacher’s guide. She is a reading specialist and author of Reaching for Sun, Clarion Books, 2007.