My Life as a Book uses an Alternative Approach to novel writing by incorporating vocabulary illustrations in the margins to add humor, characterize the protagonist, and tell the story of Derek’s summer. These illustrations demonstrate a strategy that students who struggle with reading can use to improve and enjoy it more: visualization. The author’s son, Jake Tashjian, provided the drawings for the book. Do you think illustrating the main ideas in a book can help make it easier to read? If so, why? Also, how does the novel use this strategy as a foundation to explore themes Overcoming Obstacles and Human Lives as Stories?

Teaching Suggestion: In this final discussion prompt, students will synthesize all three of the novel’s central themes while simultaneously considering the literary style used by its author. Janet Tashjian hoped that by including humor and illustration in her novels, she could reach reluctant readers and inspire them to enjoy other stories as well. Encourage students to ponder how successful she was at doing this.

Differentiation Suggestion: English learners can choose to discuss what they liked and disliked about the novel’s illustration technique instead.