Writing Superheroes

Writing Superheroes by Anne Haas Dyson was an interesting book about a study done on young school children.  While the subject matter seemed to be very straight forward, Dyson shows that there were some complex ideas within. The main story in the study is about a class of children who engage in an activity called “Author’s Theater” that gave one child the freedom to write a play and have the other children act it out.  While this seems very simple, we see that this type of activity brings up concepts in gender and race and can be used to reach out to certain students who struggle in school.  The story is centered around two students named Sammy and Tina who each have certain struggles in the social aspects of school.  Sammy seeks inclusion, as most kids do, and he finds this inclusion in Author’s Theater.  He writes plays that many other students want to be part of and this gives him the in he needs to gain popularity among his peers.  Tina wants to be heard, and she seeks any opportunity to talk back and challenge anyone who she disagrees with.  She gains a voice through Author’s Theater, as an actor who negotiates her part in plays.  She often would talk back to the writer of the play and assert that there should be girl characters in every play.  Dyson uses her experiences with these children to show the importance of teaching these strong social abilities through activities such as Author’s Theater.  I think that anyone who wants to teach children should read this book because it gives a great perspective on classroom dynamics and what certain activities can do for individual students.  This was a very interesting book to read for book club, and I’m glad I chose it.