Amy Sarig King is the author of many acclaimed YA novels, but Me and Marvin Gardens (Scholastic,
2017) is her first middle-grade novel.
It garnered three starred reviews and was named a 2017 Best Book by the Washington Post.
In
an interview with the KidsPost section of the Washington Post, King talks about the childhood experiences that
informed the book. She mentions her dog, Stella, as her
inspiration for the mysterious creature that gets young readers thinking about recycling
in a whole different way.
Obe
loves the cornfields that his family once owned, but now they are being turned
into a housing development. And his best
friend is ditching him for the new kids in the neighborhood. To add to his troubles, Obe discovers a new
type of animal by the creek—a slimy tapir-like creature with the friendly
personality of a dog. He names it Marvin
Gardens. Before long, Obe realizes that
the creature eats plastic but that its toxic poop is ruining the land. Can Obe trust his science teacher, Ms. G, to
help with the situation?
Below
are writing lessons for the classroom or for individual writers ages 8 and up.
FACTS AS
INSPIRATION: Classroom Discussion, Part 1:
In the book, Ms. G shares facts about the environment with her
students. As she researched these facts,
King herself was horrified to discover that it takes a plastic bottle 500 years
to decompose, and that Americans throw away 2.5 million of these bottles per
hour. King created Marvin Gardens as a
character that seemingly solves the problem (by eating plastic) but creates
another (the toxic chemicals excreted as waste destroy grass, tennis shoes, and
pretty much whatever comes in contact with them).
Classroom
Writing, Part 1: Ask students to research several facts about
dangers posed to the environment. For
example, habitat loss for cheetahs is pushing them toward extinction in the
wild. Or they might choose one of Ms.
G’s facts from the book.
Have
them choose one problem and brainstorm ways to solve it. Encourage them to make these solutions as
helpful as they can, even if they may be extreme or somewhat wacky. (For example, a plastic-eating animal is a
rather extreme solution to littering/recycling issues!)
Ask
students to give their solution a name (such as Marvin Gardens), write one or
two paragraphs on how it would work, and draw a picture or diagram of it.
Classroom
Writing, Part 2, Critical Thinking and Writing: Might this solution create other
problems? List some possible resulting
problems. How might they be solved?
TAKING ACTION,
Classroom Discussion, Part 1:
Ask the class to notice environmental problems that are in the school or
grounds for two days. For example, leaky faucets in bathrooms, lack of recycling
bins, litter on school grounds, lack of native plants for local pollinators.
List these things on the board.
Brainstorm
ways to address or solve them. Have the
class identify 2 or 3 that they might take action on and help them develop a
strategy to do so.
Have
them do online research to discover how other students or activist groups have
created positive change in these problem areas.
Ask
for volunteers to write a short article for the school newspaper or bulletin or
principal’s blog and an op-ed piece for the local newspaper.
