Crossing the Wire
To discuss Crossing the Wire, the reviewer had the opportunity to work with three students in Ms. Hunt's Pre-Advanced Placement Language Arts class at Emily Gray Junior High School in Tucson, Arizona.
Instead of discussing the novel in person, conversation was facilitated through the use of a wiki. Through the wiki, the students met to discuss, collaborate, and add original material inspired by their reading of Crossing the Wire. One central part of the discussion focused on how the setting of the book affected its mood and tone. The following are student comments on the setting and tone, and one of the group member's original artwork.
When asked about how the setting of the book affected its mood, one group member, Adam said that:
"The setting of this can be described as very recent. In the book, they talk about how Border Patrol has gotten even harder to get by since the Terrorist Attack. That makes me wonder if people are still trying do to what they do in the book.
The beginning really doesn't grab the person at first unless you read till about Chapter 3. The mood is what grabbed me the most because Victor talked so much about the situation of the whole country which really made me think about it in real life."
The following are illustrations created by another group member, who brought to life two important scenes from Crossing the Wire.
Depiction of the protagonist, Victor, telling his friend he's leaving Mexico
Illustration by Lily
Depiction of Victor running away from border police
Illustration by Lily
