KEY FEATURES:

1. It is motivational.

The people whose stories make up this book have not lived easy lives. They have faced many obstacles including poverty, abuse, neglect, illness, racism, drugs, and violence. Yet these extraordinary people have found the strength to take strong, positive steps to make their lives what they want them to be.

All the stories celebrate the ability of individuals to take responsibility for their lives. Without preaching, these real-life narratives will give your students hope and will teach them a powerful lesson: that taking command of one's own life is the road to self-fulfillment.

The moral power of these true stories help make Everyday Heroes one of the most compelling books on the school market today.

2. It is visual.

Each story is accompanied by five or six photographs to provide readers with an even better sense of each everyday hero. Given the fact that each person has been through difficult times, it is inspiring to see so many smiles in the photos and to have such strong visual evidence that, "Yes, this person has made it." The upbeat pictures will help assure students that they too can achieve success.

3. It is flexible.

The book can be easily adapted to fit different instructional approaches and student needs. Some teachers wanting to encourage students' direct experience with the stories may emphasize the accompanying discussion questions and writing assignments. Other teachers favoring a skills approach may focus on the vocabulary and reading comprehension activities that are provided.

Written on a 4th to 9th grade reading level, the stories are suitable for middle-school and junior-high-school students as well as special-needs students in higher grades and adult students in basic reading and writing courses.

4. It is multicultural.

The book recognizes and celebrates the diversity of American culture. Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and white people are represented, all talking frankly about their families, their cultures, their problems, and their dreams.

Themes in Everyday Heroes:

• Heroes have the courage to keep on trying despite difficulties and hardship.
  
  
• Heroes take responsibility for their own lives.
  
  
• Heroes pursue education, knowing that it is a powerful force for bettering their lives.
  
  
• Heroes try to help other people, knowing from their own experience that help and kindness often matter immeasurably.

EXCERPTS & ACTIVITIES

From the Introduction to   Everyday Heroes . . .

Who Are "Everyday Heroes"?

. . . . Is a hero simply someone who has achieved great financial and popular success? Is heroism just about money and fame? If so, any rich and famous celebrity could qualify as a hero.

Or does being a hero have to do with the quality of a person's character? Is it more about courage, determination, and a kind of inner fire that keeps a person going in the face of all kinds of difficulties?

The men and women featured in this book are heroes of the second sort. With one exception, they are not famous. They are the kind of people who might be your classmates, neighbors, friends, or relatives. Their lives have not been easy. They have faced obstacles that include poverty, racism, abuse, neglect, illness, drugs, and violence. Sometimes those obstacles have nearly destroyed their dreams. But each of them has found the strength to keep on going, to keep on trying. They have stood up to the challenges of life and said, "You will not defeat me. I will overcome." Such people are "everyday heroes."

Some of the People Profiled in  Everyday Heroes . . .

Here are brief profiles of three of the people whose stories are told in the book, along with excerpts from their stories.

Gwen Dasher was only a little girl when she was taken from her mentally ill mother and placed in one unhappy foster home after another. Despite many painful years, Gwen did not let the lack of loving adults in her world crush her hopes for the future. Now, as a wife, mother, and college student, she is breaking a pattern that could easily have gone on for generations.

An excerpt from Gwen's story:

In elementary school, I didn't do very well academically. Now I know why--I was always hungry. For example, I remember one day when I went to the kitchen for food, but the refrigerator was empty. I searched the cupboards, but all I found was a blue box of Morton's salt. Sitting at the kitchen table, I poured mounds of the white salt into my hand and licked it until I couldn't bear the salty taste anymore.

Rick Rivas had a mother who was dying of cancer, and he was failing school. He used drugs and alcohol to numb his pain, pretending that he didn't care. Once he hit bottom, however, he found the strength to look up. Rick is now a successful student at Evergreen Valley College in California. With the support of the people who love him, he is making up for lost years.

An excerpt from Rick's story:

I prayed that I would find someone who would help me stay on my new [drug-free] path. then I met Monique Jannel Garcia, who was studying to be a nurse's assistant at the school. We had our first date on Valentine's Day. As I spent more time with Monique, I had less time and desire to use drugs. She made it clear what she expected of me. "If you do drugs," she told me, "I won't be around you."

     And she meant it. When I didn't show up for a date once, she came after me. She walked through the house to the back yard and found me smoking pot with a guy. She didn't even hesitate. She just walked up and slapped me in the face. "If this is who you are," she said, "I don't want you near me."

Rod Slappy was the worst disciplinary problem ever to walk the halls of his New Jersey elementary school. As a 190-pound 13-year-old, he was finally expelled for assaulting a teacher. Given another chance by a compassionate educator at another school, he made a dramatic turnaround. Today, Rod runs an innovative fifth-grade program called "Urban Males" in an inner city. In it, angry, fatherless city kids--much like Rod once was--learn to respect themselves and others and plan for productive futures.

An excerpt from Ron's story:

As Rod now moves through his classroom, he feels the eyes of his students upon him. He is aware of the responsibility he carries. He remembers what it's like to be an inner-city boy whose father isn't around. "I loved my mom, but at a certain age a boy wants his father," Rod says, his eyes sad with the memories. "I was really angry that he wasn't around. I was angrier still when he died. There was so much I wanted to know from my dad. . . . I wanted to know what I would be like, and I thought only he could show me."

     Today, Rod provides such glimpses into the future for his thirty-one boys. It's part of his job. "I feel them studying me," he says. "They watch how I stand, how I dress, how I speak. That's the best part of my job. I'm helping raise them, in a sense."

About the Activities in   Everyday Heroes . . .

Each story is accompanied by the following:

• Preview--a brief overview that prepares students to read the story.
• Words to Watch--before the reading, a list of five of the more difficult words in the story.
• Vocabulary Check--after the reading, five questions that provide helpful practice in vocabulary development.
• Reading Check--after the reading, ten questions that offer practice in key reading skills: central point, main ideas, supporting details, and conclusions.
• Questions for Thinking and Discussion--three questions that help students both think about ideas raised by the story and make connections between the story and their own lives.
• Ideas for Writing--two writing assignments that give students a chance to explore further some of the challenging ideas in the story.