Virtual Portrait of a Story

1. Virtual Portrait of a Story Newbery Award Books

2. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT of Holes Stanley’s only friend runs away. He chases after him into the desert. While in the desert they learn where to dig for the treasure. The Camp Green Lake officials accuse Stanley of stealing. But, they are soon investigated for running a phony camp. While digging Stanley finds a strange item with the initials KB on it. He thinks this is connected to the bandit Kissin’ Kate Barlow and the curse on his family. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: Stanley and his friend Zero lift the curse by finding the treasure and helping each other. Stanley is stuck at Camp Green Lake digging holes.Digging the holes is not easy and the other kids there don’t like him. PROBLEM: Stanley understands his family’s past and is proud of his connection to his great great-grandfather. (TRANSFORMATION) x Stanley and Zero return to their families. Camp Green Lake’s owners are arrested. END: Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake. He wants to lift the curse from his family. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

3. VIRTUAL PORTRAIT of a Hatchet TENSION: MORE TENSION: Several tests of survival to find food and shelter. TENSION: Drops Hatchet into the lake. SOLUTION: PROBLEM: Plane crashes in Alaskan wilderness. Brian must learn to survive on his own. Uses his hatchet to cut into the plane to get survival kit. Brian has a new strong appreciation for nature and is much more self-reliant. (TRANSFORMATION) x END: BEGINNING (THE CALL): Brian is on his way to see his father. He wants to tell him a secret he knows about his mother. Emergency transmitter from survival kit sends signal to plane nearby. VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

4. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT of Out of the Dust Billie Jo’s father is showing signs of skin cancer on his face. Billie Jo leaves home with only a few biscuits for food. A terrible accident burns Billie Jo’s mother and Billie Jo’s hands, preventing her from playing the piano. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: Billie Jo returns to her father after her talk with the man on the train left the picture of his family in exchange for the biscuits.. Billie Jo’s mother dies while trying to give birth, the dust storms are ruining the land and Billie Jo and her father struggle to get along. PROBLEM: Billie Jo forgives herself and her father. She begins to heal on the inside. (TRANSFORMATION) x Billie Jo, her father and her father’s new wife help each other to survive the dust storms. END: Billie Jo and her family struggle to survive the dust storms that ruin their farm. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

5. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT of The Giver Jonas learns that Gabriel will be “released.” . The Giver tells Jonas about his daughter who was to be the Receiver, but could not handle it. MORE TENSION: The Giver transmits memories of pleasure and pain to Jonas. He realizes how boring life is for the community without these memories. SOLUTION: Jonas runs away with Gabriel. He learns the truth of how his community is run and struggles to decide if he wants to live in a community with such restrictive rules. PROBLEM: Jonas rejects the community’s way of life and risks his own life for what he believes is right. He remains true to his convictions. (TRANSFORMATION) x Jonas and Gabriel find a new community. END: Jonas is assigned to be the Receiver of Memories. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

6. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT of A Wrinkle in Time Meg, Charles and Calvin confront the Man with Red Eyes on Camazotz. Charles Wallace eats the food and appears controlled by IT Using the special glasses from Mrs Who, Meg is able to get into the prison cell holding her father. MrsWhatsit shows the children the Dark Thing and they feel its harsh impact. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: Aunt Beast and the Mrs W’s prepare Meg to defeat IT. She uses the power of love to free Charles Wallace. Meg wants her father back, but she will have to travel through time and face IT to get him back. PROBLEM: Meg accepts that only she can save Charles Wallace because she has the strongest connection to him. (TRANSFORMATION) x Meg, Charles Wallace, their father and Calvin return home. END: Meg and her brother are told by an unusual visitor that they need to rescue their father who disappeared months earlier.. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

7. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT Walk Two Moons Phoebe goes to the police to get answers about her mother. Sal drives her grandfather’s car the rest of the trip to the scene of the accident. Phoebe’s mother explains the connection to the stranger. Sal talks with the police officer about the night of the bus accident. Phoebe receives a visit from a strange boy. Sal’s grandmother is bitten by a snake and must stay in the hospital. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: PROBLEM: Sal’s best friend’s mother has also left their family mysteriously. The two want their families back the way they were. Phoebe’s family adjusts to the new information about her mother’s past. Sal listens to her father explain the connection their neighbor, Margaret. Sal finally accepts that her mother is not coming home and learns that people deal with loss in different ways. (TRANSFORMATION) x Sal, her father and grandfather return to live on the farm. END: BEGINNING (THE CALL): Sal’s mother left the family so she sets out on a trip with her grandparents to find her. VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

8. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Black families agree to boycott the Wallace store in response to the Wallace boys attack on local black family. Papa’s leg in broken in an attack. Uncle Hammer sells his car to help pay mortage on the farm. A lynch mob comes for TJ. The kids dig a ditch in the road so the white students’ bus will drive into it. Cassie is humiliated in public with racial insults that she doesn’t understand. MORE TENSION: The cotton field is set on fire by Papa to distract the lynch mob. SOLUTION: The Logans live during a time of violent racial prejudice. Cassie struggles to deal with the racism she encounters each day. PROBLEM: Cassie learns that racism is something to fight when possible and endure when necessary.. (TRANSFORMATION) x Black and white families must work together to put out the fire. The Logan retain ownership of their land. END: BEGINNING (THE CALL): The Logan family want to maintain ownership of their land. VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

9. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT Julie of the Wolves The wolves are being hunted. Julie must abandon them as she draws attention to them. She finds her long lost father who has adopted a more modern way of life. Without any food, she must join a wolf pack to survive the Alaskan wilderness. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: Julie tries to returns to her father and his new American wife to live with them. She does not want to marry the boy arranged for her by her tribe. PROBLEM: Julie accepts the loss of her tribal customs and retains her skills and knowledge even if she’s not using the skills everyday.. (TRANSFORMATION) x Kapu is shot by hunters from a plane. END: Julie wants to find her pen pal in San Francisco and be free to decide her future for herself. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

10. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT My Side of the Mtn People are looking for the “wild boy living in the forest.” Sam meets a man who he thinks is a bandit. Sam makes a deal with Matt to not reveal his location in the newspaper article he wrote about him. Sam captures Frightful and trains her. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: Sam’s father brings the family to the forest to build a home for all of them. People do not feel that a young boy should be living on his own in the forest. PROBLEM: Sam finds connections not nature but also with many people and successfully makes the forest his home. (TRANSFORMATION) x Sam agrees to compromise his principles and allow the family to build a house in the forest. END: Sam Gribley wants a more adventurous life; one with a connection to nature. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler

11. TENSION: TENSION: VIRTUAL PORTRAIT of Number the Stars The soldiers demand to see inside the coffin. They are told the woman died of typhus and they are afraid of being infected. Annemarie must deliver the scarf to Henrik to prevent the dogs from smelling the humans on the boat. Ellen is questioned by the soldiers why her hair is not blonde like Annemarie and Kirsti. MORE TENSION: SOLUTION: Fishermen in The Resistance make special compartments in their boats to ferry Jews to safety in Sweden . German soldiers occupy their town and are searching for anyone hiding Jews. PROBLEM: Annemarie learns (with the help of Uncle Henrik) that bravery is not necessarily about facing everything at once... The war ends and families return to Copenhagen. Annemarie wears Ellen’s Star of David necklace while awaiting her return. (TRANSFORMATION) x END: Annemarie’s family takes in Ellen to hide her from the Nazis. BEGINNING (THE CALL): VPS template By Brett Dillingham & Jason Ohler