| Booktalk
#1
Dillon Dillon. What kind
of parents would name a child that? Couldn't they think of anything
else? Did they not care enough to think of another name? His
brother and sister had real names. On his tenth birthday, Dillon
finally gets up enough courage to ask his parents why he has the same first
and last name. What he learns is that his original name was Dillon
McDermott. His parents were killed in a boating accident. His
mother named him Dillon because that was her maiden name. Her brother
and sister in law adopted Dillon and felt that they couldn't change the
name he had for 18 months. As he spends the summer at the lake watching
loons and coming to terms with his life, Dillon comes to understand where
some of his emotions come from. In his mother's words "when you really
get to know this Dillon Dillon, you will grow to love him just as we do."
Booktalk #2
Have you ever kept a secret
for a long time? Dillon’s parents and his older brother have a secret.
One summer at their cottage on the lake, Dillon finds out the secret.
At first he is devastated by the news. He spends the remainder of
the summer rowing his boat out to an island and interacting with a pair
of loons. After a while, he develops a special relationship with them.
The loons build a nest in his sneaker and lay an egg. They seem to
communicate with him and help him with his quest for self-discovery.
Read this dreamlike book to find out the secret and the parallels between
Dillon and the loons.
Prepared by: Alleene Holland
for
The
South Carolina Children's Book Award nominees 2005
Booktalk #3
Hello, my name is Dillon Dillon.
Yes, that’s correct Dillon Dillon. I know I know, why would my parents
name me the same name twice, Dillon Dillon. My classmates make fun of my
name. In fact one classmate said that my name could be reduced to a square
root symbol, D squared, Dillon Dillon, D2. Very funny. I keep asking my
parents why out of all the names they could have named me, they chose,
Dillon Dillon. They would only tell me that it was the perfect name for
me at the time. Each summer my family and I travel to our family cottage
on a lake to stay. Today is June 21st the first day of summer and also
my birthday. Today I am ten years old and today I am going to ask my parents
why they named me Dillon Dillon. Read Dillon Dillon by Kate Banks to find
out why he is so named. As Dillon tries to adjust to this new reality of
how he got his name, he befriends, and is befriended by, a pair of loons
nesting on a nearby island. Join Dillon Dillon as he embarks on a journey
of self-discovery that involves identifying with a pair of loons, one of
whom lays an egg in Dillon's sneaker. When the egg hatches, Dillon "would
later celebrate this day and remember it as the time of his own rebirth."
(Becky Proctor, jonseyreeves@aol.com,
school librarian at Dorchester Academy in St. George, SC ) |
