Welcome to day 39 of 40 craft lessons.
Any book about the craft of storytelling advises you to “raise the stakes in the story” as soon as possible. A good story should set a clear goal for the character at stake. The higher the stakes, the more page-turning effect it has on the reader.
No doubt, that is correct. High stakes accelerate the reader to the next page, the next chapter, and finally to the end. And after that? Is there any emotional residue that lasts beyond reading time? Any afterglow? Or is “Finish and Forget” the destiny of many books—adult books or children’s literature?
There are very few books that I’ve felt reach into my emotions, like a crochet hook—grabbing a feeling and pulling a string of my heart into the story. They raised an emotional stake in me.
Those Shoes (2009, Maribeth Boelts, Noah Z. Jones) is one of those rare books that truly reaches into your emotions. The main character, Jeremy, wants a pair of cool black high-top shoes that everyone at school seems to be wearing—something his grandmother can’t afford. She tells him there is no room for want, only for need. This is an emotion any human understands: something that would make you happy, but you cannot have.
Next, Jeremy’s old shoes fall apart. Imagine the pain! At school, he is given a pair of shoes with cartoon animals on them—shoes Jeremy thinks no kid would ever want. Deeper pain. Notice how the story sets another level of emotion at stake.
Jeremy goes back to class. Everyone, except Antonio, laughs at his shoes.
It’s not only Jeremy’s dream at stake. Can you count how many feelings are now at stake? Wait for more to come.
In the thrift shop, Jeremy and his grandmother find the shoes he’s been wishing for. This is an attention-worthy story-craft lesson: if the shoes were his size, the story would resolve too quickly. They shouldn’t fit Jeremy’s feet. And they don’t.
I won’t spoil the rest of the story. I only suggest that, while reading it, you compare the emotions at stake in Those Shoes with those in recently published picture books. If you know any recent books with strong emotional stakes, please let me know in the comments.
Hope reading this blog post has given you new ideas. See you tomorrow for the final post, Day 40.
