Pamela Farris
by Mark McGowan
Boys tend to stop reading fiction after fifth grade, but it’s not because they lack good stories.
Professors in NIU’s Department of Literacy Education stock office shelves, pushcarts and tote bags with wonderful books written specifically for boys on the cusp of their teenage years. They work to get those novels into the hands of boys and then develop programs to fuel their curiosity, imagination and thirst for reading.
The latest addition to the repertoire comes with a familiar author.
“Crossover Dribble” tells the tale of Joe, a young Indiana boy whose hopes for summer basketball camp are crushed by a family crisis and the new responsibilities it entails. Of course, his change of plans is the not his only surprise.
The book’s author, PJ Farris, is better known at NIU as Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus Pamela Farris. She retired in December of 2005 after a quarter-century of teaching children’s literature and reading courses.
“My real desire is to get kids to read, especially boys,” Farris says. “I’ve always enjoyed writing, so it’s a natural leap for me to do this. I do enjoy storytelling, and I’ve always been encouraged to do that by my colleagues.”
For “Crossover Dribble,” she drew on personal experience.
“I grew up in Indiana. Obviously, basketball was the big sport,” says Farris, who was a graduate student at Indiana State University during the same years that hoops legend Larry Bird burned up the courts there.
“My dad was always a big basketball fan, and we attended a lot of high school games. Actually, the gym where they filmed ‘Hoosiers’ was where I saw games when I was 6 or 7,” she adds. “My father always told me about when he played basketball; they jumped at center after every basket and, years later, his knees were a testament to that.”
Because she wanted to pack the book with practical tips for boys to improve their basketball skills – “When boys come to the table, they want to take something away with them,” she says – Farris sought the inside knowledge of basketball coaches. She also tapped her son, Kurtis, an avid basketball player, for advice.
Matthew Graves, a Butler University coach, reviewed the book prior to publication to verify its basketball accuracy.
“A lot of kids who love basketball don’t have the opportunity to go to camps or get the extra coaching and attention,” says Farris, who encourages children to “Read On, Play On” when she autographs books. “I thought I could write a book that had a good story in it that also combined the actual skills. Kids could take it to a gym, or outside, to shoot hoops while they read a good book and improve their reading.”
Colleagues agree that Farris accomplished her mission.
When Butler University players visit local schools, Graves dispatches them with copies of “Crossover Dribble” to share its “great story that takes basketball to its roots of rural life while teaching the rewards of hard work and determination.”
Jenny Parker, a professor in NIU’s Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, and her students developed a lesson with the book. Students read the book and break into groups of three to practice its basketball skills: one is the player, one is the coach who offers constructive criticism and one is the fan. (Other lesson plans in reading, writing, math and science are available at www.pjfarris.com.)
A handful of children studying with Oregon School District reading specialist Mary Gardner gave up their recess time to read the book. Gardner, president of the Northern Illinois Reading Council and an NIU instructor, loved the story as well.
“Strong male characters lead the reader quickly into Joe’s choices, decisions and mistakes as he moves along through surprises and disappointments,” Gardner says. “I couldn’t stop reading.”
Even girls at St. Mary’s School in Sycamore, where the book is available, have joined the chorus of praise. “I thought it was a boys’ book,” an amused Farris says.
And her grandson, a fifth-grader, had his own congratulations of sorts: “He told me, ‘I never knew you were such a good author. I was surprised at how good the book is.’ ”
Farris wrote “Crossover Dribble” seven years ago but stocked it away as she continued writing professional articles and books. The skills necessary for writing informational texts are “totally different” from those used in spinning narratives and dialogue, she says.
When she eventually pulled it from the drawer, she happened to meet an agent for Mayhaven Publishing whose husband was a longtime high school basketball referee.
“Sometimes you’re at the right place at the right time,” Farris says.
But the times are tough for authors trying to target boys in the middle grades.
During a conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a representative of a major publishing house told the group that submissions targeted for sixth-grade boys are instant rejections. They simply aren’t read. “That’s a sad thing,” Farris says. “It’s not cool.”
Nonetheless, Farris will attend this year’s meeting in Los Angeles this August to meet and converse with other authors of children’s literature.
She’s also at work on her second book for boys on the verge of switching to non-fiction. It tells the story of an African-American boy from Chicago whose life is changed by the wrecking ball that destroys Cabrini Green, the housing project where he lives.
“Crossover Dribble” is available online at www.amazon.com and at the DeKalb/Sycamore locations of Barnes and Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com) and Border’s (www.borders.com). A portion of the book’s proceeds will benefit NIU’s February 14 Student Scholarship Fund.