Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Jade Green
	Author:	Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
	Date Published:	1999
	Genre:	Thriller
	Grade Level:	5 - 8
	Booktalker:	Susan Bartel

Booktalk:
There. On my rug. Don’t you see it? It’s a hand. A human hand, detached from any arm or body. Limp white fingers. Delicate wrist. A jagged stump. Dried blood. The fingers move. The palm lifts. The fingers of the hand scrabble, moving the hand away like a crab into the darkness. My name is Judith Sparrow. My father died four years ago, my mother last month. I’ve come here, to this town called Whispers, to live with my Uncle Geoffrey. He said I could come, providing I didn’t bring anything with me which was the color green. An odd request, but one I could live with. Almost. I have a picture my mother gave me of herself. The frame is green. It’s at the bottom of my trunk. Surely that can’t matter, can it? Who else lives in my new home? I’m very fond of Mrs. Hastings, the housekeeper. And I’m not sure how to feel about my cousin Charles – sometimes he seems detached and unfriendly and at other times he’s too friendly and I feel repulsed. My Uncle Geoffrey is a kind man, a little distant, but he seems to be warming toward me. And then there’s the hand, and the noises, and things moving without explanation. Stories about this house tell about a girl who lived here, Jade Green. The local minister asked my uncle to take her in when she was about 12. He consented and Mrs. Hastings, the housekeeper, helped to bring her up. No one knew her father and her mother was of that profession that no one wants to speak about. While she was a handful at first, she brought much delight and joy to the house. And then came the horrible day when Mrs. Hastings found her dead. Her hand severed from her body. The coroner said it was suicide. Even though she seemed happy and full of life, he said you can never tell about people from that background. My uncle was devastated. He forbade anyone to ever say her name. And because she loved the color green, he banned that color from use in the house. I know, the picture frame… Is it possible that my hidden green possession has awakened Jade Green? Has given life to the hand? Will the spirit of Jade Green take revenge?