Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	First Meetings
	Author:	Card, Orson Scott
	Date Published:	2002
	Genre:	Sci-Fi
	Grade Level:	6 - 12
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
Motivations...what motivates you? Money, fear, winning... This is a story about motivation. It is the story of John Paul. John Paul is just three weeks short of his 6th birthday when the story begins. He lives in Poland, the seventh his parents nine children. Like all of us, John Paul manipulates those around him. But, John Paul is different. John Paul seems to know just what to say to have things work out. John Paul is an expert at manipulation...and at negotiation. John Paul has also learned to read, and to read quickly and with full comprehension. We would say that John Paul is home schooled, as his mother stays at home and teaches him and his older siblings. His father, on the other hand, works all day at his regular job, and then, illegally, works at night to earn enough to feed and clothe his family. John Paul lives in Poland, a previously Catholic country. Many of the people are still Catholic and believe in large families. But, the government disagrees. Thus, only the oldest two children of a family are allowed to go to school. Those who have more children are cited for noncompliance by those in charge of the world. But, John Paul's parents didn't want any of their children to go to school and learn all the anti-Catholic things the schools taught. So, all the children stayed home for their schooling. Three weeks before John Paul's sixth birthday, a woman from the government's testing program came to the house. John Paul's father stayed home from work that day, which meant that they would have less money to spend on food and clothing that week, as there were no paid days off. The woman came to test all males between 6 and 12 years of age. Peter was too old, and was upset that he could not be tested. Catherine was a girl, and therefore exempt...and angry about it, and Anna also. That left Nicholas, Thomas and Andrew. The testing was done in the parlor with the door open. John Paul told his parents he was going into the other room to read. Although they thought he meant the bedroom, as he intended, in fact he went into the kitchen where he could read and listen through the open door. He quickly realized that the really important part of the testing was what the woman asked about the children's likes and dislikes, and why people did the things they did. She asked the same questions and then followed up on the differences. When she was done, she asked again about John Paul. "I want to take the test," he said. When his parents pointed out that he was not yet six, the woman pointed out that she'd just have to return in three weeks to test him if she didn't do it now. So, John Paul was tested...and he knew he passed, even though the woman didn't say so. On John Paul's birthday, the woman returned with a man who said that the test had given questionable results. He was lying. Further, he did not approve of John Paul's family or their lifestyle. John Paul manipulated him to the point of frustration. Eventually, he and the woman left...defeated by the six-year-old. The third time the woman came, she was with another man named Graff. Graff was not a liar, and did not look down on John Paul's family. He was honest with John Paul and his parents and stated straight out that they wanted John Paul for their Battle School. He was willing to negotiate with John Paul, even to the extent to promise John Paul that the family could be moved to the United States, where their noncompliance would be overlooked by a more tolerant populance and they could all go to school while John Paul tried out Battle School. In fact, he was willing to guarantee that the family would NOT be returned to Poland, even if John Paul did not want to go to the school. In fact, that was exactly what John Paul was planning on. And Graff knew it. But, Graff thought very far ahead. And, Graff wanted John Paul's trust so that he would not stand in the way if John Paul ever had a son who wished to go to Battle School. So it was that the family moved to America. They changed their name to Wiggin, and Andrew Wiggin was tested and accepted to Battle School...Andrew Wiggin became the leader who saved the human race from the Bugs...The one they called Ender. All because of trust.