Local author's book challenges students

Anne Nolting's "Dear Future People" is a demanding yet rewarding novel for young adults. It describes a woman's efforts to save the great library of Alexandria around 400 AD as Roman civilization deteriorated. The book is complex both in its ideas and its historical and literary references, and it has been marketed as a book for gifted students.

So the Valley author was pleasantly surprised when she heard that a special education English teacher at Chugiak High School had not only picked up her book but had purchased a dozen copies and was using it in her classroom.

"I was truly amazed when I found out she was a special education teacher," Nolting said. She said while she had written specifically with gifted students in mind, she still wondered how a special education class would manage it. The key, Nolting decided, was the innovative teacher at the front of the room.

Heather Edgren stumbled upon Nolting's book while visiting Palmer's newest bookstore, Fireside Books. As she and the owner talked, he pointed out Nolting's book and she purchased a copy.

"I took it home and read it over Christmas break," Edgren said. She soon decided she needed a dozen copies for her students. What attracted her to the text, she said, was how it fit in with her own integrative approach to teaching students. Nolting's novel drew together so many facets of learning -- literature, science, math, art, politics and religion.

"Her book connects all of that … everything was there," she said. "The library wasn't just a place where books were kept; it was a place where people met and debated and talked."

The fact that the book was written by a local author was only an added bonus, and one the teacher didn't believe at first. She said after reading the book and remembering the bookstore owner's comment that Nolting lived in the Valley, Edgren said she picked up her phone book to see if it was really true. Soon she had Nolting herself visiting her school to talk about her book.

"That was wonderful … You never have anybody that is that close to you who is such a resource," Edgren said.

Throughout the rest of the school year, Edgren used the book to teach her special education students about a wide variety of topics.

"It was a challenge, for me as well as for the kids, but they need to see they can do what other kids can do," Edgren said. "It's a real self-esteem builder when they realize they can do it."

The task was time-consuming, the teacher admitted. She read the book out loud, working with the students to dissect each section, rooting out difficult vocabulary words and providing the historical context of the plot.

Edgren said while not all teachers may have the freedom to utilize her approach, she recommends the book to high school teachers. She already passed the book on to several colleagues in the Anchorage School District and, this summer when she and another group of teachers were assigned the task of writing an integrative curriculum, they eventually settled on "Dear Future People," as a starting point.

"We just took that book and said 'forget the rest' because everything we needed was right there," she said. "We ended up doing our whole unit based on this book."

Edgren's work with the book has also provided a new perspective for the author herself. When Nolting went into the class to talk with the students, she said she was able to actually visit with readers and hear how they understood her work.

"They had a really good picture of this library, this library that was the first institution of its kind," Nolting said.

And the fact that special education students, as well as gifted students, have been able to read and discuss her book ties in to the subject itself.

"There was no ability grouping going on in the library of Alexandria," Nolting said. "Everybody worked together."

Nolting's story on a related topic, titled "The Ancient Library of Alexandria," will be published in the Holt, Rhinehart & Winston Language Arts Textbook for sixth grade in 2003. The story was originally printed in Cricket Magazine.