Feeling Like You Fit

Thank you for joining us on the High Plains Public Radio Station. My name is Jessica Sadler and I am a Science Teacher, STEAM facilitator, and coach in Olathe, Kansas. I am here with the other book leaders to discuss  Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This classic children’s tale takes readers on a journey to a somewhat bizarre place where white rabbits run and crochet is played with birds at mallets. This novel has been selected to explore the 2024 Fall Read theme– Through the Eyes of a Child.

Throughout Alice’s journey in Wonderland many characters, such as the White Rabbit and Mad Hatter, cross her path. During these interactions, the reader finds many of the key themes of Carroll’s work. The inevitable loss of childhood and innocence shines at many different points. Working as a middle school teacher, I see this period of change daily over the course of 10 months year after year. The size of Alice comes into play multiple times throughout the book. She spends several pages of the piece not feeling “quite right.”

This is a VERY common expression amongst my students. From heights, weights, body shapes, and so much more: youth today are incredibly conscious of themselves and the desire to feel like they fit. With the onset of puberty, social media, friend dynamics, and numerous other life changes, it can be difficult for young adults to find the space that fits them with a sense of comfort versus forcing something that may always cause pain.

I also love the madness of life that comes through in many different areas of this novel. There are several occasions where Alice is befuddled at the insanity around her. She has expectations that her encounters should make a certain kind of sense which leads to some of her frustrations. Solving riddles by the Mad Hatter, chatting with the Caterpillar, and her croquet game with the Queen, Alice often offends someone or almost costs herself her safety regularly.

These jabs at logic remind me of daily interactions with my students. Middle school tends to be the age where children are formulating thoughts and opinions of their own consistently. They can become easily frustrated with challenges and conversations if they do not do as anticipated. It is one of my favorite times working with students because you have to find ways to help them continue working, thinking, etc. when they tend to not want to.

It has been nice revisiting this work as an adult and reminding myself of the time I was in the same position as my students trying to find logic in the daily circumstance surrounding me. I appreciated that Alice wakes up in the lap of her sister who wants nothing more than Alice to continue to have the opportunity to be a child and live in wonder. The role of the sister is where I find myself in life now and I appreciate her inclusion in the ending now more than I did as a child.

This is Jessica Sadler, and you are listening to the High Plains Public Radio Reader’s Book Club.

Jessica Sadler has taught third, fifth, and sixth grades in Lawrence and Olathe Kansas, holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and special education. A STEAM facilitator with an ESL endorsement, Jessica has won numerous teaching awards, including The Spirit of Education Award and being named Kansas Asia Scholar and 2013 Best Teacher in Lawrence. She has served as a volleyball coach and was nominated as Kansas Teacher of the Year in 2019-20. Jessica is currently a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Teacher Innovator. What her awards do not highlight is the fact that Jessica is an avid and enthusiastic reader and we are happy to have her join us for the 2024 Fall Read.