Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Varian Johnson’s website: https://varianjohnson.com/

Shannon Wright’s website: https://shannon-wright.com/

Activities & Resources:

Activities:

U.S. Army:

Army 101: https://www.army.mil/features/#army101

Army Uniforms: https://www.army.mil/uniforms/

U.S. Army Rank and Meaning: https://www.army.mil/ranks/

Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC):

About JROTC: http://www.usarmyjrotc.com/general/program_overview.php

JROTC Ribbon Rack Maker: http://www.usarmyjrotc.com/racks/index.php

How to Do a Push Up video (0:49): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=owos-auC0_E

Facing Movements Video (1:49): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=T0QP6_5Ky4Q

Conflict Resolution:

Conflict Resolution: How to Settle Your Differences Fairly | BrainPOP video (4:35): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=jg_Q34kGsKg

Teaching Kids How to Deal With Conflict: https://childmind.org/article/teaching-kids-how-to-deal-with-conflict/

Student Council:

Texas Association of Student Council Resource Guide (PDF): https://www.tasconline.org/assets/RESOURCE_GUIDE/resourceguidepart2.pdf

Techniques to Help you Win Student Council Elections according to Canva: https://www.canva.com/learn/10-techniques-to-help-you-win-the-student-council-election/

MakerSpace Activities:

Using Canva, design your own campaign poster.

Print these blank graphic novel panels. Design and draw your own graphic novel story with a beginning, middle and end. http://donnayoung.org/art/comics.htm

If you could create a new branch of the military, what would it be? Design their uniform. Write a paragraph about how they help their country.

Create your family tree. Draw, label, and connect each family member. Choose one family member to interview about their life.

Discussion Questions:

How are Francis and Maureen alike? How are they different?

What was your first day like at a new school? How did you feel?

Why do you think Francine wanted to change her name to Fran and dress differently from her sister and friends?

Think about the groups of kids who sit together at lunch. Where does Maureen end up sitting and how does she feel about it?

Is Maureen good or bad at marching? How can you tell?

Do you have a few very close friends or a large group of friends? Would you change that? Why or why not?

How is Maureen and Fran’s friend group staying close? How are they drifting apart?

Maureen and friends had a bad experience at a store in the mall. How would you feel if you were treated the same way?

Why do you think it took Maureen so long to tell her sister that she was running for president?

How does your family settle disagreements?

Do you think it was right for Monique to help Francine with her campaign and not Maureen? Why or why not?

What were the good things and bad things that happened because the sisters switched places?

Why do you think Fran feels like she’s always competing with Marueen?

How would the book be different if it was told from Fran’s point of view?

How has Maureen and Monique’s friendship changed over the course of the election?

Why do you think Maureen kept her secret from her sister?

Can you recall a time you had a fight with a sibling or close friend? How did you resolve it?

Did it surprise you who won the election? Who do you think should have won and why?

The last scene shows the sisters getting ready. How do the twins dress at the end of the book compared to the beginning?

How does a graphic novel tell a story differently than a regular book?

Book Talk Teasers:

Read the Reader’s Theater for Twins.

Watch the book trailer for Twins embedded at the bottom of the page.

Read Alikes:

Character Driven Middle Grade Comic

Holm, Jennifer L. Sunny Side Up. Sunny Lewin is sent to live with her grandfather for the summer in Florida, where she befriends Buzz, a boy completely obsessed with comic books, and faces the secret behind why she is in Florida in the first place. (Novelist Plus)

Libenson, Terri. Invisible Emmie. The lives of two middle school girls, one a quiet artist, the other a popular overachiever, intersect on a day shaped by a misdelivered note, crushes, humiliations, boredom and drama. (Novelist Plus)

Miller, Kayla. Act. When Olive learns that a school policy is keeping some kids from going on a field trip to the city, she decides to run against Trent and Sawyer, two of her closest friends, in the student council election. (Novelist Plus)

Middle School Best Friends

Davis, Tanita S. Serena Says. After her best friend, JC, has a kidney transplant, Serena feels that they are falling out of touch, especially as JC makes a new best friend in the hospital. (Novelist Plus)

Johnson, Cathy G. The Breakaways. When a popular student encourages her to join the soccer team, Faith signs up even though she has never played the game, and learns about loyalty and friendship. (Novelist Plus)

Reviews:

Johnson, Varian and Shannon Wright. Twins. Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic, 2020.

Booklist

Twins.

By Varian Johnson. Illustrated by Shannon Wright.

Oct. 2020. 256p. Scholastic/Graphix, paper, $12.99 (9781338236170). Grades 3-6. 741.5.

REVIEW. First published July 2020 (Booklist).

Maureen is a straight A student lacking in self-confidence. Her identical twin, Francine, is outgoing and popular, though she sometimes feels like “the dumb one.” They’ve always been inseparable— until sixth grade. Francine begins to branch off socially, catching Maureen off guard, and as the tension between them builds—thanks to a series of miscommunications and unveiled secrets— their insecurities flare, and they end up running against each other for student-council president. In their graphic-novel debuts, Johnson and Wright have crafted a pitch-perfect story about the growing pains of middle school from a sibling perspective, and it’s more than just a rivalry story. Maureen and Francine’s family life is established with such a strong, healthy dynamic that the girls’ ensuing competition is laden with complex feelings of betrayal and guilt, as they both struggle with how to be more individual while still supporting one another. Their journeys are largely internal, but Wright’s artwork, crisp and colorful, does a masterful job of tracking the twins’ emotional arcs through expressive composition, and Johnson’s impeccable pacing keeps things moving while still making room for rich development. In the end, only one sister can win the election, but they both succeed, thanks to each other’s support. A beautiful reflection on sisterhood and coming-of-age that belongs in every collection. —Ronny Khuri

Used with the permission of Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/

School Library Journal starred (October 1, 2020)

Gr 3-7-The start of sixth grade has not been smooth sailing for identical twins Francine and Maureen Carter, who are both Black. Francine, "the talker," is eager for new challenges and experiences and more time away from her sister/best-friend-oh, and she goes by "Fran" now, please. Meanwhile, Maureen, "the thinker," misses dressing alike and having all her classes with her twin, and is especially intimidated by the lunchroom and Cadet Corp. When Maureen discovers that the girls' separate classes are due not to a scheduling error but to Francine's interference, her anger spurs her to action and she challenges her sister by running against her for student council president. As the girls develop campaign strategies and try to best each other, will they permanently ruin the bond they once had? The twins' transforming relationship captures all the fraught possibilities of adolescence-the fear of change and the excitement of potential. A fully realized array of friends and family who help with (and occasionally add to) the drama create a world that readers will wish they were a part of. Wright's colorful artwork brings this endearing cast of characters to life with a dynamic range of expressiveness that suits the story's emotional highs and lows and many warm laughs. VERDICT A must-read for middle grade comics lovers. Expect high demand from fans of comics like those by Svetlana Chmakova, Jerry Craft, and Raina Telgemeier.-Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Lib. Syst., Bellport, NY © Copyright 2020. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Reprinted with permission from School Library Journal ©2021