MOWMT 12: Metafiction Mentor Texts with Evelyn Bookless
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Using Metafiction To Turn Reading Into A Game
Greetings, March on Mentor Text readers!
When I was inspired to attempt to write a story based on a childhood game after being dazzled by THE LEGEND OF ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS (more on that later), I brainstormed a few ideas. Jinx was the clear winner due to its simplicity and the fun I had playing it as a child. Mining our childhood for ideas really is stellar advice.
So, when I found myself wondering how to take a universally well-known childhood game and make it into a book, there was only one way to find out. That’s right. Mentor texts.
THE LEGEND OF ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS (written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Adam Rex, Harper Collins, 2017)
This hilarious book imagines the epic origin story of the classic playground game. It follows three undefeated, bored warriors - Rock, Paper, and Scissors - who travel to find worthy opponents, eventually meeting for an everlasting battle.
What stood out the most for me was the authors skilful use of humor to bring inanimate characters to life. Although metafiction is not used here, this story inspired hi-jinks and silliness aplenty.
I wanted to engage with readers very directly in my story, so I carried on reading to see how I could use meta-fiction to do this.
This interactive story challenges readers to a no-blink, staring match against a pretentious, "staring-master" eye character who can stare “ALL DAY LONG.”
This author embraces meta-fiction to bring the game to life. The starting eyes encourage kids to jump right into the pages of an irresistible challenge, and it inspired me to invite readers to do the same.
A classic meta fiction title that is playful and reminds me of a game is PRESS HERE (written and illustrated by Hervé Tullet, Chronicle Books, 2011).
PRESS HERE is an interactive book where readers are invited to press, shake, and tilt the pages to make colorful dots move, multiply, and grow.
As well as the clever invitation for readers to interact to help tell the story, I was inspired by the clever use of page turns and surprises to delight.
And speaking of classics, I had to re-read THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK (written by Jon Stone and illustrated by Michael Smolin, Golden Books, 1971)
For me, THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK is like a game of hide-and-seek. Grover, the narrator, directly engages the reader to prevent them from turning the pages to find the monster, creating a playful, interactive experience of anticipation and alarm. The suspense of being told not to do something (turn the page) makes the reader want to do it more. The book functions like a game where the reader's actions directly affect the narrative outcome.
Each of these mentor texts presents a game differently and most make use of meta fiction. But other elements that I took away and hoped to apply to my own work, was the use of humor and the unexpected to engage readers when bringing a game to life.
JINX! is based on a popular game/trick I played as a child and that children still enjoy today. I love that such a simple game, that starts with just one word, still captures imaginations and causes laughter and frustration in equal measure.
I chose to break the fourth wall as JINX! is exactly what it sounds like: a game turned into a book which is also a game! The main character talks directly to the reader and jinxes them. Then they spend the rest of the book trying to trick the reader into losing.
In one attempt, the book character declares the reader must love chewing worms and if they don’t answer it must be true. Young readers will know the stakes, but whether they can keep it together or not is anyone’s guess.
In writing JINX! the biggest challenge was how to trick young readers into getting jinxed in a simple but effective way so the fun could start. The story is devised to encourage readers to say a word at the same time as the character in this book who wants to jinx them. In the end I settled on the following:
I bet I can say the color on the next page before you.
I need to hear you, so say it loud.
Ready?
I had a lot of fun coming up with different ways for the book character to attempt to trick the reader into talking once jinxed, and therefore losing the game. The character tries everything to get readers to giggle, yelp or scream, and their growing frustration is all part of the fun.
Anna Süssbauer did such a terrific job bringing JINX! to life. I hadn’t indicated what sort of creature the main character was, or if it was indeed even a creature. I left it completely open to interpretation. So, when I saw her adorable, pink character for the first time, I was blown away. She has managed to portray tons of fun and mischief on every page.
Enjoy finding mentor texts that help you create playful stories and go ahead and break that fourth wall if it makes sense for your story. Cheers to Marching On!
PRIZE: Evelyn's Prize will be a copy of JINX! (US winner only).
BIOGRAPHY: Evelyn grew up in the wild and windy west of Ireland. She spent her time playing in the trees with her siblings, making up games, and getting up to plenty of mischief.
Evelyn studied English at university and later trained as a teacher and fell in love with children's stories all over again.
With a thirst for adventure, Evelyn has taught in schools all around the world including Hong Kong, Singapore and The Netherlands. Now she lives in Spain, and spends her days writing stories, visiting schools to share her books, and practicing Spanish with anyone who can bear it.
Evelyn is the author of the award winning series that includes Captain Green and the Tree Machine, (Marshall Cavendish, 2021) and Captain Green and the Plastic Scene, (2018) both illustrated by Danny Deeptown.
Her newest book, JINX! (illustrated by Anna Süssbauer), released in May 2025 with Reycraft Books.
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