BOOKS

Green Light Red Light is a fascinating, funny, thought-provoking teen novel (ages 11-12) about real-life Monica Moore’s years as a volunteer English teacher in China. The entire manuscript is reality-based, but every name and some circumstances have been changed to protect characters from the Communist authorities. The Americans would never be imprisoned, but they could be sent home, permanently.

Erika's View:
Sinister forces rise as 16-year-old Erika Slade steps onto the tarmac in Beijing, China. She’s here because Monica Moore—the kindest, sweetest link in her life chain—is here, and Erika could never endure the summer without her. This is Monica’s 13th year as a volunteer English teacher in Chinese universities, teaching and mingling in her second homeland, China. Monica asks Erika not to wear the silver half-heart that was anonymously delivered their last day in America, but she thinks about it often and wonders who could have sent it with the message, "Have fun in China. I’ll miss you." She’s thrilled when her secret admirer reveals himself.

What awaits Erika in this Communist country, where watchful eyes stare from every direction? How will she cope with the strange culture, and Monica’s expectations? Can she survive two months with inadequate air conditioning and no hamburgers, cell phones or the company of her twin brother Billy? The stress sickens her.

Erika’s teenage American attitude collides with the foreign culture. She also struggles to forgive her abusive mother and her father’s killers in Iraq.

Images embed into Erika’s brain—swarms of people speaking a strange language—and the bathrooms! Mercy me! The first day closes with giggles over Monica’s Chinese haircut.

The seven-member American team is here to teach English, in classrooms located atop 15 flights of stairs. Monica leads the team and 100-plus students up those steps three times a day because the elevator is broken. At the top, songs, skits and projects fill the morning hours for students ranging from elementary school to beyond college.

At noon, the Americans hike one mile back to their hotel for a lunch break. One day they watch near the open market as a Chinese man is arrested because he is a Christian.

"We can talk about Jesus as long as we connect him to our study of American Culture," Monica reminds the team. Cultural Lectures fill the afternoon hours. Students learn about U.S. customs and government through the chicken dance, spelling bees, and skits featuring American weddings and holidays.

High School students and college professors/students, doctors, Communist leaders and other adults gather in the evening for English Corner. Spoken English is required as they discuss questions such as, "In your idea, what is love?" or "Define idioms."

"Don’t mention Jesus," the Communists say, but Monica challenges the order unnoticed. "I assume that I have a green light to tell everyone I meet about Jesus until I get a red light," she says. Miracles follow—a child who fell downstairs in his wheelchair is healed. Later each evening, she and the team will baptize converts in her hotel bathtub.

The Chinese hosts give the American volunteers tickets and money to see China’s sights. Monica and Erika climb the Great Wall, get lost in the Forbidden City, attend government church services, and dinners with unusual foods. Monica, Erika and university staffer Gloria encourage the university’s Communist vice-president, as he embraces Christianity.

Slowly, a new world-view emerges as Erika’s old belief system dissolves into reality.

BUY GREEN LIGHT RED LIGHT NOW

Download the Green Discussion Questions as an accompaniment to the novel.

Water Buffalo - apartment dwellers tie their water buffaloes to trees outside the apartment	Tall buildings in China	Open market in China
The Great Wall	The traffic lights have no yellow. A timer counts seconds until the light turns green.

In MOTOCROSS MANIA, you’ll ride with Josh McClain, from his first race to the checkered flag. He’s 20 now and he no longer races, but I have some awesome interviews and information re: Motocross 2009. I might even write a feature about you! The blog comments are always open for your questions or suggestions. If you want to be interviewed, email me and let me know why other motocrossers would want to know about you.

About the Book:

The race to the checkered flag is long and hard, and along the way we learn endurance and skill.

Josh McClain, nine-year-old dirt bike racer, sees trophy shapes in the clouds and dreams about them in his sleep. To win a first-place trophy, he has to make the checkered flag twice in one day racing against the other riders in his class. Older, more experienced racers challenge him at every jump and turn. He finally makes the checkered flag, and everyone celebrates with him, but he knows his age and the fierce competition preclude a first place trophy at this time.

Josh's hand-drawn map of White Sands Raceway (dirt bike track)	At the Starting Gate (1998)

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DIRT BIKING, THE SPORT FOR ALL AGES
Motocross is the most dangerous sport in the world, but racers from age three to fifty-three don’t think of the danger. They’re caught up in the thrill of racing. “I like to go fast and feel like I’m flying,” Josh said.

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BE SAFE! BE SAFE! BE SAFE!
Racers who forget safety rules are kicked out of the race. Other racers yell at dangerous riders. “I have to keep my head in the race all the time, and know what the riders around me are doing. I can’t switch lines (lanes) in front of someone or pull a stupid trick that would endanger another rider.” Parents start enforcing safe riding rules as soon as their racer straps on his first helmet. They repeat the rules over and over.

One important safety consideration is the dirt bike itself. Most parents help the rider choose a bike that lets the rider’s feet touch the ground, with legs slightly bent. In Motocross Mania,, Josh rides a bike that’s too large for him, and it creates problems.