iPulp Teacher's Corner
In the past, dime novels and other forms of pulp fiction provided cheap entertainment for young readers and inspired generations of great writers such as Bradbury, Burroughs, and Asimov. The iPulp Fiction Library brings back the tradition of the dime novel as a FREE online fiction magazine for readers 10 to adult. Although iPulp aspires to be the premier source of online fiction for all readers, it was conceived to provide accessible quality fiction that would appeal to young, reluctant male readers. We define accessible as:
In the past, dime novels and other forms of pulp fiction provided cheap entertainment for young readers and inspired generations of great writers such as Bradbury, Burroughs, and Asimov. The iPulp Fiction Library brings back the tradition of the dime novel as a FREE online fiction magazine for readers 10 to adult. Research shows there is a growing reading gap between boys and girls. Studies indicate that one of the causes of this problem is the lack of material targeting the interests of young males. Schools simply don't recognize boy-oriented genre fiction as literature. (See "Why Johnny Won't Read" Washington Post, and "What Boys Should Read" The Chronicle of Higher Education.) Boys tend to read a wider number of genres over a broader range of topics than girls. They like escapism (science fiction, adventure, and fantasy) and humor more than fiction and poetry, and they like to collect series of books (Simpson, 1996; Smith & Wilhelm, 2002). An article on the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) web site called "Reading Can Make You Smarter" sumarizes studies that suggest that it is not just what you read, but the amount you read that builds vocabulary skills. Comic books and graphic novels have value to developing reading skills. The iPulp Fiction Library fills the void between graphic literature and full-length novels with quality genre stories that will appeal to boys. iPulp's initial focus is on short stories for middle grade and YA readers. The cover of every issue clearly states the reading level of that story. If iPulp can introduce just one young person to the joys of reading or inspire one new author, it will have justified its existence. iPulp publishes stories by new and well-known authors. In our first year, we published works by Elaine Marie Alphin, the Edgar award-winning author of Counterfeit Son; renowned children's author Bruce Coville, and the master of science fiction, Orson Scott Card.
Bruce Coville grew up reading pulp fiction. "I love the idea of iPulp. I cut my teeth as a reader on pulp fiction, the best of which has great storytelling energy. I'm all in favor of finding new ways to bring this kind of story to young readers." "Cheap short fiction - it's the lifeblood of literature." said Orson Scott Card, noting the importance of short stories as an art form. Royce Buckingham, the author of Demonkeeper and a 2008 iPulp contributor echoed that thought: "The short story is practically a lost art, but it looks like we’ve found it at iPulp. Personally, I’m delighted, because I love writing short fiction, but the real winners here are the readers—our kids." Kathleen Duey will also be writing for iPulp in 2008. Her novel Skin Hunger is a National Book award finalist. "iPulp takes fast-paced fiction to the kids, where they live—on the Internet." Ms. Duey said. "What a perfect idea. Home delivery. May it do for literacy what it did for pizza." For your convenience, we provide HTML code on the index page of most stories, allowing you to add direct links on your class webpage to the iPulp stories you want to offer your students. Soon, you will be able to submit and share your lesson plans, study guides, and extension activities with fellow iPulp teachers. Watch this page for details. On the right side of every iPulp page is a column that contains links to other iPulp features such as the iPulp Children's Literature Review, the iPulp Index of Middle Grade and YA Author Websites, and iPulp Articles and Interviews. Check this column frequently for new additions. Never miss a new issue of iPulp! Sign up for the iPulp Newsletter on either the ABOUT or ISSUE LIBRARY page. Want to share class writing projects or reward those special writers in class? Check out the iPulp Writer's Gallery. The gallery allows any writer to post and share works with others. A link to the iPulp Writer's Gallery can be found at the top of every iPulp page.
iPulp is a digital publisher. We have the exclusive web rights to the stories we publish. In order to get the quality writers we seek, we must protect their intellectual property rights. For this reason, iPulp stories can only be read on the Internet. Story pages are protected so you cannot copy or print them. However, our articles, reviews, and interviews may be reproduced freely as long as the source is cited. FREE. Did we mention that iPulp stories are always free? How can we give away original works from award-winning authors? By supporting these pages with advertising. We are a member of the HotChalk Network. HotChalk supplies classroom-friendly advertising to sites with an education-based audience. We have also designed our pages so the ads will have a minimal impact on the viewer. We hope that the iPulp Fiction Library will become a vital supplement to your classroom activities and invite you to participate in our growth. Please feel free to send us comments, criticism and suggestions about what you'd like to see in the iPulp fiction Library.
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"As soon as I discovered iPulp Fiction Library I wanted my stories to be part of it," Elaine Marie Alphin said. "What a terrific outlet for writers to share their stories with kids and teens who do their reading on the web."
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