Mr. Wasko is a language arts teacher, who loves reading, learning, and teaching. Reading is one of his favorite hobbies, and with that comes a fair share of opinions on books. From plot twists to child books Mr. Wasko has a thought or two on it.
Panther Press: Good morning. The article is about book genres, non-fiction versus fiction.
Mr. Wasko: Okay.
Panther Press: What is it about language arts that makes you teach it over any other subject.
Mr. Wasko: Well, I think it’s a lot more fun than any other subject. I think it is a lot more fun you can have with different topics and strategies that you use in language arts. I mean when your writing stories and your writing fiction [you know] you can kind of let your mind go crazy. And you can come up with all types of interesting ideas.
Panther Press: If you couldn’t teach what else would you do for a living.
Mr. Wasko: [You know] what I wanted to be while I was growing up, I wanted to be a pro wrestling referee. Not the wrestler, the referee.
Panther Press: Currently, What is your favorite book?
Mr. Wasko: My favorite book is a book for young people, called A Monster Calls.
Panther Press: Would you rather be the villain in your favorite book, or the main character in your least favorite book?
Mr: Wasko: Good question, a villain absolutely a villain, villains get to have way more fun. And they’re more interesting. I mean I don’t want to give you a long answer and type all that.
Panther Press: As a kid, what was your favorite book, has it changed, how about the favorite book you teach?
Mr. Wasko: My favorite book growing up was The Giving
Tree. My favorite book that I teach was, The Giver.
Panther Press: Um, to you what makes a good fiction book a good fiction book and a good non-fiction book a good non-fiction book?
Mr. Wasko: Good fictional novels have to have a moral gray area, where the bad guys are bad, but you kind of feel bad for them. And the good guys are good but they are not perfect.
Panther Press:What makes a good non-fiction book a good non-fiction book?
Mr. Wasko: Non-fiction books have to be about… first of all it has to be about something interesting, something that people [want to] know about. And, I don’t know, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. At least it didn’t happen recently. Yea, it’s [got to] be something interesting.
Panther Press: I can see that you prefer fiction books, why do you feel that way?
Mr. Wasko: Well fiction you get to explore all types of imaginary people and places and ideas, there is no limit to it.
Panther Press: If you could relive any plot twist from a book what would it be?
Mr. Wasko: Ah man that’s so hard, Oh no. You’re asking me to spoil something. I’d have to spoil a story. That’s a hard one,that’s a really hard answer. I would have to really have to think about that one. There are so many plot twists in so many books and I read so many books. One of my favorite books is The River Man, I have two copies of it, and it’s got a really good twist but it is hard to explain and one character who ends up being someone who he is not. That is all I could tell you.
Panther Press: More specifically what is your favorite genre, and why so?
Mr: Wasko: Fantasy, because anything is possible.
Panther Press: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Mr. Wasko: I’d like to write a book about bears that fight other animals.
like giant birds and giant octopi. Basically I just want to write a book about bears fighting things.
It’s been fun gentlemen, I appreciate it.
Panther Press: Thank you for your time.
