Famous First Impressions

Paul Volponi is a bestselling author, journalist, and educator. His twelve novels for young adults have received a dozen American Library Association honors and his novel Black and White was a winner of the International Reading Association Children’s Book Award. Volponi is also the author of multiple nonfiction books for young adults, including The Great G.O.A.T. Debate: The Best of the Best in Everything from Sports to Science, Superhero Smart: Real-World Facts behind Comic Book Characters, and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Unauthorized Fun-ography. Volponi resides in New York City.

A masterclass in the art of capturing an audience's attention from the very first line, Famous First Impressions is an engaging roadmap filled with a wealth of cultural and literary insights for creatives at any stage of their journey.

• INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER ONE: Setting, Mood and ToneDark and Stormy -- Charles M. Schulz and Snoopy (World Famous Author)A Talking Raven -- Edgar Allan Poe, The RavenStarry Night -- Don McLean, VincentCHAPTER TWO: IdentityWoman Powered -- Taylor Swift, Blank Space - Billie Eilish/Finneas O’Connell, What Was I Made For? - Olivia Rodrigo, Jealousy, Jealousy - Maya Angelou, Phenomenal WomanWhat’s In a Name, or Not -- Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Or, The Whale - Have a Chocolate -- Eric Roth, Forrest Gump (film) - Winston Groom, Forrest Gump (novel)Can You See Me? -- Ralph Ellison, Invisible ManNobody is Somebody -- Emily Dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who are You?CHAPTER THREE: The Human ConditionWhy Shakespeare?Hamlet’s Dilemma -- William Shakespeare, HamletSongs of Social Change -- Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On - Jay-Z, Some How, Some Way Warning Signs -- Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), The Butter Battle BookMob Mentality -- Shirley Jackson, The LotteryYou Can Do It Too -- Ordinary people making great literatureA Need to Communicate -- Anne Frank, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young GirlThe Plight of Addiction -- Pink, Sober - Selena Odom, My Master - Amy Winehouse, Rehab - Neil Young, The Needle and the Damage DoneCHAPTER FOUR: Self-DeterminationMaking Your Own Way -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, HamiltonChange by Example -- Michael Jackson/Glen Ballard/Siedah Garrett, Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson/Lionel Richie We are the World From Behind Bars -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham JailThe Trap of Hatred -- Wendell Berry, EnemiesDouble-Standard -- Gwen Stefani/Tom Dumont, I’m Just a Girl - Beyoncé, If I Were a Boy CHAPTER FIVE: Time and SpaceTo Boldly Go -- Gene Roddenberry/William Shatner, Star Trek (intro)From Science Fiction to Reality -- Neil Armstrong, One Small Step for ManMay the Force Be with You -- George Lucas, Star WarsSpace Parody -- Mel Brooks, SpaceballsAI Gone Wrong -- Arthur C. Clarke/Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey (film) Hitch-Hiking -- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the GalaxyBetter Read, Or Else -- Damon Knight, To Serve ManWarring Worlds -- H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (novel)Public Panic -- H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (fake radio broadcast)CHAPTER SIX: The Road, Streets and Other TravelsNothing to Hide -- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of WrathThe Boss Voices Tom -- Bruce Springsteen, The Ghost of Tom JoadNobody Street -- Octavio Paz, The StreetYou Decide -- Robert Frost, The Road Not TakenChanging Course -- Adele/ Greg Kurstin, I Drink WineThey’re Your Footsteps -- Walt Whitman, Song of the Open RoadOn the Wind You Say? -- Bob Dylan, Blowin’ In the WindCHAPTER SEVEN: SportsAttention Getting -- Jim McKay, Wide World of Sports (intro)LaPoem James -- Sean Thomas Dougherty, Biography of LeBron as Ohio (poem)Remember When? -- John Updike, Ex-Basketball PlayerSurf’s Up -- Susan Orlean, Life’s SwellWide Shoulders -- Earnest Lawrence Thayer, Casey at the BatA Price to Pay -- Eva Holland, Why We PlayFighter, defender, Advocate -- Muhammad Ali, I Am America (poem and other verse)Right Field is for Heroes -- Noel Paul Stookey, Right FieldNo-Nonsense Conscience -- Sherman Alexie, VictoryPIT STOP #1: Reflecting on what we’ve seen and what’s to come, plus potential projectsCHAPTER EIGHT: Freedom and Captivity, Supers and SleuthsFreedom and CaptivityA Jury of Your Peers? -- Reginald Rose, Twelve Angry Men (play) Chains of the Mind -- Bob Marley, Redemption SongBroken and Transformed -- Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony Bug-Off -- Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis Separate and Unequal -- Maya Angelou, Caged BirdLife on the Inside -- Stephen King, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (novella) and Frank Darabont, The Shawshank redemption (film)Proper Manners and Penance -- Langston Hughes, Thank You, Ma’amSupers and SleuthsRevised Steel -- Jerome Siegel/Joel Shuster, Super-Man.A Dark Crusader -- Bill Finger/Bob Kane, BatmanOpening the Door Wider -- Dr. William Moulton Marston, Wonder WomanWeb Slinger -- Stan Lee/Steve Ditko, Spider-ManHey, Sherlock -- Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the FourEncyclopedia B. -- Donald Sobel, Encyclopedia Brown Gets His ManTeen Sleuths -- Edward Stratemeyer, The Hardy Boys and Nancy DrewCHAPTER NINE: True Love and HeartbreakFeuding Families -- William Shakespeare, Romeo and JulietStreetlight Serenade -- Mark Knopfler, Romeo and Juliet (song)Fairytale Romance -- Taylor Swift, I Knew You Were TroubleDid He or Didn’t He? -- Shakespeare/Once upon a TimeLove without Obligation -- John Hartford, Gentle on my MindLove and Marriage? -- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Can You Hear Me? -- Donika Ross Kelly, Love Poem: MermaidHold Nothing Back -- Janis Ian, At SeventeenConstantly Parodied -- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, How Do I Love Thee and Karen McCullah/Kristen Smith, Ten Things I Hate About You (film)CHAPTER TEN: Orators and Famous SpeechesGalvanizing Words -- Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg AddressLiberty or Death -- Patrick Henry, Speech at Second Virginia ConventionA Declaration -- Thomas Jefferson et al., Declaration of Independence The Voice of Youth -- Malala Yousafzai, Speech at United Nations Youth AssemblyI Have a Dream -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream (speech)No More, Forever -- Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Surrender SpeechHeating Things Up -- Greta Thunberg, Speech at United Nations Climate Action SummitHeartfelt Farewell -- Lou Gehrig, Retirement Speech at Yankee StadiumCHAPTER ELEVEN: PerspectiveJust Imagine -- John Lennon/Yoko Ono, ImagineScrambled Eggs? -- Paul McCartney/John Lennon, YesterdayThe Best and Worst -- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two CitiesA More Personal Perspective -- Billy Joel, Summer Highland FallsTwo for One, Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry FinnScrub a Word? -- Removing original language from booksBlind Faith -- Amari Baraka, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide NoteParallel Play -- Stephen Schwartz, What is this Feeling? (from Wicked)Slipper Trivia -- Dorothy’s changing shoe colorsMeasure of a Year -- Jonathan Larson, Seasons of Love (from Rent)CHAPTER TWELVE: Young AdultsUn-fortunately Intriguing -- Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), A Series of Unfortunate EventsAlmost Never -- J. B. Barrie, Peter and WendyMissing Parents -- Orphans in literature Angst Personified -- J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the RyeThe Anti-Holden (Save Ferris!) -- John Hughes, Ferris Bueller’s Day OffModeled Upon -- Dan Pikey, Captain Underpants: The First Epic MovieHarry Is Still Harry -- J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Not So Wimpy -- Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy KidAlways On-line -- T. M. Anderson, FeedPIT STOP #2: Reflecting on what we’ve seen and what’s to come, and more potential projectsCHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Senses/Unity and DiscordThe SensesLike Alphabet Soup? -- Mark Strand, Eating PoetrySpeaking Up -- Paul Simon, The Sound of SilenceDeep Breaths -- William Carlos Williams, Smell!Beyond Us -- Judith Wright, Five SensesYou Fill Up My Senses -- John Denver, Annie’s Song Unity and DiscordLove Light -- Hafiz, Even After All This TimeThe Price and Reward -- Rose Marie Juan-austin, Poetry is a Solitary ArtSharing the Load -- Bill Withers, Lean on MeIsland or Continent? -- John Donne, No Man is an IslandClosing The Circle -- Seinfeld and the second button, againCHAPTER FOURTEEN: FantasySneak Peak -- Stephenie Meyer, TwilightToll Taker -- Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth Storm on the Horizon -- Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)Rabbit Hole -- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandAllusions to Alice -- Grace Slick, White RabbitButtercup and Westley -- William Goldman, The Princess Bride (film) and The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The “Good Parts” Version (novel)Hobbits and Rings -- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Lord of The RingsCHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Natural (Unnatural) World/Life and DeathGenesis -- Bible (In the Beginning) The Lamb and Tyger -- William Blake, Little Lamb Who Made Thee? and Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright The Creature -- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Or the Modern Prometheus Digging Deep -- Ada Limon, Notes on the BelowNever-ending Summer -- William Shakespeare, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?Murdering Sleep -- William Shakespeare, MacbethMiddle of the Night -- Dana Gioia, InsomniaClinging to Light -- Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into that Good NightRevisiting Emily -- Emily Dickinson, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I DiedGraveyard Ballard -- Tom T. Hall, Ballard of Forty DollarsDebating an Ending -- Robert Frost, Fire and IceCHAPTER SIXTEEN: Society and Its InfluencesThree the Easy Way/Hard Way -- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby -- Lorde, Royals -- Frederick Douglass, The Narrative life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Privilege, a Plus or Handicap -- Jimmy Page/Robert Plant, Stairway to Heaven -- Langston Hughes, Mother to SonThe Burden of Fame? -- Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Candle in the Wind -- Eminem, StanThat Book is Fire! -- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: WarHeavy Jacket -- Gustav Hasford/Michael Herr/Stanley Kubrick, Full Metal JacketWar and Laughs? -- Larry Gelbart, M*A*S*H (TV show)Anti-War Anthem -- Norman Whitfield/Barrett Strong, WarDifferent Paths, Same Destination -- Denise Levertov, Making Peace -- Brian Turner, Hurt LockerDeserving Better -- John Prine, Sam StoneWar Hawk -- Francis Ford Coppola/Edmund North, PattonCHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Dystopian LandscapesWomen and Unwomen -- Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s TaleFeed the Hungry, But Just Some of Them -- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger GamesA Second Chance -- James Cameron/William Wisher, Terminator 2: Judgement DayOpposite Land -- George Orwell, 1984Your True Calling -- Veronica Roth, DivergentConclusion: Hooray, Success!: Concluding thoughts, forward thinking, new literary friendships and ideas for fun.Further ReadingBibliographyAbout the Author