Inanimate Alice

Inanimate Alice is an online novel, but it is also an experimental kind of writing. The authors call it transmedia, a combination of various media platforms. The story is told through a spoken narrative, images, cell phone calls, text messages, music, puzzles, snippets of language, video, and words. It is difficult to explain just how this experience works, but I enjoy seeing all the various media types weave a storyline that brings about some very visceral responses. Reading the story is sort of a combination of watching a movie, reading captions, solving puzzles, texting, and listening to a soundtrack. I recommend you go check it out and see what it's like for yourself.

So far there are four completed chapters, with each happening in a different country and with Alice encountering increasingly complicated (and I say scary) situations that she has to deal with. Similar to the Harry Potter books, Inanimate Alice follows the main character as she gets older and matures. I see no age limits for readers, though I think this is probably not a narrative for very young students. I have know people to share the site with third or fourth graders who really got into it.

The story is interactive in a few ways. There are puzzles and cell phone screens that readers have to manipulate to propel the narrative. You have to keep scrolling arrows as well. There is also a tool bar of sorts that is populated with scenes from the book as you go through the story, that way you can revisit or reread parts if you would like. 

The site is also full of teaching resources, providing some guidance of how such a text might be used with students. There are links to the new Common Core State Standards, downloadable activities, and a teaching packet. They also provide objects like this badge below, so you can "convey the fact that teachers there are engaged with the latest developments in digital storytelling."

 

There is no advertising on the site, and the makers only promote this story, which is free, and their work with others providing workshops for educators and online authors.

Three of the chapters are available in  Spanish, Italian, French, and German, so they could also be used with ESL or second language learners.It seems like they are trying to make this story rather multicultural. I wonder if it is too bourgeois though. Would your typical student relate to it?

So, go check out Inanimate Alice already!