Red's Journey Through Bookland

Khorram, A. (2018).  Darius the Great Is Not Okay . Penguin Young Readers Group. Darius The Great is Not Okay was chosen as one of the 2019 Top Ten Best Fiction by YALSA. This list is presented annually recommended for readers between the ages of 12 to 18. The purpose of this list originally was to be a resource for collection development and reader's advisory purposes. Among others in the top ten is Poet X  which won this years Printz award and others that were recognized in other ways. When picking a book from this list, I wanted to try to cross reference and see if any of the books I was interested in reading had won any other awards or had been recognized. I also wanted to have a wide variety of texts that I have picked from this semester.  Darius The Great Is Not Okay  has also won the William C, Morris Debut Award, Asian/Pactific American Award for Young Adult Literature, TIME's 10 Best Young Adult and Children's Books of the Year, Publishers Weekly Best...

McNeil, G. (2018).  #Murdertrending . Los Angeles: Freeform Books. #Murdertrending  was chosen this year for YALSA's 2019 Top ten Quick picks and has been suggested for the upcoming YALSA's Top Ten Teen Books 2019. This book is funny, riveting, and alarming all at the same time- which makes for a perfect YA book.  #Murdertrending   is a story set in the not to far off future that criticizes our current fascination with reality TV, justice, and social media. In this not far off Dystopian like future, Dee has been convicted of killing her step-sister and has been sentenced to death on Alcatraz 2.0. This is a world that has created a commodity out of our justice system- that those who have been convicted of corporal crimes are sent to a newly renovated Alcatraz island in which the inmates are hunted down by serial killers in the name of justice. Think of the ideas and morals behind Dexter, but without the forethought and planning to make sure that the people...

Acevedo, E. (2018).  The poet X a novel . New York: HarperTeen. Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo was chosen as 2019's Printz Award winner . This is not the only award and recognition this book has won since published in 2018. It also won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Horn Book Award for Best Fiction in 2018, and the 2018 Pura Belpre Award. This book has received a lot of recognition since it's publication- as it showed up on a multitude of award lists for me to choose from in this assignment. So it made perfect sense that this book was a "Must Read.' After reading it, I can only agree with all of the critics and sing its praises.  Poet X  tells the story of Xiomara as talented poet, hardened girl, and loving sister and daughter. Xiomara sturggles expressing herself aloud with words, as she often goes into bouts of silence, not speaking to anyone. She struggles with the persona and expectations that are put upon her by her family, ...

King, A. S. (2016).  I crawl through it: A novel . New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. On this blog I will be talking about a book that I have been "crawling through" for a while now. One of the authors that I could choose a book from was A. S. King. I have never read any of her books, but I have only heard great things (plus she is best friends with Andrew Smith one of my favorites). I chose I Crawl Through It  because of a review/ blog post I read on one of my previous professors YA blog, YA Wednesday. The post was published during the beginning of preparing for testing season, and I thought it would be an interesting read. I got the audio book from Audible around February, but I am just finishing it now. I also bought the paperback copy after I began listening to it I quickly realized that the way the book was organized would be easier to read with a physical copy in front of me as well. The audiobook was quite monotone when switching characters that it made i...

Green, J., & Levithan, D. (2010).  Will Grayson, Will Grayson . New York: Speak. First, I want to address why I chose this book to read. In our assignment, we were given a list of authors names that we were allowed to choose a book from. On this list was John Green. John Green has had a very successful writing career with tons of fans both of his written works and his vlog with his brother, Hank. The first book that I had read of his was Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances  written by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. At that time, I knew nothing about John Green, in fact I believe it was a Christmas present. Then in college I was introduced to his other works in my YA literature class, specifically Looking for Alaska , and by my younger cousin who was a freshman in high school at the time, who introduced me to The Fault in Our Stars. Thus a few months of devouring every book that he has ever written ensued, which did not leave many options.   ...

Chapter 6: How do Adolescents develop?   This chapter analyzes the different aspects of development and how we know readers. A reader’s development (physical, emotional, mental, etc.) helps us as teachers and librarians better match books to adolescents. This is important because you do not want to give a student a book that they are not ready for or already far surpassed because it may turn them off reading and that is the last thing we would want to do.   First is physical development, adolescents are going through puberty. It is physical development that makes adolescents more insecure because they are always bombarded about “if they are normal?” This is something we need to remember when suggesting books that help them realize that they are normal in a way. Piaget is known for his theories on intellectual development. Adolescence is often considered the time when they transition from concrete thinkers to abstract formal thinkers. If a student is still in the ...

Garden, N. (2013). Annie on my mind. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Annie on My Mind  by Nancy Garden tells the story of two teenage girls falling in love. This book was originally written and published in 1982 which makes this particular love story very unique. Liza meets Annie in her happy place, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is by herself as she normally is going to use the art as inspiration for her senior project. It is then that she meets this quirky and outgoing girl that she quickly befriends. Both Liza and Annie know that this is more than a normal friendship, but they struggle to say it aloud. This story show the struggle of the LGBT community during the time this book was set. Liza barely knew what homosexuality was or gay meant when she realized she was in love with Annie. Liza goes through a journey of guilt, acceptance, and self discovery throughout this book. Liza recognizes as she recalls her memories of Annie in short flashbacks or vignettes that she...

Chapter 5: What is YA Literature? This chapter covers the 10 essential characteristics that helped define YA literature. These 10 characteristics came from Mertz and England in 1983 to help define the classification of YA literature. The 10 characteristics include: - The protagonist is youthful - The point of view centers on an adolescent’s perspective on events - Direct exposition and confrontation of events - There is normally a significant change in the main character’s life - Exemplifies high amount of independence in the protagonist - Shows a gradual change in the character’s growth (coming of age- incomplete not completely grown) - Brings to light concerns over contemporary issues - Shows a character dealing with the consequences of their decisions and actions - The setting, timer period, and characters might be brief and limited as part of the main characters world view (structural convention) - It builds on how adolescents actually develop over time These...

Chapter 3: Anatomy of a book This chapter summarizes and shows a diagram of the important parts of a book that can be of interest to a reader. The backbone (or spine), Endpapers, and Casewrap are often the first things we look at when assessing our interest in a book. These three items can help entice a reader into purchasing or checking out a book. The book block, gutter, and headband are normally more utilitarian than the others as they keep the book together and do not often used to impress a reader. We are all told as kids to not judge a book by it’s cover, but I don’t know anyone who hasn’t done that exact thing. These parts of the book help us judge the cover and our interest, and they create the first impression of a book which is important to get someone to read it. This chapter also gives additional vocabulary that revolves around the publishing process. Mock-Up, Format, and Proofs are parts of the publishing process which might explain how people may see different version...

Chapter 2: Divisions of Young People’s Literature There are four major divisions of young people’s literature that we encounter the most as teacher librarians: Children’s literature, Middle grade/ tween, Young adult, and New adult. Children’s literature is defined by reaching kids between the age ranges from 0-8 including picture books, wordless books, and chapter books. Middle Grade and tween books are the books that serve the population of 8-12-year-olds. One common misconception is that middle grade books are for middle schoolers, but middle school populations are 11-13 year old students. Middle school books often deal with tougher issues so they are not necessarily a good fit for the lower end of middle grade level. Young Adult are books marketed and developmentally appropriate for students between the ages of 13-18 years old. One thing is to always remember to review books before recommending them as you want to make sure you are not suggesting a book that is more developmen...

Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (2008).  Monster . New York: HarperCollins. Monster tells the story of an aspiring filmmaker during the trial that will decide how he will spend the rest of his life: as a free man or in a jail cell for the proposed 25 to life sentence. Steve Harmon tells the story of his trial through 2 formats that come naturally to a budding filmmaker and a teenager: screenplay and diary.  Steve seems to be caught up in a very nasty situation. As a young black man, he is being tried for felony murder. It seems the just knowing the wrong people can somehow make you a part of their plot. Walter Dean Myers, a very prolific African American author, allows readers to follow along with Steve's journey and make their own assumptions and deductions based on the information in his case. The format of the story allow for the book to be a quick read and really suck the reader into the world that Steve is living in.  This book discusses the criminalizatio...

Gephart, D. (2016).  Lily and Dunkin . New York: Delacorte Press. Lily and Dunkin  tells a weaving story from two perspectives entering the alarming year of eighth grade. Lily (formerly known as Tim) goes on a journey to convince her parents and her peers of who she really is. She meets Dunkin on the street on her first day of "practice" of being herself- wearing girls clothing. Dunkin sees her after moving to Florida with his mom after a traumatizing experience. They seem to weave in and out of each others lives as Dunkin gets accepted by the basketball team, also known as Neanderthals because of how they torment Tim in school. Both find out that while on a journey to find themselves and live their own truths that self discovery can be very challenging at times.  Lily's journey sheds an incredible light on what transgendered individuals go through when born into the wrong body. It is tactfully done and helps the reader develop empathy for people like Lily desp...

Behar, R. (2017).  Lucky broken girl . New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books. Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar tells the story of Ruthie, the lucky broken girl, who suffered a broken leg during a car accident when she was in fifth grade. She was told she was lucky because only her leg was broken, but she was stuck in a body cast and bedridden for nearly a full year. She watches her mother struggle to care for her "broken girl" and her family to pay her medical bills. Throughout this story, we see a girl who is resilient yet feels helpless. During her year in bed, Ruthie finds a new world in books and art. So much so that when she gets her casts off she does not want to leave her bed. This book is filled with hope, grief, spirituality, and most importantly luck.  Ruthie struggles throughout her time stuck in bed to keep a hold of the self she once was; she finds that she has become a different Ruthie than she was before the accident. Not better or worse, just different. S...

Facebook or Twitter: Which one is better for a library's promotion and networking?  We have all had a lot of experience with facebook and twitter. They are the way that we communicate across countries, develop relationships, maintain relationships, and sometimes even for self promotion. Look at me and all the great things I am doing! Now why not do this for your library? Many people have had this idea- this is a look at how successful these two social media networks are for promoting libraries.  Facebook;  When I did my initial search for school library pages I had to scroll past many Library organizations, non-profits, and educational resources before I was able to find any effective school library pages. These are the Library pages that I found:  Green Forest High School Library  Green Forest, AR On this Facebook page for Green Forest High School's Library, you can tell that the Media Specialist uses this page to advertise the success of...