Red's Journey Through Bookland

Chapter 16: Crowdsourced List of Middle School Authors This chapter contains a crowdsourced list of authors created via a google form filled out by middle school teachers (5-8) about the authors that they teach and/or suggest to students on a regular basis. This google sheet has each suggestion timestamped with the most recent addition on 7/21/2016, the author’s last name, and first name. Lists like this one being created by the teachers and librarians in the field could be very beneficial to other librarians and teachers- as it gives both the names of respected authors but also shows the amount of times the author was suggested. This could help with collection development and also making sure that you are aware of the most important authors in that area, in this case middle school authors. Some of the top suggested authors were (in alphabetical order, followed by the amount of times suggested): Kwame Alexander, 12; Laurie Halse Anderson, 9; Tom Angleberger, 4; Katherine Applegat...

Chapter 14: Graphic Novels Graphic novels are not considered a genre as they are a form/format to express a genre. Graphic novels can be written for any age audience and can be written in any genre or sub-genre like historical fiction, nonfiction, science fiction, and realistic fiction. One great resource given in this chapter is the slide share presentation called “Graphic Novels and their Role in Literacy Development.” I have always had a particular fondness of Graphic novels because of their accessibility to those with learning differences and those who struggle with visual learning styles. BUT this does not mean that they are only meant for people with those difficulties. In fact, Graphic novels can be defined as a general term used to describe a book that is told in a comic format – it should still resemble a novel in both length and narrative development. One thing that makes Graphic novels unique is their complexity- they are more complex in comparison to comic books and ...

Harris, R. H., & Emberley, M. (2014).  Its perfectly normal: Changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health . Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. It's Perfectly Normal is the perfect name for this book. the main character's bird and bee are learning everything about sex and what it means. This book is a wonderful depiction of what being normal is all about and when you are growing up and when you are an adult it includes talking about sex. This book explores the topics or gender, sex, sexuality, sex organs, anatomy, puberty and much more. These are topics that nearly every young adult is interested in learning about, but have a very difficult time getting direct answers or answers at all. This book has the answers!- written in a way that is assuring to the reader that everything and everyone is "perfectly normal." When evaluating nonfiction we have 5 essential questions we must answer to properly evaluate if the text is quality information and appro...

Chapter 12: Nonfiction Nonfiction is a large genre which covers a multitude of subgenres and spans many different forms/formats. The paramount importance when evaluating nonfiction is the accuracy and currency of the works. This is a huge reason that librarians have to reevaluate and weed their nonfiction collections frequently. The first question that you should ask when evaluating nonfiction is what are the qualifications of the author? This is important because the author’s knowledge of the subject matter they are reporting on is first to look at. There are authors that have background in the subject or content area that they write about, while there are other nonfiction authors that are well known for writing on many different subjects through rigorous research. Some of the ways to evaluate what type of author and qualifications they have is looking at the book jacket, author’s notes included in the back, and the author’s website. You can also see what other text features inc...

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 ...

Chapter 4: Genres & Formats This chapter covers genres and formats, specifically debunking some assumed genres and formats during the new trend of genrefying libraries. The two genres are fiction and nonfiction; everything else is consider a subgenre. Within Fiction, there are two major branches realism and fantasy. Realism encompasses the books that cover topics that we would see in our current everyday world or in history; it is rooted in reality. Fantasy, on the other hand, has traditional which covers everything from fairy tales, myths, to folktales. These traditional versions of Fantasy normally fall under 398.2 in the Dewey decimal classification and housed in the nonfiction section. Modern Fantasy is normally housed within the fiction section of the library as it covers fantasy and science fiction, another subgenre of fantasy. Underneath Modern Fantasy there are 4 catagories: Hard Science fiction, Soft Science fiction, High Fantasy, and Low fantasy. Hard science fiction ...

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...

Chapter 1: Why do we share literature with children?  The first chapter of our textbook summarizes the plethora of reasons we share books with others (specifically kids). The major and first reason is that reading is fun, humans are more likely to engage in things that we enjoy. So sharing something that you love with someone else creates a bond as people- when we share the books that we love with others we are sharing just a little bit of our hearts with them. The second reason is about the benefits of reading with kids- specifically the benefits of vocabulary and language acquisition. Another reason to share books with kids is the social emotional benefits like developing empathy. Books allow for kids to experience things that they would often not experience (depending on where and how they grow up) and develop an empathy for diverse experiences. Sharing books can also support lifelong readers through series or serial reading (the devouring of books in a series, by a specif...

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...