the dirigible plum

Tag: adolescent literature

  • Celebrating Young Adult Literature #Celebratelu

    Celebrating Young Adult Literature #Celebratelu

    This week, I’m joining the Celebration at Ruth Ayres Writes. This week, I am celebrating all of the wonderful reading and blogging the students in my Adolescent Literature class have ahead of them. They really got started reading and writing in earnest this week. Mackenzie finished Speak, Becca read Kids of Kabul, Kali read The…

  • Reading Like a Wolf Eats

    Reading Like a Wolf Eats

    Sometimes it seems like every available surface in my house and office looks like this. And I’m not in the middle of moving or reorganizing bookshelves. I just like books. A lot. This week, I laid my cards on the table in Adolescent Literature class.The only thing I really care that you do in this…

  • Reading in the Wild: Sharing and Planning Reading

    Reading in the Wild: Sharing and Planning Reading

    I finished Reading in the Wild this weekend. This is definitely a book that I think all teachers should read, though I think that teachers who have been using reading workshop in their classrooms for at least a couple of years will probably find it most valuable. It’s only after you’ve been using the workshop…

  • Adolescent Literature: Reading “Wish List”

    It’s time–well, past time really–to submit book orders for next semester, which means it’s time for me to commit to the latest iteration of my Adolescent Literature course. I love tinkering with the reading lists for this course: there are so many wonderful books and blogs I want to share with my students. But it’s…

  • Diversity in Adolescent Literature

    A few weeks ago, one of my students, Rachel, wrote a provocative post called “Diversity Please Speak Up.” She recounts an experience in a different class where the students were asked to construct a reading list of books everyone needs to read by the time they graduate from high school. The list ended up consisting of…

  • No Teens Were Harmed in the Making of These Books

    Nikki Highfill (@nikkijh24) 1/23/13, 10:35 AM Tired of reading depressing stories about dying kids. Looking for happy feel-good YA lit recommendations. Please and thank you. #eng438 As promised, a very idiosyncratic list of YA novels that have made me happy over the past few years. Enjoy! The entire Casson family series by Hilary McKay: Saffy’s…

  • The History of Young Adult Literature

    To go along with our exploration of early YA novels this week in ENG 438, you might enjoy YA author David Lubar’s very short humorous piece on The History of Young Adult Novels in which angst and double initials reign supreme. For a more serious look at the genre’s history, read librarian Gretchen Kolderup’s excellent post, The…

  • How to Find Great YA Lit to Read and Share

    Here are some of my favorite resources for identifying young adult books I want to read: Blogs written by teachers, librarians, and lovers of YA lit. I especially like Leila’s bookshelves of doom and Colleen’s Chasing Ray. Booksmugglers features thorough reviews as well. Liz Burns’s A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy (a line from Buffy!!) is a…

  • The “Whys” Behind the New Adolescent Lit Syllabus

    This is the letter I’m posting to students in Adolescent Literature to explain the philosophy of the course: Most English teachers say their number one goal is to help their students become better readers, but most of our classroom practices don’t reflect that goal. (Think about what you do in your real life as a…