Annie On My Mind LSSL 5385

Annie On My Mind

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. NY: FSG.

“Annie on My Mind” is a story about two seventeen-year-old girls who fall in love. Liza Wintrop comes from an upper middle-class family, living in Brooklyn Heights in New York. She is the school president at her private school, Foster Academy, with dreams of attending MIT to become an architect.  Annie Kenyon comes from a hard-working class family who attends a public school with dreams of attending Berkeley in California.

Liza and Annie meet for the first time at The Metropolitan Museum of Arts. Although reserved, Liza finds herself drawn to Annie’s carefree spirit. During this friendship, the young girls learn to be true to themselves and their feeling for each other. Overwhelming pressure from family and school threatened to ruin their love. They are faced with some harsh obstacles but are supported by two of their teachers, after high school they go their separate ways. In the end, they overcome all the obstacles to remain together.

Books by the author:

Lily and Dunkin LSSL 5385

Lily and Dunkin

Gephart, D. (2016). Lily and Dunkin. NY: Delacorte.

Lily and Dunkin are two very different eight graders. Lily’s real name is Tom. Lily is transgender girl. Dunkin’s real name is Norbet. He is the newcomer from New Jersey who is bi-polar. Both want to fit in, be accepted and respected by their families and peers. They have support from family but, the father’s find it more difficult to relate to and accept the fate of their children. Lily’s father fears for her safety and happiness. Dunkin’s father is bipolar as well and mostly absent.

The story is narrated by both Lily and Dunkin. It exposes the good, the bad and the ugly of issues related to friendships, bullying, gender identity, mental health and even respect. These two show their courage and strength in dealing with who there really are and how they fit is the world.

Books by the author:

Speak LSSL5385

Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. NY: Penguin.

Melinda is an outcast. Before school started, there was a party. Melinda was sexually assaulted by the most popular boy on the football team and she called the cops. Before the incident at the party, she had lots of friends, but they have since abandoned her. She can’t tell anyone so she becomes mostly silent. The one friend she had distances herself to hang with the Martha’s and her parents are too busy with their busy lives to have the time to deal with her. She finds solace in her art teacher and a tiny closet at school. Her first year of high school is plagued with bullying, loneliness, depression, anger and despair. She is forced to face her attacker on several occasions until she finds the courage to stand up for what is right and speak.

Books by the author:

Gabi: A Girl in Pieces LSSL 5385

Gabi: A Girl in Pieces

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi: A girl in pieces. TX: Cinco Punto’s

Gabi Hernandez is a senior in high school. “Gabi, a Girl in Pieces” is her comprised journal of the last year of high school. Gabi lives with her mother and brother in a Lain community. Her father is in and out of her life due to hid drug addiction. Her mom is super critical, especially about her weight. She begins to binge eat to cope with the anxiety and stress. She also must deal with boys and her own sexuality. Her best friends Cindy and Sebastian try to support her as much as possible but, they too have key issues in their own lives. Cindy is pregnant and Sebastian comes out as gay. Through these obstacles, Gabi comes out on top with a better understanding of herself.

Books by the author:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian LSSL 5385

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. NY: Little Brown.

Arnold Spirit, Jr (Junior) loves to draw cartoons. He hopes to one day become rich and famous as a cartoonist to escaped his improvised life on the Spokane Indian reservation. Junior has major health issues that make his life difficult and him susceptible to bullying. In order to gain a good education, Junior decides to transfer to an all-white school off the reservation. This is not an easy decision for him and he is looked at as a traitor to his people. Junior endures great tragedies with the loss of his grandmother and sister. Through all his challenges, he finds a way to make it as light as possible without falling apart. He finds tremendous strength in himself and overcome like a champ.

Books by the author:

The Knife of Never Letting Go LSSL 5385

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press

Todd Hewitt is a young boy who lives with his adoptive parents and his dog, Manchee. They live in a town called Perentisstown. The town is usual because there are no children and women, He was told they were all killed by aliens. The men were infected by a germ that enable them to hear everyone’d thoughts including animals constantly. Todd discovers a hole of silence called the Noise. When the men find out, he is forced to flee with the men after him. Todd discovers the silence comes from a girl named Viola. She is the sole survivor of a crash. Together they continue to run at the expense of Viola nearly dying and Todd having to surrender to save her. On their journey, Todd discover everything he has every know has been a lie.

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Persepolis LSSL 5385

Persepolis

Satrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis, the story of a childhood. NY: Pantheon.

Imagine the way of life and everything you have ever known is suddenly and drastically changed instantly. In 1980, this is precisely what happened to a ten-year-old girl named Marjane Satrapi from Iran. “Persepolis” is that little girl’s perspective of growing up during the Islamic Revolution War between Iran and Iraq. Marjane’s journey starts one year after the Revolution again. She goes from co-ed gender school, secular education, and modern religion to segregated schools, wearing veils and being oppressed by the Shah.

Marjane is taken on a journey of discovery, from wanted to be a prophet, learning her great-father was an emperor (later prime minister, political prisoner and a communist), father to King Reza Shah. When things become too dangerous, she is sent away. Marjane learns the true history of her people through love, lost and war.

Persepolis depiction through comic scripts is a brilliant way to relate to young readers. It is inspirational and a true testament to human courage and dignity.

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It’s Perfectly Normal LSSL 5385

It’s Perfectly Normal

Harris, R. (2009). It’s perfectly normal. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.

Kids are full of questions. Sometimes we easily have answers, other times it’s a little tricky if not outright difficult. “It’s Perfectly Normal” is the perfect book to help navigate through those times. It presents an informative, reassuring, unbiased and responsible way to introduce tweens to everything they need to know about the big “S” word-sex.

With all the misinformation from peers, social media and pop culture, this book is refreshing. It is an in depth look at all the questions and concerns your tween could possibly have with puberty, changes in their bodies, the reproductive system, sex, sexual health, pregnancy, birth and family.

The clever use of the bird and bee characters only makes it more appealing and less intimidating for both parent and child. It is not for the faint-at-heart. I suggest you scan before introducing. I wish a book like this was available when I was a tween and I’m sure parents who embrace it would agree too.

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Monster LSSL 5385

Monster

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. NY: Harper.

Walter Dean Myers Monster is a novel written like a film script with parts in the form of a diary narrated by the main character Steve Harmon. Steve is a 16-year-old black kid from Harlem. By all accounts he comes from a loving home with hard-working parents and his little brother Jeremy.

Steve is on trial for allegedly participating in the murder of drugstore owner Mr. Alquinaldo Nesbitt. He is accused of being the “lookout man” for two thugs who robbed the drugstore and killed the owner. Steve declares his innocence and finds himself in the fight of his life. Steve’s fears and desperation about his future in and out of prison is too much to handle. Walter Dean Myers brilliant depiction through script form and journaling not only wrestle with the conscience of Steve but, also gives insight to other important characters in the story as well- his parents, Prosecutor Petrocelli, Defense Attorney O’Brien, the thug James King, and the “rat” Richard Bobo Evans.

We are left with a verdict of not guilty for Steve. This book will leave you with more questions than answers. Why did King implicate Steve in the planned robbery it is wasn’t true? Did Steve lie under oath? Who really shot Mr. Nesbitt? Why did Steve’s father move away? Do you agree with the verdict? Why was the attorney general not receptive to Steve’s appreciation at the end of the trail? This novel has all the making of a made-for television movie whose content unfortunately is still very relevant today.

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Textbook Reflection Chapters 1-5 LSSL 5385

Textbook Reflection Chapters 1-5

Sharing literature with children is essential to the soul and essential. There are many reasons why this is necessary. Sharing literature with children is first and foremost fun, it promotes engagement in things that are fun and interesting. It aids in the development of language and self-reporting (the more you read the more you learn). Sharing literature also developments life-long readers who want to see themselves in books-reading autobiographically. It also gives you a point of view, intrinsic experiences and a joy for reading.

Young People’s Literature is broken up into four divisions. First is Children’s Literature (ages 0-8) normally consist of wordless picture books and easy readers to name a couple. Second, we have Middle Grade/Tween (age 8-12). Middle grades are often confused with middle school (11-13). Third, there is Young Adult (13-18). YA pushes a lot of strong language and content- “Grasshopper”. And the fourth division is New Adult (18-30). This division appeared in 2009 that looked to attract the slightly older than YA audience but also appealing to the adult audience.

It is important to know the difference between genres and formats so we can better serve or students and be able to present the correct language. Genres consist of fiction and nonfiction. Everything else is a sub-genre. Fiction branches off to Realism and Fantasy. Realism consist of Realistic/Modern Contemporary and Historical Fiction. Fantasy goes to Traditional (fairy tale, ballad, fable, fork tale, legends, and myth). The other side of Fantasy is Modern, which consist of hard science fiction, soft science fiction, low fantasy and high fantasy. Nonfiction will consist of informational, biography, autobiography, memoirs, narrative and expository nonfiction. Formats consist of poetry, drama, novels, chapter books, short stories, picture books and graphic novels.

Young Literature of YA consist of ten criteria’s. It involves protagonist, a point of view from an adolescent perspective, directness regarding exposition, involves important main character changes, growth in contemporary issues, main characters who are accountable for consequences and actions, brief time periods, limited settings and few well-developed characters. It also draws a sense of adolescent development.

We need to know the reader before we can successfully match them to a book. We learn this through an adolescent’s development in the physical-puberty, intellectually-concrete to abstract, morally pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional, through their needs-self-actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety and physiological.

Chapters 1-5 gives me a better understanding of what to look for in book choices, who to distinguish diverse types and how to best relate to the reader by understanding their needs. These still are essential to developing life-long readers.