Donalyn Miller's Blog, page 6

Books Are Dangerous! #YASaves

I was minding my own business last night, quietly reading Maureen Johnson's The Last Little Blue Envelope, when all Hell broke loose. Not in the book mind you--it's a funny and tender book. You should read it. What dragged me out of my blissful Saturday night spent reading was the furious tinging of Twitter alerts on my cell phone--an outcry that continues today. Meghan Cox Gurdon, a children's book reviewer for the Wall Street Journal, published an uninformed rant, "Darkness Too Visible", denouncing the "lurid" themes and "depravity" in young adult literature. Claiming that it is OK to ban and censor books if you rename it "judgment" and "taste," Gurdon further implies that "books focusing on pathologies help normalize them" and that parents should rise up against a liberal publishing industry who is trying to "bulldoze coarseness or misery into their children's lives." Not new arguments. Not even a new article. The Wall Street Journal published a similar article by Katie Rophie in June of 2009, "It Was, Like, All Dark and Stormy".

Ms. Gurdon thoughtfully provides a suggested list of more appropriate YA titles for young readers. In keeping with the antiquated stance of the article, she divides the list into sections for "Young Men" and "Young Women" including 4 titles that were written more than 38 years ago. I'm not saying that True Grit isn't a wonderful book, but it wasn't written for a teen audience. While disparaging books like National Book Award winner, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, and the critically-acclaimed Shine by Lauren Myracle, Gurdon suggests that young adults read Paolo Bacigalupi's science fiction work, Ship Breaker, a post-apocalyptic book (also a NBA winner) that explores the same dark subject matter that Gurdon spends her entire article warning readers against.

Within hours of the WSJ article's appearance, support for young adult literature and the power it has to inspire, support, and connect readers flooded Twitter. Thousands of readers, authors, teachers, librarians, book reviewers, and parents chimed in to share how young adult literature touches their lives and the lives of children they know. Readers who stopped bullying, readers who decided against suicide, readers who finally found a book they enjoyed, readers who asked for help, parents who found a path to discussing difficult topics with their children. The hashtag, #yasaves, became the third highest trending topic on Twitter, revealing that Ms. Gurdon should probably have interviewed a few young adult readers about what they read and why before writing her article.

Connecting young people with meaningful, though-provoking, soul-enriching, or just plain enjoyable books changes lives and creates lifelong readers. Pretending that bad things don't happen to kids doesn't make it go away, folks. Pushing books in front of kids that have no relevance to their lives makes their reading interest go away, though. How old should you have to be before you can find yourself in a book?

Growing up, I read The Outsiders and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret--two books that Ms. Gurdon claims began the YA industry. I also read Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mary Shelley (along with hundreds of other books). I didn't kill anyone in a fight or bury old men under my floorboards as a result. I became an avid reader and a teacher who leads my students to become readers themselves.

Just like any other genre or age-range of books, there are some poorly-written, cashing-in-on-trends titles in the young adult section of any bookstore. There are also books that will inspire and enrich young readers' lives--dark, provocative, light, romantic, innocent--books for any reader and any parental sensibility. I encourage parents to read recommendations from the School Library Journal, Horn Book, and the American Library Association if they need guidance in selecting worthwhile books for their children. Gurdon derides each one of these esteemed publications and organizations during the course of her article, further eroding any credibility she may have as children's book reviewer.

Do not let ignorance and storm crow squawking about the decline of civilization prevent you from sharing relevant, powerful books with your children. My twelve-year old daughter and I plan to read, swap, and discuss a pile of books this summer. I don't think she is old enough for Lauren Myracle's Shine, but I have a copy waiting for her when she is. Ultimately, my husband and I decide what books our daughter can and cannot read. It is our responsibility. It is our right. We can take it from here.

Today, bloggers outraged by Gurdon's WSJ article are responding in droves. For a concise and informed look at this controversy, the #YASaves movement, and the importance of YA literature, visit:

"There's Dark Things In Them There Books" by Lizzy Burns at SLJ's A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy blog (includes links to other bloggers' posts)

"How to Save a Life" by Teri Lesesne at the Professor Nana blog

The 3rd Annual Book-A-Day Challenge

School ends in two days. Students are returning book hostages from their emptied lockers and trying to finish one last book before Friday. As the books wander back in, I am snagging titles that I haven't been able to get my hands on all year. I stuffed The Scorch Trials, The Throne of Fire, and The Exiled Queen into my book bag today--hot sequels that I passed to students and never had the heart to retrieve for my own reading purposes. Sad that my classroom children are leaving me for good, I can find solace with my shelf children for the next three months.

With every ending, there's a beginning. Our last work day is June 4th, and I will start my third annual Book-A-Day Challenge on June 5th. Although I read about two or three books a week during the school year, I read over half of my yearly book total during the summer months. For the past two summers, I have set the goal of reading a book for every day of my summer break. Looking at our district calendar, this works out to 78 books this year (same as last summer). Will you join me in the Book-A-Day Challenge?

Here is how it works:

Read one book per day for each day of summer vacation. This is an average, so if you read three books one day (Hey, I have done this!) and none the next two, it still counts.

You set your own start date and end date.

Any book qualifies including picture books, nonfiction, professional books, poetry anthologies, or fiction.

You can read children's, young adult and adult titles. I will warn you, though, that my husband got bogged down in Justin Cronin's 784 page tome,The Passage, last summer and never recovered.

Keep a list of the books you read and share them when you can via a social networking site like goodreads or Shelfari, Facebook page, Twitter feed (post using the #bookaday hashtag), or a blog. You do not have to post reviews, but you can if you wish. Titles will do.

When I first began the Book-A-Day Challenge two years ago, announcing my insane personal reading goal online was a way to hold myself accountable. I never imagined the marvelous reading community it would become for the readers who participate. Although it began as a summer event, #bookaday on Twitter receives daily posts all year long. At this moment, participants are actively sharing titles and commenting on the books they read.

Let me admit a secret. I probably won't make my Book-A-Day Challenge this year without reading more than a few picture books and graphic novels to hedge my bets. You probably won't either. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what we read, or how much, or when. What matters is that we celebrate reading, share our book love with other readers, discover new titles, and enjoy ourselves. When I walk back into my classroom in August, I will be changed by the books I read this summer and I will have more to offer my students, too.

Are you ready?

The books are calling me. They are loud. They are piled all over my house.

Let the Book-A-Day Challenge begin!

It's the Last Dance

If you peeked into my classroom today, it looked like it does on any random day. Nam, Alyssa, and Connor pull out netbooks to update their goodreads shelves or research titles and authors. A row of kids sit on the couch, reading. Paisley sprawls on the floor, surrounded by the remnants of her reader's notebook, carefully taping the loose pages back into it. Brooke searches for a spot to scrawl a quote onto our Graffiti Wall. I chat with Michael about Rick Riordan's newest book, The Throne of Fire, and debate the Hunger Games movie cast announcement with Sarah. Regan retrieves ten books from her locker. I can barely see her eyes over the stack she's carrying.

It's just another day in Room 1217.

The vibe is different though. The hum of activity in my classroom has an urgent quality to it. My students and I scurry to tie up the loose ends of a year spent reading, writing, talking, and learning together. One last review written. One last title shared. One last page taped. One last book read.

What will my students remember about our class? What will they take away from it? What will they leave behind? I want my students to commemorate what they have accomplished this year and plan for their reading lives into the summer and beyond. Talking with the kids today about our classroom, we decided on the following activities for the final days of school. Student-driven, with little prep or class time required, these culminating activities provide meaningful reflection and fun moments for our classroom community, as well as set the stage for more reading.

Recommendation Wall: On index cards, students will record book recommendations. Displaying students' cards as suggestions for summer reading, I'll keep the display for next year's incoming students. While combing through notebooks and selecting books to recommend, the kids discuss scores of books they might read and reminisce about titles they have enjoyed.

End-of-Year Survey: Students have designed end-of-year survey questions and are polling each other about their reading habits, how many books they've read, and favorite authors and titles. Students may use edmodo to post poll questions, create a survey using Survey Monkey, or go low tech with a clipboard and pen.

Title Tally: I expect my students to read 40 books a year. Some have read 200. Some have read 20. All of them deserve to celebrate. Borrowing an idea from Penny Kittle, my students have calculated how many books they have read this year and drawn a sign on computer paper showing their totals.

**I took students outside to pose with their signs in class photos today and shared the combined total for all three of my classes. My 103 students read 6,735 books this school year. A remarkable achievement, but what this reinforces to me is that children will read a lot more than people think they will (or expect them to read).

Whatever you do to recognize your students' reading accomplishments, select activities that communicate students are not finished reading when the school year ends and that every reader has value to the class community no matter how many or what titles they read. Far preferable to award certificates and incentive prizes, which can be community dividers instead of community builders.

Some of you have finished the school year, and some have weeks to go. What activities and events do you plan for your students at the end of the year? Share your ideas! If you don't have time this year to try an activity, we always have next year.

Kick off your summer reading and join Paul W. Hankins and me for our monthly Twiiter chat, #titletalk, this Sunday, May 29th at 8 pm EST. Our topics this month: personal reading and writing plans and summer professional development.Participants in the chat always share loads of book recommendations, too.

Access Denied

At the Miller house, Saturday is cleaning day--dusting, mopping floors, sorting through the mail, and invariably, putting away stacks of books. We have ten bookcases in our tiny house--all full. Overwhelmed by the task of conquering the book piles, I sent a message to my Twitter friends today asking, "How do you organize your home book shelves?" Answers ranged from the honest, "I try by genre, but it all ends up random in the end," to the intellectual, "Dewey Decimal, baby," to the decorative, "I organize my books by color." Our twelve year-old daughter, Sarah, sorts her books by genre, then alphabetizes them by author. It seems that the systems we employ to organize our books reflect the diversity of readers and the books themselves. Among the librarians, teachers, and authors who chimed in, we all have more books than we can manage, but it occurs to me that many children could not answer my question at all because they don't own any books.

During the paycheck-to-paycheck days of our early marriage, Don and I saw books as our one luxury. I remember walking every Saturday to the used bookstore down the street from our first apartment. We never went out to eat, we rarely bought new clothes, we rode the bus, but we always managed to scrimp and save enough money for a few books. Looking at our glutted bookshelves, I can still see some of the treasures we bought--paperbacks of Frankenstein, Don Quixote, Brave New World, and every Stephen King book we could find. Everyone measures their prosperity differently, but I consider myself successful because I can buy our daughters and granddaughter all the books they want now.

While I promote book ownership and encourage parents to buy books for their children, I know that families cannot afford books when they struggle to put gas in their car or pay the rent. Should poor or disadvantaged children be deprived of access to books due to their circumstances? School and public libraries often provide children the only book access they have, but these sources may disappear in light of the looming financial crisis.

School districts and local governments across the country face brutal budget cuts. Our district is no exception, and I noticed that the Tier I and Tier II cuts in our proposed budget for next year include substantial reductions in library staff and spending for library books. Additionally, public libraries are cutting staff, reducing book purchasing budgets, or closing their doors forever. Closing libraries is a short-sighted measure at best and has long term consequences for communities. Looking at the numbers, closing libraries actually costs society more money than it saves.

Congress, while eliminating access to books for millions of children by slashing funding for libraries and literacy programs like Reading Is Fundamental, proposed the Access to Books for Children Act this month. According to The American Republican website, "This amendment to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 directs the Department of Agriculture to make grants to local agencies to provide vouchers to women participating in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) for the purchase of educational books for their infants and children. Limits to one $5 voucher the maximum amount any one woman may receive, regardless of the number of her infants or children."

While acknowledging the importance of early literacy programs and access to books in the wording of this bill, giving poor families a voucher that will not purchase one paperback book is an ineffectual replacement for meaningful library and book donation programs that provide free book access to millions of Americans.

Let's not underestimate how important this access is. Whether or not they have access to books in homes, schools, and libraries significantly affects children's literacy development and academic success, and there is overwhelming research to prove it. In the latest issue of Reading Today, the International Reading Association's bimonthly newsletter, IRA President, Patricia Edwards, insists that, "Children in poverty need more access to reading materials...However, recent data indicate that while the ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods is approximately 13 books per child, the ratio in low-income neighborhoods is 1 book per 300 children." In a recent interview with Danny Brassell, Dr. Stephen Krashen (my literacy hero), insists that providing healthcare, food, and access to books to children would erase the achievement gap.

In order to ensure that all children have the ability to reach their potential, we must provide free access to books and low cost book ownership to families. Some suggestions:

Increase awareness among colleagues, administrators, and policy makers about the need to provide children with access to books.

Share with parents the importance of book ownership and visiting the library.

During the summer months, open school libraries or offer long-term loans from school and classroom libraries.

Enroll children and their families for library cards.

Invite public librarians to PTA and staff meetings to describe library services and programs.

Sponsor a school book swap or book drive to collect books for children to take home.

Write your congressperson and insist he or she supports libraries and literacy programs.

Donate your money, your books, or your time to programs that provide book access.

Investigate grants and funding sources to purchase more books.

When selecting gifts for children, buy a book.

Raising Our Voices in Support of the National Writing Project

Looking over my past blog entries, I think that I remain consistent in my beliefs and my point-of-view about teaching reading. I suppose that's a good thing. I revisit topics on my blog often--why adults should role model reading lives, why we should promote reading choice, why test prep and reading management programs shortchange children, but it saddens me to realize that I have written about why we should save federally funded programs like the National Writing Project (and Reading Is Fundamental) for the third time in two years. In spite of successful grassroots efforts to lobby for continued funding for these powerful literacy initiatives, these programs receive temporary stays of execution, only to appear on lists of funding cuts the next go around. As an American taxpayer, I know that we need to hunker down and make difficult cuts. It seems logical that we should dedicate our limited resources to educational programs shown to improve teacher performance and increase student achievement--programs like the National Writing Project, a successful professional development initiative for the past three decades.

This fall, I was the keynote speaker at the National Writing Project Annual Meeting--one of the most amazing experiences of my life. In my speech, I shared my quest over the past few years to become a better teacher and my journey to find my confidence as a writer--a love letter to the NWP and its profound influence on my life. In large part, I owe my success as a professional writer and speaker to my National Writing Project experiences. I know that I am better teacher, too, because I attended the North Star of Texas Writing Project Summer Institute. Not only did I learn about the pedagogy behind good writing instruction, I learned to live a writing life alongside my students. The research proving the effectiveness of the Writing Project is well-documented, but I only need to talk to my colleagues to know that this is true. Every teacher I know who has participated in NWP institutes and training credits the NWP with improving their teaching and their professional lives.

When I consider English and reading instruction, a significant number of the thought leaders in our field have affiliations with the National Writing Project, too. Folks like Troy Hicks, Carol Jago, Kelly Gallagher, and scores of other professors, researchers, administrators, and effective, incredible classroom teachers are NWP teacher consultants and site leaders. We lose a vital source of leadership if we silence the NWP.

Chad Sansing and Pam Moran, teacher leaders in their own right, have organized a blog event this weekend, #blog4nwp, asking NWP teacher consultants across the country to share their NWP stories and show their support for the Writing Project. If you have an NWP story to share, I encourage you to write a post and send the link to Chad, so he can add it to his blog roll.

Reading through the #blog4nwp posts, I wondered how my voice could add to the heartfelt, intelligent testimonials written by my NWP family as they recount their teaching and writing experiences.

Then I remembered the most important lesson I learned as a Writing Project teacher consultant, my voice matters. I take this lesson into my classroom every day and show my students that their voices matter, too. Through writing, we can make our voices heard.

It seems counterintuitive to me that policy pundits and politicians rant about improving teacher quality, while cutting programs like the National Writing Project, which is proven to do just that. In practice, it seems the only skill these so-called experts value in education these days is students' ability to bubble choices on computer-scannable documents. When will my students use that skill in their adult lives? I can only think of one instance--selecting political leaders on ballots when voting. Hmm. Perhaps, this skill has value after all...

Meanwhile, I have written letters to my state representatives in support of both NWP and RIF--an authentic writing purpose if there ever was one. I implore you to do the same.

Share a Story, Shape a Future 2011: The Power of a Book

Share a Story Shape a Future is an annual blog event to promote literacy, celebrate books, and provide resources for parents, teachers, and readers everywhere. This year's theme is "Unwrapping the Gift of Literacy." Join us March 7th to March 11th.

Each day a different kidlitosphere blogger serves as host for the posting of several other bloggers. You may visit the host blogs' sites to find a complete blog roll for each day.

•The Power of a Book - From the literal power of owning a book and a good story to the intangible power that comes with knowing how to read.

•The Gift of Reading - Whether you're looking for a book to excite a reader, want to help someone learn to read or celebrate the "gift" ... it's covered.

•Unwrapping Literacy 2.0 - With all of the talk of digital literacy, e-readers, etc. What does "literacy" look like in this new century?

•Love of Reading v. Homework - Do they have to be at odds? We'll talk about ways to help readers at home and at school.

•The Gift that Keeps on Giving - To wrap up the week we'll be remembering "that moment" when we realized we were a reader or writer and how to celebrate it with others. Lots(!) of interviews this day.

The Power of a Book

I hold unwavering belief in the power of one book to change your life. I see this miracle unfold with my students every day--Landry conquered another reading challenge while climbing Mt. Everest alongside Peak Marcello. Emily devoured Bethany Hamilton's inspiring memoir, Soul Surfer, in two days and met me at the classroom door to share her thoughts about Hamilton's near fatal shark attack. Blake came to me with tears in eyes after finishing Rot and Ruin's heart-wrenching conclusion.

My students claim that I have a knack for stopping our read alouds at the worst (best?) moments--leaving them begging for more. They check out the books we've shared--The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, When You Reach Me, A Tale Dark and Grimm, Out of My Mind--reading them over and over again. Reading a book together connects us, but reading that same book by yourself helps you take ownership of it somehow.

It's as if we share a secret--my students and me--a secret that people who don't read can't understand. We know that books hold magic inside them. We know that books ease pain. We know that books rescue boring afternoons. We know that the best books sink into our skin and change who we are. This is my hope for my students--that they find a powerful book that becomes a part of them. The baggage of their lives should include a book or two.

I've thought a lot over the years about the books that I carry around in my skin. A Wrinkle in Time helped me accept my nerdy, mousy self when I was in middle school. Angela's Ashes broke my heart one word at a time, and then rebuilt it. In the Middle forever shaped how I teach.

Some books change us and others capture who we were when we read them like photographs in a scrapbook. I will always define third and fourth grades as my horse years--endlessly re-reading every Marguerite Henry book I could find. Living in a Texas suburb, the only horses I ever saw where at Girl Scout camp once a year. Still, I knew everything books could teach me about horses--their ancestral lineage, famous horses like Seabiscuit and the Lipizzaner stallions, and horse anatomy.

I wanted to be a veterinarian for most of my childhood and many of the books I read during that time reflected my interest in animals--James Herriot's memoirs, The Yearling, Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, Rascal, The Call of the Wild, and The Incredible Journey. I have forgotten that I was that kid until now. The books help me remember.

There was one book in particular that I checked out of the library ten times in a row--the story of the first cocker spaniel to win the National Field Trials. As an adult, all I remembered about the book was the cover, which sported a charming illustration of the little cocker's face. Casually searching for this treasured book over the years, I realized that I did not recall enough about the book to find it in an old bookstore. It was lost to my childhood.

Last year, while compiling titles of favorite books from respondents to my Wild Reader survey, I gasped out loud and burst into tears. My husband, who knows that sorting endless piles of paper stresses me, came into the room and asked, "What happened? Are you OK?"

Through my tears and sobbing, I was able to speak four words, Champion Dog, Prince Tom. Instantly, I was nine years old. I knew it was THE book, MY book. Digging through survey respondents' email addresses, I was able to find the teacher who listed Champion Dog, Prince Tom as one of her favorite books. Sending her an emotional email, I thanked her for bringing my beloved book back to me. She sent me a gracious reply, sharing her personal connections to the book. She didn't think I was a bit crazy. Readers can accept a lot from each other when we discover we love the same books.

I now own a copy of Champion Dog, Prince Tom. Is it strange that I haven't re-read it? I fear letting my nine year old self out of the pages if I open it. She belongs inside that book.

Continue to celebrate the Power of a Book by reading thoughtful posts by Teri Lesesne and Paul W. Hankins. One book at a time, one child at a time, one teacher at a time we build a community of readers with our students and children.

Children's Literature Assembly's 2011 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

This past year, I had the remarkable opportunity to serve on the Children's Literature Assembly's Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Committee--a mouthful of a name, which doesn't begin to cover how grand a group it is.

According to CLA guidelines, "The charge of the seven-member national committee is to select thirty titles each year that best exemplify the criteria established for the Notables Award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8." The books must meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language;

2. demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style;

3. invite child response or participation.

In addition, books are to:

4. have an appealing format;

5. be of enduring quality;

6. meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

2011 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

Angleberger, Tom. (2010). The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. New York: Abrams.

Appelt, Kathi. (2010). Keeper. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Aronson, Marc and Budhos, Marina. (2010). Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Baker, Keith. LMNO Peas. (2010). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Bond, Victoria and Simon, T.R. (2010). Zora and Me. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Burns, Loree Griffin. (2010). The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe. Illustrated by Ellen Harasimowicz. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Cushman, Karen. (2010). Alchemy and Meggy Swann. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Draper, Sharon M. (2010). Out of My Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Elya, Susan Middleton. (2010). Rubia and the Three Osos. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. New York: Disney*Hyperion.

Fleming, Candace. (2010). Clever Jack Takes the Cake. Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. New York: Random House.

Fox, Karen C. (2010). Older Than the Stars. Illustrated by Nancy Davis. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Gidwitz, Adam. (2010). A Tale Dark and Grimm. New York: Penguin.

Golio, Gary. (2010). Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Kerley, Barbara. (2010). The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy). Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. New York: Scholastic.

Mazer, Anne and Potter, Ellen. (2010). Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook. Illustrated by Matt Phelan. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Raczka, Bob. (2010). Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Raschka, Chris. (2010). Hip Hop Dog. Illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky. New York: HarperCollins.

Reynolds, Peter H. and FableVision Studios; Emerson, Sharon. (2010). Zebrafish. Illustrated by Renée Kurilla. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Riley, James. (2010). Half Upon a Time. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. (2010). The Dreamer. Illustrated by Peter Sis. New York: Scholastic.

Sidman, Joyce. (2010). Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. Illustrated by Rick Allen. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Sidman, Joyce. (2010). Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors. Illustrated by Beckie Prange. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Singer, Marilyn. (2010). Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. Illustrated by Josée Masse. New York: Penguin.

Underwood, Deborah. (2010). The Quiet Book. Illustrated by Renata Liwska. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Viorst, Judith. (2010). Lulu and the Brontosaurus. Illustrated by Lane Smith. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Wiles, Deborah. (2010). Countdown. New York: Scholastic.

Willems, Mo. (2010). City Dog, Country Frog. Illustrated by Jon J. Muth. New York: Disnney*Hyperion.

Willems, Mo. (2010). We Are in a Book! New York: Disney*Hyperion.

Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2010). One Crazy Summer. New York: HarperCollins.

Winter, Jeanette. (2010). Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia. New York: Simon & Schuster.

NCBLA 2011 Committee: Mary Lee Hahn--Chair

April Bedford, Mary Napoli, Donalyn Miller, Nancy Roser, Yoo Kyung Sung

Janelle Mathis--Past Chair

Congratulations to the winning authors and illustrators! Your marvelous books are gifts to young readers.

Catching Fire

This semester, I am mentoring a student teacher. Malorie is bright and charming--instantly likeable to my students and me. Talking with her during her first day, I explained the workshop nature of our class. Going into more detail about our classroom community, I asked Malorie, "How would you rate your knowledge of children's literature--on a scale of one to ten?"

She replied, "About a two."

I assured her, "I was in the same place when I started teaching. Perhaps, we can do something about that while you are here." I went on to explain to Malorie that she should observe during my reading conferences with the students, but she needed to ramp up her book knowledge in order to lead these conferences herself, "If you haven't read many books, talking to the kids about what they are reading will be a challenge."

Recognizing that Malorie had little time for pleasure reading due to her course load, I suggested that she spend our independent reading time investigating books herself. Eager to learn and interested in building rapport with our students, Malorie jumped on the idea. I offered to help her select some well-known children's books, telling her, "If you have five or six popular books under your belt, you should be able to talk to most of the kids in the class about at least one book."

Listening to recommendations from our students and me, Malorie selected The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins' bestselling dystopian science fiction book. Stealing reading time whenever our students read, Malorie fell into the harsh world of Panem and the drama of the Games. She took the book home with her that night, so she could keep reading it.

The next morning, as I wandered around the classroom, conferring with students and pulling out books for them, I stopped by Malorie's table to share some anecdote from a student. Pulled out of The Hunger Games, she looked up at me with unfocused, tear-filled eyes. Malorie told me that she was at a certain sad part in the book. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't read the book (WHY haven't you read The Hunger Games, yet?). I will just say that flowers and singing were involved...

Forgetting whatever trivialities I had to share, I said, "Ah, that part...I understand," and brought her the tissue box.

Later, I told Malorie, "Now, you can talk to the kids about the book. Now, you know how they feel after reading it."

That day, sitting in a chair crying while reading her book, Malorie crossed over. She became one of us, part of the community, one of the readers.

Reading teachers talk a lot about finding that home run book for our students, the one book they discover that reveals how magical reading can be. We should talk more often about finding that home run title for teachers--the book that reveals the magic of children's literature to us. Well-written, engaging, meaningful books transcend age ranges and reading levels. If we expect to attain any level of expertise in teaching reading to children, we must become experts in the types of books our students read.

Although Malorie doesn't know much about children's books, yet, she provides another reading role model in the room for our students. They see her read every day and they know that she gets it. Malorie brings her pedagogical background, her life experiences, and her enthusiasm, but she also offers her willingness to dive into our reading community and become a part of it--a priceless gift to our students and me.

I didn't see Malorie last week because of the snow days, but I ran into her today while she was on campus attending her methods courses. She tracked me down in the break room to return her second book, Catching Fire. Yes, she's caught it, and I hope the flame never goes out--both for her and her future students.

Holiday #bookaday Wrap-Up and 2011 Reading Challenges

As I announced on my blog last month (last year...), my Twitter friends and I decided to reprise our summer #bookaday challenge for the holiday break. Reading one book a day--any book--I hoped to reduce the book piles around my house, discover new titles to share with my students and colleagues, and engage in my favorite pastime, reading. While my book piles don't look any smaller, I read 45 books during the two weeks of holiday break. For the sake of full disclosure, three of the books I finished were books I started before the break: Forge, Riding Invisible and Soul Enchilada, but I read parts of at least twenty books while cleaning out my bookroom shelves, so I think it's acceptable to count these three.

My #bookaday challenge connects me to teachers, librarians, and readers all over the world and I know it has increased the number of books I read. According to goodreads, I was #27 on the Top Readers list for 2010, reading 572 books. My friend, fellow #bookaday reader, and librarian extraordinaire, John Schumacher read 1,703 books. He was goodreads' #1 reader in 2010. While John, our #bookaday friends, and I read staggering amounts of books every year, how many books you read isn't really the point. Reading every day, whether it is a stack of picture books, 30 pages of an adult novel, or a section of that professional book you know will influence your paradigm--making a daily commitment to read is what matters--both to our teaching and our personal lives.

Here are the books I finished for #bookaday. Starred entries indicate my favorites.

Picture Books

*Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

*Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeannette Winter

*The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee

The Boys by Jeff Newman

The Brothers Kennedy: John, Robert, and Edward by Kathleen Krull

*But I Wanted a Baby Brother! by Kate Feiffer

Christian, The Hugging Lion by Justin Richardson

Claude Monet: The Painter Who Stopped the Trains by P.I. Maltbie

Dogs by Emily Gravett

Gumption by Elise Broach

*The Handiest Things in the World in the World by Andrew Clements

Heads by Matthew Van Fleet

Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows

*Let's Count Goats by Mem Fox

Little Black Crow by Chris Raschka

Lots of Spots by Lois Ehlert

*Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Eric Kaplan

The Monster Princess by D.J. MacHale

*Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer

*The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore, Illustrated by Ted Rand (reread)

No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo

*Pepi Sings a New Song by Laura Ljungkvist

*A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black

*The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon

*Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy

*Santa Calls by William Joyce (reread)

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, Illustrated by Mary Engelbreit (out of print)

*So Many Days by Alison McGhee

*The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett

Thank You for Me! by Marion Dane Bauer

The Tortoise or the Hare by Toni Morrison

The Wild, Wild Inside: A View from Mommy's Tummy! by Kate Feiffer

Middle Grade Fiction

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry (suitable for early grades)

*Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

*The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

*Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner

Trash by Andy Mulligan

Middle Grade Nonfiction

*Outbreak! Plagues That Changed History by Bryn Barnard

Young Adult Fiction

*The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

*Matched by Ally Condie

Riding Invisible by Sandra Alonzo

*Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill

Adult Nonfiction

Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman by Lisa Scottoline

I have already begun my next reading challenge, joining Dana Huff's Books I Should Have Read in School, but Didn't Challenge. Dana invites readers to read classic books--be it children's or adult literature, which we should have read at some point in our lives, but missed. I revisited Betsy Bird's Fuse Eight's Top 100 Children's Novel Poll and selected several classic children's books I have never read. Yes, this month, I will finally read Shiloh and Caddie Woodlawn. I will comb through the unread professional books and adult literature I have around the house, too. I also signed up for Paul W. Hankins' Facebook Centurions 2011, after participating in Centurions 2010. Centurion members will attempt to read 111 books in 2011. Whether you join these reading challenges, investigate other reading challenges, or make one of your own, I hope you enjoy a wonderful reading year.

It's the End of the World As We Know It: The Rise of Dystopian YA

The joke around our house is that paranormal romance is dead. Literally. The publishing juggernaut of young adult books featuring vampires, zombies, werewolves, angels, demons, and dark faeries is winding down according to publishing analysts. While I don't think we've seen our last vampire or zombie book, I do see that readers' tastes have shifted toward a different genre, dystopian science fiction.

Dystopian science fiction often takes place in a futuristic world damaged beyond repair by overconsumption, war, or environmental destruction. Under the guise of creating a Utopia--a perfect society--governmental or societal control strips basic human rights from its citizens and creates a harsh existence filled with violence, poverty, and despair. In many dystopian books (and movies), storylines explore how people survive under hopeless conditions and fight against totalitarian mandates. Themes like freedom, love, and trust run throughout dystopian literature reminding readers of life's meaning in situations where outside forces seek to take our fundamental humanity from us.

While we can trace the current dystopian fiction publishing wave to the tremendous critical and financial success of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, dystopian literature--along with its counterpart, post-apocalyptic fiction--is not new. Numerous classic works, like Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, and 1984, examine the same bleak futuristic worlds where protagonists risk everything, choosing escape or revolution over submission.

This week, the New York Times published an interesting debate, "The Dark Side of Young Adult Fiction", gathering notable authors and literature experts to examine dystopian science fiction's popularity and consider why teens find these dark stories appealing. Hugo-winner Paolo Bacigalupi believes that "young adults crave stories of broken futures because they themselves are uneasily aware that their world is falling apart." Considering the heavily-monitored lives of today's teens, author Scott Westerfeld observes, "Schools are places where teens are subject to dress codes, have few free speech rights, and are constantly surveilled, where they rise and sit at the sound of a bell. Is it any wonder that dystopian novels speak to them?"

Maggie Stiefvater, author of young adult books, disagrees, claiming that dystopian themes in fiction are pure escapism for teens living in an "increasingly complex" world. "Teenagers face a huge number of choices and an almost paralyzing array of expert opinions on what constitutes right and wrong." Stiefvater says, "In a culture defined by shades of gray, I think the absolute black and white choices in dark young adult novels are incredibly satisfying for readers."

Adult concerns about graphic violence and social issues in children's books date back to The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales. Dr. Michelle Ann Abate, English professor at Hollins University, considers the age-old debate about dark themes in children's literature, asking, "Is the role of these books to educate young people about the world in which they live, including its unpleasant aspects. Or, is it their responsibility to shield children from such elements?"

I consider my own classroom when I think about why dystopian science fiction books are popular. My students love these books because they love good stories. Action-packed battles between good and evil forces, strange, futuristic worlds, protagonists who fight for what's right when the adults in their lives can't or won't--it's great storytelling stuff. Reading dystopian books brings excitement and adventure into my students' boring, routine lives. Since dystopian science fiction books spark series, I know that once my students find a book they like, they will read the next book, too. I also like that dystopian science fiction books change my students' understanding of what science fiction is--many claim to hate sci-fi because they don't like books about space, mad scientists or robots. I enjoy showing my students that wonderful writing exists in every genre.

In our reading community, I provide my students the space to discover what they like and don't, what they agree with and don't. I voice my opinions about the literary merit and writing of the books we share. My students will discover the good books--the worthy ones--and probably some dreadful derivative stuff, too. Isn't that what all readers do?



My sixth graders observe the world they live in--they know that wars, poverty, corruption, and greed exist. They knew before they read The Hunger Games. By sharing and discussing dystopian books, we explore concepts that already exist in our world and consider how we might create a different future for ourselves. My students and I don't see desperation in these books; we see hope and the power to right wrongs.

We also enjoy the great stories.

Here are some outstanding dystopian young adult books for your students, your children, or you:

Dystopian Science Fiction Books

Upper Elementary Readers

*Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

*The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Middle School Readers

*The Giver by Lois Lowry

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

*The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

*Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

*The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Matched by Ally Condie

*The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

*Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

High School Readers

*The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd

Feed by M.T. Anderson

*The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

*indicates the first book in a series or trilogy

Sarah Mulhern, at The Reading Zone blog offers additional insights and book recommendations in her post, Dystopian Literature and Tweens