This fall I will be teaching an undergraduate Young Adult literature course for the first time in about four years. I am excited about the opportunity. It will be my first time teaching the class since I have started the blog. I am going to make the course planning and resources as transparent as possible. In fact, I will encourage other classes to take a glance at our activities from time to time. Parents or teachers can feel free to follow our reading schedule and comment on their readings. Five of the weeks will be free choice selections based on a genre. I readily admit that I favor contemporary realistic fiction, memoirs, verse novels, non fiction, and historical fiction. Those will be adequately covered in the assigned texts. (See the link to the course's required readings here.) I do take a critical approach through most of the class that focuses on the issues of race, class, and gender. I believe that scholars and teachers of this literature should be able to apply a critical lens to their readings, these happen to be mine, but students in my class can use the lens they choose.

While using critical lenses is important, I also believe students should be exposed to the various genres in the this rich world of young adult literature. I read sporadically in all of these, but would not claim the expertise in these areas that I know some of my colleagues have. Rather than assign a text in each genre, I have selected ten in each as examples that the students can choose from. They are, of course, allowed to explore and select another text as well. The wonderful librarians in the Teacher Development & Resources Library are also compiling added resources for each category as an extension of the course resources. (Thanks Amanda and crew!)

This will be primarily a visual post. I don't want to make to many comments on the books. I want them to explore the reviews of the books on their own with deciding which one I might prefer over the others. Of course, feel free to add a comment about which book your might choose or recommend to others.

You do notice that I left out The Hunger Games and Divergent series. I am sincerely hoping that my students will at least know about these through the films. Please add your suggestions and or definition of the genre.

Graphic novels are rich part of young adult literature. There some great books that I didn't include and I can't wait to see what my students select.

These category seems to be growing and, I believe, is becoming more difficult to define. I avoid books that are linked to mass market series-- Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, Theodore Boone, Alex Rider, Stranded, Comeback Kids, and a host of others. I actually like many of these and I hope kids are reading them. I think teachers should know them and support them. At the same time, I wanted to point future teachers to books that might have stronger literary quality and belong, less frequently, to a mass marketing category. I also writers like David Lubar shouldn't be neglected. Maybe I should do a whole post on just how funny I think he is.
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There was a time when I read a great deal of fantasy fiction. I think the field is rich and the description of the what counts as fantasy and what doesn't is confusing. It will be a task that my students will have to wrestle with in a few short weeks.

I also struggle to define science fiction. Many of the books listed here might also be listed in the dystopia category.  Does it have to involve space or time travel, imagined machinery, genetic manipulation, or worlds in a galaxy far, far away?

Thanks for following. I am interested in how many of you will approach teaching these genres. I would love emails or commentaries.

Until next week.

Steve 
stevebickmore@gmail.com 

Years ago, as I was just finishing graduate school, I heard a wonderful talk at the ALAN workshop. This lovely woman in a sari discussed her new novel, Climbing the Stairs, and I knew I had to start reading it that very minute. Several years later, I had the chance to meet Padma and she has become one of my favorite people in the YA community. You can read an interview with her here. In this Friday edition of Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday Padma talks about the verse novel.  Thanks Padma.

​A Time To Dance was my first foray into the world of verse novels. When I heard my protagonist, Veda, speak (in my head), I knew she demanded a verse novel.
 
I was terrified. What business did I have writing novels – and that too verse novels?
It’s the same kind of terror I feel as I write this blog post, because my doctorate is in oceanographer, not literature. Yet, just as I felt compelled to write A Time To Dance in verse, I feel compelled to share my view of what a verse novel is. Partly because, a while ago, I heard a brilliant verse novel described as the work of a “prose writer” – and this comment was meant to be derogatory.
 
Given my training as an oceanographer, I didn’t quite grasp this; I agreed that indeed, it was prose poetry.  I hadn’t fully understood that “Poetic prose” is a complement, whereas “prosaic poetry” is decidedly an insult.
 
Since then, I’ve come to realize that there’s a strange hierarchy in my new field, where poems occupy the top spot. I hear editors insist that every poem in a verse novel they’ve edited is worthy as a stand-alone piece. I also meet verse novelists who consider themselves poets and feel poetry is a worthier contribution.
 
I don’t subscribe to such hierarchies. Is An Na’s A Step From Heaven less powerful or less literary than a verse novel because it’s written in powerful prose vignettes?
Not at all!

Whether a work is poetry or prose is not some kind of value judgment.  Nor should it be. Poetry and prose and verse novels are 3 different forms. Poetry isn’t inherently nobler than prose. A verse novel shouldn’t be judged by the yardstick we use for poetry or the yardstick we use for prose, although a good verse novel is informed by both these parent forms.
 
In writing A Time To Dance, I was encouraged by many contemporary poets: Richard Blanco, Scott Hightower, Peter Covino, Peter Johnson, and, to a lesser extent, Greg Pardlo. It was when I sat in on a workshop that Pardlo conducted at the Ocean State Summer Writing Conference, that I became convinced that verse novels are a different species, related to but not the same as either prose or poetry. 

Pardlo discussed the idea that poems may be classified into lyric, narrative and dramatic/persona poems. Lyric poems, as I understand, are poems in which language is incredibly important; narrative poems are those in which there is movement, as in storytelling; persona poems are those in which a person’s character comes alive.
 
This classification, I realized, is not unlike one way we might classify prose. Lyric poems bear a semblance to novels of ideas; narrative poems to novels in which plot takes center stage; dramatic/persona poems to novels where the plot is really a plot of character.
 
It appears that lyric poems are for the most part in vogue these days; the other forms are still extant, but considered somewhat older (and, I sometimes get the feeling they’re also considered less important). Interestingly, however, we also live at a time when we value character growth, arguably far more than even plot, when we read literary novels.
 
A verse novel, to me is a hybrid form – a style of expression where lyricism is incredibly important; where poetic elements (such as rhythm) have a far greater role to play than they do in prose. However, unlike lyric poems that are emotional or intellectual snapshots that do not seek to tell stories, verse novels must tell stories. Each verse may capture an emotionally rich moment; yet it must bear a relation to the whole – it cannot and usually does not – stand alone.
 
Our job as verse novelists – our primary duty – is to tell the story. To keep the plot moving, not to transfix the reader so the reader is made to feel that he or she must stop and admire each piece – the way he or she might dwell on a poem. We walk a tightrope, trying to balance plot, character and lyricism; and if we allow the lyric element to take over fully, then we are writing a series of poems, not developing a verse novel.
 
Verse novels may be composed of exquisite pieces – each of which one may delve into and enjoy independent of the others – to a certain degree. But because a verse novel attempts to tell a story (unless it’s an experimental post-modern push-the-envelope piece of work), it must unite and thread and move the reader along. A verse novel is a map that directs the reader on an intellectual and emotional journey. In a verse novel, however, understanding (of plot, character, emotion) builds almost always, as one progresses. Even if the plot is non-linear, the order in which the author chooses to place the verses is immensely important – and in this way, the verses depend on one another. They must work together as organs function together in the human body.

In contrast, one may open a book of stand-alone poems, randomly, dip into a page and then ruminate – without necessarily missing a vital insight. Although poems in a collection may be arranged for a particular effect, reading them in order is rarely fundamental to understanding and experiencing the collection.
 
Another way to envision a verse novel is to think of a book as a piece of visual art. Reading a book of poetry is like walking through a sculpture room in a museum; while the sculptures may be related in terms of theme, each exists in isolation (although the viewing experience may be enhanced because they’re all present in this room together). A verse novel is one sculpture – one magnificent sculpture – in which we may admire the way each element is carved; but ultimately, the object of the sculpture is to be viewed as a whole. If each part of a sculpture demanded too much attention, it would, in fact, detract from the ability of the sculpture to be enjoyed as a single object.
 
Or, and I can’t help but use another metaphor – whereas a verse novel is like a bouquet of flowers in which each beautiful blossom is arranged to create a certain effect, a book of poetry is a floral field. 

​That, by the way, is a fine choice. It’s been done and done brilliantly. Two of my favorite books for young people – Marilyn Nelson’s My Seneca Village and Nikki Grimes’s One Last Word are enduring examples of poetry collections, centered on a theme. They are marvelous books of poetry; I do not consider them verse novels. They paint pictures; they captivate our minds and hearts; they illuminate characters; but they do not tell stories in the traditional sense. Or if they do, they tell stories in a manner radically different from the storytelling in a novel. Marilyn Nelson’s Carver: A Life in Poems is another such example of a marvelous book of poetry that provides a deep insight into the life of George Washington Carver and leaves us with a lasting impression of his life and times; but it is, to me, a book of poetry, not a verse novel. 

On the other hand, Nikki Grimes’s Garvey’s Choice is a verse novel. As are Holly Thompson’s Orchards, Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, Jeannine Atkins’s Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis. Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover, the verses come together to create a crescendo that is akin to a novel’s climax. In verse novels, the scenes cumulatively form a plot arc just as in fiction narratives.On the other hand, Nikki Grimes’s Garvey’s Choice is a verse novel. As are Holly Thompson’s Orchards, Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, Jeannine Atkins’s Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis. Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover, the verses come together to create a crescendo that is akin to a novel’s climax. In verse novels, the scenes cumulatively form a plot arc just as in fiction narratives.

Verse memoirs are, in my opinion, also stories about actual events, told through the medium of poetry. In the moving memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, we experience character growth just as we would in a novel. Similarly, in Margarita Engle’s Enchanted Air, our feeling is of having been told a rich, beautiful, story in sensual, lyrical language.  While these books are classified as nonfiction, they are structurally similar to verse “novels.”
 
Other verse novels fall in different places along the spectrum from straight prose to outright poetry. For instance, one may argue endlessly about Sandra Cisneros’s classic, The House on Mango Street. I’ve heard this book described as prose, poetic vignettes, prose poetry, and poems. And doesn’t Kimberly Newton Fusco’s Tending to Grace blur the line between poetry and prose? Does it matter, so long as we are moved by the words? 

​When we write for young readers, we cannot, nor should we, sacrifice the structure of sentences at the altar of lyricism the way a poet writing for a grown up audience may (and perhaps even ought to) do. If we choose this degree of obfuscation, we force our readers to follow a course that is set up like a hurdles race; not a clear track. Does this make us prose poets? Does this make our verses “broken line prose”? Are we inferior because we wish to sing a story, the way bards of old sang ballads?
 
I don’t really care. I do care that my verses keep my reader listening to my story. I do not want my reader to stop and drink in each verse in a verse novel; in a book of poems, I would want to the reader to ponder each verse. Nor, I might add, do I wish, when I write a verse novel, to write a “page turner” – prose is probably far better suited to fast-moving plots paced so that the readers heart races. In writing a verse novel, I want my reader’s heart to beat at a different rhythm than when I write in prose. My aim in writing a verse novel is different than in writing a book of poems or writing a prose novel – not least in terms of the speed and direction in which I hope to propel my reader. This is neither better nor worse than a poet’s aim or a prose novelist’s aim – it’s just different. 

Award winning American author, Padma Venkatraman, has worked as chief scientist on oceanographic ships, spent time under the sea, directed a school, and lived in 5 countries. Her 3 novels, A Time To Dance, Island’s End, and Climbing the Stairs, were released to multiple starred reviews (12), received numerous honors (> 50 best book e.g. ALA, IRA Notable; Booklist, Kirkus, NYPL, Yalsa BBYA; IBBY outstanding; and several state lists), and won national and international awards. She gives keynote addresses, serves on panels, conducts workshops, and visits schools and author festivals worldwide. Visit her at: ​www.padmavenkatraman.com

This week's guest contribution is Sharon Kane. I have been learning from Sharon for quite awhile now. Every time I talk with her I learning something new about teaching or researching young adult literature. She has been a great friend the Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday and you can read her previous posts here, here, and here. Take it away Sharon.

​On a Monday afternoon in June, I was in my office, happily preparing for my graduate level YA literature class.  Students would be bringing their reflections on the day’s assigned text, The Smell of Other People’s Houses, by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock.  The story is set in Alaska, a couple of decades before my students were born, so I knew they’d see it as historical fiction. (Actually, they had earlier read Meg Medina’s Burn, Baby, Burn, set in New York City in the late seventies, so we had already traveled back in time.) I pulled books from my shelves that were set during various time periods, then dragged them in bags, boxes, and suitcases into the classroom.  After our discussion of The Smell of Other People’s Houses, including comments on the setting as it related to the plot, I placed my copy on the ledge of the white board in the front of the room, and wrote “1970” above it.  I told students we would be making a literary timeline with the books I had brought in. Then I sat down and watched.    

​There was rich discussion as students looked through the books for evidence of a year or a time period.  Some titles were obvious: Christopher Paul Curtis’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963; Chris Crowe’s Mississippi Trial, 1955; Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever 1793. So helpful! Students reminded each other of the dates of World War II and the Civil War as well as the Renaissance; the Industrial Revolution; the Great Depression; and our country’s first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848. They decided to place books set in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries along the front of the room, while stories set earlier than that would go on tables along a side wall. I had pictured a long, linear time line, but students started a vertical layering of books whose settings overlapped. I heard comments such as, “I never realized Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were contemporaries!” “I LOVED Karen Cushman’s novels when I was a kid!” “I was obsessed with books about the Great Chicago Fire, so I know this book goes here-- 1871.” “We read Rita Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer last semester, so we know that took place in 1968. Do you see another book about the Black Panthers that we could put with it?”  

​When we were finished, students said they had a better understanding of how historical events related to each other in terms of time, and some began planning a similar activity for their own classrooms, representing various grade levels.  They liked seeing fiction and nonfiction books about the same topics sitting together. Gary D. Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars is set during the 1967-68 school year, and the companion book, Okay for Now, takes place during the 1968-69 school year. It made sense to them to place biographies of John Lennon and John Glenn, along with informational books about the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, alongside those novels. 

​That evening, we never took a break.  Students just refused to leave the project.  But, at 8:00 p.m., after taking pictures with their phones, they reluctantly disassembled our literary time line and helped me lug books back to my office before leaving for home.  I was tired, and hoped to get part of my hour-long commute completed before dark.  

​I looked forward to coming back to campus on Wednesday, when I could use the same books to facilitate Part Two of my lesson on setting. We would imagine our classroom as a world map, and place the books accordingly. The front of the room would be labeled “North.”  Tables could be used for continents and countries; the floor could represent the oceans.  I thought about the books that took place in the 1930s, all clumped together on Monday.  Now they would be sorted by geography. Jen Bryant’s The Trial takes place in New Jersey in 1935, while the happenings of Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, occur in Oklahoma during the previous year, and Mildred Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry tells a different story of 1934 in Mississippi. Al Capone Does my Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko, is set on Alcatraz in 1935. The Berlin Boxing Club, by Robert Sharenow; Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown; and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics, by Jeremy Schaap, all take place in 1936 Germany; they could stay together, but would be an ocean away from the books mentioned in the preceding sentence.  Our room would look completely different with the books organized by place! We would talk about global literature and diversity; we would be able to see where my collection has holes and needs work.

​Alas. On Tuesday, the fire code enforcers made a surprise visit to my office.  What I saw as wonderful resources for teaching about setting, they perceived as “clutter” and “combustibles.” I was cited for violations and warned that the situation must be abated immediately. I dutifully went in and put my beautiful books back on the shelves. 

​I admit that at first I felt a tad like Big Brother was watching me. But YA literature has taught me to take on others’ perspectives. Now I realize that the inspectors were doing their important job, just as I was doing mine.  I even grew to be grateful that they chastised me with a visual that I could work into this post on “Setting.”   Maybe it will help some of you, my colleagues, to feel better about the state of your offices, knowing that at least yours hasn’t led to a criminal record.  Or maybe you’d like to boast about having way more books than I have; feel free to send in pictures of your office libraries. We could make a collage. Imagine the literary time line and world map we could make with our combined YA favorites!
I love my office.  I love young adult literature. I love my students. I appreciate the TIME I spend teaching, and my favorite PLACE is the classroom. I hope you enjoy whatever SETTINGS you are in right now, whether in literature or real life. (Oh, wait, aren’t they one and the same?)

A few week’s ago I asked a couple of question on Facebook and through an email blast. They were: What are you reading this summer? and What new books might you add to your syllabus? 
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Thank you. I had more responses than I could respond to or that I can repeat here. The most frequently mentioned book was The Hate U Give. It is next on my “to read” stack. It has been there for a few weeks. I am almost done with A. S. King’s terrific book, Still Life with Tornado. Both books have great reviews and come highly recommend by readers I trust. Indeed, both of these books showed up as answers to my query.  Angie Thomas’s debute novel has a future. After all, both Jason Reynolds and John Green provide a vote of confidence on the cover. That puts her in pretty good company.

​I have to admit, I took a break from YA and read a few books from the list of authors I read to relax. Here is a glimpse of some of the books for my summer indulgence. I had to catch up with Walter Mosely’s Easy Rawlins series so I read Rose Gold. I also checked off the 15th novel, Endangered, in C. J. Box’s Joe Pickett series. (If you don’t have time to visit the wild country of Montana or Wyoming, you can read about it right?) I also caught up with Dave Roicheaux in Creole Belle, James Lee Burke’s nineteenth novel tracking the adventures of Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel in and around New Iberia and New Orleans. This represents a few of the series that I dove back into this summer. The good news, there is a more recent novel in each of these fine series waiting for me at the library.   

Let's see what people are reading. Again, I had a great response. I settled on four readers who had an industrious and interesting lists. In the future, I will come back to what might go into a future syllabus.

Niki Allanah Blaylock listed the following on her bookshelf: Mosquitoland, (David Arnold); Three Dark Crowns, (Kendare Blake); Wolf by Wolf, (Ryan Graudin); Every Day,  (David Levithan), History is All You Left Me (Adam Silvera); and (Jeff Zentner)'s newest book, Goodbye Days. I have got to say, I love Niki’s list. I have read about half of these and love them. I highlighted Zentner’s The Serpent King as a YA Wednesday weekend pick a couple of weeks ago. The  rest are added to my list of books to read.

​One of the blog’s great friends, Katie Riemersma Sluiter, has been reading some great books as well. Her list includes: Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates); Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon); Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson), and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock (Matthew Quick). Coates’ book has had a large affect across the United States. For those of us in English Language Arts community it might be even more impactful. There has been an ongoing discussion about diversity in classrooms, in books, and in educational policy. Yoon’s book is still on the rise with the release of the movie and her second book, The Sun is also a Star is also fantastic. Speak has a track record in the world of YA literature that would be hard to match. However, if you ignore the rest of Anderson’s works you are making a big mistake. Quick is one of my personal favorites. I was glad to see Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock on the list, I think it doesn’t get enough attention.

​Raven Jade is one of my former students at LSU and is now teaching in the Baton Rouge area. She is an industrious fireball and responded with the following:  "I've been reading YA retellings of fairy tales and myths. I'm opening up the year with a unit on archetypes, so I was hoping to find some fun examples of adaptations to spur discussion. So far, I've read Entwined--retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses (Heather Dixon), Cruel Beauty-Cupid and Psyche (Rosamund Hodge), The Percy Jackson series (Rick Roirdan) The Goddess Test series-Persephone and Demeter (Aimée Carter), A Forbidden Wish-Alladin (Jessica Khoury), and A Promise of Fire-Greek myths (Amanda Bouchet). I know I'll be having students identify archetypes in YA, but I haven't decided if I'll have them actually read anything specific yet." I absolutely love it when I find new teachers working hard to create exciting curriculum for there students. Thanks Raven. Keep track of your efforts and you can report in a future blog post.

 For my final choice I share what June Pulliam sent. June teaches in the English department at LSU. She frequently teaches young adult literature and is an expert in horror fiction. You can find her past contribution to this blog here and she is scheduled for another post for Halloween 2017. I thought her summer reading was diverse and very interesting. Her response: “This summer I am reading Mississippi Trial, 1955, by Chris Crowe; American Street, by Ibi Zoboi; Bar Code Tattoo, by Suzenne Weyn, and When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester. I haven't made up my syllabus for the fall yet, but I think I might include Randa Abdel-Fattah's Does My Head Look Big in This?” Her list reminded of old favorites and suggested others that I need to add to my list.
 
To conclude, I want to that everybody else who sent in reading suggestions. There are quite a few more books we could talk about, but time evades me. By far, the most common suggest is the The Hope U Give. If you haven’t read it, it is clearly time to join the party.

Working in the world of Young Adult Literature is a joy. I am constantly reminded about the goodness of the people in this community. I began hosting guest contributors since August of 2014 and during the past three years these contributors have addressed issues that address teaching strategies, topics of potential research, and, most importantly, the difficult issues that adolescent deal with in their everyday lives. If you are planning a YA course for this fall or if you are just interested in more actively discussing books with students, I hope you will revisit what the guest contributors have produced. This week’s contribution is a perfect example of an academic who cares about the issues that adolescents confront. Dr. Gretchen Rumohr-Voskuil has contributed several times before and has now become a valued colleague and collaborator. (You can revisit her previous posts here: Beyond How We Were Taught: Using "Book Love" to teach YA Literature Methods.,   ALAN16 Memories and Stories, and Trending Now: YA, Current Events, and Taking Action.)
This week Gretchen discusses eating disorders. Thanks once again Gretchen for another thoughtful post.

During my sophomore year of college, I kissed my then-boyfriend (and now-husband), Karsten,* goodbye as he embarked on a semester-long internship in Washington, D.C. He was strong, confident and smart, and in our time together we’d enjoyed a healthy lifestyle, shopping at the Farmer’s Market, cooking meals together, and taking runs around campus and along the shores of Lake Michigan.  I eagerly awaited Karsten’s return, yet when he stepped off the plane, he was a mere shadow of his former self.  In only 16 weeks, His sturdy, 170-pound frame had been whittled to a frail, almost skeletal 145 pounds.  Not only had Karsten learned about politics in D.C., but he had also developed an eating disorder.  When he wasn’t working, his time was spent counting fat grams and running.  Throughout the following weeks and months, Karsten exhibited many symptoms of disordered eating: an irrational fear of certain types of foods; irritability around grocery shopping, meal preparation, and meal times; a rigid, exhausting, and all-consuming workout schedule. Many of his friends, who expressed support for his initial weight loss of a few pounds, were now gravely concerned with his new appearance and behaviors; several asked if he was seriously ill.  Thankfully, with time, interventions from friends and family, and the support of a nutritionist, Karsten overcame his eating disorder. I am grateful that my beloved husband maintains a healthy weight (along with a reasonable, joyful eating and exercise regimen) today.
 
According to the National Institutes of Health, eating disorders, which include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, affect 2 percent of males and 3.5 percent of females.  Karsten is one of 30 million people who will deal with a “clinically significant” disorder during their lifetime, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. Given the stigma of mental health issues such as anorexia and bulimia, many eating disorders go unreported, making the likelihood of this disease--albeit closeted--even higher. In short, many of our young adults have, or know someone with, an eating disorder. Such prevalence leads me to wonder:  What eating disorder-related texts are available to our young adults? 

A quick show of my cards: I realize that for certain young adults, especially those with similar disorders themselves, books about eating disorders can be what some call “triggering,” as they could provide additional information, or even encouragement, regarding the “hows” of the disease.  Teachers should be aware of this concern, yet also consider Louise Rosenblatt, who argues that literature situates such issues “outside us, enables us to see them with a certain detachment and to understand our own situation and motivation more objectively” (40).  In other words, books can offer perspective, especially when the reader can “live” through characters’ thoughts and decisions.  In addition, when responding to any kind of literature,  teachers must keep multiple lines of communication open (so as to intervene when necessary), discussing literature collectively and individually and offering various opportunities for students to respond to literature in personal ways, especially through writing.   With Rosenblatt’s wisdom as well as our goal of open communication in mind, below I offer some recent and classic eating disorder-related young adult books.

I read The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller, likely among the most recent YA book about eating disorders, in one afternoon.  Miller, a survivor of an eating disorder himself, describes hunger as “a pack of wolves, starving and mad running through [the] bloodstream, gaunt ribs showing through mangy scabbed fur, fangs bared at every shadow” (163-164) as he tells the story of Matt, a gay teen who feels that his eating disorder gives him special powers.  Told with suspense, tenderness, honesty and magical realism, The Art of Starving brings awareness to male eating disorders and their relationship to sexual orientation.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is another possibility.  Anderson captures the attitudes, habits, and feelings of Lia, who struggles with anorexia while grieving the bulimia-induced death of her best friend, Cassie.  This book is disturbing in all the good ways, holding the reader in suspense, frustration, and empathy for Lia.  Wintergirls continues to help me--and my students-- to understand the complexities of eating disorder recovery.  For those who enjoy Wintergirls, Meg Haston’s recent novel Paperweight explores similar themes.

Butter (Erin Jade Lange) was a great Summer of 2016 read, and I found that it increased my compassion for those dealing with binge-eating disorders.  Telling the story of lonely, obese, suicidal “Butter,” who plans to eat himself to death in front of his Internet audience, this book also explores online bullying, “catfishing,” and society’s treatment of people who are overweight.

Nell’s Quilt by Susan Terris was one of the first YA novels I read.  Terris places her story in turn-of-the-century Massachusetts, where Nell delays her marriage to an undesirable man by promising that she must first finish her quilt.  While Nell works on her project, she slowly eliminates certain foods--and eventually all foods, wasting away.  When I first read this book at the age of 13, I assumed that Nell perished at the end, and I still remember descriptions, events, even phrases. Since rediscovering this book (and related critical work) for this blog post, I’ve learned that Nell actually survives at the novel’s conclusion.  It’s interesting how my perspectives on eating disorders as well as my skill with close textual analysis have developed since I was a young reader.

A book that I plan to read this summer is Believarexic by JJ Johnson. Reviewers have noted that the novel’s protagonist, Jennifer, grows stronger in body, prose, and typeface (!) throughout this uniquely formatted book.  In fact, Johnson focuses less on Jennifer’s eating disorder and more on her recovery, making this a strong read for those concerned about “triggering” literature. 

A book that doesn’t match the content of the novels above, yet explores the societal roots of disordered eating, is Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’. This book considers the many ways our society promotes thinness above all other qualities.  In addition, considering that I am a mother of four daughters, this book has helped me think about how I model body positivity in my home.  Most of all, though,  I am delighted with Willowdean, a self-proclaimed fat girl who is perfectly happy with her body until she attracts the affection of handsome, popular Bo.  Wishing to re-establish confidence in her own body, Willowdean enters the Miss Clover City beauty pageant and, along the way, finds support in new friendships and discoveries.  This book is a strong choice for anyone desiring to help others celebrate all body types.

For those desiring nonfiction, Thin by Grace Bowman and Elena Vanishing, co-written by Elena and Clare B Dunkle, are good choices.  Both memoirs bravely and honestly explore the causes of the writers’ nearly fatal anorexia, as well as their long recovery.

Those wishing to add additional titles to their reading lists or classroom libraries can consult this list from Goodreads.
 
I concur with Joan Kaywell that books save lives.  May the above books help readers understand what eating disorders are, recognize symptoms of eating disorders in themselves as well as their peers, and connect them to people and resources that can bring healing and joy to themselves and those they love.
 
*shared with permission
Gretchen Rumohr-Voskuil
Associate Professor, Aquinas College
ghr001@aquinas.edu

Hi all. Once again we have a contribution from Georgia McBride's network. Georgia works tirelessly for the benefit of the reading lives of children and adolescents She is the operator of Georgia McBride Media Group (GMMG). This is the home of Month9Books, Tantrum Books, Swoon Romance, and Tantrum Jr.  This post is written by Chris Ledbetter, one of authors in the Month9Books. Take it away Chris.

As a former teacher, I can say with certainty that the quickest way to get a student to eye roll one eye while the other one glosses over into a haze… the quickest way for them to fall into a dribble-on-their-desks, sleep-through-the-bell, and be-late-to-next-class slumber… is to tell them the lesson is about history. That’s not completely true. But close enough.
 
I can hear the groans now. And the teeth sucking. And the sighs. Wait… is that my own PTSD? But I digress.
 
Everyone knows that if you don’t learn history you are doomed to repeat it. Usually, that only applies to the bad things. Or at least, that’s the selling point. Repeating good things is not necessarily doom, last I checked. I wish I could be doomed to good, positive things. Sign me up!

​History has many lessons to teach our youth. (And frankly, our older generations, as well.) But it’s all about the delivery system and, dare I say, the presentation. The best restaurants use healthy amount of pizzaz in their plating of food, and for good reason. To some youth, reading about history is like sitting down to a plate piled high with nice, perfectly healthy vegetables. Your parents can sing the praises of the veggies until their cheeks turn a nice shade of azure, and those sad little veggies still won’t taste better and they will have zero cool factor and even less street cred.
 
Seriously, who wants to be that kid who pulls out a baggie of celery stalks and baby carrots when everyone around them is mowing down pizza and fries? But as I said, it’s all in the delivery and presentation. Now, there are actually sneaky ways to get your kids to eat veggies. They’re hidden in juice box blends, apple sauce, and even pasta.

​Lesson: You have to Make Veggies Fun Again.
 
And that is how we can get youth, reluctant or not, to consume history… we hide it in plain sight behind an expertly eye-catchy and well-designed cover, and within a tightly plotted, unputdownable story with unforgettable characters. Who doesn’t love a good story? It’s like when you eagerly anticipate talking to your favorite uncle at Thanksgiving because you love the tall tales. And he’s got a million of ‘em. The very best history teachers are the ones who can teach it in such a way that the people throughout history become characters, each being the protagonist hero or heroine in their own plotline. That’s what makes them truly come alive.
 
Similarly, the YA author’s job in historical fiction, as well as any other story, is to transport the reader, dropping them in to a lush, fully realized, three-dimensional landscape with characters and stories so compelling that the reader completely forgets that they’re reading about history. They’re learning without even knowing it, similar to how Karate Kid learned his martial art craft by waxing the car and painting the fence.
 
Sometimes a YA story will dive into the head of a historical figure to offer a close view of what it might have been like to be that person in that period. Other times, authors will create a character that bears witness to real historical events. The end result is that the reader arrives at the end of the story with a deeper understanding of time, place, context, and significance. In that way, it’s similar to sliding on a virtual reality viewer and taking a walk through a particular moment in history… all the while having fun. It’s just like when you serve your child their favorite spaghetti and meatball dish made with veggie-infused pasta and of course, a primo red sauce chockablock with veggies they never even saw coming. 

Thanks Chris. Chris tries to practice what he advises in his new novel, The Sky Throne. It has been released this April, 2017. It is described as a YA Zeus origin story. You can read about it and by it here.

I really think Chris is on to a good idea. We have several other guest contributors who have addressed making the history and YA connection in early posts. My colleague and occasional coauthor, Dr. Paul Binford has written twice for the blog. His first post was Revisiting Emmett Till’s place in Mississippi State History and his second was Before the Dust Settles. Another post that builds on historical fiction is by Mary Warner. Her post helps us see how our students can help make voices from the past come alive: Discovering (Rediscovering) Karen Hesse’s Witness and Its Multi-genre Potential.

To finish up this week's post I am providing a slide show of several non fiction or works of historical fiction that I think are fantastic. Enjoy.

This week's Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday is a contribution by one of our past contributors, Angela Insenga. Previously, Angela wrote an engaging post about "bridging the classics with YA texts." You can read it here.  This week she writes about service learning and some of its connections to YA. I will turn it over to Angela. 

My first foray into Service Learning projects (SLPs) had nothing yet everything to do with YA.  I developed a grant-funded project for first-year college STEM majors wherein they chose a service site from a “menu” of community partners I had fostered; analyzed the needs of their participants; and created a program that highlighted STEM concepts.  The catch: their perspective audience comprised first through fourth graders, some of whom were studying the solar system and others who were learning basic concepts in Biology.  Thus, each of the seven SLP teams grappled with developing an age-appropriate program aimed at reinforcing the students’ existing curriculum.  Randy Stoecker’s Liberating Service Learning and the Rest of Higher Education Civic Engagement taught me to privilege community need in any Service Learning endeavor, so I sought to teach students to synthesize STEM knowledge with an awareness of how their participants communicate and interact—science meets rhetorical situation, if you will.  

​Some students were surly during the planning and coaching phases of the project, unsure of how to proceed with their one-hundred-dollar budget; others were nervous about being around little kids (“They are sticky!” one young woman groused); some thrived, immediately creating hands-on projects blended with scientific explanations; and still others appeared apathetic to the whole gig, staring at me incredulously.  But on site, like a match to dry tinder, my first-year college students took to their participants, who greeted them with an enthusiasm that was inspiring (REAL college students are fascinating to 2nd graders). The design of each program allowed them to discuss the existing school curriculum while guiding students through tactile, engaging activities.  They made star jars while learning how stars are born and die; they learned about bacteria and then made hand sanitizer at carefully orchestrated stations around the room; they watched a student-made video on the life cycle of a sunflower and then drew their favorite stage; they heard about the phases of the moon and tried to create them by taking bites out of Oreo cookies; and they learned about planets before making their own. At one point, while I was acting in the role of the sun so that eight students could orbit around me, I looked across the crowded lawn to see the most reluctant of my students laughing with a shy and withdrawn second grader as they decided who would be Mercury and how Mercury might behave as it orbited. Would it tuck in its arms and crouch down?  How might it spin?  And should it shiver and shake or blow steam?  I saw SLPs at work, doing community good for kids who would remember better because they had interacted as they learned. Though my time with these first-year students ended after two months, I could not shake the magic experienced in those classroom spaces.  I wanted more of it and fast.  

Because I first encountered YA in community schools while watching students pass a battered copy of Twilight back and forth or watching a kid try to hide Hopkins’s Glass in the spine of his literature anthology (an impossible feat if you have seen that hefty tome), it made sense to move my YA students “into the wild,” where they could work with both adolescent and “new adult” readers. As I had done before, I fostered site partners. Because this was my department’s first SLP in an upper-division English major course in over a decade, I was careful to choose physical sites close to or on campus:  Ingram Library on my campus; the Lambda chapter at UWG, and the Newnan Carnegie Library.  I also made contact with a virtual partner, LibriVox.  Each student received a “spec document” for each potential project that explained the option’s purpose, provided the site partner’s contact and needs, and offered concrete ways to get started.  Groups then chose their sites. I followed the same planning phase model as I had with the STEM students:  YA groups met independently and with their site partner(s); I met with each group twice to coach and troubleshoot; and they deployed their projects.  Throughout the two-month process, then, students achieved benchmarks while they prepared.
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Each group encountered obstacles during this process.  Some had interpersonal conflict as they sought to plan, and others struggled to find a common meeting time.  They fought to choose texts they wanted to donate or discuss.  They held fiery debate over how best to present materials to their audience.  They (and I!) wrestled with technology. In sum, they behaved like budding professionals, learning how to negotiate their way towards a successful program.  

​And successful they were. The LibriVox group settled on creating a dramatic reading of Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  They created voices for over 100 characters, even enlisting a dramatically-inclined friend to coach and participate.  Their rendition of the text is now part of LibriVox wide-ranging library of free audiobooks. Ingram Library’s SLP folks created two book display cases that emphasized YA within Women’s History Month and did so again during Sexual Assault Awareness month. After researching our current YA holdings, this group also proposed a comprehensive list of YA “must haves” for ordering with my department’s yearly library allocation.  The group working with Lambda settled on etiquette for their discussions of Julie Ann Peters’s germinal novel, Luna.  They met four times with Lambda members to discuss “chunks” of reading.  And, finally, the group working with Newnan Carnegie created a program on YA graphic novels in which participants learned the history of graphic novels and fashioned themselves as graphic novel characters at Makerspaces.  The best creation won art supplies and graphic novels. As before, I felt more like a witness than a professor, noting this time the advanced performance as they considered nuances and acted swiftly to solve challenges.  

Since Service Learning emphasizes process learning, I experienced intermittent fears that the ELA content central to my class would get lost. After all, this SLP served as a large portion of the grade in —25%— and my learning outcomes emphasize reading, writing about, and discussing YA literature.  But, repeatedly, my worries were allayed, since each community partner’s needs foregrounded literature in unanticipated ways.  At Ingram Library, the examination of cover art became an imperative while building eye-catching displays. Students in this group also had to locate powerful “pull-out” quotations that might attract patrons to their book cases. They had to decide how to choose and group texts in keeping with that month’s theme. In Newnan, my students had to conceive of ways to share content, not teach it, a difficult rhetorical shift, since all of them were enrolled in teacher training courses that included field work. The book club had to develop guiding questions for each meeting to foment discussion, and they collaborated to decide on doing much more listening to Lambda members than pontificating about the trans* teen experience. And the LibriVox volunteer group had to read Baum’s novel, annotate it carefully to parse out roles, and demonstrate clear articulation in audio submissions sent in for review by LibriVox mentors.  In each case, my students encountered ELA content in context. Language and image came to the fore naturally, in keeping with the site partner’s needs. They saw their discipline working beyond the brick and mortar classroom.

Beginning next year, my university will have an official “Service Learning” designation for courses that include community work.  I will request that my YA class is one of them. Just as practitioners and scholars in the field teach our students that age-appropriate literature affords teachers and parents with an opportunity to talk with young people about literature instead of at them, I now wish to show my students how YA can do its good work in various community arenas.  I’m tired of only telling them. 
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Do you use Service Learning in YA? Tell me about it! I want to learn from you. ainsenga@westga.edu

It is a great privilege for Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday to host a blog post by Lesley Roessing. Lesley is a YA advocate who posts frequently on Facebook.  I have been following her for a long time. We have been friends on Facebook, but we have yet to have a “live” face to face conversation. This is a perfect example of how social media brings people together who share common interests. I am sure that one day we will find each other at the same conference or YA event and have a great conversation. I was pleased when she suggested a post that discussed one of my literary heroines, Nancy Drew.  Yes, I read every single one that was in print when I was in the fifth and sixth grade. I loved the wonderful adventure of these book as well as the Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, and a host of other novels in the “pulp fiction” category. I know that many people consider the quality of these books as less than literary. I believe that is beside the point. These books and many others never stopped me from reading other, more challenging books; instead,I am still reading a wide range of novels in the "solve the caper" genre—including Donald E. Westlake, Jo Nesbo, Walter Mosely, Michael Connelly, Sue Grafton, J. A. Jance and a great many more (is it a little crazy that I rest from reading YA titles by reading?).

Furthermore, Lesley’s post reminded me about how these same books were influential in the reading lives of my three daughters. All of them read a great deal growing up and continue to read as adults. (I think there might be a possible guest blog post from them about their childhood and adolescent reading habits.) I was never a big fan of all of those Sweet Valley High books that kicked around the house, but they helped make great readers. I know that you will enjoy Lesley’s post and I hope it not only sends you down memory lane, but will encourage you to include her suggestions in your classrooms and library shelves. 

​Now, its your turn, Lesley.

I, Lesley, became the strong, independent woman I have become because of five people: my mother and father and Nancy Drew, Jo March, and Anne Shirley. My parents were the children of immigrants, but even in the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, even though they never went to college, held high expectations for me as a teen; they expected high grades in academic subjects and they constantly told me I could be anything I wanted, even President. However, without the added models of my fictional female teens, I don’t think that I would have believed them.

Besides Nancy, Jo, and Anne, there were not many strong female teen characters in the 1960’s. There were biographies of famous adult women but those didn’t provide an adolescent with teen examples. Luckily, there were numerous Nancy Drew casebooks—and I owned and read them all, Anne of Green Gables appeared in eight novels, and I read and re-read Little Women innumerable times. I am sure there were others characters who inspired me but have faded in memory, but I distinctly remember WWND (What Would Nancy Do?) always in the back of my mind. Nancy Drew was independent,  with a supportive family, and supported by her friends, intelligent, determined, and spirited. Although the series was created by Edward Stratemeyer, there were definite female influences on the character and story lines. Mildred Wirt Benson, the first Carolyn Keene, was the ghostwriter of the first eight novels as well as many others, and, after he died, Edward Stratemeyer’s daughters took over the syndicate, and Nancy.

​While these characters were inspiring to an adolescent reader, they did not face, and conquer, the same problems as I: mean girls, feelings of alienation, membership in a minority group, negative body image, small town to big college transition. My peers faced such challenges as physical differences and physical difficulties. 

Adolescent problems have only intensified—or maybe my awareness of adolescent problems has increased. I was not aware of any peers who were affected by death or trauma, who suffered the challenges of mental illness or learning differences, who were bullied, faced racism, or were suicidal. In my small town, I was unaware of any refugees or those who questioned their sexuality or gender identification.  Peers were not publically shamed and, since there was no Internet, there was no cyberbullying to contend with.
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In contemporary novels, strong female characters demonstrate resilience over a variety issues and concerns—facing challenges, traumas, and adversity in diverse forms. These are characters who mirror the issues that are faced by current adolescent girls and who provide models and maps for navigating those problems. Characters who are their own persons, make hard choices, and have defined their moral codes, sometimes against the majority, sometimes at great cost.

​One of the most unforgettable characters is Kendra in Scars. At age 15 Kendra begins remembering years of childhood abuse and feels that she is being stalked by her abuser whom she cannot remember. She uses art and cutting as a way to cope but finally finds the strength to face the former abuse, recall her abuser, and save herself and her mother. In Call Me Hope, Hope is constantly verbally-abused by her mother. Inspired by Anne Frank, the young adolescent builds a support system and confronts her mother and helps her to change. Another character who learns to manage the trauma caused by family abuse is 16-year old Sarah (Still Life with Tornado) who, with the help of her ten-year-old, twenty-three-year-old, and forty-one-year-old selves, exposes the family secrets so she can become whole again.

​Mina (The Lines We Cross) is a Muslim refugee whose family encountered considerable trauma and death in Afghanistan, during their escape by boat, and throughout their stay in a detention camp. Moving to a new town in Australia, Mina, a high school junior, stands up for refugee rights against Aussie Values, an organization that believes that Australia is accepting too many refugees—especially Muslim refugees, an organization created by her boyfriends’ parents. For younger readers, the main character of Amina’s Voice, a Pakistani-American Muslim girl, faces the challenges of fitting in middle school and a diverse community which includes some Islamaphobic members.

​There are characters who are suicidal but are able to overcome those tendencies and decide to live, which is the challenge. One such character is Ally (Forget Me Not), shamed and cyber bullied after compromising photos of her are texted throughout her school. In My Heart and Other Black Holes, Aysel plots her suicide, worried that she has inherited her father’s violent tendencies. Spending time with her suicide partner, she finds strength as she realizes that she does not want to die and does not want Roman to die either. In All the Bright Places Violet Markey is able to save herself from suicide but is not as fortunate in saving Finch, the boy who helped her find a reason to live. Finding strength through others, Vicky Cruz (The Memory of Light) works through her suicidal depression with the help of her hospital therapy group.

​Adolescents who are grappling with the repercussions of rape often also are forced to contend with the additional torment of shaming by their peers. Some Boys features an adolescent who has been raped and shamed but stands up for herself, even again the rapist’s best friend. In this provocative novel Grace and Ian narrate alternating chapters, and when Ian questions the way she dresses, Grace asks why her clothing choices should matter or be assumed to send a message. In All the Rage Romy has been assaulted by the sheriff’s son. No one believes her allegations and, by coming forward, she is bullied by her former friends. As other girls become hurt, Romy has to decide how hard she will fight to be believed.  A victim of teen prostitution, 13-year-old foster child Dime (Dime) finds her strength and the courage to make a plan to leave what she thought was love and security to save a baby. 

​Transgender girls face a multitude of challenges, many external, some internal, as they define who they are. One of my favorite books is If I Was Your Girl. After attempting suicide, Amanda Hardy has transitioned, transferred schools, and moved in with her father to start a new life. But when she shares her secret, she learns that not all “friends” can be trusted, but she also learns that it is not always who you think who are the dependable friends and truly strong girls. In other novels, two delightfully strong girls are Lily (Lily and Dunkin) and Grayson (Gracefully Grayson) who have accepted themselves and expect others will also as they live life on their own terms.

Mean girls are an adolescent girl’s nightmare, but strong girls of all ages learn to handle them as does gutsy Piddy Sanchez (Yacqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass) and immigrant Kasienka (The Weight of Water).

For younger adolescent readers, there are characters who deal with physical differences, learning differences, or developmental disorders, such as Kiara (Rogue) who has Asperger’s syndrome and learns to use her “special ability” to help her new neighbor Chad, a victim of parental abuse, and seventh-grader Rachel (Braced) who is diagnosed with scoliosis and is required to wear a body brace 23 hours a day. Middle school student Molly (Finding Perfect) learns to manage OCD as does high school junior Samantha McAllister (Every Last Word).

​Sometimes families present the challenges. Other novels that feature strong or resilient girls are Skyscraping, the story of Mira, a high school student, who discovers her father is gay and that her parents are in an open marriage. After her father is diagnosed as HIV-positive, she learns to accept her family as they are. In another type of family crisis, Claire (Falling Over Sideways) deals with bullying at school and, at home, learns to support a father who has experienced a stroke. Male authors can create strong female characters; challenging the advantages of strength, Parker Grant (Not If I See You First), who copes with blindness and her father’s recent death, learns not to be too strong and to let others help her. 

Readers also meet strong girls in a multitude of memoirs, such as Positive: A Memoir, the narrative of Paige Rawl. Born HIV positive, Paige was bullied by middle school classmates after her best friend shares her secret and coaches, her counselor, and administrators refuse to intervene, resulting in a suicide attempt. Positive is really a story about surviving bullying rather than surviving illness and the courage to face the world and share a journey.

I have to say that my favorite strong girl is the half Japanese-half Black Mimi who faces racial prejudice and sexism in Marilyn Hilton’s Full Cicada Moon. The year is 1969, Neil Armstrong will be walking on the moon, and Mimi plans to become an astronaut. She enters the 8th grade Shop class in her Vermont school and is told that Shop is for boys; Home Ec is for girls. Sensing she needs this education for her future profession, she persists—and is suspended. When Mimi returns to school, her female classmates join her in a Shop class sit-in. An 8th grade biracial feminist fighting stereotypes!

​The “new” Nancy Drew is still strong, intelligent, determined, and spirited, but she isn’t solving mysteries; she is surviving the complex issues of contemporary life.

Below is a slide show of all of the book titles that Lesley covers in this post. You could probably use it as a source for several book talks with students.
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A middle school teacher for twenty years, Lesley Roessing is currently Director of the Coastal Savannah Writing Project and Sr. Lecturer at Armstrong State University where she works with teachers and teaches Bibliotherapy. She is the author of Bridging the Gap: Reading Critically & Writing Meaningfully to Get to the Core; Comma Quest: The Rules They Followed. The Sentences They Saved; No More “Us” & “Them: Classroom Lessons and Activities to Promote Peer Respect; and The Write to Read: Response Journals That Increase Comprehension. Lesley is a columnist for AMLE Magazine and editor of Connections, the journal of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English.
 
Lesley can be contacted at: lesleyroessing@gmail.com
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Thanks for following.

This is the second time I have been able to host a contribution from Marshall George. In the first post he discussed the relevance of calling this books we talk about "adolescent literature" or "Young Adult Literature." What's in a name? It is one that is worth visiting again. You can find his first post here. Marshall has been one of the primary contributors to scholarship around this field for about 20 years. If you don't know his work, you should. If you don't know where to start, I suggest you start with a call to action that he wrote for the CEE Commission on the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature in 2004. Thanks, Marshall for another timely and important post.

​When I was in middle school and the first two years of high school (late 1970s early 1980s) I remember that most of the texts we read in our English Language Arts were short stories, with the occasional poem thrown in. We always read a play (and in 9th and 10th grade I think we read two- one Shakespeare, and one contemporary). All of these texts were found in a literature anthology that was 3-4 inches thick and weighed 10 pounds at least.  The color of the anthologies’ covers changed from year to year, but the structure inside did not. At the time, I was neither aware of nor interested in how these texts were organized or if my teachers grouped the texts together with any purpose in mind. I loved reading, and read whatever they assigned with energy and gusto (Ms. Jobe, my middle school ELA teacher might dispute this characterization, but I am sticking by my assertion).
           
While I started teaching in an era when prescriptive curricula and high stakes standardized testing were not yet a thing, I still utilized an anthology and organized my curriculum the way those anthologies were organized- around literary genre. Every year, we started with a short story unit and moved through units focusing on drama, poetry, some nonfiction, and a novel or two (one of which was usually an abridged version actually in the anthology). I am contrite to say that the focus of our study was mostly on literary form (read literary terms and devices) and formalist analysis. For the first several years of my career, I taught much as I had been taught and organized my curriculum pretty much as those I studied in high school myself were organized. Somewhere along the way (sadly, I cannot remember where so that I can give credit where credit is due) I learned about a thematic approach to ELA curriculum design. Suddenly, curriculum development became fun. I began to create multi genre text sets that included novels, short stories, poems, and nonfiction texts that shared a common theme, topic, or context. My unit titles had names like “Facing the Challenges of Family and Friendship” or “Learning from Change and Challenge” instead of “Short Story Unit.”
 
When I got to NYC in the late 90s and started visiting middle and high schools here, I found that, while not using anthologies in their ELA courses, teachers for the most part were organizing their curricula by genre study. Some “progressive” principals had outlawed the anthologies that had been used in years gone by, and many teachers (especially old timers) had them hidden in classroom closets so that they could refer to them when developing their curriculum. My observations were similar to those documented by Arthur Applebee:  most literary study focused on novels (YA lit in the middle schools and canonical lit in the high schools).  Schools had book rooms full of paperback novels, but very few collections of short stories, poems, or essays. Teachers who wanted to include these genres often found them wherever they could (often in those closeted anthologies hidden away in their classrooms or somewhere online), photocopied them, and used them either in stand-alone units (the poetry unit is almost always in April, National Poetry Month) or as stand-alone texts to “shake things up” when they finished teaching a novel. Occasionally, the short stories, poems, and essays were linked to the current novel study. Sadly, I find this to be true in many NYC schools today, twenty years later.
 
I do a fair bit of consulting with schools around NYC and often work with teachers as they plan instructional units. When I talk to them about organizing their study of literature around big ideas and themes, they almost always like the approach but are perplexed about where to find short stories, poetry, and informational texts (CCSS’ new name for genres we historically called nonfiction) that appeal to the young readers in their classes. This frequently encountered “problem of practice” is what led me to write this blogpost.
 
Following is a brief annotated bibliography of collections of poetry and short stories (and a few essays), primarily written for adolescents and young adults, that I have found to contain a wealth of great literature. I encourage teachers at all levels (elementary, middle, high school, college, and teacher education) to consider organizing their literature curriculum thematically, at least some of the time, and to commit to incorporating short stories, poems, and essays written for young people. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Joan Kaywell, in her four-volume series, Adolescent Literature as Complement to the Classics, encouraged us to pair works of adolescent literature with classic canonical literature. Similarly, I feel that stories, poems, and essays written for adolescents and young adults can and should serve as complements to novels (middle grades, YA, contemporary adult fiction, and classics) as well as other short stories and poetry that were not specifically written for young people. These texts can be read as a scaffold before reading a longer text, they can be read alongside the novel to provide support around a concept or idea found in the longer work, and they can be read after the reader has finished the novel to allow for intertextual analysis or to extend a discussion. 

I debated about how to organize this section. While my first instinct was to group the works by genre (old habits die hard), I immediately realized that was antithetical to the whole premise of this blog post. I then considered trying to organize the collections by themes, since I believe strongly in thematic “big idea” curriculum design. However, I feared that by doing so I might place a collection in a “box” that works for my thinking or one context, but might stymie the creativity of a teacher or professor using this post as a resource for their own situation. Thus, in an effort to move outside of the traditional and limiting boxes that I have criticized in this post, yet to have some sort of order, I decided to go with alphabetical order of author’s first names.
 
This list has developed over time. I learned about some of the texts from the teachers with whom I work, the preservice teachers that I teach, my colleagues in the world of adolescent and young adult literature, and good old Amazon.com. Each year when I teach my course, Adolescent Literature in Our Multicultural Society at Hunter College-City University of New York, I require students to read at least one anthology of short stories or poetry and to integrate a minimum of three genres into the thematic unit plan that they create in the course.
 
I have provided a very brief annotation for each of the twenty collections, with a hypertext link from the title to a published review that provides a more thorough description of the book along with a brief critique in most cases. In no way do I consider this a complete list of collections of short stories and poetry written for adolescent and young adult readers. I had to trim the list and made every effort to include works that represent the experiences of the incredibly diverse youth who inhabit our classrooms today. I hope that readers will add to this list in the comment feature of this blog so that we can all continue to learn about texts that will enhance our libraries and reading lists and will allow us to provide literary windows and mirrors to all of our students in their reading of multiple genres. Even if we still have some genre study units (and I do think they are OK sometimes), let’s create others that blend multiple genres and allow for intertextual analysis across genres.

​Out of Bounds:  Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope by Beverley Naidoo
 
This collection of fictional short stories about young people living under Apartheid in South Africa reveals the depth of the oppression and injustices faced in that country from 1948-2000.
 
Sudden Flash Youth: 65 Short-Short Stories edited by Christine Perkins-Hazuka, Tom Hazuka, and Mark Budman
 
Each of the sixty-five short stories in this collection has no more than 1000 words. The narratives tell the stories of challenging moments of change that occur during adolescence and young adulthood. The authors are a mix of writes for adolescents and young adults and adults.
 
Outside Rules: Short Stories about Nonconformist Youth edited by Claire Robson
 
This collection of fourteen stories focuses on the experience of “outsider teens” as they try to negotiate relationships with their peers while being true to themselves and their identities. 

​Tough Boy Sonatas by Curtis L. Crisler
 
This collection of 38 poems provides an “unflinching narrative” that tell the stories of young men and boys who struggle to live in the industrial suburbs of Chicago.
 
The Full Spectrum:  New Generation of Writing about LGBTQ and Other Identities edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell
 
This multigenre collection includes poems, short stories, and (mostly) essays written by young adults in their teens and early twenties and focuses in the experiences of young people who identify as LGBTQ or other identities.
 
First Crossing: Stories about Teen Immigrants edited by Don Gallo*
 
This collection of stories written by popular YA authors explores the realistic (though fictional) experiences of teenage immigrants as they face the challenges of relocating to America. 

​Owning It: Stories about Teens with Disabilities edited by Don Gallo*
 
This collection of stories written by popular YA authors explores the experiences of young people with physical, psychological, and cognitive challenges. 
 
Visions: 19 Stories by Outstanding Authors for Young Adults edited by Don Gallo*
 
This collection of short stories written by popular YA authors focuses on a wide variety of common experiences and issues faced during adolescence and young adulthood. 
 
13: Thirteen Stories that Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen edited by James Howe
 
The title pretty much says it all. These stories are written by popular middle grades and YA authors. 

​Behind the Wheel: Poems about Driving by Janet S. Wong
 
These 36 poems about the early experiences of driving and learning to drive are simultaneously poignant and hilarious- something most teens (and adults) from “driving cultures” can identify with (in NYC, most teenagers do not learn to drive while they are still in high school).
 
Cool Salsa:  Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States edited by Lori Carlson
 
This bilingual collection of poems explores the experience of growing up as a bicultural, bilingual Hispanic youth in America.
 
Face Relations: 11 Stories about Seeing Beyond Color edited by Marilyn Singer
 
This collection of short stories written by diverse well-known authors of books for adolescents and young adults explores the challenges of racism in today’s world and offers glimpses into ways that young people are embracing diversity rather than letting it divide them. 

​Am I Blue?  Coming Out from the Silence edited by Marion Dane Bauer
 
This collection of original short stories is written by popular YA authors and explores the experiences of growing up LGBTQ or having parents who identify as LGBTQ.
 
Every Man for Himself: Ten Stories about Being a Guy edited by Nancy E. Mercado
 
This collection of short stories, written by popular male authors of adolescent and young adult literature, provides insights into the trials and tribulations of being a young guy. The authors use a mix of humorous and serious tones to engage readers.
 
A Maze Me: Poems for Girls by Naomi Shihab Nye
 
This collection of 27 poems by a beloved poet offers young readers a window into the common experiences faced by girls over the age of twelve and a mirror into their own souls. 

​19 Varieties of Gazelle:  Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye
 
In sixty narrative poems, this gifted poet shares with her adolescent and young adult readers the varied experiences of youth across the Middle East. 
 
What are You?  Voices of Mixed Race Young People by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins
 
In this sensitive multigenre collection of interviews, essays, and poetry, over 40 mixed race young adults relate their experiences growing up in the United States. Their racial identities represent a wide blend of cultures: European, African, Asian, Native American, Jewish, Arabic, Caribbean, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander.
 
Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Sharyn November
 
This collection of sixteen original stories written by a range of award winning science fiction and fantasy writers is intended for young adults and adults alike.

Girls Got Game: Sports Stories and Poems edited by Sue Macy
 
For this collection, nine American women authors of books for adolescents and young adults wrote stories or poems about girls engaging in a variety of sports and athletic activities. The book also includes bios of each author, focusing on their own real life experiences playing a sport.
 
Everyday Struggles:  The Stories of Muslim Teens by Sumaiya Beshir
 
This collection of short stories was written my Muslim teenage girls for their peers. The stories they share provide insight into their thoughts and feelings about the unique challenges they face as developing Muslim women.
 
* I feel that I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to Don Gallo, who I consider the father of the YA literature short story anthology. The three collections included in this list are but a sample of the numerous collections Don collaborated on with many of the greatest writers in our field. Do an Amazon search to find many other titles. Many thanks, Don. G.

Marshall George can be reached at mg2003@hunter.cuny.edu  

Thanks for following. I hope you are as inspired as I am to include some of these books in your next YA literature course. If you are a librarian or a teacher, I hope some of these find their way to your shelves.

Several years ago, I heard Simone Elkeles speak at an ALAN conference. I was impressed with her enthusiasm and the direct way she talked about how adolescents deal with intimate relationships, between parents, siblings, friends, or those individuals they are romantically attracted to, whether they understand how to articulate their feelings or not. I began to follow her career more closely. I asked teachers and librarians about how Simone’s books faired in their classrooms and libraries. Well, the news is great. Her books are always being read. Her books automatically reach the readers who are interested in realistic, contemporary romance. In addition, many of the main characters of her books are kids that adults consider are only existing in the margins of school or society. Kids who are being pulled in to gang activity or trying to leave it. Kids who might function on the playing field, but not seem to succeed academically. Kids, who might appear popular in school, but are dealing with difficult family situations.

Those of us who have worked with adolescents realize that most kids are actually pretty good kids. If anything, they manage remarkably well in the face of challenges that they silently endure. Despite what some parents might think, these adolescents are less naïve than they appear. They know who uses foul language, who is in or on the edge of the drug culture, or who is sexually activity. What Elkeles seems to understand is that most adolescents are dying for someone to engage them in conversations that acknowledge their struggles, questions, and awareness of the reality they are rapidly trying to navigate. Her novels, while they deal with romance, are often about adolescents navigating the liminal space between childhood and adulthood (Bickmore and Youngblood 2014). In many ways, it seems that Elkeles has looked at these students through a Youth lens (Sarigianides, S. T., Lewis, M. A., & Petrone, R. 2015) as she writes about them with respect and understanding.
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I am not saying that some kids and parents won’t find problems with some of the situations or language that occurs in the book, but these concerns should be contextualized. Not every student or family shares the same values nor ideological outlook on how literature does or does not help students. I am one that believes kids should read what they want. Of course, I also believe that parents should be talking openly with their children from the get go. If that were the case, realistic fiction that is open and frank, just as Elkeles writes, wouldn’t be as problematic. Instead, Elkeles work would be more celebrated. When you get done browsing the information below, check out the interview at the bottom of this blog entry.

I just finished Wild Crush, the second book in the Wild Card series. I like the way the book was centered around members of a football team and their significant others. You should explore Elkeles' blog to find out about other cool things associated with the series.

The Perfect Chemistry series falls within the star-crossed lover genre. As I stated before, Elkeles work is widely read and reviewed by many on Amazon, Goodreads, and several blogs. For this series, I included a link to review from the Mother, Gamer, Writer blog. 

For the Leaving Paradise series. There were several review options. I chose to link to the blog Kimberly’s Novel Notes. Here is the link for these reviews.

I found another readers blog that reviewed Elkeles’s Ruined series. The Reading after Midnight Blog written by Paula Stokes. The review of the ruined series is here.

Please find the interview with Simone below:

References:
Bickmore, S. T., & Youngblood, K. (2014). ‘It's The Catcher in the Rye… He said it was the kind of book you made your own': Finding Holden in Contemporary YA Literature. English in Education, 48(3), 250-263. doi:10.1111/eie.12049

Sarigianides, S. T., Lewis, M. A., & Petrone, R. (2015). How Re-thinking Adolescence Helps Re-imagine the Teaching of English. English Journal, 104(3), 13.