This week Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday gets the benefit of another scholar who presented at the YA Summit. Dr. Alice Hays provides some wonderful insight about one of the topics she passionately pursues. Dr. Hays carefully outlines how she works to engage students social activism.

As we are gearing up to begin school (or already facing week 3 of looking at your fresh-faced, bright-eyed students,) you may be thinking about how you can engage your students or get them to take a more active role in their education. One way to do this is to shift the dynamic of the classroom to a more student-centered one that may result in getting the students to work harder than you in the long run.
 
Six years ago, I realized my senior composition course had become stale. I taught the assignments as isolated writing types and as a result, it had become a skill-based course in which none of us (teacher or students) were engaged.  This lead me to ponder how I might shift the dynamics of the classroom.
 
I attended a symposium where I heard about someone who focused their writing course on following the journey of a students' t-shirts. While the book they used wasn’t YA (Where Am I Wearing, by Kelsey Timmerman), it was accessible for students and encouraged them to think about the global impact of their choices. I thought it was a brilliant idea. I wasn’t sure that all my students would be as interested in the same thing, though, and I wanted to provide as much choice as I possibly could. When I thought about what I really wanted my students to learn, I realized that beyond becoming better writers and researchers, I wanted them to be prepared to make a difference in the world.  As a result, I decided to center my course around activism. I tied all of our learning goals to this idea of preparing my students to become active citizens within our society. We wrote narratives on our involvement with a social issue, we researched social issues, we gave speeches about our social issues to our class, to the school and to the community. The final project was for each student to develop an action plan addressing the issue they learned about throughout the year. Students then carried out their plan to the best of their abilities. 

That senior composition course was more successful than any I’d taught prior to that semester, and I realized my students were hungry to complete authentic assignments, make a difference in the world around them, and have a sense of control over where they focused their attention. Fast forward three years and I found myself guiding other teachers in this curriculum with a new and exciting twist – the addition of young adult literature.
 
I am fortunate to work with several teachers in both middle school and high school who allowed me to come into their classroom and share my love of activist oriented curriculum with their students. These teachers have used this approach as full semester projects, as well as short-term projects. They all gave their students the opportunity to choose their research topics, time to read relevant novels in small groups, and a chance to develop (and sometimes implement) action plans to address the social justice issue they researched. The addition of young adult literature allowed students with little experience with the issue to develop a stronger sense of identification and empathy for the problem, while allowing students with experience in the issue to see that they were not alone.

Some of the issues that the students focused on included immigration, refugees, racism, religious discrimination, environmentalism, poverty, mental illness and abuse. The books that we used follow. 

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely focuses on parallel narratives of two boys who share similarities, but are initially placed on opposite sides of a racism/police brutality issue.  Rashad is the victim of a brutal beating by a police officer due to a minor collision followed by a false accusation by a store owner. Quinn is the young man who witnesses the beating, and recognizes that his best friend’s older brother is out of control. The story follows both of their stories as they figure out what their role is within this situation, and how each one of them needs to come to terms with the way they must stand up and say something regarding the situation.  This novel is particularly powerful in that it is an acknowledgement of the pain behind the racism some of your students may have experienced, and gives them an opportunity to share and discuss their experiences. This novel also allows students who may not believe that racism exists (or that victims of police brutality have somehow brought it upon themselves) to enter the space gradually, which may prevent them from putting up defenses to the overall message.  Students who read this novel completed action plans that included putting posters around school, creating a mini-documentary of racist experiences their peers had, and traveling to various classes to show and discuss the realities of racism in the community. 
​

Does My Head Look Big In This  by Randa Abdel-Fattah explores a young woman’s decision to begin to wear her hijab after winter break, exploring issues of religious freedom. This 16-year-old girl realizes that it will be difficult to walk into school wearing this expression of faith so openly, and even her parents are concerned for her decision. Ultimately, she decides to do it, and the novel explores the surprising and not-so-surprising reactions of people within her community. Students who read this book drew connections between their own faith and hers, and were cognizant of the fact that they appreciated their ability to demonstrate their faith in fairly external ways and felt that this same level of equality should be extended to all religions. These projects remained focused on spreading awareness through Twitter pages and Wix websites.  If you are interested in discussion questions for this book, the Multnomah County Library has created a set of discussion questions here: https://multcolib.org/does-my-head-look-big
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Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg is a book that twists the typical LGBTQ coming out story upside down. In this book, Rafe is sick and tired of being the token gay kid at school. He has extremely supportive parents, and everyone at his fairly liberal Colorado high school accepts him for who he is, but he is tired of having to be the voice for every gay kid in existence. He persuades his parents to let him travel across the country to attend a boarding school where he presents himself as straight. The novel is both humorous yet painful, as you experience Rafe’s struggle with hiding who he truly is. Students who read this book developed a deeper understanding of some of the difficulties of being LGBTQ in a heteronormative society, even if they had already been an LGBTQ ally.  Projects completed by students who read this book included starting the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club on campus and creating a magazine focused around the documentary-style interview of a transgendered wrestler from the school. 

​Kingsley by Carolyn O’Neal is an environmental issue based novel, which is focused on the experiences of 14-year-old Kingsley, who is the last boy who was ever born on Earth. This dystopian novel is focused on the events that occur after the final bee colony has collapsed, and there is now a virus that is attacking the Y-Chromosome. While the book is much more dense in terms of the writing style and vocabulary  than the other books in this grouping, the students who chose to read it were not put off by its relative difficulty.  The projects proposed for this novel included raising awareness, with an emphasis on planting trees as well as creating a community “bee garden”. 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell was the novel read by students who chose poverty as the issue they were interested in addressing.  In this novel, Eleanor is somewhat of a social misfit who struggles to fit in. When she is ostracized by others on the school bus, Park reluctantly lets her sit by him. The two of them strike up a relationship, and over the course of the novel, Park realizes that this girl is experiencing poverty, and he questions whether he can help her to overcome this issue. The students who read this book are exposed to the concept of poverty indirectly, which may allow them to more deeply empathize with the awkward Eleanor and her struggles before brushing her off as too different from them. Students who read this book focused on spreading awareness about poverty or volunteered at charitable organizations such as the United Food Bank. 

​It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini focuses on mental illness and is a semi-autobiographical novel written over the course of one month, after Vizzini was released from a mental institution. In this book, Craig Gilner checks himself into a mental institution after considering suicide. Craig struggles with pressures to be successful in his highly competitive prep school, coupled with friends who just don’t get it. He turns to art as a means of coping and discovers a few things about himself.  This book has been interesting in that everyone I’ve interviewed who chose this book, or one about mental illness, has confessed to struggling with their own issues. This is a powerful book that ends with hope, although I do have some concerns that students who research Vizzini may become discouraged at the fact that he did ultimately commit suicide years later. In discussing this with students, however, they do not seem to be as bothered by it. It may be that it is validation that mental health must continually be nurtured, and it is not a one-time fix issue. Students who chose this issue tended to focus on spreading awareness of facts about depression or mental illness or sharing resources for people who might need this help. 

The Good Braider by Terry Farish depicts the travels of a refugee, Viola, and her mother, from South Sudan to Cairo and then to Portland, Maine. The novel manages to convey the critical necessity behind why they left their home without being overly graphic, and explores the struggles Viola faces as they begin their journey as refugees.  The plot spends quite a bit of time in a refugee camp, an experience that is often glossed over in American news narratives and can be eye opening for many students. Farish’s writing allows students to more fully understand an experience that they may be completely unfamiliar with. Students who read this book focused on projects that included working with charitable organizations, and one student hosted a pots and pan drive for refugees in her community. 

​Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher focuses on abuse of all types. Chris Crutcher draws on his experience as a family therapist to create characters who are realistic and who are dealing with the nitty gritty details of trauma such as incest, rape, suicide and emotional abuse. While this book is graphic and somewhat difficult to get through, it is important to note that Chris Crutcher has written his books to provide a mirror for students who have been through those situations in order to let them know that they are not alone.  In this particular book, Dillon Hemmingway is a 16-year-old athlete who is a kind person, but is dealing with his brother’s unexpected suicide. He is also dealing with his attraction to his friend, but is confused by her sudden change in behavior, which the reader later discovers is a result of sexual and domestic abuse.  An interesting reaction one student had in reading this was that she could understand how some people might find solace in drugs or alcohol if their lives were that bad, whereas previously she couldn’t understand why anyone would touch those things. It was an unexpected form of empathy for people that she had previously judged.  Students who have read this book have tended to focus on projects that spread awareness of the issues to people who may not understand these various types of abuse. Additionally, they often focus on creating websites as resources for students who may need help in dealing with any of the types of issues encountered in the book. 

​The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez is a semi-autobiographical piece and is an incredibly powerful book to share with students who are interested in immigration issues.  In this first book, Francisco describes his journey to America, and the struggles his family endured to survive. He spends quite a bit of time discussing his experiences in education, and students who have had their own language struggles, or their own immigration experiences will see themselves reflected in this story. Those students with no real understanding of immigration beyond the inflammatory rhetoric in the news will get an opportunity to see the humanity behind the rhetoric through this child’s story.  Students who have read The Circuit have focused on raising school supplies for students like Francisco, or on providing more English Language Learner support at their schools. 

​The following books were ones that have been utilized for 7th graders. While the students read the books and conducted research on their issues, most of them did not conduct action plans as the high school students did, although the discussions they had from the book were powerful. 

Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper focuses on racism. This novel is set immediately following Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s election and the KKK makes an appearance in their sleepy town, causing a great deal of fear for Stella and her family. Sharon Draper writes about the segregation they experience in a straightforward realistic manner, which is important for young readers’ understanding. Throughout the novel, Stella realizes that writing may be one of her powers to help her get through the evil she and her family are experiencing. Students who read this book indicated that the book was powerful and inspired them to want to take action to stop racism. 

​It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas focuses on Cindy, who has moved to California from Iran to avoid political upheaval. The novel is set in the 1970’s and is an interesting exploration of the inner turmoil experienced by this family as their home country is turned upside down while they are simultaneously unable to fully fit into their new country. While Cindy’s tale is well written, younger students may not have a frame of reference for the Iranian upheaval to make an in-depth connection with the story, although there is certainly room to draw comparisons. 

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen is an ecological mystery novel that centers on a family of endangered miniature owls whose home is at threat of being destroyed by Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake house. The main character, Rob, is a boy who recently moved to a new school, and in trying to avoid a bully, he ends up meeting his two new friends who join him in their thrilling adventure to try to save the owls.  Interestingly, the students I interviewed had chosen the environment as their chosen social justice issue, and they did not feel like this was about the environment. In choosing a book for students who are interested in the environment as a social justice issue, it might be important to clarify if they are interested in a book like this that deals with animal rights, or if they are wanting something that deals more with the actual climate.  Carl Hiaasen has also written Flush, which deals with water pollution, and might be a better choice for some students.  

​Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate deals with poverty and homelessness through the narrator, Jackson, and his imaginary cat friend, Crenshaw. This book elegantly depicts the human faces behind the people on the street corner and shows how families are not immune from losing everything, no matter how loving or decent they are. Jackson copes with the poverty by relying on Crenshaw for emotional support. This book will give students an opportunity to live through the experiences of this family in and out of homelessness while being able to relate many of their typical family issues to themselves. This book is appropriate for students as low as 4th grade, although the 7th graders who read this novel did enjoy reading it, because they could relate to the situations depicted, and the relationships between the son and father in the book. 

​Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling deals with physical disabilities, and to a lesser extent bullying. This book was selected from a list of books that deal with mental illness, although there are only brief mentions of anxiety in the book.  In this book the protagonist, Aven, enjoys telling people that she lost her arms in any number of ridiculous ways, such as losing her arms in an alligator wrestling match. In truth, she was born without them, and has learned how to cope quite efficiently. She ends up at a new junior high, and meets two other students who are also struggling with their own issues that cause them to feel like outcasts. Together, the three of them solve a mystery and find friendship. Through their combined disabilities, they grow stronger together. While we originally read this book for mental illness issues, the students took a sense of empowerment away from their reading. They focused on the bullying and admired the way that Arven and her friends bonded together to fight off the issues. 

​Ghost by Jason Reynolds is the first in a series of books that focuses on a group of kids who make a middle school track team. In this book, Ghost began running when he ran away from his father who was trying to shoot him and [his mother? His brothers?] in the street, but over time, he began to be the one causing his own troubles. His coach is determined to keep Ghost from throwing away his shot at success and works to help Ghost escape the abuse he is trying to run from. 

This list of books is not exhaustive, and the topics of books that you might use should come from the issues that your students identify as important and needing to be addressed. There are two important things to consider with using young adult literature for social activism. One is that the reader be able to identify in some way with the characters, which makes YAL much more powerful than nonfiction research on its own. The second thing that students identified as much more important than just reading was actually being asked to identify an action they might take.
 
As I reflect on my own quest to create a more active and student-centered classroom, I am grateful that I gave myself and my students permission to break out of our traditional approach. Seeing my students come alive when they presented their findings, and get involved in the community was more of a reward than any set of A papers had ever been. It is my hope that you, too, have a positive experience with curriculum like this.
 
Whatever you choose to do, I hope you have a fabulous school year!
 

This week Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday has another contribution from Lesley Roessing. Lesley is an abundant source of all kinds of information on YA Literature. I am constantly amazed at her knowledge and how brilliantly she groups YA books around a topic. This is a follow up post to a contribution she did last December about Bullying. There are references to it in her post, but you can read it here if you like.

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. A type of youth violence that threatens young people’s well-being, bullying can result in physical injuries, social and emotional problems, and academic problems. The harmful effects of bullying are frequently felt by not only the victims, but friends and families, and can hurt the overall health and safety of schools, neighborhoods, and society. A young person can be a perpetrator, a victim, or both. Even youth who have observed but not participated in bullying behavior report significantly more feelings of helplessness and less sense of connectedness and support from responsible adults (parents/schools) than youth who have not witnessed bullying behavior.

According to stopbullying.gov, a federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are two modes of bullying: direct and indirect (spreading rumors), and there are four types of bullying: physical, verbal, relational, and damage to property. The newest type of bullying is electronic bullying or cyberbullying. According to the National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics, 28% of U.S. students in grades 6–12 experienced bullying. In surveys, 30% of young people admit to bullying others. 

Adolescent suicide is now the second leading cause of death of young people of age 10-24 (“10 Leading Causes of Death by Age Group, United States–2016,“ National Vital Statistics System, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC). The CDC cites studies that have shown that youth who report frequently bullying others and youth who report being frequently bullied are at increased risk for suicide-related behavior. Youth who report both bullying others and being bullied have the highest risk for suicide-related behavior of any groups that report involvement in bullying. While bullying may not be the sole cause of suicide, the bottom-line of current research findings is that being involved in bullying in any way—as a person who bullies, a person who is bullied, or a person who both bullies and is bullied is one of several important risk factors that appears to increase the risk of suicide among youth.

​On December 4, 20117, I wrote about this critical issue and reviewed and recommended 15 MG/YA novels.  The novels I highlighted are in the slide show below and you can read the post here.

As I stated then, it is vital that adolescents experience bullying and the effects of bullying, not in real life, but through novels. it is imperative that students, especially middle grade students, read novels about bullying to open conversations about this important topic and to discuss bullies, victims, bystanders, and upstanders, and the ongoing shifts among these roles. Novels can generate important conversations that adolescents need to hold and share truths that they need to know; stories can provide not only a mirror to those who are similar to them—or have faced similar situations—but also windows into those they may view as different from them. But, even more significantly, these novels can serve as maps to guide adolescents in working through conflicts and challenges and maps to help them navigate when they may become lost. Novels can help readers gain knowledge of themselves and empathy for others. 
 
I share eleven additional novels—in no particular order—that present bullying from a variety of perspectives—victim, bully, and bully-victim—and portray a variety of types of bullying. 

​Bullying is not a problem only in the United States. As Holly Thompson so powerfully and effectively portrayed female bullying—bullying by exclusion, spreading rumors, and meanness ("Mean Girls")—in her verse novel Orchards (reviewed in my December 4 blog), she portrays the more physical and verbal abusive bullying of males in Falling into the Dragon’s Mouth.

Jason Parker is a sixth grade American boy living and attending school in Japan where he is different—and bullied for being different. He has redefined “friend” as anyone who doesn’t punch or kick him or refer to him as a “stinking foreigner.” Near the end of the school year Jason is placed in a group, or han, with five of the meanest kids in the class. What follows is relentless bullying, and the reader sees the importance of telling an adult, but not just any adult. The teacher has to be aware of what is going on, and Jason is afraid that his parents will make it worse. He is hoping to last until his parents can afford to send him to the international school.

With the support of his little sister, two new friends outside school—an older man with Parkinson’s disease and a teen who quit school because of the bullying, his English group, and aikido, Jason perseveres until the bullies “play” the choking game and Jason’s parents and the school finally become involved. Jason’s aikido instructor explains “…we need to train so that we sense danger in order to avoid it” but also warns him “the world is full of all kinds of people and some of them are a bit lost” (308-309).

In short lyrical free-verse lines, the reader learns about Japanese culture but also the trials of being perceived as different in any culture. The reader experiences the effects of bullying on children and the importance of effectively stopping and preventing bullying but also becomes aware of the dilemmas involved with trying to end bullying. I found myself frustrated that Jason did not tell his parents, but then I am an adult. I also was disturbed that his teacher ignored all the signs, but I have learned that this is too often true. In fact, Jason wants to change the rule that allows teachers to hit students.

An effective student examination of bullying would be for a class to read both Orchards and Falling into the Dragon’s Mouth to gain different perspectives and begin conversations on the different types of bullying, or for half a class to read each one or to combine these novels with other books on bullying that I reviewed in “Books to Begin.

​Can anyone, even a brutal bully, start over? In Restart I met a new favorite character—Chase Ambrosea, at least the new Chase Ambrosea. The eighth grade MVP football player fell off his roof and suffered from a concussion—and amnesia. The “new” Chase is a nice guy who plays Barbies with his 4-year-old half-sister and volunteers at the senior citizens’ home. When he returns to school, becomes a valuable member of the video club, and begins making new friends, he finds, to his horror, that the "old" Chase was not just a bully, he was the Head Bully; one boy even had to change schools to avoid him. His new video-nerd friends are some of the kids he bullied the most.

After a particularly vicious prank, pulled with his best friends, fellow football team members Aaron and Bear, he was given community service as a punishment (which is how he became involved with the senior citizens he now helps voluntarily). Surprisingly his father approves of Bully Chase and is disappointed that his concussion prevents him from playing football.

As Chase navigates his “new” world, he is worried that he might slip back into old habits and that he won’t be able to convince his new friends and his step-family that he really has changed. He finds that he might still have to pay for who he was and figure out who he will be able to become. I read this well-written novel straight through, worrying that it might be too late for Chase to be accepted for who he now is.

​“So hit me with your best challenge for spreading kindness…. A challenge that helps people relate to people…. Share a little piece of yourself, like I did, and let us get to know and love you.” (238) These final words from Danny, a boy who suffered and died from progeria, guide Flint and McKell in their search for acceptance and belief in themselves.
 
Flint, nicknamed Squint because he has an eye disease that compromises his eyesight, has two goals: to win a comic book contest and make friends in middle school. McKell is a new student from a school where she had few friends. In Flint’s school she hangs out with the popular kids who bully Squint. But McKell befriends Squint, and they encourage each other, following her brother’s Danny’s video challenges, to attempt something new and follow their passions. When Squint adds a female superhero hero, Diamond, to aid his comic hero also named Squint, he supports McKell in overcoming her fear of sharing her talent. As they step out of their comfort zones, Squint confronts his bullies and finds that relationships are not always what you think they are.
 
This is a powerful novel about trust in others and trust in oneself and about adolescents learning to be themselves as they navigate middle school with all its rules. I was hoping for some comics (graphics) to go along with the story, but the Squint does share the text of his comic book as he creates it.

​There seem to be more books about boy bullies than girl bullying. Female adolescent bullying is different—it is a bullying of exclusion, manipulation, and rumors. What I loved about this novel is that it does NOT follow the expected plot arc—mean girl becomes a loser and is disrespected and insulted by her former friends; the nerds support her, and she sees the light and changes, dropping the popular kids forever. Neither is it the opposite. But, like middle school, it is somewhere in between; the story is nuanced as is adolescence.

Kacey is a bully. She does not see herself s a bully or even as a mean girl; she sees herself as honest, as knowing what everyone should say, do, and wear, and she is just there to help them or help them get real. "The truth may hurt, but it's always better to know"(189). Her world as school leader falls apart when an eye infection leaves her with glasses and new braces leave her—a school news reporter and star of the musical—with a lisp. Her best friends drop her and cyber bully her and while an old friend offers to help, it is to receive help herself, having decided in fifth grade that she was embarrassed to be seen with Kacey (which is not how Kacey remembers the end of the friendship). And the cute nerd seems to be dating her former best friend. Kacey reclaims her popularity, but takes responsibility for herself and her past actions.

​Somehow, in Runt, author Nora Raleigh Baskin gets inside the head of members of class of sixth graders, kids who two years prior invited everyone to their parties. The reader follows the ongoing individual stories of these students and their intersecting lives. In this novel Baskin draws parallels between sixth grade behaviors and the behaviors of dogs, specifically the dogs boarded by one of the students, Elizabeth. This is not a story with an ending but an ongoing saga that plays itself out in middle schools across the country. As Freida concludes in her report on crimes and punishments in ancient times, “And in modern times, of course, there are all sorts of safe and creative punishments for people who try to step out of their ascribed social standing. No one, however—not Moses, not Hammurabi—could have predicted middle school.” (15)
 
As the students in this novel’s middle school bully each other, are aghast or sometimes proud of their attempts, become bullies and are bullied, they each deal with bullies and the effects of bullying. Elizabeth ruminates on the effect of her unintended bullying of a scared little dog who now shakes at her approach, “There are some kids of hurt that are just too much to feel.” (95) But middle school bullying as outlined above takes many forms; in general boys are more physical and girls employ relationship bullying, exclusion. In both genders, bullies seek out the weak. “In the wild mountain lions have been known to attack their own leader when he appears weak and unable to protect his pride.” (171) Apparently no one is safe.
 
As the dog who narrates the Afterword says, “I want to know where I belong.” (194). These characters and their stories will help generate discussions that may help readers clarify not only where they belong but where they want to belong, how they want to be treated and how they want to treat others.

Sometimes stories are just magical enough. I am not a fan of books that rely on the supernatural, but the magic in this Winner of the 2018 Newbery Medal can easily be the enchantment within ourselves and our cultural beliefs. The magic in Hello, Universe is the power of friendship and of believing in oneself. It is not always the bully who will see the light and make changes but will lose his power because those he bullies find their strength and make their own changes.
 
Three young adolescents find each other and, even though “there are no coincidences,” they bond through a series of happenstances. Virgil is trapped and his life is endangered when Chet Bullens, the school bully, throws Virgil’s pet guinea pig down an abandoned well in the woods and Virgil follows to save him. Searching for him with new friend Kaori, and the assistance of little sister Gen, Valencia finds Virgil and the friendship they both desperately want and need. Through these connections, Virgil gains the strength to stand up to the bully and demand his place in a family who is quite different from him. 

When I received a copy of The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, I wondered if I would be as captivated by Mason as I was with another Leslie Connor character, Perry T. Cook (All Rise for the Honorable Perry T Cook). Perry and Mason have a lot in common; they are both loyal, resilient, glass-half-full guys who persevere through challenging experiences. Mason has faced a variety of challenges. He is the largest kid in his grade, sweats uncontrollably, has trouble reading and writing; he lives with his grandmother and uncle in a house he refers to as the “crumbledown”—and Shayleen moves in and takes over his bedroom.

Mason has suffered more than his share of losses—he had a walkaway daddy, his grandfather and mother died, and, along with most of the town, Mason is still mourning his very best friend who fell from the ladder of their tree house and died. And there are two bullies who are always after him.

What Mason does have, beside an indomitable spirit, are a compassionate school social worker, a new best friend who is as loyal as Mason, a neighbor’s dog who loves him, and a supportive family. However, what Mason doesn’t realize is that Benny died under mysterious circumstances and some people, including the lieutenant who questions him incessantly and Benny’s two fathers, think Mason may be to blame. As Calvin and Mason create their own hideaway and battle bullies, Mason inadvertently solves the crime, but he still is never one to think badly of anyone, “My heart feels scrambled” (p. 320). The truth as told by Mason Buttle is the truth.

The reader will fall in love with Mason, and even though he may begin the story wearing a T-shirt that proclaims him as “STOOPID,” he ends with the revelation that “Knowing what you love is smart.”

With very short chapters and a wealth of diverse characters, this novel would be a good teacher read-aloud.

There are problems all around in Miss Woods' sixth grade. Bullies come in all ages and sizes—Randi's mom Jane bullies her about gymnastics and schoolwork hoping for a future scholarship; Trevor's brother bullies him, so Trevor bullies his classmates. Gavin has trouble reading and is embarrassed of parents who did not graduate high school. Scott has a big heart which always gets him into trouble. Mark's dad is on the school board and Mark feels he has to take care of Trevor. And Natalie, an aspiring lawyer, tries to always be in the right but as she sees from one of her mother's cases, this is not always possible.
 
With the help of their two teachers who have their own personal problems, these classmates band together as The Recruits and face off against the biggest bully of all, the standardized test.

Each chapter is narrated by one of these students, demonstrating perspective but also providing an opportunity for a Reader's Theater read aloud of the novel. Or students could read this book in lit circles, each lit circle tracking one of the students.

​When she was 8, Lucy was struck by lightning. Damaging the left lobe of her brain, the right lobe works overtime, causing acquired savant syndrome. Lucy is a math genius—and has OCD; she makes certain movements 3 times to quiet the numbers of pi in her head and is germ phobic. Homeschooled by her grandmother, she never had to worry about fitting in, except with her fellow math geeks on the Math Whiz site. At age 12 she has her GED and thinks she is ready to begin college classes.
 
But Nana has other plans, and she enrolls Lucy in 7th grade at the local middle school for one year. There Lucy hides her identity as a “freak” and makes two friends, but when her secret is revealed, she finds out that middle school is where many feel different and anxious, even the popular kids.
 
Reading this wonderful new book for grade 4-8 readers straight through, I fell in love with Lucy and empathized with her struggles to understand human behavior—the mean girls who bully her, making fun of her differences and excluding her; the boy who cheats off her in math class and is constantly taking photographs; the BFF who betrays her. When she works on a school project and falls in love with a dog at the shelter, she learns to reach out to save him and finds there are people she can depend on, especially Levy, the cheater. Levy grew into my favorite behavior because, an outsider himself, he understood human behavior and was able to capture, appreciate, and share the complexity through his photography.
 
Middle school is where very few fit in—whether a genius or not.

“I learned a lot through my friend troubles and surgeries. Like, small acts of kindness can go a long way….And when things are rough, you can always find a way to laugh.” (242) These words are from the real Maddie, the authors’ daughter. And this is the story of a girl who fights a bully and a brain tumor, told convincingly in the voice of a sixth grader that rings true.

There is a girl in story-Maddie’s class who is a bully. She bullies in the distinctive way of girls—through exclusion. Cassie decides who can play with her each recess and excludes all others. As Maddie wins the part that Cassie wants in a class production, she becomes even more mean, and when Maddie is diagnosed with a brain tumor, Cassie tells the other students that she made it up. However, Maddie has created amore inclusive playground with her imaginative games as she invites more and more students to join in.
​
Through two surgeries Maddie keeps her wild imagination and sense of humor—anything is funnier while wearing a mustache, discovering that she has quite a lot of school friends and a wide community for support and even a boy who likes her. But she learns that many children are going though tough times and they all need a little support, even if they don’t ask for it. Bullying takes place with a perceived power imbalance; Maddie balanced that power.
This is a novel that many children need as they face—and help others face—bullies and all sorts of problems that our young people of today are facing.

Stan Lee said, “To my way of thinking, whether it’s a superhero movie or a romance or a comedy or whatever, the most important thing is you’ve got to care about the characters.” This is true whether watching a movie or reading a novel, and I thought of this when I read Natasha Friend’s newest YA novel, How We Roll.

Quinn has a brother who is on the autism spectrum, and his tantrums and food requirements consume her parents’ at6tion, especially her mother’s. So when Quinn’s hair falls out and she is diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder, she handles the challenges on her own, assuming that her middle school friends will support her. Which they do—until they don’t. Bullied and ridiculed by her peers and ignored by her two lifelong friends, Quinn copes by keeping to herself and putting her energy into skateboarding and basketball.

Serendipitously, when the family moves across the country so her brother can attend a special school, she has a chance to start over, with her two new wigs—Guinevere and Sasha. At her new school she meets a group of girls who adopt her. She also meets Jake. Jake, the former star football player, was in an accident and is now a bilateral amputee, sad and bitter, and the two become unlikely friends. Quinn also finds out that it is possible to have friends who like you for who you are, not what you look like.
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What impressed me was how three-dimensional the characters were and not only how supportive Quinn is despite her heartbreak, but she is learning to trust that others can be as supportive. I really came to like all the characters, even Jake’s flawed brother and the ninth-grade popular girls (except for the old schoolmates whom the reader was not supposed to like). Readers will experience just how demanding life with a neuro-diverse child can be but, on the other hand, just how supportive a family and a community can be. This is a community I didn’t want to leave. 

This week Wendy Williams offers a thoughtful and provocative post about the quality of Young Adult Literature. I think it builds a bit on what I was getting at a couple of weeks ago. (found here) Many of us that admire and promote YA literature realize that some it is better than the rest. This is true of any medium of art, but Wendy takes the time to give some specific examples. I think this is a post that all of us  should keep in mind has we build our course and make selections for the fall.

Young adult (YA) literature can help young people as they navigate their way through adolescence. A multitude of experiences, viewpoints, and possibilities are represented in these texts, making YA literature an important resource for teens. YA books are valuable. They show readers that they are not alone. They comfort, challenge, and inspire. They open minds and change lives.
 
In this week’s YA Wednesday blog entry, I entertain the idea that in addition to being beneficial for youth, YA literature is also a formidable art form in its own right. Within this body of literature are strokes of genius and many surprises. Play and experimentation abound. In today’s entry I pause to appreciate some of the artistry and innovation in YA literature. I consider just a few of the texts that immerse readers into imaginative worlds, contain innovative text/typography, experiment with structure, or creatively employ images. In the comments section, please add your own examples of artistry and innovation in YA literature, so we can continue the conversation.

​Within YA literature are many examples of imaginative worlds. In addition to containing memorable villains, heroes, and helpers, many stories also introduce us to unique customs, rules, and language. A world might contain reapings, peacekeepers, tributes, victors, districts, tesserae, and mockingjays (The Hunger Games). Or it may introduce us to house elves, boggarts, hippogriffs, death eaters, spells, a department of mysteries, and o.w.l.s (the Harry Potter series). We may witness family units, a ceremony of twelve, a committee of elders, a receiver, a nurturing center, stirrings, and sameness (The Giver). 

I would put the intricately crafted worlds of Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993), Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008-2010), and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter (1997-2007) up against the best artwork in other mediums. These stories provide immersive experiences into imaginative worlds. To me, these books are as aesthetically important as paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, animation by Hayao Miyazaki, and epic poetry by Homer. They are deep, beautiful, powerful, disturbing art. 

            Also in YA literature are examples of authors experimenting with the particulars of how the story appears on the page. Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls (2009) is a postmodern text that experiments with text/typography. For example, she uses strikethrough lines to show a character revising her thoughts:
            I’m hungry I need to eat.
            I hate eating.
            I need to eat.
            I hate eating.  (p. 145)  

In addition, the author includes several pages with only three words: “Must. Not. Eat.” (p. 185-187), and some other pages are empty. There are even calorie counts in parentheses after food items to show a character’s thoughts about food: “I pour too much cereal (150) in the bowl, splash on the two-percent milk (125)” (p. 7). Also, Anderson combines words for effect: “Breakfast is themostimportantmealoftheday” (p. 7). This author’s inventiveness reminds me of works by e.e. cummings and Italo Calvino. She is not just telling a story; she applies the tools in new ways. Anderson pushes the boundaries of what is possible in this medium. 

Many YA texts experiment with storytelling structure. Jacqueline Woodson’s book, Brown Girl Dreaming (2014), is a beautiful, moving memoir told through a series of poems. Isabel Quintero’s Gabi, a Girl in Pieces (2014) uses a collection of diary entries, lists, letters, poems, and a zine to take readers into Gabi’s world. 

​Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese (2006) alternates between three different storylines, which ultimately come together at the end. And in Tom Leveen’s book, Party (2010), eleven characters share their perspectives in chapters of their own. Rather than tell stories in a straightforward or linear way, many YA authors are mixing forms and experimenting with different structures. Creativity in storytelling method seems to be a valued component of YA literature. 

​YA literature also contains many examples of visual storytelling. Illustrated books and graphic novels are popular. One of my favorite visual narratives is Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007). The many images in this text are not merely illustrative of the words on the page; instead, they play an essential role in telling the story. 

Selznick’s pencil drawings are captivating, and they show how images can be used to provide perspective, create movement, and establish setting. I particularly love the opening pages, which bring the viewer into the story by zooming in from afar, which is not unlike the opening of Baz Luhrmann’s film Moulin Rouge (2001). YA literature welcomes the visual in a way that adult literature typically does not. I am excited to see how YA authors/artists continue to push the boundaries of storytelling through their use of images in the years to come.

Some people claim that only 5-10% of the work produced in any area is of the highest quality, and the rest falls far below. When I look at the shelves of YA books in my office, it is true that some books stand out more than others. With so many books published each year, there is bound to be a range of quality. Still, the best YA literature can stand up to the best art created in other mediums.  

Wendy's can be reached at: Wendy.R.Williams@asu.edu and her faculty webpage is found at this link.

I love people who are industrious. I especially like having a few of them for friends when I am trying to have a summer break that includes a trip to Disneyland, a family reunion--that I was theoretically in charge of--(any of you who are the oldest child with younger siblings no what i am talking about.), helping with aging parents, and trying to take a week of so that Dana and I can take a golf retreat at Bear Lake, Utah. Okay, enough of my whining.

Enter Diane Scrofano. Diane was one of the presenters at the YA Summit in Las Vegas and prepared a blog post on the topic of her presentation. It focused on YA connections to Hamilton and you can find it here.

Like I said, she is industrious and awhile I was wondering what to do earlier this week, Diane sent me this post and asked if I was interested. It goes back to her interest in YA and mental illness, an interest she shares with her new friend,  colleague, and fellow summit presenter Kia Richmond (Kia has a blog post on a parallel topic and about a year ago--look for the book soon.) It many ways these two post are great companion pieces for a class. Diane reminds us that July is National Minority Mental Illness Awareness Month. The following post explores titles that if you don't know them they should soon be added to your "to be read" list. I know I added a couple of titles to mine.

​In the fall of 2014, I was a new mother who had recently completed a sabbatical during which I had gestated both a baby and a considerable amount of research on mental illness in young adult fiction. Eager to prove that I could be both a mother and a scholar, I got myself and my breast pump on a plane and headed across the country to the National Council of English Teachers (NCTE) Conference in Washington, D.C., to give a poster session. The conference was so big that I got lost within the hotel where it was held and nearly missed the window of time during which I was supposed to stand in a small cubicle in the exhibit hall and pin up my 8.5x10” Power Point slide print-outs for people to view. I quickly realized that the hordes were more interested in the free books than in my annotated bibliography, so I took a proactive approach, foisting my handouts on anyone who happened by. It all was worth it, though, when I saw my former professor, YA library history legend, Michael Cart, strolling down the aisle in a humble baseball cap. I effused to him how he might not remember me from UCLA, but here was this work I had done on YA novels of mental illness, and so on and so on, and, at one point, I proclaimed “there’s a lack of diversity in these mental illness novels!” Admittedly, this wasn’t a huge scholarly bombshell, but I was excited. Michael smiled warmly and knowingly, and replied, “Surprise, surprise.”  

I was surprised by the obvious again, this time more recently, when I found out that July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and that it has been since the U.S. House of Representatives declared it so in 2008. As a NAMI volunteer and a co-advisor of my community college’s chapter of NAMI on Campus, I knew about the annual May Mental Health Awareness Month and the Mental Health Awareness Week which happens annually in October—most NAMI Walks across the country happen in either May or October for this reason—, but Minority Mental Health Month gets less attention. As Michael Cart might say, “Surprise, surprise.” So, to do my little part this July to help build awareness of Minority Mental Health Month, I’d like to consider my research on YA novels of mental illness in terms of diversity—ethnic and otherwise.  As NAMI says, “Mental health conditions do not discriminate based on race, color, gender or identity. Anyone can experience the challenges of mental illness regardless of their background….In many communities, these problems are increased by less access to care, cultural stigma and lower quality care.” It’s important that teens of color and teens of varying sexual orientation and gender identity see themselves represented in the YA literature of mental illness. So that you can recommend such books to teens, I’d like to provide an overview of some of the titles featuring diverse characters with mental illness and what gaps in coverage will hopefully be filled by promising YA authors of the near future! 

​Serendipitously, the idea of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month comes to us from the literary community! The inspiration for the annual July awareness campaign is renowned African American author Bebe Moore Campbell, whose 2004 novel, 72 Hour Hold, remains one of the few portrayals of a non-white person’s experience with mental illness. While not marketed as a YA novel, probably because it is narrated by the mother, it chronicles the experiences of an African-American teen suffering from bipolar disorder. Campbell’s narrator draws interesting parallels between mental illness and slavery—they both inflict wanton violence on whole families. Of the few other mental illness novels with African-American characters, none really referenced the African-American heritage the way that Campbell did. (The only exception might be in Karen Fortunati’s The Weight of Zero, in which Catherine, of Polish ancestry, is inspired to fight her mental illness as she researches a female African-American World War II soldier’s life in a museum directed by her best friend’s mother. Best friend Krystal and her mother are African-American, and Kristal has an eating disorder.) Furthermore, 72 Hour Hold was the only novel I found in which characters went beyond treatment and also got involved in mental illness advocacy. Campbell, herself the loved one of a family member with mental illness, founded the NAMI Urban Los Angeles chapter and was active in the national organization until her death in 2006. 

​In Brandy Colbert’s Little and Lion, white teen Lionel suffers from bipolar disorder. His step-sister, Suzette, is African-American and bisexual. The whole family is Jewish. While I was worried that this novel was trying too hard to feature diversity, the novel is set in Los Angeles and the whole thing felt organic, not tokenistic. Mental illness figures into the plot because Lionel has gone off his medication and Suzette doesn’t want to rat him out to their parents. So, while the non-white character doesn’t have mental illness, she is definitely affected by it as a family member struggling to provide the right kind of support to her brother. Overall, Suzette struggles with whether to be honest about both Lionel’s medication non-compliance and her sexuality. 

​In I Will Save You, Matt de la Peña alludes to his main character’s dark skin without naming any ethnicity specifically. Protagonist Kidd has recently run away from a treatment facility and his schizophrenia symptoms begin to threaten his relationship with a wealthy white girl whose family vacations at the California beach campsite where Kidd works. In Ball Don’t Lie, de la Peña’s main character, Sticky, who has OCD, is a white foster child living in an urban African-American community. Because disadvantaged Sticky wouldn’t have a name for his condition, the diagnostic term “obsessive-compulsive disorder” never appears in the narrative; one can find it only in the Library of Congress subject classification terms listed on the verso page of the novel. 

​In John Green’s most recent novel, white, middle-class Aza struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder and medication noncompliance. Aza lives in a modest single-family home with her mother. Her best friend, Daisy, a Latina, lives with her parents and siblings in an apartment. Initially fascinated by the local news story of a voracious businessman who has disappeared after charges filed against him, Daisy and Aza befriend the business tycoon’s son, Davis, at first hoping to solve the mystery and collect the reward money. When the friendship turns real, Davis gives Aza and Daisy $100,000, an amount equal to the reward money, so that, as the friendship continues, Davis can be sure they stay around because of him and not because of the prospect of gaining the reward money. However, Daisy and Aza’s use of their $50,000 each brings up a curious intertwining of mental illness and social class. Part of OCD can be scrupulosity, and Aza immediately feels guilty about taking the money because all of the businessman’s assets were supposed to have been seized by police (Davis has given them the money out of a hidden stash). Daisy can sense this, and she tells Aza off, implying that Aza’s scrupulosity is made possible by privilege, as Aza’s single mother always planned to send Aza to college while Daisy can go only if she keeps this money. Daisy also immediately buys a car and a laptop, for which Aza chides her and cautions her to save her money instead. Daisy resents this as well and points out that Aza already had her own car and laptop while Daisy writes her trademark fanfiction on her cell phone. The fanfiction is another source of contention between them. Aza, often consumed with her own problems, does not read Daisy’s years’-worth of fiction, and so there’s an unlikeable character just like Aza floating around cyberspace in these stories. Aza must learn to overcome the self-centeredness which sometimes results from mental illness. 

​The Memory of Light, by Francisco X. Stork, is unique in that it doesn’t just have one ethnic-minority character but rather features a cast of almost entirely Latino characters near Austin, Texas, with varying life experiences reflective of the multidimensional Latino community in the U.S. Vicky Cruz, whose grief at the loss of her mother to cancer has turned to depression, struggles to fit into her ambitious, upwardly mobile family. Her successful real estate mogul father, Miguel, and Harvard-student sister, provide a stark contrast in social class to Gabriel, a gardener’s son, who Vicky meets in the hospital after her suicide attempt. Thoughtful and well read, Gabriel is in the early stages of schizophrenia. Vicky feels defeated by her parents’ plan to send her aging nanny to retire in Mexico while Gabriel worries about who will take care of his aging grandparents if he becomes permanently unable to work. Emilio, another blue-collar patient staying in the psych ward with Vicky and Gabriel, introduces himself by calling Vicky out as weak and privileged since she couldn’t deal with her problems and tried to kill herself. Vicky struggles whether to tell on Mona, a recovering addict who has stopped her medication for bipolar disorder.
 
Mona was one of the few characters I found in YA novels of mental illness who had the quite common “dual diagnosis” of mental illness and substance abuse. To find more dual diagnosis stories, I suspect that I’ll have to search the YA novels of drug abuse. The problem novel about drug use has been a widely acknowledged subgenre in YA fiction since the 1970s’ Go Ask Alice, and I wonder if many books marketed as stories of drug abuse will also include a character trying to self-medicate for mental illness. The possibility that a book about a mentally ill person who self-medicates with illegal drugs would be marketed as a drug novel instead of a mental illness novel brings up a variety of interesting questions: is drug use more socially acceptable, even glamorized in the media, and less stigmatized than mental illness is? Will a drug book sell better than a mental illness book? (If this turns out to be the case, then it’s probably significant that Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, which I will bring up again later, focuses on the anxious nerdy character rather than the party girl. Wren, who has a drinking problem, takes a back-seat in the narrative to protagonist Cath, who suffers from anxiety.)
 
Or does the separation of the drug subgenre from the mental illness subgenre stem from a bias in the other direction, against the drug user? Does the reading public, who publishers are marketing to, still see drug use as a lifestyle choice more than a mental illness? Are characters with genetic predisposition to mental illness more sympathetic than those who are genetically predisposed to addiction but nevertheless must make a choice to try illegal drugs?
 
Getting back to The Memory of Light, a kindly psychiatrist, Dr. Desai, helps Vicky see that she can make a place for herself and take an active role in solving seemingly insurmountable problems. We find another Indian mental health professional in Matthew Quick’s Silver Linings Playbook. Pat, white, is less than sensitive or politically correct when he’s surprised to see his Indian therapist and several friends at the Philadelphia Eagles football games. The therapist and his friends know they might be looked at askance, so they flaunt their differences by painting their bus to say “Asian Invasion.” The American Psychological Association reports that, although the psychologists of the U.S. are over 80% white, according to 2016 data, (Lin et al., 2018), the profession has been diversifying over recent years (2015). The psychiatrist in Teresa Toten’s The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B wears dread-locks and has a Caribbean-sounding last name. So, perhaps the ethnic representation of psychiatrists in fiction is starting to mirror the increased diversity in the profession, and non-white psychiatrist characters in fiction can also underscore the importance of cultural sensitivity in medicine, which can often be achieved when a young patient of color is able to see a therapist of color. 

Another Latino-focused novel of mental illness is Erika L. Sanchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Julia is the ambitious daughter of Mexican immigrants living in urban Chicago. Julia’s parents are nervous about her plans to move out of state to go to college; can’t she be more like her “perfect” older sister Olga, who works as a receptionist, dabbles in community college, and spends lots of free time with their parents? The accidental death of Olga exacerbates Julia’s preexisting depression and anxiety, resulting in a suicide attempt halfway through the novel. At the hospital, Julia is educated about mental illness: “I’m not surprised—I always knew something was wrong; I just didn’t know what it was, that it had an official name” (219). While Julia is the daughter of a factory worker and a housecleaner, they have “insurance through the state” (218), so Julia gets quality care and continues to see her expensively attired psychologist after her release from the hospital. In addition, Julia’s parents send her to stay for a few weeks with relatives in Mexico to recuperate, though times are tense with drug traffickers’ presence constantly hovering in the village. Despite the hardships she witnesses in Mexico, Julia wonders if her family’s cramped Chicago apartment and her parents’ dead-end jobs were worth the dangerous, illegal journey to the U.S., especially after she learns that her mother was raped along the way. On the other hand, knowledge of her parents’ hardship, that the U.S. “isn’t the promised land for everyone” (339) is, in part, what drives Julia’s ambition, the ambition that is ironically misunderstood by her parents. Julia says of her desire to leave her family to go to New York: “What a waste their journey would be if I settled for a dull, mediocre life” (339). Over time, Julia comes to understand that her parents’ overprotectiveness results from their desire not only to maintain their family-centric Mexican culture but also from their fear that they will not be able to guide or protect her in this new country. By the end of the novel, Julia’s parents become more at peace with her independent personality and allow her to go when NYU offers her a full scholarship.
 
Also on the topic of Latino characters in novels of mental illness, it may also be worth noting that two of the boyfriends in Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl are Latino. In that novel, sisters Cath and Wren struggle with anxiety and alcoholism, respectively. Rowell points out, though, that there is a sizable Mexican population in Nebraska, where the sisters grew up and went to college. Realistic setting details or token minor characters of color? You decide. 

​Wild Awake was the only novel I found featuring an Asian protagonist with bipolar disorder. Kiri seeks to solve the murder of her older sister, an artist struggling with addiction. Along the way, Kiri develops a relationship with a young man with schizophrenia. She’s ok with him taking medication, but she’s not sure she’s ready to go that route. 

​In this novel, Lily (formerly Tim) is transgender while Dunkin (Norbert’s nickname, after the donuts) has bipolar disorder, as probably did his father who recently committed suicide, prompting Dunkin and his mother to move to Lily’s neighborhood in Florida to stay with his Jewish grandmother. So, while we have mental illness and gender identity in one book, they do not reside in the same character. There seem to be fewer stories where one character has multiple conditions that make him/her different from the mainstream than stories where multiple characters are each assigned some single quality that makes them different. In real life, a person can differ from the majority in more ways than one at the same time, and that should be reflected in fiction. One possible example of a book with a gay and depressed character is Fans of the Impossible Life, by Kate Scelsa. 

​In this novel, Sebastian (Sebby) and Miranda (Mira) have stayed best friends after their release from the psychiatric ward. Both had made suicide attempts. Mira’s mother and father are an interracial couple, with her mother being white and Jewish and her father being black. With both of them being lawyers, they have enough money to get Mira the care she needs and also to transfer her from her public school to a private one. Yet it is made clear early on that Mira’s house is “the one holdover on the street from an age before people in the neighborhood started building faux mansions that went up to the edge of their property lines” (19).
 
While Mira’s depression seems more biologically originated, Sebby’s has been triggered by the trauma of a hate crime. Sebby was severely beaten for being gay. Sebby is a white foster kid living with an Evangelical Christian woman and struggling with drug addiction. Mira and Sebby befriend Jeremy, who has been the subject of bullying for having two dads. Jeremy and Sebby raise the question as to whether mental illness, when presented in novels whose characters have trouble fitting in, should be presented as a result of circumstances and the struggle to fit in socially or whether that mental illness should be presented as genetic and inherited as well. This issue raises some interesting questions: is a story of mental illness caused by trauma necessarily a different story than a story of mental illness that is not? Is a character who is depressed because they’ve been bullied for being gay or transgender significantly different from a story of a straight kid who wakes up one morning not wanting to get out of bed for no apparent reason? According to Michael Cart (2016), gay teens are two to five times more likely to attempt suicide than straight ones. Is the depression a result of a lack of social acceptance or did a chemical predisposition to depression cause the suicidal teen to react to bullying in that particular way? What came first: the chicken or the egg? Does it matter?
 
In John Green and David Levithan’s Will Grayson, Will Grayson, depression is the first issue that the character struggles with and is treated for, and he figures out that he is gay afterward; the novel seems to be much more about struggling with low mood than struggling to accept sexuality. Often, we expect the reverse to happen: the character struggles with sexuality and therefore becomes depressed. 

Similar questions about nature versus nurture are raised when autism co-occurs with mental illness. Do the brain differences of autism predispose those on the spectrum to have the anxiety and depression that are so often co-morbid with autism (Autism Speaks, 2018), or are anxiety and depression simply the result of the social setbacks that result from a communication/developmental disorder? In Maybe in Paris, the case is complicated by the fact that the mental illness is schizophrenia. One organization suggests that overlapping symptoms often cause misdiagnosis of mental illness when people simply have autism alone (Kaim, 2018). Maybe in Paris was also the only novel I found in which the mentally ill character was also diagnosed with autism, probably because I was looking for YA novels classified by “mental illness” as a subject term; I suspect if one searched for YA novels under the subject term “autism,” some of these books would feature autistic characters with depression and anxiety since these mental illnesses often occur in individuals with autism. Again, the question arises: Do brain structure and chemistry differences cause the depression and anxiety of autistic people, or are depression and anxiety caused by the trauma of bullying or some other manifestation of the lack of acceptance? Does it matter? Can a teen with genetic mental illness relate to and learn from a character who has trauma-induced mental illness?  

Overall, then, there are plenty of fruitful discussions for us and our students to have when we consider YA novels of mental illness in light of ethnic, religious, and/or gender/sexuality diversity. I’m not surprised by that at all. 

References
 
 Kaim, Nomi. (2018). “Autism spectrum and mental illness: Misdiagnosis or co-occurring condition? Asperger/Autism Network. Retrieved from https://www.aane.org/misdiagnosis-co-occurring-condition/

American Psychological Association. (15 Sept. 2015). “New APA report analyzes demographics of the US psychology workforce.” Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pubs/newsletters/access/2015/09-15/psychology-workforce.aspx

Autism Speaks. (2018). “Autism's associated medical and mental-health conditions.” Retrieved from https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-more-autism/associated-health-conditions
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Cart, Michael. (2016). Young adult literature: From romance to realism. 3rd ed. American Library Association.
Lin, Luona, Karen Stamm, and Peggy Christidis. (2018). “2007-16: demographics of the U.S. psychology workforce.” American Psychological Association Center for Workforce Studies. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/16-demographics/index.aspx
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National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). (2018). “Minority mental health awareness month.” Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Minority-Mental-Health-Awareness-Month

Thanks to Shelly Shaffer for writing this post during her vacation so I could enjoy a bit more of mine. Oh! Shelly has contributed in the past and you can find her earlier posts here and here. Check them out. They are both worth a click.

​I’ve been traveling around in an RV for the past 30 days, visiting Yellowstone, San Antonio, the Black Hills, and numerous other places, along with various family members. It’s been the road trip of a lifetime, as Johnny Cash said, “I’ve been everywhere, man!” (Mack, 1959) 

We live near Spokane, Washington, and between June 20-July 16, we drove a 5000 mile loop through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, and then back through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, back home to Washington. (Note: I did not drive even one mile of the trip…. All of the driving is thanks to my husband, Jeff, who doesn’t mind driving!). In Yellowstone National Park, we got in an hour-long traffic jam—because three buffalo were walking down the road. Old Faithful spouted its stinky wonderfulness. In Wyoming, our RV had to grind its brakes to get down the 11% grade into Jackson Hole, which is nestled in a beautiful valley. After Jackson Hole, we hoped not to get blown over while driving toward Laramie. Fort Collins and Loveland, Colorado brought its own adventure. At Carter Lake, we saw a tiny deer with its mother (so cute!) and rode our mountain bikes around the lake—getting our first sunburn of the year. Texas was hot! We planned to stay in Amarillo at Palo Duro Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of Texas,” but it was too hot for our two bulldogs, and we ended up driving straight over to Livingston, to my in-law’s house. My husband and I detoured to San Antonio, where we visited the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and several of the missions of San Antonio, which are all still functioning churches, hosting mass almost every day of the week.

In Livingston, Texas, my two little grandchildren, my mother-in-law, and I went to the public library for a Fourth of July event and our pictures were featured in the local paper. After one of the best fireworks shows I’ve seen (put on at my in-law’s house), we headed out to visit the backwoods of Missouri and Arkansas where my parents are building a house. We actually had lunch in a restaurant called “The Cave,” which is located in an actual cave carved into a mountainside in Lanagan, Missouri.
​
I was born in a small town in Iowa, and my husband had never been there although we’ve been together for more than twenty years. He’s been there now! Lake Ikaria and Corning, Iowa were unchanged: humid and stifling, but homey and picturesque. After one night of visiting family and old friends, we headed toward Sioux Falls, South Dakota to visit my niece. Falls Park, in downtown Sioux Falls, rivals some of the prettiest waterfalls I’ve seen. The Black Hills and Mount Rushmore did not disappoint. Even though we only had one full day in the Black Hills, our experience included a bike ride down the Mickelson trail, a visit to Mount Rushmore, and a drive through Custer State Park. (I couldn’t help but think of the YA book, Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth (2018), where the main character, a Native American youth, lives on a reservation near a town where a restaurant own has named his place “Custer’s Last Stand.” Although not the main focus of the book, Gansworth writes of the insult celebrating Custer is the Native Americans. So, for me, entering Custer State Park felt wrong and disrespectful.)

As a new professor, I have figured out that most of my traveling can be a combination of business and pleasure. So, this entire trip revolved around my acceptance to present at a conference. After learning that my colleague and I were accepted to present in San Antonio at the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA) annual conference.  I planned the rest of the trip accordingly. And, this is one of the ways that Young Adult literature fits into this column. Our presentation focused on the Intersectionality of Comfort and Conflict in LatinX Literature. We examined children’s, intermediate, and Young Adult books to discover the ways that authors treated culture and conflict in children’s and YA books. What we found was that picture books, such as Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match (Brown, 2011), often featured “comfortable” conflict. For example, I Love Saturdays y Domingos (Ada, 2002) features a character who goes to grandma’s house on Saturdays and goes to Abuela’s house on Domingos . Everything is comfortable and the character’s two cultures don’t conflict.

​In René has Two Last Names (Colato Laínez, 2009) the main character goes to school in the U.S. and that teacher only uses one of his surnames. He struggles because he feels like half of his family is being forgotten because the last name isn’t there. When he gets the chance to create a family tree, he takes this opportunity to educate his class and his teacher why his two last names are equally important and the conflict resolves nicely by the teacher saying she’ll always use his two last names from then on. For the most part, children’s picture books featuring LatinX main characters had comfortable conflicts that were resolved easily without too much discomfort for the characters or the audience. Even in the book Antonio’s Card (Gonzalez, 2005) where the main character lives in a less traditional family, with two mothers, the conflict that could have occurred does not. The issues that could have been discussed are not. 

However, a few books pushed the boundaries on this, such as Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan and Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs  which begin to explore conflict in more realistic ways; however, most teachers would view both of these books as “safe” choices to include in the curriculum. Although Ryan’s book has been challenged, the way immigration and Esperanza’s experiences are presented are not nearly as gritty as the way some YA novels approach the same topic.

I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter Sánchez (2017) explores LatinX identity and experience in a more uncomfortable way. Exposing the ways Julia (hoo-lia) gets frustrated when her name is mispronounced, is expected to act by her parents—especially after her sister’s untimely death, hides her crush with a White boy from her family, and struggles with depression and anxiety. The way the author writes about each of the conflicts that Julia experiences are uncomfortable and realistic, which is a contrast to the safer exploration of similar topics in intermediate and picture books. Similarly, one of my favorite books, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero (2014) explores multiple difficult topics, as Gabi goes through her senior year. In this novel, Gabi’s best friend gets pregnant, her best friend comes out to his parents and is kicked out of the house, her dad is on drugs, her mom doesn’t want her to attend college, and she also struggles with body image and self-esteem. Each of these issues could affect real-LatinX teens, and because of this, this book crosses into uncomfortable territory. In the end, Gabi’s dad is still on drugs, her friends still face their own struggles, and Gabi still struggles with the expectations she has for herself versus her family’s expectations. It’s not comfortable, but that’s okay. This presentation, in the heart of Texas, at a time when immigration and children’s separation from their families was being protested, felt raw and emotional. 

But, San Antonio was not the only place where YA was a part of my road trip. In many of the places we traveled, there was little or no cell service or Internet access. We get spoiled. We’re used to being able to get online to check our social media or send an email. However, in my RV, I have a bookshelf, and on that shelf are several Young Adult books that have been on my “to read” list this year. On this shelf were: Wrecked by Maria Padian , The Cruel Prince by Holly Black , The Inexplicable Logic of my Life by Benjamin Alire Seanz, and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon . What can be better than sitting by a lake, relaxing in the shade with a book you’ve been wanting to read? 

​This trip reminded me to appreciate the different experiences and lives of people throughout this vast country. This trip reminded me how grateful I am for my husband and my life. What other job allows so much time out of the office and the schedule to have a trip like this in the first place? I’m lucky. 

Shelly can be reached at: sshaffer1@ewu.edu
​

Ok, so it isn’t my birthday until July 12. Nevertheless, you should try to make me happy. Come on, it my birthday and I want to think positive thoughts on my way to Denny's.

If you are reader, a writer, a teacher and you just might be one of those people who would donate to We Need Diverse Books consider doing so this week and help me celebrate my birthday. Here is the link.

Since the summit I have been trying to catch up with several projects, finish a few new novels, planning blog post so I can vacation a bit, entertain grandkids, and plan for fall classes. In the midst of all of that, I keep thinking about YA literature and the classics and if the classification of YA has developed its own classics. (I think it has and at the same time I think there are so many great new things that people don’t many “new” readers aren’t reading those classic YA texts.) Crag Hill and Victor Malo-Juvera seem to think so as well. See their call for chapters in a book with the working title: Canonical Young Adult Literature: Criticism & Critique. I hope you consider submitting a chapter. See the file below.

In the back of my mind I still have a nagging question; maybe not a question, but a concern. In the last fifty years, there has been a ton of good work about the value and the use of YA literature in the classroom. Granted, much of it has been advocacy or cheerleading, but still, there have been excellent works of criticism, pedagogical suggestions, and conversations about the role of choice in the reading lives of adolescents. Every one of those ideas could be its own blog post (any takers?) or for that matter, its own article or book topic. The specific concern is that I still find teachers and other educators who are unaware of the value of YA literature, or ignore it as a fad, or consider it of little value for “true” students of literature. Why would we spend our time teaching this when we have the classics? More specifically, the suggestion is that YA just isn’t quality literature.

Let’s talk about quality YA literature and why perhaps we have a focus on the classics instead of exploring YA. I think there are many novels that are exemplars of quality literature, novels that could be taught at many levels and usher students into quality literature while allowing them to master any standard. Is that the goal? In reality, most of our honors classes seems to focus on instruction as if their students are going to be English teachers. Well, they aren’t. In fact, in honors classes, we know that many of our students read cliff’s notes or some other summary sources instead of reading the book. I think those students in love with literature will take care of themselves. Some students will become English teachers, college professors, writers, or just great readers. We should probably encourage them, give a bit of direction, and then stay out of their way. What percentage of our students make up that small group? Not many.  I believe we need to be more diligent about nurturing and developing all of the others. All of the students who can’t figure out what we are talking about when we focus on theme, symbols, or theory. Those who just can’t figure out why we just don’t enjoy the story? Well, we do—enjoy the story--don’t we? 

Many of us spend time with what we might call “beach reads” or “mind candy” and we really like them. We know we aren’t reading William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Charles Dickens, James Baldwin, Henry James, Herman Melville, George Eliot, or Mark Twain. At the same time, we run in to a contemporary author who hit the bestseller list-- John Irving, Anne Tyler, or Colson Whitehead, E. Annie Proulx, Alice Walker, or Louise Erdrich and as we read them, we occasionally pause and think—“Wow! This person can write. Indeed, some of them win awards and probably will be part of serious, classical literature in the future. So, we don’t abandon them, we keep reading. Granted, some don’t make the cut, but we keep reading and trying to figure it out.

Just as we keep reading, we hope that our students read and keep reading. We hope they become life-long readers.
​
Adolescents need the chance to fall in love with reading, but will they do it if we force feed books that don’t interest them, don’t meet their needs, or don’t reflect their lives and experiences. I get it. The classics are great. People should read them, but let’s get them reading first. I believe that happens when we are better readers when we are more widely read.
​
​I want to suggest seven titles that I believe are examples of quality young adult literature. I believe they are seven books that will begin to persuade you that YA should be part of your reading and teaching repertoire. Don’t get mad, if I have picked your favorite old or new YA title. I still love the old ones Judy Blume, Robert Lipsyte, M. E. Kerr, Paul Zindell, Virginia Hamilton, Mildred Taylor and S. E. Hinton. Some new authors I love are A. S. King, Jeff Zetner, Peter Brown Hoffmeister, Jason Reynolds, Nic Stone, Meg Medina, Brendan Kiely, Laurie Halse Anderson, Matt de la Peña and Jo Knowles. I could have chosen a book by any of these authors; but, again, it is my birthday and I get to choose the ones that I really like. The ones that stay with me. Most have been featured in the blog as part of a different post at one time or another. I hope you browse around, maybe even look more carefully at the weekend picks.   

​The seven books that follow are listed in publication order from oldest to newest. (It looks like I thought that 2014 was a pretty good year.)

This book has it all, mystery, government intrusion, point of view, and a complicated narrative. Cormier's sophisticated writing at its best.

Hesse provides a history lesson through a verse novel that is not to be missed. What have we done? Who do we care about? How do we face adversity? These are questions that remain today.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers dominated YA courses for at least 10 years and maybe it still does. Inventive narrative structure, point of view, the court system, and question of what is true about ourselves and others haunt this tale. Who are we? What do we think about ourselves, let alone what others might be thinking about us.

Like all of these authors Andrew Smith has more than one book that is to be embraced, relished, and admired. This is one that doesn't leave me. I heard Smith compared to Vonnegut and that thought never leaves me while I read his work. You can start anywhere with Smith's novels, but do yourself a favor and read this one right away.

People tell me okay, but what about Shakespeare. Yeah, well what about Shakespeare? He was a thief that stole stories and reshaped them. In We Were Liars, E. Lockhart uses fairy tales, Shakespeare and her own voice to create a modern day story of family and conflict that is here to stay.

Refugees and immigrants are in the news. They should be and we should do more. Sepetys' Salt to the Sea reminds us that, at times, we have the opportunity to do the right thing and, well, we don't always do it. Who are we? Contemporary issues, current events, history, compelling narrative, what more can you ask of any novel. You don't believe me, give it a try.

Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming is just beautiful. It is gift to readers everywhere. I just love it. I have written about it here Second Reaction: More Dominant than the First: The Power of Memory in Brown Girl Dreaming.

​This list isn’t perfect, but these are books I love. These are books that have strong literary quality. They represent a variety of themes, characters, styles, issues of diversity, and all of them could be taught in an honors class without apology. A student writing the AP literature exam could write about one of these books and have every confidence that they are writing about a book that is of similar literary quality.

Thanks for tuning in on a holiday or over the holiday week. This week, the contributors are students from the University of Central Florida and are graduates students who were in a class with Dr. Elsie Olan. Elsie is fantastic and I had the joy of attending their class through a Skype session. They were kind enough to use this blog as part of their class and they had great questions. In the following post they share some of their reactions to teaching and reacting to Young Adult Literature.  I am issuing a brief trigger warning. One of the presenters mentions the work of Sherman Alexie. Many of us have used his work and I suppose some us might continue to do so with qualifications and broader conversations. Just, remember, when this work was done, their study was well underway before we knew about the situation. The situation deserves our attention and our firm, but calm academic response as we consider how we study art.

The following students contribute: Jessica Margaret Adams, ​Ashley Antoniette Gecewicz, Duaa Lutfi, Jessica Mary Kirton, and Carly Mae Cravotta 

Scenes, motifs,
New ideas unfurled,
Use young adult literature
To experience the world.
 
Improve, inform
Understand your surroundings.
Society and culture
Knowledge is abounding.
 
See through the eyes
Of someone unknown
Let your thoughts take flight
And your dreams to roam.
 
Affect change you want
Don’t allow the past
To darken our future
And hatred to last.
 
Find what you enjoy
Always keep searching
So many opportunities
Are forever emerging.
 
Once upon a time
In a classroom on my own
I began to read YA novels
And I found my home.
 
Suzanne Collins created
A place, simply serene
A place I could find myself
My own self-identity.
 
This place that was created
Where I felt I could be
Nothing else, no one else
Just be me
Was only because
The author’s own life
Was spent understanding history
And looking back in time
 
Into crime, hatred, war
And how it can transform,
Change, hurt, maim
And also can inform.
 
This story reflects the author
And her own personal journey
With her family and her Dad
With their moving and their learning.
 
Battlefields and monuments
Places Collins knew well
Places she formed ideas
Experiences that would compel
 
The formation of her characters
The plot and the theme
The timing and the reactions
The creation of the scene.
 
The courage, the stamina
Of Katniss, my hero
The sheer rebel nature
My alter ego.

​Her name was Katniss
Katniss Everdeen
So many similarities
Finally could be seen
 
Between my life
And the girl in the book.
She made me think
Take a deeper look
 
At what I believed
And who I thought I’d be
All shifting, changing,
Into what worked for me.
All shifting, changing,
Into what worked for me.
 
As Katniss ventured
out on her own
She stated, “Some walks
you have to take alone” (Collins 2010).
 
Truth and many parallels
Between the character and me
Between the inner struggles
Of her self-identity.
 
The struggle to understand
Where we fit in
How our frame of reference changes
From where we are and where we’ve been.
 
Suzanne Collins was an author
Who changed my frame of mind
Transformed my way of thinking
And my sense of self it refined.
 
Another novel
That inspired me
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Which truly set me free.
 
Scott O’ Dell created
A place I could escape
Where I could find myself
Allow my beliefs to take shape.
 
Push the boundaries, the norms,
Find what I believe,
Karana’s life as my guide
Her determination as my reprieve.
 
As she decided
What she would believe
How she would live
All she would achieve

 
I began to see
So much of myself
In the girl in the book
That had sat upon the shelf
 
The pages came to life
As I learned of true courage
To question what is true
 Free thought encouraged.
 
I realized then
I could choose on my own
I did not have to follow
What I had always known
 
I could decide something different
Something not the same
As those who were before me
I could affect change
 
I could stand up for those
Who deserve a place
No matter where they come from
No matter what their race
 
No matter what their color
nationality or creed
All that mattered
Was that we all have a need[1] 
 
To connect to be
An equal part of this earth
To be given a chance
From the instant we are birthed.
 
To be able to connect
To thrive on our own
But work together
To cultivate this place we call home.
 
Karana and Katniss
Showed me something strange
I could have courage, love, and hope
I could be the change.

Back in the summer of 2009, my mother and I started to listen to an audiobook together on a long car ride. This was no big deal, it was something we frequently did. However, in that ride, little me had no idea what this book was about and was soon brought into a new world of heroes, monsters, and adventure. The book was an infamous young adult novel by the name of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and I became obsessed with the lore of Greek Mythology. It was unbeknownst to me that in a couple of months when I started ninth grade, I would actually be reading a little tale that some may know. The Odyssey. The connection I had was surreal. I knew ins-and-outs of the Gods and Goddess presented to me in my English 1 classroom, all because I happened to have picked up a book that was about a young 13 year old boy and his other 13 year old friends and became enthralled in the knowledge that surrounded me. This book took me to another realm and it made me want to be able to spread my knowledge of the literature that complimented Greek Mythology. This book alone was what sparked me to become a English teacher, all those years ago, and the fire still burns inside my soul today. 

As a young reader, I wanted adventure, of course, but I also wanted relatability in my readings. Yes, I knew that it was Fiction, but the characters were so real. The feelings the characters had were so raw and they were just like me. And that’s one of the most important aspects of Young Adult Literature. A student can read a book and look at a character and say “Hey! They’re just like me!” Young Adult Literature comes in many different genres and has many different themes, but the characters are the age of our teens, and they can relate to them and say that “They’re just like me!” and if that is not impactful, I don’t know what is.
           
Little did I know, I was pairing a young adult novel with a classical text, something that later in my life would become my focus of study in my academic career.
           
​Pairing young adult literature and classical text could have the same effect on students as it did on myself and that is data that is necessary. Not to focus just on their scores of tests but the effects on their personality growth and how their thinking changes through the course of said pairing. Students have the ability to understand the relation between texts, it’s one of the main things we, as teachers, teach them to do. 

For students to see how people of the past saw a concept and compare it to how those of today see it can enhance their understanding. For example, pairing 1984 (George Orwell, 1949) with The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins, 2008) to discuss dystopian literature or Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan, 2006) with Odyssey (Homer, 8th century B.C.) in discussion of Greek mythology. YAL can be more interesting for students due to them being more recent and relatable than the original concepts written as classics. It will broaden their resources and understanding of the controversial topics that are addressed and bring them into the light to be discussed how the topics were seen in the past and present. The students of today do not live in the past, from social media presence to life in the classroom, they are about the here and now, so we should be adapting our techniques to adhere to the new age of students. However, when doing so, we should still be teaching them the past and where the original thoughts were retrieved; that’s how a pairing of classical literature and young adult literature would make due. Both in educational means, by teaching of the past and present, as well as the influence that there will be on student growth, pairings would be beneficial for all.

Do you ever seem frustrated when you are connected to the WiFi, but your media is not loading? How about when you don’t have the WiFi password and you sit there hoping someone would mention it or display it? In both instances, you emotionally feel disconnected and physically detached to what is going on around you. Feelings consisting of impatience, frustration, panic, isolation, and fear of being shut out or left behind are starting to surface. What do you do?

​Now imagine that scenario above in a classroom of about 20-25 students, all with distinct emotional and behavioral abilities. Some students may confidently voice their concerns, others may silently sit there while hoping and praying they had magical abilities to disappear at that very instant. How can the teacher provide the necessary resources for ALL students to feel connected? How do we bridge the gap between students real life and the world they live in? How do we make learning substantial?

Teachers, educators, anyone relevant to the educational realm should come to the realization that we have diverse students with diverse learning needs and interests and we need to  utilize engaging, relevant instructional resources. We need to position ourselves to refrain from marginalizing our students in our classroom practices, mannerisms, and “all-inclusive” curriculums. We need to shift the status quo by teaching students how to fall in love with learning again and to become well-versed in the world around them. In order for us educators to do that, we need to invite the students to safe environments that are relevant to their lives; where all funds of knowledge are welcomed and appreciated. Now, where do we start?

Existing literature and numerous field notes have demonstrated the impact and power of Young Adult Literature novels or YAL and their merit in the field of education, classrooms, and students personal lives. These canonical and modern day novels have been seamlessly integrated across content area curriculums and have deemed paramount results among student emotional, cognitive, and behavioral levels, as well as, language acquisition. While the integration of YAL is critical in a classroom, it is imperative to note that these novels should be aligned with the cultures and relevant to the diverse learning backgrounds existing within a classroom. It is equally important to note the accessibility of these culturally relevant texts for students so that it becomes “…easier to bridge the students’ worlds with the world of the text” (Alsup, 2010, pg. 147). Teachers at times fail to validate our students’ cultures by not providing culturally relevant texts, which in return affects their abilities to be engrossed in the reading material and associated learning performances (Alsup, 2010, Hayn, 2017). If the students are not able to see the connections between the themes salient in these novels and their real worlds, these novels will not have the potential to change their lives (Alsup, 2010, pg. 13). These relevant novels can feed into students’ funds of knowledge about the world, society, their personal identities and journeys, etc. When students read about the stories of others, they are better able to make sense of the world around them and be more equipped in handling issues from different angles. Each canonical young adult literature novel has various cultures, societal pressures or issues, character structures, etc. that can be conduits to meaningful dialogical interactions among students. As the students read about different cultures through a lens other than themselves, they are able to properly question other cultures (motives, taboos, religion, etc.) and clear misconceptions in a safe setting. Literacy performances in conjunction with proper discourse and action yield to real world implications, where students voluntarily want to get up and correct the issues at hand (Alsup, 2010, pg. 58).  Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teachers (2017) by Judith Hayn and co-authors, Jeffrey S. Kaplan, and Karina R. Clemmons, bring forth ideas of the educators Barbara A. Wards, Deanna Day-Wiff, and Terrell A. Young in their chapter on Civil Rights and Social Justice. These authors further rationalize that teachers “...need to promote students to be upstanders rather than bystanders…” and as a result of reading being an interactive process, ‘meaningful action’ takes place (pg. 144). Not only do students need to be involved in culturally relevant novels and materials, the concept of critical reflectivity is also significant (Alsup, 2010). Students need to gain the expertise of expanding the novel themes and character experiences beyond their scope and being able to “...see the similarities in a seemingly dissimilar situation” (Alsup, 2010, pg. 213). Essentially, the goals of [culturally relevant] YAL should successfully “...help teen readers work through problems in positive, life-affirming ways” (Alsup, 2010,  pg. 210). Now, how do we implement such rich resources?

There are numerous strategies to successfully  integrate YAL in an English Language Arts classroom. In this case, I will use The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo as an example to demonstrate possible implications.  The Alchemist is about a young shepherd boy named Santiago who has a dream of a hidden treasure. Throughout the novel, he goes on an adventure to seek his treasure and discover his True Legend or calling. Along the way, he meets some interesting characters and learns a few valuable lessons. One excellent way to teach this novel is by closely examining each character by deconstructing and problematizing their attitudes and beliefs, diverse cultures and mannerisms, perceptions and experiences, and/or influences upon the novel’s protagonist. Another example would be to model and practice Wonder Talk, consisting of reflective questions such as I wonder...? What if...? Have you ever...? (Hayn, 2017). Following this Wonder Talk, it would be essential to transition students lens from self to world and allow them to critically analyze the actions of the characters or events occurring in the novel.  In these examples, students are reading, writing, and discussing the text, hence actively transacting with the text, instigating their cognitive and emotional intelligences.

​Teachers should always find ways to motivate and excite their students; to instigate their thirsts for learning every day. Integrating YAL is a multifaceted avenue worth exploring, implementing, and creating in order to yield productive, self-autonomous students.  

“Good reads.” “Page-turners.” Books you simply cannot put down. What are these mystical reading experiences everyone buzzes about, and where are these magical books? As a child, I observed that my family loved books and my teachers did too. Oh, I how I wanted a glimpse into this wonderful world of storybooks! Oh how I tried to taste it for myself! But, my experiences were always the same: Reading was boring. Apparently, I was locked out of this wonderful book-world. And, eventually I accepted it.

Despite my ability and eagerness for reading, I never read more than I absolutely had to. Then, in my early twenties, I finally had a different experience after a friend told me about a “memoir” she was reading. A biography? No. A memoir. My friend described an author who wrote a personal story, a real account of something that actually happened to him. How fascinating, I thought! Renewed in the hope of finally discovering a good book, I set out to read this memoir, A Boy Called It. It was my first discovery of an actual “page-turner.” I read in the bathroom. At stoplights. Even while pumping gas! It was all so elusive before, but I finally found a book I could not “put down.” To this day, the only books I willingly and happily commit myself to are memoirs.

As a new teacher, personal reflection is an important part of my reading identity. Not only to stimulate self-awareness, but with the larger view of sharing literature with young adults as a way to help them overcome barriers. Consider the results of a national survey: Reading capability does not necessarily lead to engaged reading. In other words, just because students are good at reading does not mean they will enjoy and look for opportunities to read. To connect my personal reading experiences with my research on Young Adult literature, I ask:  How do my personal reading experiences shape me as an English teacher, and what does my literacy research tell me about adolescent student readers?

Three essential beliefs present from both my lived experiences and my research.

1) The simplest observation: I avoided reading because I flat-out did not enjoy it. This fact is so simple it hardly seems worth stating, but the implication is: If we want students to read, they ought to read for enjoyment and not just to get information. 

2) My long awaited “discovery” of reading was a matter of genre. It follows then, students should be exposed to a variety of different kinds of books and have the freedom to make choices about what to read.

3) It is important to consider how I learned about my favorite genre. Not through a book report, no! At long last, my renewed motivation sprung from a conversation I had with a friend. It follows then that students need the opportunity to talk about what they are reading in class. 

The hope of students being able to make real connections with in-school reading assignments means sharing selective power about the texts themselves. As teachers, we know which students are struggling to find a book or which ones are only pretending to be engaged.

One memoir novel proving to reach thousands of adolescent readers is The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Alexie, 2009). This is a coming of age, autobiographical fiction novel by Sherman Alexie and includes illustrations by Ellen Forney. The story is told in the form of a diary and is narrated by the protagonist, Arnold Spirit Junior, or “Junior,” a Spokane Indian. Junior goes to school and lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation near the town of Reardan in Washington State. He was born with water on the brain, survived a life threatening brain surgery at six months of age, and was plagued by many secondary health conditions due to the resulting brain damage; nevertheless, against all odds, Junior develops into an intelligent and ambitious young man.

But, growing up on the Spokane Reservation, or “the “Rez,” is an incredible struggle for Junior due to his family’s poverty, alcoholism, and general prejudice toward whiteness. The crux of his dramatic story centers on his powerful decision to leave his high school on the Rez at age fourteen and commute to an all-white high school in a neighboring town twenty-two miles from the Rez. Although a brave choice, it proves to make life even more difficult as Junior struggles to find acceptance at his new school and to win the support and validation from his community on the Rez. While Jr. lives on the Rez and goes to high school at Reardan, he is torn between two different worlds, two separate identities, and worse- he is an outcast in both circles. Through friendship, Junior finds at least some answers to his dilemma in a surprising insight about his own identity and that of “others.”  
       
In an article published by the Wall Street Journal, Sherman Alexie (2011), true to his honest form, responds to those concerns:
​
And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing every-day and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed (p. 4).

Every teacher’s goal is to reach each and every single student sitting in their classroom. Every teacher yearns to hear the string of words, “I love reading” or “This novel is good,” or even, “I checked out a book from the library.”  Every teacher’s ideal day consists of captivating their most reluctant readers through relevant curriculum entangled in an engaging lesson. But how can educators entice even the most detached students, begging for something authentic and raw to reel them back in? The most marginalized and disenfranchised students’ education can be salvaged through the relevancy and applicability found in young adult literature (YAL). All American Boys, co-authored by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, embodies an exemplar young adult (YA) novel to implement in a high school English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. With the ever-changing demographics of the United States, classrooms across the country are pleading for a diverse book like this that can be advantageous for students’ achievement.
*insert Carly image (a) & (b) here

The chapters toggle between the perspectives of the two protagonists, Rashad and Quinn, as they grapple with a single act of police brutality from different perspectives, from different races. The dualistic and authentic nature of the voices afford this novel to simultaneously function as both a mirror and window text for students. Students can either see themselves in one of the characters or are learning the idiosyncrasies of a person from an unfamiliar background. Powerful and contemporary themes attract even reluctant readers: providing authentic learning opportunities to explore social justice issues. Readers are then propelled out of the classroom and back into the real world, connecting their unprecedented experiences with the novel to their own lived experiences. The interaction with the text builds upon their perceptions and corrects any misconceptions of people from different backgrounds.
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As the United States remains a polarized nation, the classroom discussions and activities infused with this novel could evolve the divisive discourse surrounding the themes of police brutality and racism to a more unifying forum. Since these issues in the novel are prevalent in current society, teachers can incorporate authentic writing experiences and texts pairings to connect the novel to the real world. 

I have mentioned this before when talking about the recent YA Summit, but the best part is always the people. Always. Everyone had the opportunity to renew connections, start new projects, and meet new friends. One of my new friends is Diane Scrofano. I didn't know Diane at all, she submitted a dynamite proposal and few months later she is teaching all of us at the event about Hamilton and how YA literature is connected to this cultural phenomenon. Even more interesting, Diane had a chance to meet Kia Richmond. Low and behold, Kia has been quoting some of Diane's work on YA and mental illness for her new book. A new friendship, mutual academic respect, and, who knows, a future collaboration might be down the road.

​See Kia's previous work for the blog here.  Her blog post was entitled Language and Symptoms of Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature.
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Both Kia and Diane have provided handouts and pdfs of their PowerPoint presentation during the summit (Find them on the summit page) They did excellent work and inspired many teachers. You will want to check out their work.

For now, however, I turn to Diane to give us an introduction to Melissa de la Cruz's YA works related to Hamilton.

It began, as so many things do for women my age (40), at Target. The pink cover with the big heart practically steered my cart right over to the YA fiction aisle. I had already been planning to teach Hamilton: An American Musical in my fall 2017 Introduction to Literature class (thanks for making the music and lyrics all free on Genius.com, Lin-Manuel Miranda!) at Moorpark College in southern California. We had just selected it as our campus’ common reading selection, and I quickly concluded that I could use Alex and Eliza in conjunction with the musical in the spring of 2018 when I would teach that same introduction to literature class as a lower-division young adult literature course in collaboration with the local CSU’s upper-division YA literature class. While I probably could’ve just stuck with the musical, as it is much beloved by adolescents (one of my fall students got a “Rise Up” tattoo with the show’s iconic star image on her eighteenth birthday), I wanted to add Alex and Eliza because it was specifically marketed as YA (and written by a well-known YA author, Melissa De La Cruz—Disney Descendants, Summer on East End, and Blue Bloods series) and because I thought the novel’s focus on Eliza 

​Sure enough, gender considerations provided us with some of our richest conversations on the novel. One of my best students mentioned right off the bat that it was a bit embarrassing to carry around this big, pink, heart book. I reminded him that one benefit of a hardback is that the book jacket is removable, but of course the bigger question is why, in this day and age, is it still embarrassing for boys to carry around girl stuff but not for girls to carry around masculine-looking material? “Suck it up,” I exclaimed, feigning frustration, “We women have been carrying around your manly war books for decades!” Even so, as we continued to study the book, I caught myself playing into the same stereotypes as my students. I would down-play, smile, or joke about the “lovey-dovey” parts of the romance in a way that I wouldn’t for any other genre fiction.

​We all noted that we wouldn’t be as dismissive or ashamed to admit we liked mysteries, for example, in the same way as romances. Sometimes sci-fi and fantasy genre fiction gets put-down, but that’s for geekiness, not girliness. I felt often on the defensive, reiterating to my students that we were doing scholarly study of this book, not just reading “hot trash,” as that same high-achieving student called it. “Yes, I know this is silly,” I seemed to say, “but we are looking at its cultural significance!” But then I would recollect myself, and I would challenge the students: Why should romance be deemed more trivial than any other part of life? Or family and personal life? (Perhaps it’s time to revisit “The Personal Is Political.”) One student objected to the main conflict in the novel, which was Eliza’s needing to be rescued from an unappealing arranged marriage, not only because it was historically untrue but also because “History is exciting…just imagine a line of six pound cannons firing or a cavalry charge cutting down fleeing infantry. Exciting and badass things were happening back then.” In other words, why focus on mushy love stuff when you could write about cannon fire? War and politics—those things, not love, are the stuff of interesting stories. I remember hastily scrawling in the margins, “Don’t you think your idea of what’s exciting is gendered?” 

​Most students, not just this one, were disappointed to learn that, although Henry Livingston was a real person who existed in history, he was never engaged to Elizabeth Schuyler and that she never needed Alexander Hamilton to rescue her from a sexual assault by this very Livingston. In response to the climax of the story being fictionalized, the student above thought this too much a departure from the facts: “the premise for the major conflict in the story [is] completely false and untrue.” Others expressed similar disappointment. I asked students if De La Cruz should’ve included a table or author’s note at the end to specify which parts were true and which were made up. Perhaps others have offered up the same concern; De la Cruz does provide a brief author’s note in the second book in the to-be three-volume series, Love and War, which was just released last month (April 2018). After I read the novel, I ran to my colleague in the history department to check on some facts myself. In short, we were all stuck on what Joanne Brown calls “the problem of truth” and “the problem of accuracy” in her section headings in “Historical Fiction or Fictionalized History? Problems for Writers of Historical Novels for Young Adults,” a 1998 ALAN Review article that gave my students and I a helpful overview of common concerns and issues that could help us evaluate Alex and Eliza as a piece of historical fiction.  

As for the facts that I checked on with my colleague, Moorpark College History Professor Susan Kinkella, there is no evidence that Elizabeth Schuyler inoculated Revolutionary War soldiers for smallpox, but Abigail Adams did, so it’s realistic for women of that era. The novel also depicts Eliza as part of the homespun cloth movement of the era and as someone who sewed uniforms and visited wounded soldiers. While we don’t know for sure if she did these things, they’re not out of the realm of possibility, especially considering that her father, General Philip Schuyler, brought her to a major negotiation with the Iroquois Nation when she was only a pre-teen (thanks for that tid-bit, Susan!). For more about Eliza and what we do and don’t know, you can watch Susan’s half (the first half) of the talk (Eliza: Historical and Literary Representations of Hamilton’s Better Half) we gave on March 21, 2018, as part of women’s history month. 

In my half of the talk, I got back to the issue of why I chose the novel: it put the focus on Eliza. In the novel, she’s the protagonist. In the novel, we hear more from her point of view. In the novel, she’s more politically involved. That brought up the question as to whether the novel and the musical were feminist works of literature. What this really came down to, for my students and me, was how you define feminism. Was the novel more feminist because it depicted Eliza as more politically active early in her life than the musical did? As I said above, the novel has her inoculating soldiers, and later it also shows her awareness of the philosophical issues involved in breaking away from Britain. By contrast, in the musical, she’s “Helpless” and sings a clichéd love song mostly about Alexander’s eyes, though there is fleeting mention of his mind (Track 10). Though the musical shows Eliza excited about the American Revolution in Track 5 of Act 1 “Look around, look around at how / Lucky we are to be alive right now. History is happening in Manhattan…,” by Track 23, she is pleading with Alexander to come home and put family over career.  So, is it more feminist to depict a character breaking boundaries by getting involved in the traditionally male realm of politics, or is it more feminist to show a woman demanding that the patriarchal society pay attention to the historically female realm of home and family? Extrapolating from, and probably oversimplifying the difference between American feminism and French feminism, I tell my students: American feminism has emphasized the ability of women to do traditionally male things, while French feminism, by contrast, seeks to bring women’s experiences such as women’s experiences of sex and motherhood to the forefront of the culture. In short, must a woman act like a man to be feminist? 

It would seem so if you read some feminist critiques of the musical: In a New Yorker article, Michael Schulman looks at the large part that Eliza played in preserving Hamilton’s legacy, which is emphasized at the end of the musical: “Is it a feminist ending? Almost. The notion that men do the deeds and the women tell their stories isn’t exactly Germaine Greer-worthy.” In Princeton’s Feminist Spectator, Stacy Wolf concludes that “In the end…the three women in the musical occupy the most conventional and stereotypical roles [of women]—muse, wife, whore—which is all the more troubling since Hamilton goes such a long way to dismantle stereotypes of race and masculinity.” After the talk, a student audience member asked me if a piece of historical fiction could be feminist only if it portrayed women as being more politically active than they likely would’ve really been at the time. In other words, would feminist historical fiction necessarily have to be factually inaccurate? Could a piece showing a woman in what Wolf calls a “conventional” role ever be considered feminist? 

​Like a good professor, I deflected the question back to him to determine for himself. But I think that it all comes down to how one defines feminism. Depictions of women doing non-traditional things is not the only type of feminism. When Eliza advocates for home and family, this is feminist in the French sense, I would argue. Another project of feminist literary criticism is to seek out voices that have been silenced, so to attempt to write a book from Eliza’s perspective when in life we have none of her letters, is an attempt at resurrecting her voice. In the musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Burn” (Track 38) gives Eliza license to express anger about the Reynolds affair, which she could never have done publicly in the historical period she lived in. However, when we try to fictionally reconstruct the story and point of view of those whose historical voices have been lost, we run the risk of anachronistically imposing our own worldviews on people from past times. Joanne Brown explains in the section “The Problem of Accuracy,” that “Some critics have insisted that historical fiction reveals more about its author than its historical subject, or as Henry Seidel Canby has said, historical fiction is ‘more likely to register an exact truth about the writer’s present than the exact truth of the past.’”

​The most troublesome issue with writing historical fiction, whether it’s a musical or a YA novel, of course is how to cover race and slavery. Despite its status as beloved by a modern, liberal audience, Hamilton the musical has received criticism in this regard. To get the gist of such criticism, I recommended that my students read a Slate interview with historiographer Lyra Monteiro. Basically, some of the criticisms of the musical are these: you can have people of color play the Founding Fathers, but the Founding Fathers really weren’t people of color; they were white and their status as slaveholders is largely disregarded by the musical while the stories of actual people of color who lived during Revolutionary times remain unknown. (For a young readers’ series that fictionally explores the lives of African Americans during the Revolutionary War, see Laurie Halse Anderson’s Seeds of America trilogy, including Chains, Forge, and Ashes! In fact, on her website, Anderson provides a list correlating chapters of these books to various songs from Hamilton: An American Musical!) In addition, I tell my students that many historians regard Hamilton as an elitist; he didn’t want Washington to step down and many worried that Hamilton’s views would lead to a continuation of the monarchy. While the musical depicts Hamilton as the common man who came up from nothing, Jefferson advocated for the small farmers of the early U.S. while Hamilton could be seen as the creator of the Wall Street one percent. The musical as well as the novel present Alexander as despising slavery, yet students should know that, while there is no evidence that Alex and Eliza owned slaves, Ankeet Ball, on the Columbia University and Slavery website, describes Hamilton as advocating against slavery only when it was convenient for him career-wise.  

​The novel Alex and Eliza, too, is problematic in its treatment of slavery. With Alex and Eliza set while she was still single and living in her parents’ house, there are mention of “servants,” but not of “slaves,” presumably to reflect the fact that Philip Schuyler called his slaves “servants,” according to the Schuyler Mansion Historical Society.  However, what does this lead young readers to think? If they don’t know that Philip Schuyler (as did most other wealthy New Yorkers at the time) owned slaves, why wouldn’t they picture white servants? Especially troubling is the line, spoken by Eliza, declaring that “We Schuylers have always, always espoused a belief in the equality of black and white souls” (178). At this point in the novel, Alex is asking Eliza if she supports the abolition movement. I’m surprised that De La Cruz has Eliza respond not about herself merely but about the whole family and suggest that they have historically been abolitionist. The only reference I could find to the color of the “servants” in the whole book was in a sentence in which guests to Eliza’s Aunt Gertrude’s house “dump” their hats and coats “into the servant girl’s thin brown arms” (169). One might expect more of De La Cruz, a Filipina immigrant, herself a woman of color, but perhaps the issue is with the publisher, Putnam, sweeping the issue under the rug, as mainstream media has often done. In any case, Joanne Brown’s criteria for evaluating historical fiction can be brought up again: “Strict adherence to historical accuracy can pose a problem if ‘accuracy’ involves brutal or immoral behavior. What are the writer’s options when the intended readers are young adults, an audience for whom some readers may desire a subdued version of historical events?” A good question for students is who are the “some readers” who want a “subdued version” of history and why? Who does that “subdued” version protect? Who does that “subdued” version of history erase? 

​By the time the unit was over, my student who complained about the book cover did concede that this book was more than just a “cash grab” riding the coattails of the musical’s success. Since it brings up  all these issues to discuss, I would agree. I’m eager to read Love and War.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. “Connect with the Hamilton Musical!” Laurie Halse Anderson.   http://madwomanintheforest.com/hamilton/.

Ball, Ankeet. “Ambition and Bondage: An Inquiry on Alexander Hamilton and Slavery.” Columbia University and Slavery. Columbia University. Retrieved from https://columbiaandslavery.columbia.edu/content/ambition-bondage-inquiry-alexander-hamilton-and-slavery

Brown, Joanne. (1998). "Historical Fiction or Fictionalized History? Problems for Writers of Historical Novels for Young Adults." The ALAN Review, Vol. 26, No. 1. Retrieved from https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98/brown.html

De La Cruz, Melissa. (2017). Alex and Eliza: A Love Story. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
——. (2018). Love and War: An Alex and Eliza Story. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Funiciello, Danielle.  (5 Jun 2016). “An Overview of Slave Trade in New Netherland, New York and Schuyler Mansion.” Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site. Retrieved from http://schuylermansion.blogspot.com/2016/06/an-overview-of-slave-trade-in-new.html

Hanisch, Carol. (1970). “The Personal Is Political.” Retrieved from http://www.carolhanisch.org/CHwritings/PIP.html
Kinkella, Susan and Diane Scrofano. (21 Mar. 2018). “Eliza: Historical and Literary Representations of Hamilton’s Better Half.” Moorpark College. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS7K8ooUR_A&feature=share
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Miranda, Lin-Manuel. (25 Sept. 2015). Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording. Genius. Retrieved from https://genius.com/albums/Original-broadway-cast-of-hamilton/Hamilton-original-broadway-cast-recording
Onion, Rebecca. (5 Apr. 2016). “A Hamilton Skeptic on Why the Play Isn’t as Revolutionary As It Seems.” Slate. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2016/04/a_hamilton_critic_on_why_the_musical_isn_t_so_revolutionary.html
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Wolf, Stacy. (24 Feb. 2016). “Hamilton.” The Feminist Spectator. Princeton University. Retrieved from http://feministspectator.princeton.edu/2016/02/24/hamilton/

You can contact Diane at: dscrofano@vcccd.edu

​Until next week.

I hope Rachelle and Julia don't mind. We just finished the 2018 Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. So many great things happened. Ideas from a variety of perspectives where shared. People renewed old friendships and new friendships were established. There are new plans for research, book ideas, white papers and some new ideas about using this literature in the classroom. More of that will be laid out in the weeks and months to come. We are making plans for some follow-up events here in Las Vegas and in Clark County School District. People are planning on how to reconnect at NCTE in November. All who were in attendance are looking forward to sharing. 

We were lucky that Noah Schaffer was in attendance. He has experience snapping pictures at several ALAN Workshops. Below we have a visual taste of the people and events form the first day of the summit-- all of the photographers belong were taken by Noah. Browse through these a bit. After that, read what Kate and Julia have to say about Hot Button issues and YA. This was certainly a topic of conversation in several sessions. Let's consider what Kate and Julia have to say as a post summit extension.   

Rachelle Savitz is an assistant professor of adolescent literacy and previously a secondary literacy interventionist. Julia Kate Bentley is currently a PhD student studying early literacy with a children’s literature emphasis. Both authors are lifelong readers, passionate about advocating use of children’s and young adult literature in all classrooms as they are not only complex texts but discuss myriad of tough topics, such as culture, race, sexual identity, and immigration. 

Challenging our own thinking as educators and creating student agency and voice for all individuals is a goal of education. We want our students to value individuality and get involved in civil engagement to better their lives and that of others. However, teachers tend to avoid certain topics due to fear or lack of knowledge. Good novels push against barriers and challenge the ‘norm’ by valuing the differences of all individuals.
 
Immigration rights, DACA, Dreamer status, and ICE raids are consistently in the news, and being talked about across the country. Students are experiencing the devastation of families being yanked apart either through watching the news or experiencing it first-hand through friends, family, or personal situations. We have bared witness to children being pulled from loved one’s arms and being sent back to countries that have not been visited in many years, if ever. Protests for and against immigration are happening throughout the country, with both sides not standing down. Fake news continues to purport misleading, and often incorrect information regarding various cultures and people attempting to enter the US.
 
At the same time, we watch as funding is pulled from LGBTQ safe zones and organizations, same-sex couples must fight for their rights of equality, and states propose laws that do not condemn bullying of students that differ from the norm in regard to sexual identity. Students are left to question and wonder about their own feelings alone without a safe forum for open discussion.
 
The devastation happening to our own students and students across the country is evident, yet many teachers are worried to begin open discussions, not knowing how to address certain topics or questions that may come. As a culture, when we do not understand something, misunderstandings flourish, often leading to negative stereotypes and even hateful acts. Our students need guidance from trusted adults to distinguish fact from opinion and access accurate information from all sides. They want to ask questions. They seek understanding. Terry Farish and Sara Farizan provide a way “in” for opening up dialogue relating to the Muslim culture, war, immigration, and sexual identity. 

Viola’s mother, Tereza, accepts the need to escape, without her older, frail mother. The journey is long and tumultuous, as they narrowly escape and must walk miles and miles only to face a long wait in Cairo. For two years in Cairo, Viola finds herself standing in long lines, filling out forms over and over, working, and waiting for the blue card that will provide permission to travel to the United States. During this time, Tereza is incapacitated by grief brought on by the loss of her son, forcing Viola to act as the adult. She teaches herself English as she knows she will need it when arriving in America.
 
Once again, upon arriving in America, Viola and her mother are torn between two worlds, as they attempt to understand American culture and laws while also keeping to their Sudanese roots. Viola is confused by new freedoms, such as wearing clothing that does not cover her arms and legs and the fact that she may attend school. Teresa struggles to understand how to raise Viola, as her punishment of burning Viola’s hand for spending time alone with a boy is not acceptable in America like it was in Sudan. Grief, loss of innocence, death, need for community and belonging, and survival, are tragically, yet elegantly depicted throughout the novel as Viola and Tereza discover their new identities as both, American and Sudanese. 

Sahar questions governmental laws and officials by bringing to light the hypocrisy and irony of various laws. For instance, women are to need protection yet also to fear the police. Or, that it is okay to accept being born the wrong gender and having a government funded gender reassignment surgery. However, it is a death sentence to be attracted to someone of the same sex, such as the hanging of two boys or when Sahar’s cousin was arrested, tortured, and beaten for being gay.  Unable to turn to her father, Baba, emotionally unavailable due to her mother's death, Sahar must struggle alone with her questions and feelings. When she meets a group who have benefitted from gender reassignment and affirm the government’s position that homosexuality is a mental illness, she believes undergoing the surgery could be the answer to "fix" her desires.
 
When Nasrin’s mother arranges her marriage Sahar again questions what to do and who she is. She agonizes over Nasrin’s decision to walk away from their love and questions her own options. At the wedding, Nasrin’s mother makes it clear that Sahar should forget the love formed and move on. After months of little communication, Nasrin’s husband sees how depressed she is and invites Sahar over. However, he makes it clear that Sahar must behave appropriately and respect his home and marriage.
 
Ultimately, Sahar accepts and understands that she is not a man trapped in a woman’s body and is at peace with understanding who she is. Sahar and her father learn how to grieve and let go. Baba returns to work and Sahar returns to school, where she meets another female student Taraneh. The power of friendship, hope for those facing challenges alone, and moving from grief to love are captured throughout this beautiful novel as we learn to understand Sahar as an individual, not Sahar as a lesbian or Muslim.
 
Understanding Sahar’s world provides an inside view into the isolation, alienation, bullying, guilt, shame, tension, acceptance, and perseverance that she faced personally and due to others. There is no universal experience for students that identify as LGBTQ, as is shown by the characters in this novel. Farizan disrupts what is considered “normal” in respect to sexuality and gender. 

​As educators, it is our responsibility to provide the means for our students to push against boundaries, question everything, and enhance their knowledge and acceptance of diversity in this world. We must become okay with being ‘uncomfortable’. These books, and others similar, demonstrate how people of the same age, regardless of where they are from, have commonalities with fears, desires, dreams, and goals while also struggling in their own unique ways. We must show, not just state, that we value individuality. 

Wow! It has been nearly a year of planning for this event. Let's  get one thing clear, it isn't happening because of me. 

Early planning happened at the CEE Conference in Columbus at the Ohio State. A ton of people weighed in on the planning and purpose of the Summit.  The early committee was Michelle Falter, Gretchen Rumohr-Voskuil, Crag Hill, Sarah Donovan, and myself.  Everyone contributed a great deal. As life goes, Michelle and Gretchen have had important--not tragic--family and life issues that had them going in different directions during the summit. They will be missed. While Michelle and Gretchen were still working hard we added a local librarian, Susan Slykerman, and we asked Bill Konigsberg to weigh in from an authors perspective from time to time. Both have  added tremendously to what will be happening this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday June 14-16, 2018. 

Susan helped us make the needed connection with Clark County School District they helped us create one of our a valuable partnerships. Bill helped us think about things from the point of view of the author. As we discuss teaching and research, we want authors to understand what we do and we need to better understand their work. What is their role in the classroom, in the conferences, and in the publishing industry?  We often don't think about how difficult it is for them to be a full time writer and to make economic ends meet. I appreciate Donalyn Miller's constant reminder to buy their books.

Other partnerships include the UNLV College of Education--we go nowhere without Sheila and Kelsy, the UNLV Department of Teaching and Learning, the UNLV Teacher Development & Resources Library--Yeah Amanda, Katherine and Huston, The Southern Nevada Writing Project--Thanks Denise, Ben, and Amber, and the Gayle A. Zeiter Literacy Development Center. A special shout out to the UNLV Lied Library for providing such a wonderful space for Thursday and Friday and to Valley High School for doing the same on Saturday. 

So, the time has arrived. About 40 people have prepared presentations. There is a link to the program on this page.

We developed a quick questionnaire so that many of you who can't be here, could weigh in with your opinions. It isn't to late to do it now. 

We will hear presentations on Thursday and construct an EduCamp format on Friday. We are going to learn from each other. We will struggle to understand, to define, and plan for a new era of research and teaching of YA literature that is  vibrant. The field has so many quality authors that I can't even begin to start naming names, but you might browse through the blog and see who the contributors and I have highlighted over the last three years. Take a look at the weekend picks. 

What, you aren't able to be here. Don't worry we want to hear from you follow #YASummit2018 and #YACritical and make comments and share ideas. Look at the list of presenters, you are bound to know one of them, and send them an email. If you don't know them, that is okay, they are all nice people. Just email somebody.

Our registration  is over 150 people and thank goodness we are starting to look like the summit might break even after all the costs. If you want to donate to help the cause, just register and tell me you are not coming and we will save the money.

We get to hear from four keynote authors along the way: Laurie Halse Anderson, who understood what we wanted to do from the beginning and has lent her unfailing support. Chris Crutcher, who says he owes me --which could never be true since I owe him a great debt from the first time I read Running Loose. Kekla Magoon, for being willing to trust some academic she did know at all. How it Went Down still chills me to the bone every time I think about it. Bill Konigsberg, whose kindness and unflinching honesty in his books and in his life are an enduring example to stay in there and do good work.

Who wouldn't what to hear them talk about their work and their take on the field of YA literature?

In addition, 8 other authors will be attending, presenting, talking with participants, and weighing in with there ideas and expertise. Please check them out on the summit page and buy there books.

Don't for get to follow along and starting to night get ready to follow #YASummit2018 and #YACritcal.

More updates soon.