"When the Moon Was Ours" by Anna-Marie McLemore

  "When the Moon Was Ours" by Anna-Marie McLemore

Originally Published 2016

Pages: 318 

Awards: James Tiptree, Jr. Award 2016 and Stonewall Book Award Honor 2017

Summary: When the Moon Was Ours tells the story of a young woman that has magical roses growing out of her arms and a young man who is transgender that navigates life and relationships under the threat of dangerous girls rumoured to be witches. The story explores navigating trauma, identity and self acceptance all under the genre umbrella of fantasy/ sci-fi. 

I chose this book because it falls under one of my own personal favorite genres while still embodying the plights of the young adults. This book explores LGBTQ+ themes in a way that is captivating and full of literary devices and techniques

Teaching and Content Considerations: 

This book covers identity in tremendous detail and would be a great primary text if there were room for a few week identity study in the classroom. The book explores being transgender or struggling with identity, love, friendships in a variety of scenarios. This book would be great to study characterization as well as come to grips with aspects of students' own identities. The themes of transformation, self acceptance and love are also very powerful in this book. For students that are going through similar transitions in their lives they would do well to see and read about these themes for themselves. 

This book was intended for anybody between the ages of 12-18 but with the themes of violence, trauma, etc. it might be more appropriate for a more mature audience. 9th and 10th grade would be the target if I were to teach this book. 

This book would be more of a whole group instruction book. While students could and should read individually there are several themes that would be best done as a whole group so there is a more guided presentation of the events of the book as well as how to best go about handling those. 

There are many excerpts that would be important to study but one of the passages that sticks out to me most is on page 9 of the book. The Quote that I would have students closely read is " The understanding settled on her that it was Sam, not that wooden-hilted brush, that held the magic of turning a vine-laced field into a thousand pumpkins." This passage shows how powerful and important the person behind the action is and when thinking about identity it is important to understand that people have the power to transform and make things happen in their lives. 

Another excerpt that would be important for students to do a close reading of is pages 290-292. Not only do these pages touch on identity as well but they are littered with figurative language and literary devices. With quotes like "Their stare was heavy as a coating of snow" or "Maybe fear had twisted it, leaving it threadbare" These few passages toward the end of the book would be good for students to look at to see how figurative language changes the feel, tone of a story and what effect it has on a reader in general. 

This book I think would be great in an identity study. That being said I could also see lots of excerpts and quotes being used in this book to teach general figurative language study. The way the author presents the characters in such a surreal magical way would be helpful for students to see in mimicking this type of genre writing. 

"No Filter and Other Lies" by Crystal Maldonado

"No Filter and Other Lies" by Crystal Maldonado

Originally Published in 2022

Pages: 336

Awards: POPSUGAR and Seventeen Best New YA Novels

Summary: This story follows the life of Kat Sanchez, a young plus sized girl that is all about photography. The story follows Kat's struggles with being a plus sized person as well as gripping with sexuality and public image. The story captures contemporary realistic fiction through these aspects as well as the relationships the main protagonist has with her parents,grandparents and friends alike. Kat Sanchez creates a fake profile and the events of her life begin to spiral out of control. 

I chose this book because from the brief description from the library database it seemed like a perfect book to capture a modern teens experience. It explores issues of body iamge especially in comparison to social media which is an extremely prevalent societal issue. This type of genre seems to be popular among young adults and I wanted to read it to see if I would recommend it to students interested in this genre as well. 

Teaching and Content Considerations: 

This is a book that I strongly feel woulde be a great independent reader. Though any of the books on my list could be a great choice for all types of instruction, I think this one would have a stronger impact as an individual read because it will allow students to make sense of the content and scenarios for themselves. The book does a great job of characterization that each person can be easily studied thoroughly in a classroom setting. The conflict that is presented in teh novel also would be a good point to study as it is based in realistic events, many of which pervade students lives. 

This book should be read at the 8th or 9th grade level. This novel has a strong story arc and present great characterization, conflict, etc. All of which are explored in 8th and 9th grade classrooms in depth. While this book would appeal to any student that may struggle with body image or social media image, the main character is apart of the LGBTQ+ community and would appeal to students that belong to that community as well. 

The first excerpt that is important to look at is on page 256. The main character has a fak social media account in which they portray someone that does not or only partial shows qualities of themself. This could be a great point for students to look at in a close read to discuss/ analyze the effects of impersonating or changing who you are on social media. Students can get a better understanding of this particular situation and how it affects those around them and how it exists in the world around us. 

Another excerpt that would be good to look at is p. 379. The Author uses texting language/ diction to represent different modes of communication within the story. This would be a great passage for students to study to learn how to create different forms of dialogue/ writing. It would also show students how to differentiate different types of writing and which work to best convey different types of meaning. 

Overall this story would be great for students to study because it is a quintessential coming of age story. This book could be great to study in conjunction with Safia Elhillo's Home is Not a Country because both books explore the dilemmas that young adult women face in society. Students could evaluate the effectiveness of both novels and make determinations/recommendations based on how each novel presents their message. 

"Welcome to Consent How to Say No, When to say Yes, and How to be the Boss of your Body" by Dr. Melissa Kang and Yumi Styles

 "Welcome to Consent How to Say No, When to say Yes, and How to be the Boss of your Body" by Dr. Melissa Kang and Yumi Styles

Originally Published in 2023

Pages: 210

Summary: This Novel is as it's title suggest an all encompassing book about consent. What it is, how it is used, when it is used and generally covers all the nuances that come with consent and it's forms. This novel does a wonderful job encapsulating not only the nuances of consent when it comes to physicality and sexuality but also dives into consent when working through a variety of social interactions. It is littered with every scenario imaginable as well as applications that can be used to practice consent. 

I came across this novel on the Young adult Library services association and instantly thought "I know some adults that could use this book!" Sexuality and consent are topics that are immensely difficult for many to talk about which is why I wanted to read this book for myself but also see how we can make these topics more accessible to our youth. 

This book feels like a primary health classroom text. Not that it couldn't be used inside a language arts classroom, it just has such prolific information that would serve well within a health class or for a health unit. The real scenarios I see this book being used is in the case that there is not a designated health teacher in the school. This book is easily read and can be taught by any person from any discipline. The language is plain to understand and with good critcal thinking skills with some of the content/applications can be interpreted by students and adults with success. 

This book should be used whenever students are introduced in health class. My guess being 7th and 8th grade and beyond would be an opportune time to introduce this book. Because of the nature of sexuality, consent, and general well being in this book it will take some guidance from the instructor to make sure students take the book seriously and enact the practices that are offered within the book. The book offers 'challenges' throughout the book which should be used as practice guides by the teacher to help students to understand what consent looks like in practice and to help students recognize best practices for the future. 

The first excerpt that students should work with or work to understand is "Consent should be enthusiastically and fully given" p. 13. This excerpt I think is a fundamental component to the book and how students should/could understand Consent. Especially as young adults with limited experience to social scenarios this phrase could be a great guiding phrase for students to think about consent in general. 

The second component to this novel that I believe has tremendous impacts in how to use this book is the 'consent challenges' presented throughout the book. They genuinely cover so many different scenarios when it comes to consent that it would be a disservice not to have students work in small groups to re-enact some of these scnearios. They have a challenge in particular where a trusted adult asks the person to do something they are uncomfortable with and makes for a perfect practice for students to look at in a safe environment. These consent challenges are found on pages 115-135, and again on page 193. 

Overall this would be a great book for any young adult (or even some adults) to read and study. It again could be used by any discipline teacher to help students understand SEL principles as well as general practices to enacting with other people. I like to think of this as a guideline to how to enact with people and this novel could be used as just that. 

"Home is Not A Country" By Safia Elhillo

 “Home is Not a Country” By Safia Elhillo

Originally Published March 2nd 2021

Pages: 224

Awards: Rhode Island Teen Book Award 2022, Corretta Scott King Author Honor 2022

Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo is  a book that explores the coming of age story of a young arabic woman living in America. The book explores themes of racism, prejudice, and overall feeling like you are not enough. It has elements of magical realism that add to the experience of the main character and lead to a story that leaves you feeling that if you are open and honest that good things will happen to you. 

I chose this book primarily because it was recommended so highly across all platforms I was searching when looking at novels in verse. I wanted to explore more books in verse and was pleasantly surprised to find this book not only full of great literary techniques but a story that was riveting and well paced. 

This book has a lot of applications for teaching at individual, small group and whole group levels but where I see the most value in this book is in whole and small group instruction. The nice thing about novels in verse is that they use poetry techniques in a narrative format. I think this novel would be an excellent entry point for students to begin to learn poetry as there are a plethora of techniques like enjambment, imagery, personification, etc. that students can closely examine as a class and then dive deeper into in small groups. This book in verse takes the guesswork out of what is happening in the story and really opens up instruction to more of the poetry,literary aspects that students can explore and potentially recreate in creative ways. 

This book definitely tackles some tough topics of racism and prejudice as well as some traumatic family events but I feel it is appropriate for 8th and 9th grade audiences and beyond. Because the story is easy to follow it creates a great space for students to explore poetry in a chunkable format. This book appeals to young women and in particular arabic women considering the protagonist as well as the characters in the story are of arabic descent. That being said, any young person who is interested in magical realism would enjoy this novel. 

There are several excerpts in the beginning of the novel that would be great for students to look at to discover more literary techniques. On page 25 in particular the author uses enjambment in a way that helps readers to understand the complexity of the main character and her family/community dynamics. 

The second passage that would be good for students to look at is on page 86 (digital edition) This page dives into the ethics behind making references to someone else's ethnicity while simultaneously diving into the ethics of making fun of or judging other people. Both the main character and the young white boys that make racist remarks about her make jabs at each other. It highlights a pivotal aspect of the human experience and would be good for students to discuss and evaluate in making sense of multiple perspectives. 

Another passage that would be good to look at is on page 137 where the main character is making sense of the death of one of her family members and is realizing that that family member intended to abandon her and her mother. This passage is important for students to recognize different aspects of the human experience and work with social and emotional learning skills to wrestle with this very tough topic. 

Overall this was a really fun and engaging book. I think this would be a great book as part of a genre study or as a standalone read in discovering poetry/ novels in verse. 

"The Talk" By Darrin Bell

"The Talk" By Darrin Bell

Originally Published June, 2023

Pages: 352

Awards: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award

Summary: The Talk is a graphic novel in which Darrin Bell captures the events of his life. He captures his experience as a biracial person and how he was treated throughout his childhood in the 80's and 90's through his adult life (present day). He tackles the topics of racism both subtle and overt that are experienced throughout his life as well as various other emotions he experienced growing up as a black person. 

This book was important for me to read for two reasons. One, our world is ever increasingly moving towards visual mediums. Movies, TV, Videos and Graphic novels have become preferred means of consuming information and media for many people out there. I want to make sure that students understand how to interpret and make sense of those visual mediums that they are being exposed to. Secondly, this book addresses the prejudice and racism that still permeate our societal systems. Bell takes care to show his experience as a person of color for what it is. undoctored and unfiltered. I wanted to read this not only to read about the experience but to see the experience and discover the power of images in novels.

Teaching and Content Considerations: 

This graphic novel I believe could be used in any context (small group, whole group, or individual) but where I see the greatest application for this book (as well as all graphic novels) is in a book club/small group application. Graphic novels have the amazing ability to present/convey tough subject matter in digestible and easily read formats. The speed at which graphic novels can be read can help students that need more support in reading achieve success much quicker. I see this novel being used as part of a synthesis project where students read multiple graphic novels and word to determine different themes and meanings that are presented in the images and in the text/words that are used. This book in particular covers ethics, symbolism and themes very well and would be a great exercise for students to work in seeing similarities and differences between graphic novels and communicate and write to convey their understanding.

The recommended age for this book is about a 10th grade level. There are some mature subjects and themes that might be difficult for younger audiences. However, I believe that any student entering puberty would be equipped to read and make sense of this graphic novel. The author covers many of the topics that arise for young adults but most likely would appeal to young men. While I could see anybody relating to the author in that sense he touches primarily on issues that affect BIPOC audiences. 

 The first excerpt I chose for students to look at is on page 30-32 (digital edition) Where a young Darrin is seen talking with his mother. His mother says “that’s whats going to keep you alive”. This passage I think thematically represents the struggle that Darrin faces as a black man whenever he encounters people and will be important for students to recognize and make sense of if they read the rest of the book.

The second excerpt that I think would be good for students to do a close examination of is on p. 157 (Digital edition) where his teacher remarks to him that he is "One of the good ones" It is important to recognize the power of words and how they can be damaging even though well intentioned. This is a very important moment to recognize that racism/prejudice can be subversive and that all people need to recognize how we treat people.

The third excerpt is from the end of the novel on p. 318. Darrin makes many references to power tools and how different objects symbolize different things based on the person. It is important to recognize the symbols that Bell uses here and how we associate meaning with different things.

Overall, this would be a great novel to teach to audiences that are beginning to discover their own values and ethics systems and learn about other peoples perspectives. 

WELCOME!!

 Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to my Blog Page!