Our second Weekend Picks for May comes to us from another Oakland University student Alyssa Engler. Her featured novel, Monday's Not Coming, focuses on the themes of friendship and loss as it weaves a mystery about a girl who has gone missing: Monday Charles. The story uses non-linear storytelling  as a way to blend the past with the present. 

Alyssa has this to say about herself as an introduction to our readers: "Hello! My name is Alyssa. I'm a full-time student at OU working towards an English Language Arts for Educators degree and a server by night! In my free time, I love hanging out with my German shepherds (the one in the photo is my late baby Bella; right now, I have two, Rebel and Ryder!). But outside of them, you can find me with my head in a craft of some kind!"

Many thanks to Alyssa for her contribution this week, and for pointing us toward another important YA novel read. 

We all have that person; yes, that best friend, sibling, or coworker you just thought of. The one who’s all in, no questions asked. Someone who feels like warmth in the coldest weather, or the sunshine slipping through in your cloudiest moment. Maybe you sat next to them in class randomly on the first day, talked to them at a party and just instantly clicked, or perhaps you’re like me; she happened to apply at your work, and within minutes, you’re laughing and talking like you’ve known one another for a lifetime.

We all have the one person, that special person.

But sometimes life throws us a curveball, something we never see coming.

​What if one day they didn’t show up, didn’t pick up the phone, disappeared into thin air, and suddenly weren’t around; they were gone. That’s Claudia’s fear when she can't get ahold of her best friend: Monday Charles.

Welcome to the first Weekend Picks of May! We kick off ​the month with a contribution from one of Oakland University's current teacher candidates, and my (Amanda) recent student. It's a joy and a privilege to help amplify the emerging voices in ELA education. 

Sean Myers points us toward the amazing work of Alice Oseman, specifically the Heartstopper series that began as a digital “Webtoon” comic. Thank you, Sean, for your May Weekend Pick!

​Sean Myers is an English for Language Arts Education Graduate student at Oakland University. He is currently preparing to go into his final student placement and his student teaching, with hopes to be teaching high school English soon!

​Heartstopper (Volumes 1-5), written and illustrated by Alice Oseman follows the adventures of “out” gay student Charlie Spring, who meets his crush, Nick Nelson, in school. What Charlie doesn’t expect, is Nick’s own “bi-awakening” as the two’s friendship develops into something more. We get to follow their queer-love experience, as well as their friends! Oseman doesn’t just highlight queer male romance, but queer female romance, and transgender identities. We get to see how their own queer soul-searching plays out, and the ripples it has in friends, peers, family, and support systems.

The series began as a digital “Webtoon” comic, releasing short parts every few days, beginning back in August of 2019. As larger sections of the comic were completed, Oseman had volumes 

​As sweet and lighthearted as the series begins, we make our way through the different volumes and get to see more serious themes take center stage: depression, eating disorders, internalized homophobia, sexual harassment, and having to deal with less-accepting people in your families. While these are much more serious topics for a queer graphic novel, it’s important to bring awareness to these discussions, because the uncomfortableness of the topics doesn’t erase their prevalence in teenagers today. We get to learn alongside our characters that not every problem can be fixed with an “I Love You” or an “I’m Sorry”, and it’s so refreshing to see in modern literature.

As someone who identifies as a queer man, who struggles with things like poor mental health and depression, it is so comforting to me to see that someone is telling a story that sounds like me. ​

Our Weekend Picks for April concludes with one final contribution from Dr. Katie Sluiter. This week she writes about a historical YA novel set in Japantown, San Fransisco. ​Our many thanks to Dr. Sluiter for centering so many wonderful historical fictions YA novels in her recommendations this month, and for her ongoing work in Holocaust education.
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Katie Sluiter has been teaching ELA for over 20 years in West Michigan where she lives with her family and her English bulldog. She has her PhD in English Education and currently teaches 8th grade ELA near Grand Rapids, MI.

Several of my 8th graders this year share my love of historical fiction. We study the Holocaust during first semester, and many ask for more books about the atrocity. Others latch on to a particular author; there is an entire faction of students, for example, who have been passing all my Alan Gratz titles around this year. 

Then there are those students who want to read historical fiction that takes place in the United States. Several have read Don Brown’s graphic novels Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans and The Great American Dust Bowl. George Takei’s graphic novel memoir They Called Us Enemy is another popular choice.

I, too, have read all of these and it was Takei’s memoir that sparked my interest in a part of U.S. history that I knew very little about: The Japanese on the west coast and the internment during World War II. Last year, one of my honors students had read We Are Not Free by Traci Chee and recommended it to me, so I picked it up this year as my spring break read.​

Welcome to our second Weekend Picks for April, brought to us again by Dr. Katie Sluiter. This week she, along with her student August, discusses two novels, the first by recently featured author Jas Hammonds (see February 19th post), and the second a murder mystery by Holly Jackson. Thank you, Katie, for your inspiring post this week! 
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Katie Sluiter has been teaching ELA for over 20 years in West Michigan where she lives with her family and her English bulldog. She has her PhD in English Education and currently teaches 8th grade ELA near Grand Rapids, MI.

Welcome to final Weekend Picks for March!

Beth Spinner concludes her month of Weekend Picks with a science fantasy YA novel that investigates social class divisions in "an alternate version of medieval Chine set in the future." We thank Beth for a month of great recommendations that will keep our TBR stacks plentiful. 

​Professor Spinner taught middle and high school English before obtaining her PhD in English Education from Western Michigan University. She is currently a teacher educator at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Her research focuses on fostering social justice in the English classroom using reading and writing.

​Readers are kept on the edge of their seats as Zetian exposes lies and takes down systems. There is a subtle and nontraditional love triangle subplot that will make readers root for love in general instead of just a hero. It is encouraging to see a woman so empowered and use that empowerment to make real change for people. The change involves making tough choices, and some controversial ones, but she is fearless.

​Readers will find themselves asking if the sacrifices required to do what’s right are worth it and how far they would go to make a difference. It also calls attention to the topic of power and what people do with it. In Huaxia, government officials who have power use it to keep secrets and keep certain people oppressed. As Zetian gains more power, she uses it to take this very government down.   

Welcome to our Weekend Picks for March 21st!

Beth Spinner continues her month of great recommendations with a YA novel that is, to quote her, "part fantasy, part historic fiction, and a total must read:" Secret of the Moon Conch by Guadalupe Garcia McCall and David Bowles. 

​Professor Spinner taught middle and high school English before obtaining her PhD in English Education from Western Michigan University. She is currently a teacher educator at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Her research focuses on fostering social justice in the English classroom using reading and writing.

​This novel is part fantasy, part historic fiction, and a total must read. The book alternates between the perspectives of Sitlali and Calizto. Sitlali lives in the present day and recently fled to the United States from Mexico in search of her father. She has faced and fought dangerous men and animals in her crossing to get to a family friend in Texas.

​Once she arrives, she attempts to reunite with her father, who left her long ago. Her father’s new family is not as excited to see her. Sitlali faces constant danger and heartbreak as she settles into this new life. What helps give her encouragement is a conch shell she brought with her on her journey. Before crossing the border, she realized the conch allowed her to connect with a young man who lived several centuries ago.

Welcome to the second Weekend Picks for March 2025, brought to us by Beth Spinner from Grand Valley State University!

This Weekend Pick features a dystopian YA novel with storytelling at its core: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. Take a look at what Beth has to say about this YA Weekend Pick. But first, a word about Beth: 
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​Professor Spinner taught middle and high school English before obtaining her PhD in English Education from Western Michigan University. She is currently a teacher educator at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Her research focuses on fostering social justice in the English classroom using reading and writing.

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​This dystopian novel centers the power of storytelling. Petra Peña is a twelve year old girl facing the end of the world. She wants to be a storyteller, like her grandmother, when she grows up, but her plans are disrupted. A comet is coming towards Earth but Petra and her family are selected to escape on ships because her parents are scientists. The plan is for the people selected to survive to sleep on board the ship for hundreds of years and then set up a society on another planet. Other people were also selected to board the ship with the task of keeping the ship running for those who were sleeping. Those keepers would not survive the trip, but would live out their lives in space.

Petra and her family board the ship and go to sleep, expecting to wake up several hundred years later and be ready to live on another planet. When Petra wakes up, however, she realizes that plan did not happen the way they expected.

​Welcome to our first Weekend Picks for March 2025!

To kick things off this month, Beth Spinner from Grand Valley State University digs into the dystopian YA Literature world, with her first pick: A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat. Take a look at what Beth has to say about this YA Weekend Pick. 

​Professor Spinner taught middle and high school English before obtaining her PhD in English Education from Western Michigan University. She is currently a teacher educator at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Her research focuses on fostering social justice in the English classroom using reading and writing.

This fantasy novel takes place in a land inspired by Thai culture where social class differences are profound and the law doesn’t always protect those who need protection. The novel follows Pong, a young boy born imprisoned because his mother had him while a prisoner herself, as he escapes and begins to question the justice system. Because he was born in prison and is therefore a fugitive, Pong has a mark that identifies him in this way, just like all the other prisoners who are now outside of prison. These marks make it difficult to get a job and live a comfortable life. Pong learns more about this system and how too often, a difficult life leads to many people returning to prison. The governor of the land believes this system is just and keeps order. The governor is also the only one who can produce light. The wealthy are able to afford better lights while the lower social classes are not able to purchase the same quality lights.

​This system, too, perpetuates social class injustice.