I was a little surprised about how much the actions against immigrants bothered me. I agree, we should have a system of legal entrance into the USA. Ironically, we do. Changing the game in a single day seems unreasonable and mean spirited. I come from a heritage of immigrants--granted in an era when boarders were more open. At the same time, I belong to a religion that was expelled--forcible out of the United States. I had relatives in Nauvoo. Let's be frank, they were forced out and on Feb. 10, 1846 they crossed the frozen Mississippi. This wasn't the groups' first move. Governor Boggs of Missouri signed an order, Missouri Executive Order 44, that forced them out of the that state. The exodus to the Salt Lake Valley was organized and took miraculous effort. To be clear, at the time they were fleeing the United States and going to a territory, that at the time was owned by Mexico. I am proud of my ancestors who sacrificed to get here and make a new life. Am I surprised by legal behavior that is paranoid and a rush to action? I wish that I good say that I was, but I am not. 
I was pleased that the LDS church (Mormon) made a statement about refugees on Jan 28, 2017. 

The United States can do better and many of its citizens do. 

I didn't think when I posted a reading list for Betsy DeVos, I was planning on creating an educational reading list every few days to address some trending issues that calls into question the values that we teach when we advocate for social justice. I guess I was a bit short sighted. As the year pushes forward, there will be occasions for more lists. If youget inspired to create one that address a specific issue, let me know. 

Does this issue tie to Young Adult Literature? Well, it does, and my go to expert is Bryan Ripley Crandall. Bryan walks the walk. He has worked with refugees, not only as a sponsor and advocate, but as a father. He did a remarkable workshop at the LSU conference a couple of years ago. You can read about what they did and what they produced here. You can follow his blog. I believe in learning through vicarious experience. At the same time, there should be a point at which we begin to act. The bulk of this posting is a "cut an paste" from Bryan's Jan 29, 2017 posting. On Saturday, I reached out to him, I was worried how the events of the day were playing out in his life. He is doing fine, but frustrated--read his post it provides a list of Children's and YA literature that address the refugee issue. 

Like a majority of Americans, I am in utter shock over political decisions to ban immigrants and refugees from entering the United States from war-torn nations...the 1% of the 65 million displaced people worldwide who were, under a kinder, gentler, and more human America, once given asylum into our country. The Statue of Liberty that I've learned to love from elementary school onward promises an America of refugee, safety, and possibility. This is a land that has been built from relocation stories, where people unite over the potential for freedom, democracy, and unity which is not experienced world-wide.

Dr. Steven Bickmore, of young adult literature fame, reached out to me yesterday and wondered how I was doing with all this strife. He asked if I had list of resources I might share with him and I do. I did. I appreciate that he checked on me and am putting this list here in case it is helpful to anyone wishing to begin the journey of texts that definitely counter the rhetoric and policy coming out of the capital of the United States at this time. These recent decisions make little sense when one reads research, considers practice, explores narrative and text, and contemplates history. My lists may repeat texts, but I created two: one for K-6 (above) and one for 6-12 (below). 
For some time now I've collected children, young adult, and adult books that have helped me to understand shifting demographics, the plight of refugees, and the struggle of relocation. In this sense, these resources have assisted the irreplaceable, incredible, and inspirational work I've been fortunate enough to do with relocated African refugee populations since I was a teacher in Louisville. 

Until this year, I did not imagine that the greatest civilization to date could suddenly switch gears on its mission and purpose. It happened rather quickly. I'm not a religious fellow, but it seems to me that these decisions are the antithesis of what the "good" books teach us. To put restrictions on immigration and refugees due to personal whims simply seems ludicrous. 

I don't know where to begin, but for those who want to start somewhere, here you go. When you finish reading these texts, and if you still feel that current decisions are warranted, then we should talk.  At this point, it is no longer about being an American, a Democrat, or a Republican. This is about being a civil human. Period.


African Refugee Narratives in Young Adult Literature

Applegate, K. (2007). Home of the Brave. New York: McMillan.
Bassoff, L., & DeLuca, L. (2014). Lost Girl Found. Toronto, Canada: Groundwood Books.
Cooney, C. B. (2007). Diamonds in the Shadow. New York: Delacorte Press.
Cornwell, N., & Littlewood, K. (2012). Christophe's Story. NewYork: Frances Lincoln.
Dau, J. B., & Akech, M. A. (2010). Lost Boy, Lost Girl; Escaping Civil War in Sudan.
          Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.
Farish, T. (2012). The Good Braider. New York: Skyscrape.
Mead, A. (2003). Year of No Rain. New York: Macmillan.
Mikaelsen, B. (2004). Tree Girl. New York: Harper Collins.
Naidoo, B. (2000). The Other Side of Truth. New York: HarperCollins.
Padian, M. (2013). Out of Nowhere. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Park, L. S. (2010). A Long To Water: Based on a True Story. New York: Clarion Books.
Stewart, E. (2014). Blue Gold. Toronto, Canada: Annick Press.
Whitman, S. (2014). The Milk of Birds. New York: Atheneum Books.
Williams, M. (2011). Now is the Time For Running. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Zephaniah, B. (2011). Refugee Boy. New York.

Additional African Refugee Narratives

Akpan, U. (2008). Say You're One of Them. New York: Little, Brown & Company.
Beah, I. (2008). A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Sarah Crichton Books.
Dau, J. B. (2007). God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.
Eggers, D. (2006). What Is The What. San Francisco: McSweeny’s.
Jal, E. (2009). War Child: A Child Soldier's Story. New York: St. Martin's Press.
John, W. S. (2009). Outcasts United; A Refugee Team, an American Town. New York: Spiegel &
          Grau.
McDonnell, F. J. H., & Akallo, G. (2007). Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda's Children. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Chosen Books.
Kamara, M. (2008). The Bite of the Mango. Buffalo: Annick Press.

Other Resources

Bixler, M. (2005). The Lost Boys of Sudan; An American Story of the Refugee Experience.   
          Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.
Bloomfield, S. (2010). Africa United: Soccer, Passion, Politics, and the First World Cup in
          Africa. New York: Harper Perennial.
Carlin, J. (2009). Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. New York:
           Penguin.
ESRI. (2013). Fifty Largest Refugee Camps. Redlands, California. Accessed online on
November 14, 2013 at http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2013/refugee-camps/
#sthash.dLloxBzL.dpuf
Foer, F. (2004). How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization. New
          York: Harper.
International Rescue Committee (2006). Refugee Children and Youth Backgrounders. New York. 
          Accessed online July 7th, 2008 at http://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/migrated/where/united_states_salt_lake_city_ut/refugee-backgrounders.pdf
McMahon, F. R. (2007). Not Just Child's Play; Emerging Traditions and the Lost Boys of Sudan. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press.
Pipher, M. (2002). The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community. New York: Hartcourt, Inc.
Shenk, J., & Mylan, M. (Writers) & POV (Director). (2004). Lost boys of sudan [film]. United States: Actual Film s& Principle productions in association with American Documentary, Inc. and ITVS.
Smith, S. C. (2005). Ending Global Poverty; A Guide to What Works. New York: Pelgrave Macmillan Publishing.

Selected Research
Alvarez, G., Benjamin-Gomez, A., & Hunklin, M. (2010). Students with Interrupted Formal Education: A Challenge for the New York City Public Schools. New York: Advocates for Children of New York.
Campano, G. (2007). Immigrant students and literacy; Reading, writing, and remembering. New York: Teachers College Press.
Crandall, B. R. (2012). "A Responsibility to Speak Out”: Perspectives on Writing From Black African-Born Males With Limited and Disrupted Formal Education. (Dissertation), Syracuse University.   
Crandall, B. R. (2014). Lost voices in an American high school: Sudanese male English-language learners' perspectives on writing. In C. Compton-Lilly & E. halverson (Eds.), Time and Space In Literacy Research (pp. 107-121). New York: Routledge.
DelliCarpini, M. (2008). Working with English language learners: Looking back, moving forward. English Journal, 98(1), 98 - 101. 
Decapua, A., & Marshall, H. W. (2010). Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education in US Classrooms. The Urban Review, 42(2), 159-173. 
Fu, D. (2007). Teaching writing to English language learners. In T. N. a. R. Kent (Ed.), Teaching the neglect "R"; Rethinking writing instruction in secondary classrooms (pp. 225-242). New Hampshire: Heinemann Press.
Fu, D., & Graff, J. M. (2009). The Literacies of New Immigrant Youth. In L. Christenbury, R. Bomer & P. Smagorinsky (Eds.), Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research (pp. 400-414). New York Guilford.
Goodwin, A. L. (2002). Teacher preparation and the Education of Immigrant Children. Education and Urban Society, 34(2), 156-172. 
Naidoo, L. (2008). Supporting African refugees in greater western Syndney; a critical ethnography of after-school homework tutoring centers. Education Research for Policy and Practice, 7, 139-150. 
Rong, X. L., & Brown, F. (2002). Socialization, culture, and identities of Black immigrant children: What educators need to know and do. Education and Urban Society, 34(2), 247-273. 
Roxas, K. (2008). Who Dares to Dream The American Dream? Multicultural Education, 16(2), 2-9. 
Roxas, K. (2010). Tales from the Front Line: Teachers' Responses to Somali Bantu Refugee Students. Urban Education, 46(3), 513-548. 
Roxas, K. (2010). Who really wants "The tired, the poor, and the huddled masses" anyway?: Teachers' use of cultural scripts with refugee students in public schools. Multicultural Perspectives, 12(2), 65-73. 
Roxas, K., & Roy, L. (2012). "That's How We Roll": A Case Study of a Recently Arrived Refugee Student in an Urban High School. The Urban Review, 44(4). 
Roy, L. A. (2008). Language and literacy practices: Somali Bantu refugee students and families in a predominately latino school and community. Dissertation. The University of Texas at San Antonio. San Antonio. 
Roy, L. A., & Roxas, K. C. (2011). Whose Deficit Is This Anyhow? Exploring Counter-Stories of Somali Bantu Refugees' Experiences in "Doing School". Harvard Educational Review, 81(3), 521-541. 
Sarroub, L. K. (2007). Seeking refuge in literacy from a scorpion bite. Ethnography and Education, 2(3), 365-380. 
Shaw, J. A. (2003). Children Exposed to War/Terrorism. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6(4), 237-246. 
Smith, S. C. (2005). Ending Global Poverty; A Guide to What Works. New York: Pelgrave Macmillan Publishing.
Tadesse, S., Hoot, J., & Watson-Thompson, O. (2009). Exploring the special needs of African children in U.S. schools. Childhood Education, 352-356. 
Townsend, J. S., & Fu, D. (2001). Paw's story: A Laotian refugee's lonely entry into American literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(2), 104-114. 
Trueba, H., Lila, J., & Kirton, E. (1990). Cultural Conflict and Adaptation: The Case of Hmong Children in American Society. New York: Falmer Press.
Vasudevan, L., & Campano, G. (2009). The Social Production of Adolescent Risk and the Promise of Adolescent Literacies. Review of Research in Education, 33, 310-353. ​

Below is a pdf of a list that Bryan references.

I have been a fan of Jo Knowles novels from the first time I discovered Jumping off Swings. I remember thinking that here was a writer who could capture the angst and anxiety of a marginalized teenager. I just kept reading her books, and every time, I found an author whose characters find a voice than never wavers. Jo was kind enough to chat with me after she answered, in writing, the questions I offered her. We chatted about Habitat for Humanity, social causes, and Robert Cormier.

Before I meet her in person, I felt that I had known her for a long time. Her Facebook page is an open book about her social and political engagement. I love that she hammered nails in a home built by a community. I was impressed by how often she praised the good work of her friends and family. If you have ever felt alone when you try to be kind and generous in your community, I encourage you to follow Jo on Facebook. She often seems to be the embodiment of both hope and action.
​
I also asked her about some of her early YA influences. She related the story about admiring and then meeting Robert Cormier.  I love thinking about how influential a supportive word from one of the great YA writers has been. I think Cormier would be pleased if he were able to read Jo Knowles’ body of work today.

​I love all of Jo’s books. I have not sure that she has made a misstep as she has developed and grown as a novelist. I have several that I would book talk in a minute, but the book I have chosen to highlight is Read Between the Lines. I love the cover. I would be willing to bet that most of us, at one time or another, have had the desire to communicate with someone through a gestured finger. This remarkable book takes place in the course of a day and weaves several intersecting stories without once losing the independent voice of each narrator. At times, its narrative strength reminded me of David Levithan’s powerful The Realm of Possibility. Both authors created characters that wander in and out of each other sphere of action. I made a mental note to pair them at some point in a class, an article, or a lecture about narration and point of few. Again, Read Between the Lines was one of those books that I felt everyone should have been reading in 2015. I know that a host of high school kids would be laughing at some of the situations Knowles captures. At the same time, I keep imagining parents of adolescent trying to pull back the smile as they thought about their own adolescence. Or, more to the point, they wish, on occasion, they could give into their adolescent impulse to ask people to read between the lines.

The rest of her novels deserve to be on your classroom shelves as well. Jo recently posted the good news that Lessons from a Dead Girl has just entered its 5th printing.  I would love to find out that, as a result of people spreading the word, it was forced into a 6th printing as soon as possible. In fact, let’s spread the word and push all her books into a new printing. Check with your school librarian; does the library have at least one copy of every book? I hope so. In fact, I think it is time to do a spotlight display of this author’s work. It would be a wonderful offering for kids to walk into a library and find Pearl, Lessons from a Dead Girl, Jumping Off Swings, Living with Jackie Chan, See You at Harry’s, Read Between the Lives, and Still a Work in Progress nicely displayed on a table, counter, or a shelf accompanied by a printed Kirkus review. Better yet, ask some of those voracious readers in your school to choose one and offer a review. 

In the mean time, pick one to read. I am quite sure you will enjoy it. After that, look to have a conversation and share it with some else.
Below you will find Jo’s answers to the author interview questions. 

Until next week.

​This week’s YA Wednesday is a guest post from Mark Lewis and one of his students, Marilena Orfanos. Mark has contributed before and you can find his earlier post about YA literature set in urban spaces here. I encourage you to check out that post as well. It points to some earlier work that Mark has done in the field of YA literature. Mark introduces the post by briefly describe how he structured this YA course.  Marilena then points to one of the remarkable ways YA literature talks about diversity by describing how she approached the her text selections. 

This past fall 2016 semester I (Mark) tried a new approach to using young adult literature as part of my Methods of Teaching English course. Usually, I organize sets of four texts and ask students to self-select into a book club based upon what stories most interest them. They would then meet and discuss the YA literature in terms of content, course topics, and teaching. As well, I would provide time in class for cross-book club discussions since the clubs would all read texts related to one another in some way; for example, all clubs would read a graphic novel the same week. I thought the approach worked well to expose teacher candidates to a broad range of YA literature, yet also focus on reading, analyzing, and critiquing their four assigned texts.

This past semester, however, I decided to provide even more choice for the teacher candidates. Instead of choosing the texts, I asked them to identify a trend, issue, or theme within YA literature, and then create their own reading list of four texts. They were then asked to write critical reviews of each selection, and then create and present a “roundtable session.” In their session, they included relevant literary scholarship on their chosen trend, issue, or theme, summarized the messages their book club selections related about their topic, shared their critiques of these messages, and predicted how they thought young readers might react to such messages. Obviously, there are benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, which I would be  more than willing to discuss elsewhere (such as in the comments), but I provide this context only to set up the work of a teacher candidate highlighted in this post. 

Marilena Orfanos is a MAT candidate who took the course this past semester, and will complete her student teaching this semester. I believe her project presents a careful, yet critical, examination of how her chosen issue is presented in YA literature. I happily hand over the remainder of this post to her. 

Searching for LGBTQ YA science fiction is like trying to find shells, whole and intact, on the edge of a frothing, chaotic ocean—certainly possible, but maddening. I (Marilena) was 18 the first time I tried to find YA fantasy or science fiction with an LGBTQ protagonist. Early into my bookstore trek, I realized finding literature would be harder than I’d thought. Three hours later, I left the bookstore empty-handed and disheartened. Fast forward four years and here I am putting together a short list of LGBTQ YA science fiction that completely exceeded my expectations. I’d originally wanted to explore this theme to finally complete what my 18-year-old self had set out to find; however, the more research read, the more I realized such a great need for narratively diverse LGBTQ media.

In “Reading LGBT-Themed Literature with Young People: What’s Possible?” authors Blackburn and Clark (2009) noted the strange assumption by which teachers framed classroom conversations about sexuality and gender-identity. All too often, educators, school institutions, and even the text selected “invariably presumed student readers to be straight and…aggressively homophobic” (p. 27). Such beliefs led teachers to hand-hold their students, allowing them to opt-out of uncomfortable readings and normalizing homophobia as opposed to challenging heteronormativity. Additionally, LGBTQ-literature in and of itself seems boxed within a certain set of narratives. Protagonists typically deal with homophobia and coming out; who they are is linked to suffering within the texts’ plotline and themes. Even when LGBTQ characters are present in genre-fiction, they are likely to fall trap to the “Bury your Gays” trope. While it is important to steer away from “sanitized portrays” that ignore real LGBTQ issues, it is also important to offer hope, especially to a population of students who are arguably the most at risk for suicide. (According to The Trevor Project, the rate of suicide attempts is four times greater for LGBQ youth and two times greater for questioning youth than that of straight youth. Nearly half of young transgender individuals have seriously considered suicide.) Authors, teachers, and schools can simultaneously acknowledge the homophobia that very much still exists in this world, but they should also champion the belief that LGBTQ individuals can be both happy and the hero, dispelling the myth that “being gay means being alone” (Blackburn & Clark, 2009). 

​Although I hoped to find LGBTQ YA science fiction that didn’t focus on coming-out, it was a difficult topic to avoid. Therefore, the first group of books to discuss is linked by the way in which they handle the quintessential “coming-out” narrative. Two of them, Malinda Lo’s Adaptation and Perry Moore’s Hero outwardly deal with the typical anxieties of a homophobic reaction. In Hero, the main character knows his father won’t accept him; meanwhile Lo’s protagonist is more worried about naïve, yet ultimately embarrassing, misunderstandings (she says, “Besides, bisexual… makes me think of girls on TV making out in front of guys… I don’t want people to think that about me.”). Because Hero is a campy story about secret supervillains and a league of heroes, Moore codes the dilemma of a secret identity far beyond just hiding a mask and some colored spandex—he uses it as an extended analogy to the main character’s hidden sexuality. Lo, on the other hand, does not over-linger on her protagonist’s experiences coming out. Romance is merely a subplot to her story, just one facet of her being. In Lo’s sequel, Inheritance, the protagonist comes out again—to different people: friends, family, strangers—and such an act shows the way in which coming-out is not a one and done moment. For many individuals, coming-out is a reoccurring experience—a constant journey. However in all three novels, that journey is never tinged with hopelessness or overshadows the main meat of their science fiction. There is humor, the innocence of first crushes, relationship questions…and also alien government conspiracies/superhuman abilities. What’s more? Both characters save the day and find their happy ending. Readers get characters they recognize—see themselves in the protagonists who question their sexuality—and are also told, “You are a hero.” 

The next text I selected is actually a collection of comics. Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology features lesbian pirates in space, transgendered androids, demon-adopting gay dads, and more boundary breaking protagonists. However none of these stories make an obvious show of their characters’ sexuality or gender identity. The characters love and live and adventure…and just happen to be LGBTQ. As a result, themes in this anthology range from the illusory nature of trust to philosophical questions about the infinitude of space. It is refreshing to read narratives about LGBTQ individuals where they are allowed to tackle questions beyond societal acceptance. Some may find this aspect juvenile or patronizing of lived experience, while others may find the hopefulness presented as an appealing counter-narrative, especially when paired with the dedication page: “For the people in the dark —on an island or in the closet—still waiting for their first sign of light. You are valid, you are loved, it’s going to get bright and you are going to have amazing adventures.”

​There still remains a question of teaching. As stated earlier, educators often fall trap to framing LGBTQ literature within a homophobic lens, catering to and normalizing heteronormativity. In discussing any of these books, teachers can focus on themes such as “Narrative and Counter-Narratives” or “Mirror and Window.” For example, “Mirror and Window” can be a useful opportunity to introduce literary criticism. Students can answer the questions, “What knowledge of LGBTQ history and culture are the protagonists of these novels exposed to? How does knowledge of this history influence the way these protagonists see themselves?”  With a historical approach to literature, LGBTQ students have the opportunity to learn more about their community while straight students are exposed to “different opinions.” Additionally, using a historical approach can challenge heteronormativity by showing LGBTQ individuals throughout time, an ever-present and crucial community in our society.  For example, Malinda Lo’s Adaptation and Inheritance frequently reference San Francisco’s LGBTQ community. Teachers can assign a quote matching strategy where students receive two plastic bags. In one bag is a collection of quotes by LGBTQ activists and figures from San Francisco; in the other bag is a collection of quotes taken from Lo’s duology. Students work in groups to match quotes that they feel reflect or contradict one another, coming together as a class to discuss how closely San Francisco’s history influence’s Lo’s protagonist. Of course, it’s also important to focus on the novel’s genre-tropes. For example, “What common qualities of science fiction are found in the short comic, The Graves of Wolves?” or “How does Perry Moore pay homage to America’s fascination with comic books?” These four books are not only tools to explore LGBTQ literature, but ask and contribute to YA literature as a whole. 

References
Clark, C., & Blackburn, M. (2009). Reading LGBT-themed literature with young people:
What's possible? The English Journal, 98(4), 25-32. 
Marilena Orfanos [email protected]; Mark A. Lewis, Ph.D. [email protected]

Like many educators across the county, I have issues with the qualifications of Betsy DeVos for the position of Secretary of Education. I do agree with her on one point; when the Zombie Apocalypse comes, those Zombie Grizzly Bears will plow right through those puny, lowest bid fences. As a result, they will devour students who are attempting to learn in poorly funded public schools without counselors and special education services.  In addition, without a large body of career teachers to draw from, the school might be inadequately staffed. Too many of their new, inexperience, but extremely bright new teachers have just left. Oh, don't misunderstand me, they aren't running from the bears. Those alternatively trained teachers were fleeing (after some rough weeks, months, or years) to enlist as policymakers,  analysts, or as directors of a charter school in the new age of the Zombie Apocalypse Education. 

Okay, all kidding aside, I would like to offer Betsy DeVos a list of young adult African American novels and memoirs. In her case, I think she has indeed seen enough mirrors. She might very well need a window into some diverse experiences as she shapes education for all students. I am sure others of you can imagine other lists that focus on special needs students. Books like Mockingbird, Probably, Still Nick Swanson, Wonder, and Out of My Mind seem like a good starting point for that list.

Back to the specific list for this post. I will very briefly list the book title, the author, link to a review, and provide the cover.  For many of us, the list should be self explanatory. I hope you know these books. If you don't, maybe you can get Betsy to join your book group and you can read and discuss them together.

1. The first choice is not the oldest book on the list, but it depicts the earliest and a horrific African American experience, the middle passage. Sharon Draper's Copper Sun captures that experience. This book is amazing and almost any summery is insufficient.

​2. Next, I selected Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming. It is poetic, nostalgic, and hopeful. I have included in several courses now and students always respond positively.  

​3. The Skin I’m In remains one of the most remarkable books in my reading history. What does it mean to want to be popular? Is it easier to pander to false friends or reject the help of a caring teacher? Who deserves your loyalty?

4. Fiction can capture the emotions of real events. Fewer fictional accounts have captured a historical moment as completely as Curtis’s The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963. The bombing of a small church in Birmingham is still one of the most horrific acts of domestic terrorism our country has ever experienced. We can remember, we can do better.

5. Teenage pregnancy is a difficult topic to discuss in class. Johnson’s insightful novel, The First Part Last, provides an approach to the topic that is unique and demonstrates a mastery of narrative structure.

6. When I think about an author who provides a gritty, realistic view of inner city homelessness, Coe Booth is the first name. Sure, her work is frank and populated with language and subject matter that makes parents cringe, but some adolescents live in these circumstances. Can we help the kids we don’t know—or ignore? Coe Booth’s Tyrell is one of those books that reluctant readers inhale and need our support when it faces challenges.

​7. Few novels by an African American author have had such lasting impact as Mildred Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. This book is an anchor of in upper elementary grades and in middle level class across the country. It is often a white students first exposure to the inequity of black schools and white schools in the segregated south during the depression. Is this what might happen if we keep try to make America great again? If we disperse public funds to benefit a few in primarily elite private schools?

8. For the past couple of years, every time I think of a book that masters point of view, Magoon’s How it Went Down is the book I think about. Inner city violence, gang activity, political intrigue and troubled relationships all play out in this narrative. Our African American communities have experienced too many troubles. This book is a great conversation starter as well as a quality piece of literature. 

​9. I might sound like a broken record, but people need to read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Not only is it a great read, it represents the efforts of people from different worlds working together to frame a new conversation about race possibilities in American. Watching Brendan and Jason speak together is witnessing one of the embodiments of Dr. King’s dream. Let’s look for more.

​10.  Walter Dean Myers is a giant of young adult literature. His contribution is enormous. He has been an inspiration for writers, teachers, and librarians for decades. It is hard to point to only one of his book has important and inspirational. However, Monster so quickly made itself a fixture in classrooms it is hard to imagine a schools without teachers being able to guide to and through this text.

Warriors Don’t Cry is a book about action. Some people occasionally accuse other people of all talk and no action. The story of the students who integrated Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. That’s right, 1957. It has been nearly 60 years and we still haven’t solved the issues. There is evidence that true school integration is a myth and that efforts to further dismantle efforts of equality are alive and well.  These efforts exist in many voucher programs, for profit charter organizations, and redistricting efforts.

12. ​The final book on the list is a trilogy that chronicles Rep. John Lewis’ time as the Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the event around the march from Selma to Montgomery on Blood Sunday. It seems to me that this is a clear example of talk that moves to action. You should get this series of books and share them as a reminder of the sacrifices that have been made in the quest for equality. The quest isn’t over and there will be other journeys. The series of books are March--Book One, Book Two and Book Three.

Without a doubt, the list could be longer. I would love to hear your suggestions. 

As the new year starts, I have been considering what I should reread.  I need to thank Jo Knowles for part of this trip down memory lane, but more about on another posting soon. As Young Adult Literature (YAL) continues to expand, I believe we shouldn’t forget those who paved the way. I picked four authors from the early years of YA. (I know there could be a host of others—please feel free to add your selections in the comments or shoot me an email. Or, better yet, you might want to write your own post recommending other authors.) These four jumped to mind, because of the gigantic presence when I was starting out as a young teacher and, unfortunately, they are now gone. I picked Robert Cormier, Virginia Hamilton, Paul Zindel, and Walter Dean Myers. Walter has only been gone since 2014, but the other three have been gone for 17, 15, and 13 years respectfully. Do people who have recently entered the field in any capacity know about the tremendous contributions of these authors?
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I have two concerns. First, I worry about creating a canon of YA authors and books that limits our understanding of the past. Second, while social media and the internet can keep teachers, librarians, and academic stay current with new authors, current award finalist, and new releases; how do we keep older, great books alive in our classrooms.

​Robert Cormier has always been a presence in my teaching life. I entered the classroom with The Chocolate War and I am the Cheese. They were always on the shelf. On the other hand, I was not always as proactive about promoting YAL as I should have been. Still, it was I am the Cheese that showed me that young adult literature was complex, sophisticated, and worthy of our attention at every level. I return to this wonderful novel more frequently than I care to admit. If the only novel by Cormier that you know is The Chocolate War, it is time to expand your horizons. I would pick I am the Cheese, but I don’t think you can go wrong with any of this titles. Grab the first one in your library.

​Virginia Hamilton is a trailblazer worthy to follow in the steps of such pioneers as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Her books were published and respected when a female African American children’s and young adult other was a rare commodity. Indeed, her first novel was published in 1967, a year often considered the beginning of the modern beginning of adolescent literature. It would be hard to ignore the impact and guidance of books like M. C. Higgins, The People Could Fly, and The Planet of Junior Brown.  Hamilton was the first African American author to receive the Newbery Medal. Once again do you know these wonderful books?

​Paul Zindel wrote his most successful play, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds in 1964. It was performed in my high school when I was a senior. I had friends that acted in the play that ran on Broadway and garnered Zindel the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1971. Perhaps, it doesn’t hurt if Edward Albee was your teacher, mentor, and advocate. For high school teachers he was long the go to author for the students who were alienated, quirky, or heard a different drummer. The first book of The Pigman Trilogy, The Pigman, is a good place to start. Nevertheless, My Darling, My Hamburger or Pardon Me, You’re Stepping on My Eyeball! are books that will remind you why Zindel was an important fixture in the syllabi of early Young Adult literature courses.

​Last, but by no means the least on this list is Walter Dean Myers. With more than 100 books to his credit his reputation is secure. He won the Coretta Scott King Award five times and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature three different times. Novels such as Game, Scorpions, and Slam engaged many reluctant readers. Novels such as Fallen Angels and Sunrise Over Fallujah remind us how much the USA depends on and requires of our young men in uniform. While many may not know some of Myers early work, it would be hard to miss the impact of Monster over the last ten years in America’s classrooms.

I hope you add some books by these authors to your “books to be read soon” list. I think you will enjoy them and will want to share them with students. If you would like to write a blog post about one of these authors, I would welcome it with open arms. If there are authors I missed, and there surely are, I would like hear about those as well

Until next week.

If you have taught middle grades or high school English for any length of time you have probably developed a unit that dealt with the hero's journey. Depending on when and where you went to college, you may or may not have been immersed in the "archetypal myth" of the hero's quest. I have seen it preached as holy writ and reduced to a stick figure diagram. I have heard it used to define Marlowe's journey to confront Kurtz, cited as the touchstone for understanding  Arthurian Legends, and to give meaning to the most complicated text of James Joyce. 

This week the guest contributor is Virginia Brackett. I, for one, appreciate her insight on how an understanding of a hero's journey can help us make connections to YA literature and the adolescents that read it. As we start our own journey into the new year, she offers us insight into this compelling instructional and analytical lens. Take it away Virginia

​Savvy authors and teachers understand that readers’ early and repeated exposure to the quest plot, aka the hero’s journey, makes its elements and stages familiar and reliable for continued use in story-telling.  We learn its patterns and feel comfortable as we encounter them at all levels, in most cases subconsciously cataloguing elements and their symbolic significance. We owe that ability to twentieth-century philosopher Joseph Campbell.  Campbell studied tales from many cultures and recognized repeated patterns, which he collected into a “monomyth” - one myth composed of elements shared world-wide.  Close similarities in the mythology of disconnected cultures seem startling until we consider all focus on our shared human condition. We all fear, hope, celebrate and mourn. Work by Campbell, Carl Jung, and Northrup Frye can help us better understand their usefulness of such patterns, especially to young readers.

We can quickly review some monomyth elements by examining the familiar contemporary Star Wars mythology, beginning with the first-released episode, later labeled “Episode 4: The New Hope,” through “Episode 6: Return of the Jedi.” Most hero journeys begin with what Campbell labeled a call to adventure.  Luke Skywalker’s call is accidentally discovered in Princess Leia’s recorded plea for help, intended for Obi-Wan Kenobi, who will become Luke’s first guide. Such accidental discovery, mistaken identity, and conflict with parents, experienced by both Luke and Leia, are popular quest theme elements. Others include shape shifters, threshold guardians, monsters, visions, and challenges to self-identity, all of which the Star Wars mythology supplies. Heroes may at first resist the call, as does Luke, and most have a guide, which may eventually be lost, plunging the hero into depression and disenchantment. Luke experiences both with the loss of Obi-Wan. But in the first-released episode, after training by Obi-Wan, Luke becomes “one with the force.”  As his cultural gift, or boon to society, Luke liberates many from destruction by Darth Vader’s Death Star. Quest elements build during “Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back,” when Luke discovers his true identity as the son of Darth Vader, his worst enemy, controlled by an evil Emperor.  Disillusionment and the cutting off of one hand by Vader leads to a descent into Hades when Luke crashes into a swamp and receives wisdom from a second guide, Yoda. Luke ascends, again ready for battle, and his victory again provides a boon to his community.  He does so by overcoming limitations to his understanding through the quest stage of apotheosis. According to Campbell, this is the most important stage in the hero’s development when he is able to no longer view the world in terms of opposites – good/evil; black/white, etc. He understands the world as more complex and recovers his self-identity. Many would-be heroes falter at this stage, failing the quest.  Finally, Luke must return home.  Campbell’s monomyth proved a winning vehicle for George Lucas who transformed the traditional quest journey across the ocean to a journey through space, introducing a new generation to an updated version of the already familiar hero’s story. The quest may also be updated by substituting a female for the male; by the hero undergoing a psychological, rather than physical “descent” (also known as being in the belly of the whale), and by decreasing violence for younger readers, to name a few examples.

​Future readers are exposed to the monomyth when young, as with Beatrix Potter’s “The Tales of Peter Rabbit.”  Peter answers a call to adventure; crosses the threshold into Mr. McGregor’s garden; completes a series of tasks; experiences near-destruction; succeeds where his father had failed; and returns home. We could all identify childhood quest stories, evidence that we learn the plot sometimes before we even speak. We then encounter it repeatedly in not only classical literature, but also contemporary tales. With each generation, the tale twists to fit our needs, whether to imagine a new frontier in space, to calm our fear of aliens, or to contemplate mass annihilation though dystopic and apocalyptic tales, with hope for a rebirth. And why not? In good story teller’s hands, that oldest of plots retains its ability to entertain and energize readers. 

When I ask college freshmen to read Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, they are inevitably surprised that they already know many of the monomyth patterns, familiar from America’s creation myths and/or those of religious texts.  For instance, Campbell reveals that tales about a destructive flood that wipes clean the spoiled human slate, leading to renewal, is found in a number of cultures.  Undeniable echoes of mythological punishment of man through destruction with hopes for ultimate renewal abound in numerous YA works. 

Theme lines, such as the necessity of personal sacrifice for the good of the group and cultural renewal emerge from such stories, as do familiar symbols.  We discuss cleansing rituals that lead to symbolic rebirth, such as baptism in various forms.  These late teen readers also recognize fire’s prominent role in myth.  Stories may focus on man’s harnessing of fire for good, but also on its destructive power.  They’re reminded that fire, like water, also represents cleansing and renewal – thus, the phrase “baptism by fire.”  The tale of Prometheus represents the former plot; the tale of the mythical bird the phoenix, the latter. I recall as a child reading Edward Ormondroyd’s David and the Phoenix and being horrified and thrilled by the bird’s destruction and rebirth at the story’s. Ormondroyd purposed myth to teach David and his readers a lesson, but I hardly noticed. 

​YA readers today find the phoenix in various works, including its redesign as the Hunger Games series’ Mockingjay.  The second entry in Patrick Carman’s YA dystopian trilogy incorporates two familiar symbols in its title: Rivers of Fire.  Floods in contemporary stories also allow emphasis on the threat of climate change for YA readers, as in Marcus Sedgwick’s   Floodland.  From the Finding Nemo movie and its sequel, Finding Dory to the Hunger Games and Harry Potter book series, the monomyth breathes life into almost all adventure plots. 

Students soon begin to recognize the monomyth in literature, movies, video games – all aspects of popular culture. Many myth archetypes may be found inhabiting a dream landscape, and Carl Jung’s theories offer additional understanding of monomyth concepts.  Although reductive, we can understand that Sigmund Freud, Jung’s teacher, viewed the conscious as a way humans store individual repressed desires. But Jung viewed it as storage for repressed memories, specific to the individual, but also to an ancestral past. That ancestral past grew from a sharing of stories and experiences with diverse, separate cultures into what Jung terms the collective unconscious.  Basically, we all share memories of eras long before our own. Such a theory easily supports the ideas of archetypes– traditional characters - employed by various cultures to create a mythology supporting cultural values. 

In class, we next search for monomyth elements in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memoir of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.  Kingston focuses on story-telling to help her negotiate conflict with her mother and the development of her sense of self.  As a narrator challenged by her Chinese- American heritage, Kingston includes Chinese myths that incorporate familiar archetypes and symbols. Through application of Campbell’s and Jung’s concepts to literature, students recognize their own susceptibility to American myths as children.  Our discussion includes Disney’s influence on gender role development and its recent offering of stronger female characters, including Fa Mulan, the woman warrior of Kingston’s memoir. By the end of the course, many students joke that Campbell has ruined any chance that they may ever again enjoy a naïve viewing or reading of a quest story.  

Canadian critic Northrup Frye focuses on the monomyth to create a guide utilizing the four seasons to identify archetypes in children’s and YA literature. Spring represents Comedy; summer, Romance; autumn, Tragedy; and winter, Irony and Satire. Frye further divides each “mythos” into six themes.  Those who want to know more can easily locate Frye’s The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance. Frye turns to Jung to analyze the importance of symbols in dreams and myths supporting a culture’s value system.  Myths offer structure, and quest archetypes allow simple categorization of characters that avoids for young children the “ambiguities of ordinary life.” Thus, myths help teach children values, as they build “unities,” that is, images connected with one another. Frye held that the reappearance of archetypes and the resulting unities help young readers avoid challenges from the “real world” to their understanding as they develop self-identity.  Readers eventually understand metaphor and symbolism with no conscious knowledge of their origins.
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 Learning theories like those of Alleen Pace Nilsen and Kenneth L. Donelson support Frye’s approach. Nilsen and Donelson proposed seven stages of categorization by children, including stage 3, “literary appreciation.” Additional theories, including that of Elizabeth M. Baeten, hold myth integral to cultural production and culture crucial to young readers’ self-realization. A study of children seven to 14 years showed them six familiar archetypes and associated them with objects from popular culture (a Power Ranger figure as a “hero,” for instance).  Participants could then select reading material based on their preferred archetypes. Pointing out plot elements to eager readers promotes reading pleasure, offering them a key to decode literature that falls into the monomyth category.  That key is context, and with such context, readers identify relationships between stories that may on the surface appear to be unrelated. For instance, young readers see that their favorite historical fiction hero is strongly related via the quest family tree to a science fiction hero.

How is such knowledge useful to those who write and teach? I sought to answer that question in my study of Barbara Brooks Wallace’s Peppermints in the Parlor, a 1983 William Allen White Children’s Book Award winner. I published an article supporting the claim that it offers a prime example of a twentieth-century monomyth plot for young readers. Our reluctant hero Emily suffers the loss of her parents, necessitating a cross-country train journey to California. Frightening visions appear during her trip, including a blurred self-reflection in her window. She fondly remembers her destination, the mansion Sugar Hill Hall, belonging to her Aunt and Uncle Twice. However, it has become a dark and unfamiliar retirement home. Like Aunt Twice, it is much changed, and Uncle Twice is missing, a mystery that Emily must solve.  Emily encounters the evil, serpent-like Mrs. Meeching, who with the motherly Mrs. Plumly, manages the retirement home.  Meeching’s scissors “hiss” when she uses them to chop off Emily’s braids, symbols of her previous status. Emily’s appearance, and her self-identity, is changed as Mrs. Meeching informs her she will serve as a maid.  Her confidence shaken, the disoriented Emily faces a major challenge to regaining a stable self-image.  Although Mrs. Plumly offers a seeming foil to the evil Mrs. Meeching, she hides dark secrets, placing Plumly firmly into the shapeshifter archetype category. Wallace labels the retirees “shades,” recalling the spirits of the dead visited in Hades by classical heroes. Emily soon meets her guide, the boy Kipper, and the two eventually descend into a dark tunnel beneath the house, which Brooks labels the belly of the whale. Additional archetypes, familiar symbols and situations abound, unique within Brooks’ particular plot, but encouraging to young readers who recognize the context.
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One day I was shocked and delighted to receive a phone call from Wallace herself.  She said that she had read with appreciation my application of the monomyth and various learning theories to her novel, the first such analysis published about her book. She also confessed that she was surprised as I discussed her inclusion of the many monomyth elements that the article – their inclusion was unintentional on her part. That wonderful revelation illustrates the fact that much of our use of the monomyth is inspired via the osmosis that writers, who are avid reader, experience from an early age.

​Our hunger for the classical hero remains insatiable, perhaps as an antidote to the inevitable disappointments natural to our state of humanity.  Exposing young children to the quest plot allows them to feel comfortable when they later encounter it in more sophisticated presentations. We can hope critics are correct in their assurance that the monomyth can continue to satisfy the reader’s need for a true hero. In so doing, descendants of classical figures teach each generation about the particular pleasure of striving for difficult goals while dedicating themselves to a universal need.