What Book Should I Offer in my YA Course?

9/1/2021

There are so many great YA books available that you really don't have to settle for good.

The books you offer your students maybe shouldn't be a collection of the "best" books; instead, maybe it should be a collection of great books that meet the goals of the class. Do you want to cover the history of the classification? Are you interested in current trends in the field? Are you trying to focus on diverse texts in general or the do you want texts that are representative of the preservice teachers you are teaching and their future students? Are you trying to find a representative text from every literary genre? Do want your students to know about all of the major awards?

Like most of those who teach YA literature, I have my favorites. Yet, I know I can't just teach only those books. They may not meet the needs of my students or the needs of their future students. Instead, I try to select a sprinkling of great books that attempt to answer the questions above.

I try to cover a range of genres, a sampling of award winners, and books that provide a variety of diversity that provide windows, mirrors, and sliding doors (Sims Bishop). About two weeks into every class, I begin to think of books I wish I could include.

I have created webpages in the past for other classes. Here are links to some of those. You can see how things have changed and, how, they have stayed the same.
For my make believe class in 2018
For 2019
For 2020

I felt that my last two classes were successful. At the same time there are myriad of things that I would change.

Below are my choices for this year. What would you add or subtract. When I have done this in the past, I have received many suggestions. Many have been books that I love and have used in the past. Occasionally, someone has an interesting suggestion or two. What are your suggestions? What have your students liked in the past? Like most of you I don't mind a fairly large "to be read next" stack.

The Books for my 2021 YA Course

For my choices, I tend to lean heavily on books that have nominated for or have won the National Book Award. Generally, I have included a few books from the early years of YA--The Outsiders, The Chocolate War, or The Contender. This year I am skipping over the history and the oldest book I am including is Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Instead, I am selecting award winners and books that represent the diversity of my students and of those they might be teaching in the future.

Here is a list of the books that we will be using in my class.

Holes by Louis Sachar
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
The Poet, X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth
To Build a Heart by Maria Padian
Dig. by A, S. King
The Last True Love Story by Brendan Kiely
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

In addition to this group of novels, the students will be selecting on of four by Chris Crutcher-- Stotan, Ironman, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, or Period 8. It has been awhile since I have included a Crutcher novel. I felt it was time to revisit his work and discuss why he has such staying power.

I also have four days when they have a choice within a genre -- a middle grades, a science fiction, a fantasy, and a work of nonfiction. They can select any work with in the genre, but I provide a smaller selection to help them. These options have been provided through the work of our University Teacher Development and Resource Library (TDRL). You can find link to recommendations in each genre at the class page here.

The resources that have been provided in collaboration with the TDRL are fantastic. You find suggestion for graphic novels and tips for finding Children's Literature and YA within the TDLR. Hopefully, you work at an institution that has such a useful recource. I hope you take a few minutes to browse around.

Until next time.

Dr. Steve Bickmore
Creator and Curator

Dr. Bickmore is a Professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and a past president of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.

Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
Co-Curator

Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and writing program administrator at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods. She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

Bickmore's
Co-Edited Books

Meet
Evangile Dufitumukiza!

Evangile is a native of Kigali, Rwanda. He is a college student that Steve meet while working in Rwanda as a missionary. In fact, Evangile was one of the first people who translated his English into Kinyarwanda.

Steve recruited him to help promote Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media while Steve is doing his mission work.

He helps Dr. Bickmore promote his academic books and sometimes send out emails in his behalf.

You will notice that while he speaks fluent English, it often does look like an "American" version of English. That is because it isn't. His English is heavily influence by British English and different versions of Eastern and Central African English that is prominent in his home country of Rwanda.

Welcome Evangile into the YA Wednesday community as he learns about Young Adult Literature and all of the wild slang of American English vs the slang and language of the English he has mastered in his beautiful country of Rwanda.

While in Rwanda, Steve has learned that it is a poor English speaker who can only master one dialect and/or set of idioms in this complicated language.

Blogs to Follow

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