Meet Emily Vero, our guest contributor to the final March Weekend Pick:
Hi there! My name is Emily Vero, and I am a senior Integrated Language Arts Education major at Youngstown State University. I am currently student teaching at Boardman High School in Boardman, Ohio. I work with Senior English, Mythology, and English Language Learner (ELL) classes under the guidance of a wonderful Cooperating Teacher. I also work as a School Age Teacher with students aged 5-10 after school. In my free time, I enjoy reading as much as I can, spending time with my friends, and writing poetry (that will never see the light of day).

I first read The Serpent King when I was a senior in high school for a local reading competition in my county. Of all the books I read for the competition, this was the one I kept going back to; I felt so connected to all of the characters, and I just couldn’t put it down.
The Serpent King follows the story of three high schoolers who don’t fit into the landscape of their rural Tennessee high school. Dill, Lydia, and Travis are all faced with navigating the normal difficulties of senior year (drama, graduation, college, etc.) while being faced with their own deep personal issues. Dill is forced to reckon with the social and emotional impact of his father being sent to prison for child pornography and tends to cope in depressing and nihilistic statements (like many other teenagers). Lydia, a stylish teen with a popular fashion blog headed to NYU, resents her hometown, worries what moving onto the next chapter of her life will truly mean for her and if she will find more acceptance from her peers in the next chapter of her life. Travis, the son of an alcoholic, copes through a “Dungeons and Dragons”-like game and is an incredibly sweet character despite his horrific circumstances.

This story resonated with me so deeply in that it reminded me of my own high school experience. I went to high school in a deeply religious, yet economically diverse area where students faced many of the same issues that Dill, Lydia, and Travis face. As I read their characters, I felt as if they could have been real people that I encountered in high school. Additionally, this novel handles incredibly sensitive issues (poverty, religious trauma, bullying, absent/abusive parents, etc.) in such a gentle yet realistic way. Zentner brought light to so many issues, which students in rural America face through such dimensional characters with many layers.

​​Today's Weekend Pick is brought to you by Grace Strodtbeck. She is a pre-service teacher at Youngstown State University, majoring in Integrated Language Arts Education. While she plans on teaching in the 7th-12th grade range, she has spent the past three years working at a local K-8 after-school program. Grace loves the unique opportunity to work with students of all ages this early in teaching career.

Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down! It’s such a cute, heartwarming story and Miller expertly captures the highs and lows of navigating friendships, girlhood, family, and adolescence. Although this is a story about middle school girls, one detail I noticed was that the author does not utilize stereotypical “mean girl” tropes. In a book aimed towards young girls, I think this is so important. With the absence of an external bully, Miller demonstrates that sometimes our own negative self-talk is our biggest antagonist.

​​Along the way, the main character, Charlie, learns a valuable lesson about embracing her authentic self. It’s a message that I think many middle grade readers will connect with, and one that I wish I would have heard when I was that age. I hope it finds a place in your classroom library and in the hands of your students!
For more books from Sharee Miller, visit her author website at https://www.shareemiller.com/

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​​Meet Ashley Policy, a senior Integrated Language Arts Education (7-12) major at Youngstown State University. She is currently finishing up her final classes and preparing to begin student teaching in the fall. Ashley have always loved literature of all kinds and is very excited to show a young adult novel I have been enjoying with Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday followers. Here is her choice. 
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Summers’ Sadie is a thrilling young adult read that follows the dual perspectives of a missing girl and a rising podcast star in search of her story. Sadie is a young girl on the hunt to right the wrongs in her life and avenge her sister’s death, and she plans to do it independently, no matter the danger that may come with this. Sadie’s footsteps are closely followed by the second perspective of the novel, told by West McCray, the head speaker of the podcast segment ‘The Girls’. He dives into Sadie’s personal life to discover her whereabouts and piece together the whole story. The two sides weave within each other, filling holes that may be left throughout as West attempts to save Sadie’s life. 

My love for learning and the outdoors is the main reason reason why I chose The Words in my Hands by Asphyxia for my weekend pick. This novel combines important aspects of social and environmental issues for the reader to tackle. As a fully immersed teacher candidate, I often find myself reading like a teacher, especially when it comes to young adult and middle-grade literature. As I scan the pages and take in the narrative, my mind wanders to teachable moments. I consider the broad perspectives that a novel can provide students (and all readers) with. This is why The Words in my Hands is so extraordinary to me. The author, Asphyxia, combines multiple layers of activism into her writing. The book pushes its reader to ask difficult questions while also maintaining an enjoyable storyline which can be a delicate balance. 

The novel contains a unique and immersive approach to the familiar dystopian. The main character, Piper, is a Deaf teenager living in Australia. The reader is immersed in her complex world of political, economic, and environmental crisis while also viewing the world through her unique lens. The reader is invited to experience the world as she does in some very significant ways. One of these ways is that lip reading and the challenges associated with it are represented accurately throughout the text. When Piper misses information so does the reader. This contrasts with the ease of finger spelling and sign language. When information is made accessible to Piper, the same goes for the reader. Another beautiful way that the text represents Piper’s world is through its visuals. Every page is a unique and beautiful visual experience that makes this novel all the more expressive. 

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​Misa Sugiura’s This Time Will Be Different is a captivating young adult novel that encompasses various social issues and presents them in a way that inspires readers to fight for change in their community. The main character, C.J. Katsuyamas, is a teenager trying to navigate her way through high school, all while trying to please her overly type-A mother.