 | We are happy to welcome Katie Sluiter (pronounced “Sly-ter”) back to YA Wednesday. Katie is a wife, a mother, a teacher, a reader, and a writer. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in English education at Western Michigan University and teaches in a Junior High School near Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has presented at both the Michigan Council of Teacher of English (MCTE) annual conference and the National Council of teachers of English (NCTE) conference and is an ALAN Workshop regular, too! |
Advocating for their Lifelines by Katie Sluiter
Last month I was fortunate enough to attend and present at the 2022 Summit on the Research and Teaching of YA Literature in person! It was my third summit, but my first time in-person and it was an absolute joy to be back to being face-to-face with fellow English teachers and teacher educators as well as young adult authors.
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This year’s theme was “Books, Classrooms, Communities: Young Adult Literature as a Lifeline.” My presentation, “Advocating for their Lifelines: When Students Challenge the Challenges to YA Novels like Speak” was accepted in the spring before my 8th graders started on our full class study of the novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. I told my students about the presentation and how we were going to be spending the end of the school year examining censorship and the silencing of voices.
Our first activity was looking into book banning in the United States since Anderson’s novel has been on the banned and challenged lists since its publication in 1998. I dispersed books from my own classroom library that have been on banned/challenged lists and asked students to research reasons why the texts were challenged, and in some cases banned. I then asked students to look through NCTE’s 2018 position statement, “The Students’ Right to Read.” As they began their internet dives, students quickly made the connection to what “books as lifelines” had to do with silencing voices.
During one class’s dialogue, a student asked, “If your life was a book, would it be banned? Mine would because I am Black and people want to think I don’t experience racism.” Other students brought up that there were many books by and/or about those in the LBGTQ+ community that appeared on the lists. One scholar pointed out that by continually blocking access to books “from our community, they are saying we don’t exist. They are trying to erase us.”
During one class’s dialogue, a student asked, “If your life was a book, would it be banned? Mine would because I am Black and people want to think I don’t experience racism.” Other students brought up that there were many books by and/or about those in the LBGTQ+ community that appeared on the lists. One scholar pointed out that by continually blocking access to books “from our community, they are saying we don’t exist. They are trying to erase us.”
Our first activity was looking into book banning in the United States since Anderson’s novel has been on the banned and challenged lists since its publication in 1998. I dispersed books from my own classroom library that have been on banned/challenged lists and asked students to research reasons why the texts were challenged, and in some cases banned. I then asked students to look through NCTE’s 2018 position statement, “The Students’ Right to Read.” As they began their internet dives, students quickly made the connection to what “books as lifelines” had to do with silencing voices.
During one class’s dialogue, a student asked, “If your life was a book, would it be banned? Mine would because I am Black and people want to think I don’t experience racism.” Other students brought up that there were many books by and/or about those in the LBGTQ+ community that appeared on the lists. One scholar pointed out that by continually blocking access to books “from our community, they are saying we don’t exist. They are trying to erase us.”
During one class’s dialogue, a student asked, “If your life was a book, would it be banned? Mine would because I am Black and people want to think I don’t experience racism.” Other students brought up that there were many books by and/or about those in the LBGTQ+ community that appeared on the lists. One scholar pointed out that by continually blocking access to books “from our community, they are saying we don’t exist. They are trying to erase us.”
Student Recommended:
Asking For It by Louise O’Neill -- Two different students wrote about how this novel made them feel seen as victims of both assault and bullying.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky -- One student said he picked it up because he heard there was a movie about it. He had no idea there was sexual abuse. As a guy, he didn’t think there were books out there about his experience.
The Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman -- These books have been impossible to keep on my shelf because my LGBTQ+ students (and their allies) are absolutely hungry for this representation. Plus Netflix just released it as a live action series.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo -- “Pretty sure this book was wrote [sic] about my own life. Whew!”
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sànchez -- Again, multiple students mentioned the accuracy of how Sànchez writes about what it’s like to be a “Mexican daughter” with parental expectations that don’t necessarily match your own goals or personality.
Asking For It by Louise O’Neill -- Two different students wrote about how this novel made them feel seen as victims of both assault and bullying.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky -- One student said he picked it up because he heard there was a movie about it. He had no idea there was sexual abuse. As a guy, he didn’t think there were books out there about his experience.
The Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman -- These books have been impossible to keep on my shelf because my LGBTQ+ students (and their allies) are absolutely hungry for this representation. Plus Netflix just released it as a live action series.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo -- “Pretty sure this book was wrote [sic] about my own life. Whew!”
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sànchez -- Again, multiple students mentioned the accuracy of how Sànchez writes about what it’s like to be a “Mexican daughter” with parental expectations that don’t necessarily match your own goals or personality.
New Lifelines to My Classroom Library:
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
The Temperature of Me And You by Brian Zepka
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
The Temperature of Me And You by Brian Zepka
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