“And the Winners are…: YA Literature Students Identifying Their Favorites of the Last Five Years by Mary Warner

One of the great perks of working on this blog is the opportunity to read and think about what my colleagues are thinking. Many of my colleagues are doing a variety of interesting things. I like reviewing their pedagogical activities, their theoretical ideas, and their fresh take on old practices. Most of us who teach young adult literature do some sort of book talk activity. Many of us include self-selected book picks. It is unlikely that we all do them the same way. I am constantly amazed by the creative and engaging ways my colleagues teach. More often than not, I find myself modifying my own practices. 

This week, Mary Warner talks about using book talks to helps students choose their reading selections and then how they go about discussing and then identifying their favorites.  I always enjoy Mary's contributions. You can find her previous post here, here, and here. Go ahead and click on those previous links. You won't be sorry.

​“And the Winners are…: YA Literature Students Identifying Their Favorites of the Last Five Years by Mary Warner

​This blog addresses multiple topics under the umbrella of one of the overarching goals in my YA Literature course (designed primarily for upper division English prep for teaching majors, but including majors in literature, creative writing, and professional/technical writing) -- to introduce students who are future teachers and writers to as many newer YA authors and books as possible.  The definition of newer here includes books published since 2013, though occasionally dominant books like The Book Thief or Deadline make the list. Typically, students coming into my YA course have a limited sense of the range and potential of YA lit.  They know of The Hunger Games, The Harry Potter series; they frequently have been turned off by chick flick or romance novels.  Thus, strategy number one the Book Pass expands their knowledge of the range, genres, and potential topics “trending” in YA.  

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​I do the Book Pass in the second week (or second class session) of the semester – prior to describing the Book Talk assignment.  Students need to have paper ready to record titles that attract their attention, tap into their favorite genres or challenge their assumptions – and capture their interest as a book they might use for the Book Talk. The procedure is simple; though I model with a novel what they need to do in the 1-2 minutes for review: 

• Look at the title. What does it suggest the book will be about?
• Look at the cover or book jacket if the book has one. Do be warned – you can’t always judge a book by its cover.
• Look at the back cover.  Are there short blurbs or excerpts about the book?
• Read the first pages of the book or skim chapter titles if the book has these.

I come to class with 60-80 books (more if I can manage) – here’s where my ALAN workshop treasures and ARCs get their greatest advertising.  I give every student a book, face down, until everyone has a book and then start the “timer.”  Every 1-2 minutes, I simply say “pass”; students give the book to the student on their left, and the process continues for 40 – 45 minutes, giving the opportunity to see at least 20 books.  Yes, students could simply be given a list and go to author’s websites, but the Book Pass allows for the actual not the virtual.  Many times, students comment that their interest in and desire to read a book only happened because they “saw” and handled a book during the Book Pass or because of comments I might offer about the books.

The Book Talk assignment provides one venue for getting students reading and promoting their favorites.  Each semester I provide a list of options from which they select.  They can’t take a book they’ve read previously – the goal is to expand the YA reading list! No two students can do the same book either – again learning of more books and authors is our aim. The book selection list for the Spring 2019 class can be found at this link the specific handout is “Choices for Book Talks.”
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At the same link, the “Elements of Book Talks” handout details the requirements for the oral and written components of the assignment.  The heart of the matter for the written component – here’s another central insight I want future teachers to consider – is the choice of three quotes that convey the significance of the novel.  The Book Talk assignment should take presenters and listeners far beyond trivia; identifying three essential excerpts and explaining their importance demands a careful and thorough reading.  

Do note that the Elements of Book Talks have specific questions for those planning on teaching: For those planning on teaching: How might you use this book in a classroom?  Include some ideas for presenting the book.  For what age level is the book most appropriate?  Why should teens read this book? Which category of books (from Chapters 4-8 in Adolescents in the Search for Meaning: Tapping the Powerful Resource of Story) might this book fit?
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And for those who are creative writing or literature majors: For those not planning on teaching: Include bibliographic resources on the writer’s style, craft, endurability, or related topics to the author and/or the author’s writings. Which category of books (from Chapters 4-8 in Adolescents in the Search for Meaning: Tapping the Powerful Resource of Story) might this book fit?

​My students email an e-copy to be uploaded to my webpage and displayed as they do their oral presentations.  Book Talks from Fall ’17, Spring ’18, Fall ’18, and Spring ’19 (a glitch is preventing the Fall ’16 book talks from displaying) are on the Students page of my website.

The next “step” in identifying the “winners” – those books chosen in multiple semesters – led me to compile a list of the student choices in Fall ’16, Fall ’17, Spring ’18, Fall ’18, and Spring ’19.  (A disclaimer: the books reviewed during the Book Pass in a given semester definitely affect the selection.  I only acquired some works like Len Vlahos’ Life in a Fishbowl Cath Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue or Adam Silvera’s History is All You Left Me in the last year.) Enjoy the list – see if the selections match what you might share with students.

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Book Talk Selections from Fall ’16, Fall ’17, Spring ’18,
Fall ’18 and Spring ‘19
(alphabetical order by author’s last name)

​Abawi, Atia                            The Secret Sky
Alexie, Sherman                     The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (selected Fa ’17 & Spring ’18)
Anderson, Jodi Lynn              Midnight at the Electric
Anderson, Laurie Halse          Ashes
Andrews, Jesse                       Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (selected Fa ’16 & Spring ’19)
Arnold, David                         Mosquitoland
Beddor, Frank                         The Looking Glass Wars
Budhos, Marina                      Watched
Cabot, Meg                             The Princess Diaries (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17)
Cavallaro, Brittany                 A Study in Charlotte (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17, Spring ’18, & Fa  ’18)
Condie, Ally                           Atlantia (selected Fa ’16 & Fa ’18)
Crowley, Cath                         Words in Deep Blue (selected Fa ’18 & Spring ’19)
Crutcher, Chris                       Deadline (selected Fa ’16 & Spring ’18)
de la Peña, Matt                      The Living
de la Peña, Matt                      Mexican Whiteboy
Dessen, Sarah                         Saint Anything
Dessen, Sarah                         The Truth about Forever
Gaiman, Neil                          The Graveyard Book
Garden, Nancy                        Endgame (selected Fa ’16 & Spring ’18)
Grande, Reyna                        The Distance Between Us (selected Fa ’17, Spring ’18, & Fa ’18)
Gratz, Alan                            Refugee
Green, John                          The Fault in Our Stars (selected Fa ’16 & Spring ’19)
Green, John                             Looking for Alaska (selected Fa ’16 & Spring ’19)
Green, John                             Paper Towns
Green, S. E.                             The Killer Within
Haddon, Mark                        The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Hardinge, Frances                  A Face Like Glass (selected Fa ’17 & Fa ’18)
Hautman, Pete                       Godless (selected Fa ’16 & Fa ’17)
Heilig, Heidi                           The Girl from Everywhere
Hopkins, Ellen                       Fallout
Iglis, Lucy                               Crow Mountain
Jones, Kelly                            Murder, Magic, and What We Wore
Kidd, Sue Monk                     The Secret Life of Bees
Kiely, Brendan                       The Last True Love Story (selected Fa ’17, Fa ’18, & Spring ’19)
Kiernan, Celine                      Into the Grey
Kirby, Jesse                            Things We Know by Heart (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17, Spring ’18
& Fa ’18)
Kluger, Steve                          My Most Excellent Year
Lackey, Mercedes                  Hunter
Lasky, Kathryn                       Night Witches
Levithan, David                      Every You Every Me (selected Fa ’16 & Fa ’18)
Lockhart, E.                            We Were Liars
Lowry, Lois                            Gathering Blue (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17, & Fa ’18)
Lowry, Lois                            The Giver
Mac, Carrie                             Ten Things I Can See from Here
McCormick, Patricia              Purple Heart (selected Spring ’18 & Fa ’18)
Medina, Meg                          Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass
Mills, Wendy                          All We Have Left
Mukherjee, Sonya                   Gemini
Myers, Walter Dean               Monster
Nelson, Jandy                         I’ll Give You the Sun (selected Fa ’17 & Spring ’19)
Ness, Patrick                           A Monster Calls (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17, & Spring ’18)
Nielsen, Jennifer                     A Night Divided
Niven, Jennifer                       All the Bright Places (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’18, & Spring ’19)
Pierce, Tamora                       Alanna: The First Adventure
Quintero, Isabel                      Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
Reynolds, Jason                      All American Boys
Rowell, Rainbow                    Eleanor and Park (selected Fa ’17, Fa ’18, & Spring ’19)
Ruby, Laura                            Bone Gap
Rudnick, Paul                         It’s All Your Fault
Sánchez, Erika                                    I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Sáenz, Benjamin Alire           Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Sáenz, Benjamin Alire           The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Savit, Gavriel                          Ana and the Swallow Man
Sheinkin, Steve                       The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
Shusterman, Neil                    Scythe (selected Spring ’18 & Fa ‘l8)
Silvera, Adam                         History is All You Left Me
Sitomer, Alan                         The Secret Story of Sonía Rodríguez
Stork, Francisco                      Disappeared
Thomas, Angie                       The Hate U Give (selected Fa ’18 & Spring ’19)
Uwiringiyimana, Sandra  How Dare the Sun Rise (selected Fa ’17 & Spring ’18)
Vlahos, Len                            Life in a Fishbowl
Wasserman, Robin               The Book of Blood and Shadow
Wein, Elizabeth E.                  The Pearl Thief
Wells, Dan                              Bluescreen
Williams, Carol Lynch           The Chosen Ones
Woodson, Jacqueline             Brown Girl Dreaming
Yang, Gene Luen                    American Born Chinese (selected Fa ’17, Spring ’18, & Fa ’18)
Yang, Gene Luen             Boxers and Saints (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17, Spring ‘18)
Yoon, Nicola                      Everything, Everything (selected Fa ’16 & Spring '19)
Yoon, Nicola                      The Sun is Also a Star
Zusak, Marcus                  The Book Thief (selected Fa ’16, Fa ’17, Spring ’18, & Spring ’19)
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​Book Talk presentations take place over the course of the semester – seldom more than five presentation in a single class.  During the presentations, my students complete a Response Guide, specifically noting “Response to the Book or to the Presenter/Presentation” and “Ideas to Remember.”  After a significant number of presentations, I have a part of the Sustained Silent Writing prompt asking students to “Describe 3 of the book talks presented to date. Discuss what you liked about the presentation or why you’d like to read the book.”  From Fall ’18 and Spring ’19, the following books emerge as the ultimate “winners.” For several of the books appearing as favorites, the book talk presenters simply “sold” the book well.

Cath Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue
Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass
Brendan Kiely’s The Last True Love Story
Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places 
Erika Sánchez’s I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Adam Silvera’s History is All You Left Me
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give
Len Vlahos’ Life in a Fishbowl

Until next time.