​Education has come a long way since I first started my teaching career in 2002. I remember during my second year of teaching, in a very conservative district in the Phoenix metropolitan area, being reprimanded by my principal because I had shared part of my life with my students. At the time, I lived with my boyfriend (now husband) and our kids, and I’m sure I shared an innocent anecdote about my family with students in the course of my teaching; as a result, a parent complained that I was living with a man outside of marriage. Rather than the principal telling the parent that my living situation didn’t impact my teaching, the principal told me that if I didn’t keep my personal live quiet, it might end up cutting my career short in that district. I was terrified. I stopped mentioning my family in class, and when I finally married this man in 2005, I breathed a sigh of relief because my wedding ring eliminated all the questions and worry. 

It was in the context of this district (and principal) that I learned to incorporate young adult literature and reading workshop, that I learned to close my classroom door and quietly defy the principal and parents who objected to teaching taboo topics, and that I finally learned to find my own voice and teach beyond fear. Even so, I never dared to teach a whole class LGBTQ+ book in that setting. The one time I taught Stotan by Chris Crutcher as a whole class read, I had several parents complain about the language, and I had to provide an alternate book to a few students. Still, I included books on my classroom library shelf that spoke to students, books that provides “windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors” (Bishop, 1990) and matched students with books based on their interests, needs, and experiences.  

One of first books I read with LGBTQ+ characters was Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (2010).  I know—2010 is pretty late to the party, but being in the district (and city) I was in made it difficult to find books that represented queer experiences. I picked up this book because I knew John Green’s  name and work, but I didn’t know David Levithan. I was surprised and thrilled with Will Grayson, Will Grayson. a book that tells the story of two boys named Will Grayson whose paths cross, and the authors ultimately take readers into their lives of the characters (Will 1, Will 2, Tiny, Jane, Maura) as they laugh, cry, and love. In 2010, the United States was just beginning to change laws about gay marriage and gay rights, and Arizona was even further behind.  Queer students in my classroom had NO representation, and it was this book that began my journey toward finding more books to represent the lives and experiences LGBTQ+ students in my classroom. 

About the same time, I attended my first NCTE annual convention in Chicago. I saw signs for gender neutral restrooms at the conference-this first time I had ever seen this beyond Ally McBeal in the 1990’s, and I was so proud. I knew then that NCTE was my new professional home. I knew that NCTE cared about representation of all groups, about showing respect for all peoples. By 2011, I had already joined the PhD program at Arizona State University, and had started taking courses with Dr. Django Paris, a leader in the field of culturally sustaining pedagogy. So, I knew the existence of those labeled bathrooms was a testament that this organization cared—that every voice counted—and that we needed to listen.

Since then, I have learned a lot more about teaching, about young adult literature, and about the LGBTQ+ community. I have learned from listening to authors like Bill Konigsberg, who speaks up for LGBTQ+ youth and writes about their stories; I have learned by reading books that tell fictional and true stories of LGBTQ+ youth; I have learned firsthand, as I parent of my own gay son, and as I get to know new family members in Washington who identify as queer. 

​This blog post has taken many twists and turns as I’ve worked on it the past several weeks. I began thinking about a possible blog topic as I received feedback on a chapter I had been writing. The chapter focused on a story about a young man in the story committed suicide because he was afraid to come out to his family and friends. The critique I received on the chapter focused on telling a different story about LGBTQ+ experiences—about helping LGBTQ+ youth to see a more hopeful story for their lives. And, I began to wonder if I was, indeed, focusing on telling only one narrative. 

I have been working on a writing project that involves many of the perspectives Adiche (2009). Adiche and the project suggests that we listen to and allow ourselves to tell more than one story. Critical Race Theory (DeCuir and Dixson, 2004; Sleeter, 2017) includes a key tenet focused on counter-stories. Critical Race Theorists (Hughes-Hassell, Barkley, & Koehler, 2009; DeCuir and Dixson, 2004; Sleeter, 2017 ) claim that the stories of African Americans have been silenced by the dominant narrative. Cynthia Leitich Smith (2005) shares how her editors wouldn’t accept her book because her Native American characters lived in the suburbs. Adiche (2009) tells the audience that her editor criticized her novel because it wasn’t “African” enough. All of these examples show the power that telling counter-stories gives to marginalized communities, and diverse youth (i.e. African American, LatinX, Native American, LGBTQ+, among so many other races, ethnicities, and identities) who are able to tell their stories, give voice to the varieties of lives that peoples in their communities. Just as we cannot only know one story about what it was like to live in Nigeria (Adiche’s story), we also cannot only know one story about the lives of diverse groups within the United States. 

When I focused on the dominant story in regard to LGBTQ+ youth—the story of suicide in my recent project, one of my colleagues on the project pushed me to consider telling another story—one that doesn’t end in death, but ends in hope. He pushed me to consider the fact that queer youth hear the story of suicide over and over again—to the point that they roll their eyes when it’s brought up in school. I started to think about how to change the script. LGBTQ+ suicides do occur at high rates, but youth shouldn’t only hear that story when reading about the queer community. The stories of LGBTQ+ youth should not be a single story. Many adolescents in secondary classrooms across the United States may not have read (or studied) a book that included queer main characters. When providing literature options that represent the myriad experiences of LGBTQ+ youth in the United States, it is our responsibility to ensure that stories featuring LGBTQ+ character feature a vast array of experiences that represent the queer experience, and not only the single story of suicide.  

So, in this blog post, I plan to focus on sharing a few YA novels that share stories of hope for LGBTQ+ youth. Some of the books include difficult struggles with queer identity, but will ultimately show LGBTQ+ youth that happiness is possible and perseverance will get them through many of the struggles. Others show an ideal, where the queer youth are loved and accepted by their families and friends. The field of YA literature now features more novels than ever before that represent the queer experience, and provide a backdrop for teachers, teacher educators, and YA readers to consider the LGBTQ+ community through a much larger lens. 

To begin, David Levithan’s novel Boy Meets Boy is a classic. Boy Meets Boy takes readers into a utopian, small town setting where LGBTQ+ youth are accepted for their identities at home and school. The main character, Paul, goes to a school where the star quarterback and homecoming queen is a trans character named Infinite Darlene, where the gay-straight aliiance helps straight kids learn to dance, and where the cheerleaders ride Harleys. Paul’s romantic life takes on Vegas-like odds (12-1 against winning him back) when he blows it with his new boyfriend. This book normalizes relationships

​If this book was used in class (either as a book club, whole class reading, or independent reading), I would suggest focusing on the way this book portrays an ideal—a community where LGBTQ+ youth are completely accepted at school and home. Teachers could ask students who read this book to consider ways their own community could be improved to more closely resemble that portrayed in the book. Students could contemplate Levithan’s purpose in creating such a setting in this book, and the impact it might have on LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ readers alike. Levithan normalizes the experiences of his LGBTQ+ characters; this is important for readers who may not be familiar with this community, and the depictions of the characters make readers fall in love with each of them. I love all of Levithan’s books, and would recommend any of them to readers interested in learning more about LGBTQ+ youth experiences. 

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera tells the love story of Griff and Theo. In alternating chapters from the past and the present, Griff shares the memories he has of Theo, who has recently died in a tragic accident. This book is simply a love story. After the devastating loss of Theo, Griff struggles with seeing a future for himself; he has always envisioned Theo as his end game. This book illustrates the beauty (and innocence) of first love. With each memory Griff shares, readers step into Griff’s heart and mind. We see why he loved Theo so much, and how hurt he is by what happened in their relationship and by Theo’s death. I would suggest this book to all readers, but especially as a counter-story for LGBTQ+ readers (NOTE: I recently suggested this book to my 17 year old son, Brandon). All of the adults in the story are accepting of Griff, Theo, and other LGBTQ+ characters. For example, when Theo and Griff come out to their parents, it’s at Theo’s sister’s birthday party. All four parents gather around the boys exchanging hugs and telling the boys how much they love them. This is the reaction all queer youth probably dream of, but that not all receive. For those that haven’t come out to their parents, this story might provide some hope; however, for those who receive a less positive reaction, this scene in History is All You Left Me might feel very fictional. Though it does provide a counter-story to the many negative stories told about coming out, readers must remember that this is but one voice—and one possible experience—for LGBTQ+ youth. 

Anger is a Gift by Mark Ochiro tells the tragic and hopeful story of a group of teens who live in Oakland, California. This book has a diverse cast of characters, beginning with the protagonist Moss Jeffries, who is a gay, Black youth who loves his friends, his mom, and his new boyfriend, Javier. Moss’s friend Bits uses they/them pronouns, and Ochiro’s writing weaves the diverse cast of characters into the story in a normalizing way. For readers who are unfamiliar, or unexposed, to gender neutral pronouns, this book pushes them to consider this. All of the characters in the story are treated with respect in regard to their LGBTQ+ identities by their friends and families even though their status as low SES students living in a tough neighborhood does impact the plot of the story. After Javier is killed in a shooting at the school, Moss has to make a decision about whether he will protest the shooting—taking the footsteps vacated by his deceased father in the process. This book shows that LGBTQ+ characters in a high school setting are not one-dimensional. Ochiro’s story is deep and thought-provoking, and hopeful. 

Bill Konigsberg’s writes a masterpiece with his newest book The Bridge which takes a look at depression as two teen characters meet on a bridge, contemplating jumping. The teen characters, Aaron and Tillie. Each character has their own personal demons, from Aaron’s gay identity, struggling romantic life to Tillie’s adoptive status and bullying experiences. Both characters are struggling with depression when they meet on the bridge that day. The story has four possible outcomes: Tillie jumps, Aaron jumps, both jump, or neither jump. By taking readers into such a gritty experience with depression and suicide, Konigsberg shares a story of hope. This book shows that suicide doesn’t have to be the only route for teens facing depression. I read everything Konigsberg writes. He’s a master at telling a story, and his books help LGTBQ+ youth to imagine themselves in situations where they can express their identities and be themselves. 

There are so many more LGBTQ+ books with hopeful messages for teens to read that will show that being queer doesn’t have just one story, but many. In this post, I have shared some of my favorites and some of my favorite authors. I think that the danger of telling the single story of suicide is real, but we do own it to the thousands of teens that die from suicide each year to tell it. But, we do need to share with our students these other stories that counter that one. These stories that I shared above show LGBTQ+ youth in families that accept them, in relationships that are loving, and with comfort in their own identities. These are the messages that many youth need.

References
Adiche, C. N. (2009). The danger of a single story. Retrieved from (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg).
Bishop, R.S. (1990), “Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors”, Perspectives, Vol. 1 No. 3, 1990, pp. Ix-xi.
DeCuir, J.T. and Dixson, A.D. (2004). So when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there’: Using critical race theory as a tool for analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33(5), 26-31.
Sleeter, C.E. (2017),. Critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. Urban Education, 52(2), 155-169.
Smith, C. L. (2005). Spotlight On CLA social justice workshop: Social justice in Native American literature for youth. Journal of Children's Literature, 31(1), 7-9.

After this post was originally posted, I had several conversations with colleagues. One friend, Padman Venkatraman, was also thinking about the issue. I was able to post her comments on Oct. 2, 2020. Take a look. 

I have been watching the ebb and flow of the National Book Award (NBA) for Young People's Literature for almost 20 years. I have talked about the NBA with students, teachers, and colleagues every year. I have written about how the award has and has not represented diversity. We looked closely at the short list during the first 20 years and how those 100 books represented diversity terms of the authors and the main characters of their books. You can find the some of the data at this link and the article here.

I haven't done a study yet, but this year's long list just might be the most diverse list in the history of the award in almost every aspect. The authors, the book themes, and main characters represent a variety of issue within the concepts of race, class, and gender.  I will be looking closely as the award moves to a condensed short list and then to the final announcement in mid November.

However, the represented diversity is not the only reason this list is important. How we react to the list is equally important. Will we embrace it? Will we read these books? Will they be included in our libraries? Few will argue against their literary merits, but will they be embraced? 

Why am I worried about this? With the recent announcement by POTUS about stopping and blocking all training about "Critical Race Theory", I worry about how this will impact my students and teachers who are teaching in diverse schools.

Take a look at some of these news articles reporting the story:
​

• Boston Globe: What is critical race theory, President Trump's latest political target?
• NPR: Trump Tells Agencies To End Trainings On 'White Privilege' And 'Critical Race Theory'
• ​Fox News: Trump ends 'critical race theory' training for federal employees, calls it a 'sickness'
•  NBC: Trump's White House says critical race theory is anti-American. Here's the truth.
• New York Post: White House cancels CDC's 'critical race theory' training after Trump ban

I work at one of the most diverse universities in the country. The preservice teachers do not look like nor do they match the statistical make of the US of A teaching force. That force, despite some movement still looks remarkably white, middle class, and female. My student represent a variety of races and ethnic groups--Filipinos, Vietnamese, Korean, another other Asia communities, Latinx students representing a variety countries form Mexico to Columbia, Black Americans, some from middle eastern countries including Iran, and yes, a few students who represent the traditional teaching force. Do I not address the experiences they share about being marginalized, the microaggressions they suffer, and the various ways their names and their presence was whitewashed in the schools they attended? It is amazing that so many want to turn around and teach in those schools.

A week ago we discussed American Born Chinese (ABC). Most had never heard of the book, a book that won the Printz Award, the Eisner Award and the was a finalist for the NBA. ​ I was amazed by the enthusiastic responses to the book, but more than anything else I was humbled by their open and transparent responses. Many share their experiences as student in classrooms that focused white, mainstream narratives even if the majority of the students represented more diverse races or ethnic identities.  

I asked two of the students, Beatriz Ponce and Justice Tiguelo who selected to write about ABC for one of their reaction papers if I could share a quote or two. They graciously gave their permission.  I leave the excerpts below for your consideration. Their comments point to a wide array of possible discussion topics. Topics not only for within a YA literature course, but within a method courses as pre-service teachers figure out how and what to teach in their future classroom.

Beatriz Ponce

Jin wants to erase his culture and he hates his identity. I find this part so devastating; many people feel ashamed to say where they are from because people are racist and quick to judge. I know a couple of Arabs who are afraid to say where they are from because many people will call them “terrorists” and assume they all live in a desert and ride camels.
 
Jin sounded like a bully himself and he would often tell Wei-Chen to stop acting like he was fresh out the boat. These were such hurtful racist words that almost made me cry because I did not speak English when I started school. I did not want to go to school because I couldn’t understand what my teachers were saying.
 
Sadly, my previous schools did not have anything special for Asian American & Pacific Islander/Hispanic/Native American heritage months. I wish I could’ve read this during Asian American Heritage month because it addresses race and the journey of embracing who you are despite society constantly holding stereotypes over your head. This novel is going to be in my classroom library.

Justice Tiguelo

​In today’s media dominated culture, visibility of a diverse array of experiences presented through the lens of different racial and ethnic backgrounds has such an important role in preserving the sanity of young adults in America. Works that are made by a diverse group of creators, that explore the unconventional, and that speak the unspoken help youth navigate the chaos of living. I think that the institution of education hasn’t assumed enough responsibility in making these works available and accessible to students.
 
Being able to see oneself reflected in texts that are used at school can help marginalized students finally understand that their experiences are valid. Even if a work does not exactly represent every group that has ever been oppressed, the concept of intersectionality means that each student can find meaning in the work.
 
By teaching novels like ABC, educators can heal the rift between occurrences like tokenism and implicit biases that can exist in an educational environment that lacks diversity.
 
Given the history of this country and the continuity of that history, novels like ABC gives students a space to decode and deconstruct the multitude of contextually charged messages they are bombarded with on a daily basis. It helps teachers educate generations of students who will be deeply and profoundly aware of what it means to be human.

Below, I have provided cover images of the ten contenders and a few links to book reviews. I strongly encourage you to investigate these book, their authors and make a few choices. Read quickly, read widely and start making your argument for the book you like as the winner. The title is hyperlinked to the books description on the website for the NBA. The authors name is linked to author's description on the NBA webpage as well. I have also provided a link to the Kirkus Review of the book and its description on bookshop.org.

Until next week.

Every teacher I know wants to recommend books to their students that they will love. Yet, in the back of his or her mind they realize that some of the books they want to recommend might cause a problem for the school board, a parent, an administrator or for the kids themselves. As we consider this issue, we find ourselves moving closer to the issue of censorship. What does it mean to censor a book? Is deciding not to include a book in a unit a form of censorship? When a teacher is sensitive to the norms of a community, is that being reasonable or self censoring? I contest that as teachers we need to build strong rationales for the units we develop. Even though most teachers are moving forward with good intentions, conflicts arise. Occasionally, someone wants to object to a teacher's choice.

When this situation happens, one of the people you want to consult is Jeff Kaplan. Jeff has been thinking and writing about this issue for along time. Banned book week is coming up at the end of the month. It is the perfect time for Jeff to remind us of the variety of resources that are available for teachers who encounter issues with banned books. 

Banned Books Week
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/​

The Banned Books Week Coalition is a national alliance of diverse organizations, bound by their commitment to increase understanding and awareness of the ‘universal right to read.’ The Coalition is committed to engaging varied literacy communities and inspiring participation in the annual Banned Books Week through social advocacy programming about the problem of book censorship. Launched in 1982, the Coalition continues to sponsor a host of programs designed to highlight the First Amendment and to list the most current and controversial banned books in the United States.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
http://cbldf.org/​

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of those individuals who work in the comics medium industry. Since 1986, the CBLDF has paid for the legal defense of individuals whose Frist Amendment rights were threatened for making, selling and even reading comic books. The CBLDF also assists libraries in challenges to comics and graphic novels by securing letters of support, and access to resources to defend and promote graphic novels when they are under challenge by censors.

People for the American Way
http://www.pfaw.org/​

People for the American Way was founded in 1981 by legendary television and film producer Norman Lear, the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and a group of business, civic, religious and civil rights leaders who were troubled by the divisive and angry rhetoric of newly minted and politicized televangelists. Dedicated to the promise of America’s freedoms – most notably, freedom of speech and freedom of religion – this organization promotes political causes dedicated to improving the lives of all. This website has an extensive collection of resources involving books that have been and/or are under current attack for troubling language, content and information.

https://www.slj.com/
School Library Journal is the ‘go to’ publication for anyone interested in the latest on publications for children and adolescents. Filled with quality, up-to-date information, interviews, teaching strategies, job opportunities, and of course, book reviews on good books for children and young adults, this premiere award-winning site has for than 60 years kept ahead of the time, informing all who are interested about what is current and real in the world of books for young people and adults alike. Although not a definitive source for finding resources to deal with literary censorship issues, this excellent daily publication continues to enlighten and inform through its multiplicity of webcasts, podcasts, and lively discussion posts. ​

Until next week.

Lesley's work for Dr. Bickmore YA Wednesday and YA literature in general needs no introduction. She has contributed many times. Take a look at the contributor's page and then hit Control F and put in "Lesley" and you will find all of her posts.

We had planned to post this on 9/11 as a remembrance, but we keep hearing that teachers are looking for resources and Lesley has them here. We will repost on this Friday as well.

It was a beautiful day in Philadelphia—and most of the East coast. Blue skies, sunshine, warm temperatures for September 11th. I was preparing my room for my classes that would begin after our first period 8th grade Team meeting when my partner teacher ran in. “Turn on the television.” It was a day we will never forget.
 
No historical event may be as unique and complicated to discuss and teach as the events of September 11, 2001, the day terrorists crashed planes into, and destroyed, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. At the time of this event no child in our present K-12 educational system was yet born, but, in most cases, their parents and educators would have been old enough to have some knowledge of, and even personal experience with, these events, making this a very difficult historic event for many to teach. However, with the devastation and impact of these events on our past, present, and future and as ingrained a part of history these events are, they need to be discussed and understood as much as possible.

Last year I was speaking to a new acquaintance about 9/11. He told me that his father was working in the Towers and did not survive the attack. “My son was 2 years old at the time; he is now 19 and has never learned about the events of that day. It was not taught or even mentioned in his schooling.” When visiting schools to facilitate 9/11 Book Clubs in Grade 5-9 classrooms, I have observed that most students do not recognize the connections between the events of September 11, 2001, and the actions, of our military in the Middle East, where many of these same students’ parents and relatives are serving, as part of the U.S. response to these terrorist attacks.
 
This has been a challenging year; there have been countless complications from the COVID-19 pandemic, some more tragic than others, but all distressing and disappointing. For the last 18 years, the Tribute in Light has marked the anniversary of the events of September 11th. However, the pandemic has forced the tribute’s organizers to cancel this year’s Tribute in Light as well as the reading of victims’ names by family members. But there are ways we can mark this anniversary, honor the victims, and tribute the history of this event.

​One of the most effective ways to learn about any historical event, and the distinctions and effects of that event, is through a novel study—the power of story. The sixteen novels reviewed in this blog each present a different perceptive on these events, whether from the view of an 11-year-old boy waiting for his father’s return from a job that takes him into the Twin Towers, a 16-year-old whose family was torn apart 15 years before when her teenage brother died in  the Towers, a Muslim family facing racism on the days following 9/11, an adolescent coping with the possible physical effects of 9/11 syndrome after being rescued from her day care in the World Trade Center complex, fifth graders learning about events from 15 years before, or survivors from the March 11, 2011 Japanese tsunami visiting NYC to meet with survivors of September 11,2001. The stories are set in in a variety of settings, not only New York City, but Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, Shanksville, Florida, Japan, Pakistan, and Maine. These novels portray challenges, difficult decisions, loss, grief, uncertainty, PTSD, discovery, resilience, and heroism and are written in prose, free verse, and as a play for readers in a range of ages, reading levels, and interests.
 
I have found the most effective way to confront difficult topics while still presenting a variety of perspectives and differentiated reading experiences for our diverse readers is through reading in book clubs. When classes read 5-6 novels about 9/11 where small groups of students are collaboratively reading, they can access differing perspectives to a story and generate important conversations within each book club and between book clubs. A complete unit on this topic for English-Language Arts and Social Studies classes is outlined—with daily focus lessons and student examples—in chapter 10 of Talking Texts: A Teachers’ Guide to Book Clubs across the Curriculum.

​The events of 9/11 are challenging to describe and discuss, especially with children who were not yet born, which at this point is most of our student population. I think that is so because, as adults, we each have our memories of that day and Life Before. I was a middle school teacher on the day the Towers fell. I remember standing in my classroom as our team teachers watched the morning news. Thankfully, our students were in their Specials and were not witness to the shock and tears on our faces. I don’t remember much of that day, but we were located in Philadelphia and did not immediately feel the effects. But the events o that day have affected our country and all our citizens as well as our contemporary world. The importance of studying and discussing 9/11 as part of American history is highlighted in Jewell Parker Rhoads novel Towers Falling, set in September, 2016.

Nine Ten: A September 11 Story is another novel effective in introducing young adolescent students to the many events of September 11, 2001. Nora Raleigh Baskin’s novel is set during the days leading up to 9/11—in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Columbus, and Shanksvlle, Pennsylvania, where readers follow four diverse middle-grade students affected by the events of 9/11. Sergio, Naheed, Aimee, and Will first cross paths in the O’Hare Airport on September 9. The four young adolescents are Black, White, Jewish, and Muslim and are collectively surviving loss, guilt, poverty, parental absence, neglectful fathers, bullying, the navigation of peer relationships, as well as the angst of middle school, “…everything felt different, as if you suddenly realized you had been coming to school in your pajamas and you had to figure out a way to hide this fact before anyone else noticed.” (p. 48). In their own ways they are each affected by 9/11, and on September 11, 2002, these four and their families again converge at Ground Zero, each there for different reasons, but this time their paths back together have meaning.
 
There are a multitude of important conversations to be generated by this little novel, a story of Before and After. I was especially grateful that the events and heroes of Shanksville were memorialized. In fact there are many aspects of heroism brought forth in the novel to discuss. But Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story is the story of people and three days in their lives, “Because in the end it was just about people…Because the world changed that day, slowly and then all at once.” (p. 176).

2. Buxbaum, Julie Hope and Other Punch Lines. Delacorte Press, 2019.

​For many people the world is divided into Before and After, the dividing line being September 11, 2001. Such is the case for Abbi Hope Goldstein and Noah Stern.

On her first birthday Abbi was saved by a worker in her World Trade Center complex daycare center. As she is carried out, wearing a crown and holding a red balloon, the South Tower collapsing behind, a photographer takes the picture that has branded her Baby Hope, the symbol of resilience. Abbi spends her childhood and adolescence in relative fame; strangers hug and cry, share their stories with her, frame and hang the photograph in their homes, and news outlets hold “Where is Baby Hope Now” stories.

Noah was a baby in the hospital, fighting for his life, on 9/11 when his father went back to his office in the World Trade Center for his lucky hat, never to return home. He and his mother now live with her new husband and Noah is obsessed with comedy.

At age 15, Abbi is experiencing a suspicious cough, keeping it a secret from her parents and grandmother. Connie, the daycare worker, has recently died from cancer, most likely 9/11 syndrome, and Abbi takes a job as a camp counselor in a nearby town, looking for some anonymity and a chance at a “happily ever after” to the story that began with “Once upon a time” (9/11). Unfortunately, Noah, a fellow counselor, recognizes her and blackmails her into helping him interview the four other people in the iconic Baby Hope picture, convinced that the man in background wearing a Michigan cap is his father and also convinced, since his mother won’t talk about him, that his father chose not to come home after escaping from the Tower.

This is a novel about 9/11, one that presents yet more facets than many other 9/11 novels, such as 9/11 syndrome which is affecting many of those who were at Ground Zero, heroism and sacrifice, survivor guilt, and “[What] happens when the story you tell yourself turns out not to be your story at all.” (280)
​
This is primarily a novel about relationships—shifting relationships with family, friends, ex-friends, strangers, and romantic partners. I absolutely adored these characters—Noah and Abbi especially (and their evolving relationship) and Noah’s BFF Jack, Abbi’s divorced-but-best-friends-and-maybe-more parents, her grandmother who is experiencing the onset of dementia, and even Noah’s stepfather who learns to make jokes. I was sorry when the novel ended, not that the story was unfinished but my relationship with the characters was.

​3. Cerra, Kerry O’Malley. Just a Drop of Water. Sky Pony Press, 2016. (Middle Grades)

​Relationships are built over time, but how much can they withstand? Jake Green and Sameed Madina have always been friends. They have grown up together; they run track together; they play war games together; they have each other backs; they plan to always remain friends “but only till Martians invade the earth.”

But then the events of September 11, 2001, occurred, and Martians did invade the earth, only they looked like Sam and his family—Muslim. Because one of the terrorists had lived in their neighborhood and was a client at the bank where Mr. Madina worked, Sam’s father comes under FBI surveillance, and the neighborhood divides in their support. Not Jake, though. He believes in his friend and his friend’s family, physically fighting the school bully who refers to Sam as a “towelhead” and arguing with his own mother whose own grief keeps her from supporting their neighbors.

When his father is taken into custody, Sam refuses to attend school, abandons his cross-country team, and distances himself from Jake, taking a new interest in the Islam religion. But Jake does not give up, and the boys reconnect to peacefully stop their racist classmates, Bobby and Rigo, from attacking the local mosque. Afterwards, Jake realizes that they both have been affected by 9/11; he has learned that you can be both scared and brave at the same time, but he has also has learned that adversity can be defeated peacefully. And Jake realizes that Sam is now different. “For the first time I see Sam, a Muslim. An American Muslim. But he is still just Sam, no matter what.”

4. Donwerth-Chikamatsu, Annie. Somewhere Among by Annie Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2016. 

​Ema is binational, bicultural, bilingual, and biracial. Some people consider her “half,” and others consider her “double.” Her American mother says she contains “multitudes,” but Ema sometimes feels alone living in Japan somewhere among multitudes of people.
 
When fifth-grader Ema and her mother go to live with Ema’s very traditional Japanese grandparents during a difficult pregnancy, author Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu’s verse novel takes the reader through six months (June 21, 2001-January 2, 2002) of customs, rituals, and holidays, both Japanese and American. There are challenges, such a choosing a name for the new baby that brings good luck in Japan and that both sets of grandparents can pronounce. Ema celebrates American Independence Day and Japanese Sea Day, and she now views some days, such as August 15 Victory Over Japan Day from diverse perspectives.
 
On September 11, 2001 Ema experiences both two typhoons in her town and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in America—on television. As the reader traverses the intricacies of two fusing two distinct cultures with Emi and her family, our knowledge of others is doubled

5. Levithan, David. Love is the Higher Law. Random House Children’s Books, 2009.

​“…even if I felt something was wrong, I would never have pictured this. This isn’t even something I’ve feared, because I never knew it was a possibility/” (5) “’We are not supposed to comprehend something like this,’ my mother says to me…. I don’t want to comprehend. Instead, I will try to remember what matters.” (16)
 
The attacks of September 11, 2001, affected our country as a whole, but it is even harder to imagine the effect on those who lived in NYC. Claire, Peter, and Jasper are three teenagers living in NYC on that date. Claire leaves her high school to pick up her brother from his elementary school; Peter has already left school and is at the record store, thinking about his impending date with Jasper; and Jasper is at home alone, his parents visiting their native Korea, before he leaves for college. None of the three are directly affected—none of their parents worked in the World Trade Center, none of their friends or relatives were killed; they were not physically hurt—but the events of this day color the year following. “I want to know why this is so much a part of me.  I want to know why this thing that happened to other people has happened so much to me.” (104)
 
Readers view the day through their alternating perspectives. We view the constructive acts of strangers as Claire observes,  “There are skyscrapers collapsing behind us, and nobody is pushing, nobody is yelling. When people see we’re a school group, they’re careful not to separate us. Stores are not only giving away sneakers, but some are handing out water to people who need it. You’d think they’d take advantage and raise the prices. But no. That’s not what happens.” (14) and Peter reflects,  “And the people I care about, suddenly I care about them a little more, in this existential way.” (82)
 
Even though Peter and Jason’s date does not go well, another ramification of the day, the three become friends, especially Claire and Peter who attend high school together, Jason returning to college. And the year continues, each is a little changed. As Peter observes, “ If you start the day reading the obituaries, you live your day a little differently.” (123)
 
By December Jasper observes that he has finally gone an entire day without thinking of 9/11 but then wonders what that means. Claire feels the weight of the day lighten a little, but “It is still strange to see the skyline. I have never seen an absence that it so physical.” (126)
 
On the anniversary of 9/11 Claire retraces the steps she took on that day, and Peter and Jason finally have a second date. On March 19, 2003, the day of the United States invasion of Iraq, the three reunite, and Claire observes, “And we are so different from who we were on September 10th.  And also different from who we were on the 11th. And the 12th. And yesterday.” (163) Together they have found the “antidote” to the fear and uncertainty; they have each other as they individually navigate the world and remember what matters.

6. Lowitz, Leza. Up from the Sea. Ember, 2016. 

​“The bigger the issue, the smaller you write.”--Richard Price

Instead of focusing on the overwhelming statistics generated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan—nearly 16,000 deaths and 3,000 people missing—the event becomes even more intense and compelling as author Leza Lowitz relates the story of one town and one boy and the resilience of many.

The story begins on March 11 when Kai, a half Japanese, half American 17-year-old and his teachers and classmates experience the “jolting of the earth,” and as trained, they evacuate, running for their lives, looking for the highest place, as their town is destroyed. Written powerfully in free verse, the reader feels the fury of nature as the water “churns,” “thrashes,” “surges,” “sweeps,” “charges.” Kai ends up in a shelter having lost his mother, his grandparents, and one of his best friends. His father left years before to return to America.

Faced with overwhelming loss and trauma, Kai walks into the ocean but is saved by one of his classmates and convinced to accept the opportunity to go to New York City on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 where he will spend some time with young adults who lost their parents as teens in the 9/11 attacks. At Ground Zero, Fia tells him, “Bravery means being scared and going forward anyway.”

Kai hopes to find his father in NYC but returns to his village to help the young adolescents who lost their families and to rebuild his town. “I want to be/ like that tree/ deep roots/ making it strong/ keeping it/ standing tall.” And it is to his roots Kai returns and stays—“The quake moved the earth/ ten inches/ on its axis./ I guess/I shifted,” too.”

Up from the Sea, well-written as a verse novel (a format that engages many reluctant readers), would serve as an effective continuation to a 9/11 study. Readers should already be aware of the events of 9/11 to understand the connection between Kai and Tom but will comprehend the trauma and loss experienced, and resilience that is required, by anyone who faces adversity.

​7. Maynard, Joyce. The Usual Rules. St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 

​The Usual Rules is an emotional and insightful novel about the effects of the events of September 11th on the families and friends of the victims—those left behind.
​
The reader learns about the close relationship between 13-year-old Wendy and her mother through flashbacks: her mother's divorce, the sporadic visits of her father, her mother's marriage to her "other dad," and the birth of her half-brother. And then her mother goes to work at her job at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001—and does not return. Wendy’s world changes. “Then September happened and the planet she lived on had seemed more like a meteor, spinning and falling” (p. 175).

The reader experiences not only Wendy's (and Josh's and Louie's) loss but the suffering and uncertainty of those left behind. Could her mother be walking around, not remembering who she is? As the family hangs signs, we learn how different this loss was for many people who held out hope for a long time without a sense of closure. And this loss was different because it was experienced by many—an entire country in a way. “Instead of just dealing with your own heart getting ripped into pieces, wherever you looked you knew there were other people dealing with the same thing. You couldn’t even be alone with it” (p. 95).

We see the loss through the eyes and hearts of a daughter, a very young son, and a desperately-in-love husband. Wendy leaves Brooklyn and goes to her biological father’s in California. Among strangers, she re-invents her life. As those she meets help fill the hole in her life, she fills the hole in theirs. Books also help her to heal.

Even though there are quite a few characters in this novel, but they all are well-developed, and I found myself becoming involved in all their lives, not only Wendy, Josh, and Louie and even his father Garrett, but Wendy’s new friends—Carolyn, Alan, Todd, Violet… On some level they all have experienced trauma and loss, and within these relationships, Wendy is able to heal and return to rebuild her family.

Although I did not want this novel to end and to leave these characters, this well-written novel taught me more about the effects of September 11, loss, and the importance of relationships and added a new perspective to my collection of 9/11 novels.

8. Mills, Wendy. All We Have Left.  Bloomsbury, 2016. 

​September 11. A day that changed all our lives in some way. As we see in Nine, Ten: A September 21 Story, there clearly was a Before and After. But there also was a Then or That Day and an After.

All We Have Left was so compelling that I read from dawn to dusk and did not put the book down until I finished. The novel intertwines two stories, that of 18-year-old Travis and sixteen-year-old Alia who were in the Towers as they fell and the story of Travis’ sister, Jesse, who, fifteen years later, is part of a dysfunctional family whose lives are still overwhelmingly affected by That Day and Travis’ death.

Seventeen year old Jesse is not sure who she is, who she should be, who she should hate, and who she can love. Her life is overshadowed by 9/11, her mother’s mourning, and her father’s hate.

But both Alia in 2001, and Jesse in 2016, learn that “Faith and strength aren’t something that you wear like some sort of costume; they come from inside you” (p.329) as does love. And Jesse realizes that she has to work on “treasuring right here, right now, because that’s important.” As one character says but all the characters learn, “You can fill that void inside you with anger, or you can fill it with the love for the ones who remain beside you, with hope for the future.”

What I appreciated about this novel is that is shows yet another side of how 9/11 affected people, especially adolescents, those adolescents who populate American schools everywhere. I strongly feel that students should not only be learning about the events and effects of 9/11, but that, through novels, readers learn more about how events affect people and especially children their ages.

​9. Padian, Maria. Out of Nowhere. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013. 

Another novel as a complement to a 9/11 Novel Study would be Maria Padian’s novel about the ways life in an idyllic small Maine town quickly gets turned upside down after the events of 9/11.
 
“Things get a little more complicated when you know somebody’s story.…It’s hard to fear someone, or be cruel to them, when you know their story.”

The majority of the 21.3 million refugees worldwide in 2016 were from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. The United States resettled 84,994 refugees. Together with immigrants, refugee children make up one in five children in the U.S. More than half the Syrian refugees who were resettled in the U.S. between October 2010 and November 2015 are under the age of 20.
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In Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian, narrator Tom Bouchard is a high school senior. He is a soccer player, top of his class academically, and well-liked. He lives in Maine in a town that has become a secondary migration location for Somali refugees. These Somali students are trying to navigate high school without many benefits, including the English language. They face hostility from many of their fellow classmates and the townspeople, including the mayor; one teacher, at the request of students, permits only English to be spoken in her classroom. When four Somali boys join the soccer team, turning it into a winning team, and when he is forced to complete volunteer hours at the K Street Center where he tutors a young Somali boy and works with a female Somali classmate, Tom learns at least a part of their stories. Tom fights bigotry, especially that of his girlfriend—now ex-girlfriend, but he still doesn’t comprehend the complexity of the beliefs, customs, and traditions of his new friends, and his actions have negative consequences for all involved. While trying to defend the truth, Tom learns a valuable lesson, “Truth is a difficult word. One person’s truth is another person’s falsehood. People believe what appears to be true and what they feel is true.”

10. Polisner, Gae. The Memory of Things. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016. 

​The first 9/11 novel I read, The Memory of Things is lovely story about the effects of the events of 9/11. Another reason we read is to understand events we have not experienced and the effect of those events on others who may be like ourselves. After witnessing the fall of the first Twin Towers on 9-11 and evacuating his school, teenager Kyle Donahue, a student at Stuyvesant High School, discovers a girl who is covered in ash on the Brooklyn Bridge; she has no memory of who she is. The son of a detective, he takes her home to help her rediscover who she is, why she was where she was, what she was doing there, and her connection to the events.
 
Author Gae Polisner wrote The Memory of Things in alternating narratives—Kyle's in prose, the girl writes in free verse—the two characters sharing their stories and perspectives, introducing adolescent readers, many of whom had were not alive during 9/11, to the effects of this tragedy in their own ways.

11. Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Towers Falling.  Little, Brown and Company, 2016.  

​I was a middle-school teacher in 2001. It was challenging to know how to discuss the events of 9/11 as we lived through them. How is a teacher to meaningfully discuss this momentous event with students who were not even born in 2001? Towers Falling is a thoughtful, provocative, well-written, albeit emotional, novel about this topic written sensitively and appropriately for readers as young as Grade 4, an ideal novel for middle grades Social Studies classes as it focuses on not only the history of 9/11 and its place in American history but the ever-widening circles of relationships among, and connections between, Americans beginning with families, friends, schools, communities, cities, states, countries.
 
The 5th grade characters explore “What does it mean to be an American?” as well as why history is relevant, alive, and, especially, personal as three students—one Black, one White, one Muslim—explore the effects of the events of 9/11 on each of their families. Déja’s “journey of discovery” about the falling of the Towers helps her father work through his connection to the event and his resulting PTSD.

12. Rogers, Tom. Eleven. Alto Nido Press, 2014.  

“After today, everything’s changed.”
“Sometimes when a terrible thing happens, it can make a beautiful thing seem even more precious.”

Eleven is the story of Alex who is turning 11 on September 11, 2001. I was concerned that the character would be too young for this topic. I also thought that, the character age’s implied that the novel wouldn’t contain the complexity the topic deserves. but, boy, was I wrong! I was hooked with the complexity of the first 2-page chapter. I wasn’t sure what was happening in this introductory chapter, but it was not a feeling of confusion as much as “It could be this; no, it could be this…” and inference and interpretation, even visualization.

I also forgot that New York City kids grow up faster, taking public transportation throughout the city, but more importantly, I forgot that when you need or expect a young adolescent to rise to the occasion, he will.

Alex loves airplanes and dogs—and he doesn’t realize it, but he loves his little sister Nunu who is relegated to her side of the bedroom they share by a black and yellow “flight line” down the middle of the room. And he loves his father, even though Alex told him, “I hate you,” the night before 9/11. When the Towers fall, Alex rises to the occasion, taking care of his little sister and an abandoned dog, making the sacrifice to return the dog he has always wanted to his owners when the vet finds a chip, facing bullies, making “deals” in the hopes these deals and good works will offset what he said to his father and ascertain his return from the Towers, and comforting Mac, a lonely man who is awaiting his only son’s return from the Towers.

In Eleven author Tom Rogers builds a character who is authentic, a kid who events serve to turn into a young man. Alex’s mother had said to him, “I need you to be grown up today” and, even though he was focusing on his misdeeds of the day, he did. “I’m proud of you, young man…. Young Man. Alex liked how that sounded.”

This book is not graphic but does not skirt the events. Readers hear the news announcement about the four airplanes and, more chilling, a description of an empty hospital—“There were no gurneys rolling through to the ER, no sick and wounded in pain. There wasn’t a patient in sight. And he knew then that none would be coming.” A powerful examination of the events of 9/11 and how they affected ordinary people—and one boy’s birthday.

13. Stine, Catherine. Refugees. Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2005. 

​Refugees adds another dimension to the 9/11 novels.

Dawn is a foster teen who runs away to New York City and becomes affected by the events of 9/11. As she plays her flute on the streets near Ground Zero to earn money for food, she is approached by families of victims who ask her to play for them and the memories of their loved ones. As Dawn comes to believe this is her mission, she teaches herself music she feels appropriate for those of many cultures and stages of life. In doing so, she opens up to strangers and new friends, something she couldn't do with her foster mother.

Johar is an Afghani teenager, weaver, and poet. His father is killed by the Taliban, his mother is killed by a land mine, his older brother joins the Taliban, and his aunt is missing, leaving Johar to care for his three-year-old cousin. He and his cousin flee to a refugee camp in Pakistan where he works for the Red Cross doctor, Dawn's foster mother, another person who must learn to show love.

Dawn and Johar connect through phone calls and emails, and as they all work toward forming a family—one that spans the globe—the reader learns how war, the U.S. involvement, and the events of 9/11 affected those in many countries. This would be a book I would recommend for proficient readers with an interest in war or history.

P.S. After I read this book and posted my original Goodreads review, I was listening to a discussion about the days following 9/11 in the Middle East on NPR and found that I could actually follow it; therefore, I realize that I learned more than I thought from this novel.

14. Tarshis, Lauren. I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001. Scholastic Inc., 2012.

​“A bright blue sky stretched over New York City.” That is what many of us who were alive on September 21, 2001, remember—the cloudless blue sky of northeastern United States—the contrast between the perfect day and the day which has changed our world.
 
As the son of a firefighter, Lucas was aware of the effects of danger and disasters. His father had been severely injured in a warehouse fire and was still not himself (“It turned him quiet.”). It had been a while since they had worked together on the firetruck model in the basement. But it was another tragedy that brought them back together as a family.
 
Lucas had sneaked into NYC that September 11 morning to ask his uncle to intercede on his behalf. After three concussions in two years of football, his parents and doctor were taking him off the team, and Lucas loved being on a team, a team of two with his father, his dad and uncle’s Ladder 177 firehouse, and especially his football team. Lucas was near Ground Zero when the planes hit the Towers, and when his father went looking for him, they were able to make it safely back to the fire station, helping others along the way.
 
Readers view the attacks of 9/11 up close and personal through Lucas’ eyes; they experience his loss, the heroism of the firefighters, and the resilience of his father. We feel the dust of the falling Towers, see the sky fogged with dust and ashes. “It wasn’t like regular dust. Some of the grains were jagged—bits of ground glass.… The dust, Lucas realized. That was the tower. It was practically all that was left.”
 
The story ends on a realistic but positive note with Lucas, not a player, but still a valued member of the football team.  “Nothing would ever be the same again.” But his father told him, as time passed, it would get, not easy, but easier.
 
This was the first book in Tarshis’ I Survived series that I have read, and I was impressed with the writing, development of the main character, and the complexity of ideas presented in such a short text. This novel could be employed for MG or YA readers who are less proficient or more reluctant readers; English Language Learners who may not be ready for a longer or more complicated text; students who are short on time through absences, trips, or other obligations or who joined the class during the unit; or as a quick whole-class read for background before students break into book clubs to read one of the other 9/11 novels.

15. Thoms, Annie, ed. With Their Eyes: September 11th: The View from a High School at Ground Zero. HarperTempest, 2002.

​“Journalism itself is, as we know, history’s first draft.” (xiii)

With Their Eyes was written from not only a unique perspective—those who watched the attack on the World Trade Center and the fall of the towers from their vantage point at Stuyvesant High School, a mere four blocks from Ground Zero, but in a unique format. Inspired by the work of Anna Deavere Smith whose work combines interviews of subjects with performance to interpret their words, English teacher Annie Thoms led one student director, two student producers, and ten student cast members in the creation—the writing and performance—of this play. 
 
The students interviewed members of the Stuyvesant High study body, faculty, administration, and staff and turned their stories of the historic day and the days that followed into poem-monologues. They transcribed and edited these interviews, keeping close to the interviewees’ words and speech patterns because “each individual has a particular story to tell and the story is more than words: the story is its rhythms and its breaths.” (xiv) They next rehearsed the monologues, each actor playing a variety of roles. Although cast members were chosen from all four grades and to represent the school’s diversity, actors did not necessarily match the culture of their interviewees.
 
They next planned the order of the stories to speak to each other, “paint a picture of anger and panic, of hope and strength, of humor and resilience” (7), rehearsed, and presented two performances in February 2002.
 
With Their Eyes presents the stories of those affected by the events of 9/11 in diverse ways. It shares the stories of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, special education students, an English teacher, a Social Studies teacher, the School Safety Agent, the Building Coordinator, a dining hall worker, a custodian, an assistant principal, and more, some male, some female, some named, others remain anonymous. Written as a play, readers are given a description of each character. Read and performed as a play, readers will experience the effect of Nine Eleven on others, actual people who lived that day and persisted in those days that followed, sharing their big moments and little thoughts.
 
“the air felt on the outside like something that you might smell at a,
or feel at a barbecue,
but it didn’t, it…it hurt you.
It hurt your windpipe.
I could feel like, things collecting on my esophagus or on my lungs,
and I don’t think that is something that I will ever forget.” (44)
--------
“and you know
what an odd thing this is
a peculiar little odd thing
just a little quirk, just
an odd thing, but, ah, the day before
on Monday evening I had taken the time to shine my shoes.
‘cause it’s kind of weird I took the time to shine my shoes
and I did a good job, right,
and then Tuesday morning
it was a beautiful sunny day
you know
and as I was dusting myself off
from the debris of the north tower
I—I shook my clothes off and then I looked down
at my shoes and my shoes were a whole ‘nother color
they were completely covered
and I thought to myself
‘I just shined them yesterday’…” (102)
--------
And the pregnant English teacher who said,
 
“…during that time of feeling afraid I felt like I was
crazy to be in New York…
and I had lots of conversations with my friends about
whether or not we would…
we would consider, you know, just completely changing our
lives and leaving New York
So far I don’t know anyone who has done that.
But do I plan to raise my child in New York? Yes.” (90)
 
You know, I really believe in healing
And I believe that, the city will
um… be
healed.
I think you have to believe that.” (93)
 
With Their Eyes was written with the thoughts and pens of a school community.

16. Walters, Eric. We All Fall Down. Penguin Random House Canada, 2006.

​“The sky was so blue, without the trace of a single cloud, that it looked like a postcard. It felt more like a summer day than a September day. It was a nice day not to be in school. Then again, being in my father’s office wouldn’t be that much different or better. (36)
 
The day was September 11, 2001, a teacher meeting day during which students at Will’s high school were to shadow their parents at their workplaces. Ninth-grader William’s father John worked in international trade in the World Trade Center.
 
Upon arrival, father and son went to the 107th floor Observation Deck for a quick tour and history of the Center and view of the city. “Maybe my father was right and the World Trade Center and all the money that passed through here each day really did represent the United States.” (42)
 
At 8:46, shortly after arriving at John’s office on the 85th floor of the South Tower, they felt the force of an explosion. And as he looked out the window Will saw a gaping hole in the North Tower, billowing smoke, thousands of pieces of paper—some on fire—and, before he could look away, he was horrified to notice a man and woman jumping from windows of the building.
 
Will’s father, as acting head of his office and fire warden for the floor, demanded that his staff and other businesses on the floor close and evacuate for the day. But at 9:03, just before John and Will were able to leave, the second plane hit the South Tower.
 
Readers follow the father and son as they make the harrowing journey down 85 floors through heat and smoke, formulating split-second decisions and stopping to rescue and carry an injured woman, only to experience the collapse of the building as they reach the lobby.
 
A quick but dramatic read, Eric Walters’ novel lets readers experience a close-up account of the day and the panic and fear and heroism of ordinary people—John and Will, the men carrying a man in a wheelchair, the firemen and police—as Will discovers another side of his father and John realizes how much time he has devoted to his job rather than to his family.
 
The title derives from the children’s rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie,” a song that is actually about the Black Death during the Dark Ages. Will learns this in history class on the previous school day, a foreshadowing of events to occur. 

​Walters, Eric. United We Stand. Penguin Random House Canada, 2006.

​The sequel to We All Fall Down  begins on September 12, 2001 when Will’s best friend’s father, a firefighter at Ground Zero, last seen as he climbed the steps of the North Tower, is missing.

 
A middle school and high school teacher for twenty years, Lesley Roessing was the Founding Director of the Coastal Savannah Writing Project at Georgia Southern University (formerly Armstrong State University) where she was also a Senior Lecturer in the College of Education. In 2018-19 she served as a Literacy Consultant with a K-8 school. Lesley served as past editor of Connections, the award-winning journal of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English. As a columnist for AMLE Magazine, she shared before, during, and after-reading response strategies across the curriculum through ten “Writing to Learn” columns. She now works independently, writing, providing professional development in literacy to schools, and visiting classrooms to facilitate reading and writing lessons. She can be contacted at lesleyroessing@gmail.com or through Facebook Messenger.
 
Lesley is the author of

• Bridging the Gap: Reading Critically & Writing Meaningfully to Get to the Core 
• Comma Quest: The Rules They Followed. The Sentences They Saved 
• No More “Us” & “Them: Classroom Lessons and Activities to Promote Peer Respect 
• The Write to Read: Response Journals That Increase Comprehension
• Talking Texts: A Teachers’ Guide to Book Clubs across the Curriculum
• and has contributed chapters to
  • Young Adult Literature in a Digital World: Textual Engagement though Visual Literacy
  • Queer Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the English Language Arts Curriculum
  • Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Enhancing Student Learning through the Power of Storytelling (in press)

Until next week.

In the new era of teaching during COVID19, many teachers might find it even more exhausting to be in front of students all of the time. I know I find myself doing a lot more preparation to be in a Zoom classroom. 

I want to help. I am happy to visit your in person or virtual classroom as a guest expert on YA literature (Free through the rest of the year.). I can Zoom in for a discussion/lecture of an author, a book award, a genre—verse novels, historical fiction, nonfiction, or I can book talk a couple of classic YA books or voice my opinion of a few new releases. Contact me through a comment on the blog, send me a private message through FACEBOOK, or send me note in my UNLV email.

​Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday began as a way to report on a summer summit on the research and teaching of YA literature that I hosted at LSU in 2014. After that report, I started writing nearly every week and started recruiting others to share their ideas about researching and teaching YA literature. I learned more than anyone else.
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A year later and after another Summit at LSU, I moved to UNLV. The Summit took a hiatus as I learned my way around a new university and made contacts throughout Las Vegas. In the meantime, I kept writing and recruiting contributors for the blog. I sent our more annoying emails and learned more about websites and about how to use social media. For the last three years the blog has averaged more than a 250,000 unique visits and many more page views. Thank you.

A few years in, I realized that I needed to archive what I was doing and what the contributors were offering. So, I established new sections to enhance the blog. Over the winter break between 2016 and 2017 I started a new feature: Dr. Bickmore’s Weekend Picks. Since January 2017, I have been posting a book I think that adolescents will like every Friday. At first, just a selfie with the book, but that didn’t seem like quite enough. I began to add a brief annotation. After a year, I realized that I needed new perspectives. I tend to drift toward older, realistic YA fiction that focuses on Race, Class, and Gender. I began asking others to take a month. That started with Sarah Donovan, moved to Gretchen Rumhor and, then, I recruited Lesley Roessing. All three of these woman have profoundly influenced how I think about YA literature. They have unique experiences, ideas, and expertise.  
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Others have also contributed to the weekend picks: Jenny Paulsen, Jon Ostenson, Shanetia Clark, Stephanie Toliver, Tiye Cort, Georgia McBride, Nancy Johnson, Shelly Shaffer, Morgan Jackson, Rob Bittner, and Katie Sluiter. There are few more folks waiting in the wings for their turn.  If you want to take on a month, send me a note.

I have also used blog as a place to communicate with my YA literature classes, archive the Summits as they continued at UNLV, and as a place to look at my research interests -- the National Book Award and Music and YA (both need more work).​
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If you teach a YA course, I think you will find one or more of these sections useful, especially the contributions of others. If you are classroom teacher, I think you might find the blog posts an interesting way for you to think about how you might use YA in the classroom. In addition, I think that the Weekend Picks can be a convenient place for your students to browse for new reading options. Librarians can help teachers organize and sort information quickly if they are familiar with the blog. Finally, as a parent the weekend picks can help you see current trends and established YA novels that are grabbing the interest of scholars and teachers that work with YA literature all of the time.

Until next week.

I have known Kia from the time I was a graduate student and attended a CEE (now Elate) summer conference in 2005. She is one of the most generous people in English Education. I meet Diane three years ago as she applied to present at the first UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of YA Literature in 2018. She causally mentioned that she knew Kia's work. Then, Kia, who was also planning to attend, commented on Diane's work. At the Summit, they meet and became fast friends and have been doing work together ever since. This summer that presented together at the 2020 Summit.  In this post they discuss their presentation on one of my favorite topics, the retelling of Classics in YA fiction.