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Registration is open for the virtual Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature!  Plan on April 21, 2023, 8:30-5:30 CST.  

Don't worry, it is easy to find.  Just go to YouTube and search for Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday.

Register here!

Remembering #ALAN17: Moments that stay and keep us thinking about YA throughout the Year

11/28/2017

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#ncte17 and the #ALAN17 workshop were great.

I hope everyone who attended had a good time. I am enjoying the books even as we enjoyed family over the Thanksgiving weekend. I have too much to grade and work to do before the semester, but first things first.

I finished E. Lockhart's Genuine Fraud a few days ago. Last night the narrative visited my dreams. In the dream, I received a cheerful phone call from someone who introduced herself as Emily. "Hi Steve, It's Emily." I know her enough to recognize her voice. I was sure it was her. As I waited for her to continue, I thought, Oh, no. Is this a Genuine Emily or a Fraud! Of Course, I woke up never to know if I was going to be roped into a new plot.

Read Genuine Fraud.

In the rest of this blog post, I feature colleague and friends who attended this year's ALAN workshop. It is becoming a tradition to report on the workshop by letting attendees briefly write about a favorite event, speech, chance or planned meeting, or that new book you just can't put down. I appreciate the time and effort that everyone has put in so that this post can be finished so quickly after the Thanksgiving break. Many of those who have responded, have classes to teach, students to nurture, books to read, papers to grade, and those final end of the semester meeting to attend. Whether you are in middle or high school setting or moving through the hallowed halls of a university, keep your chin up as you work towards the break.
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My favorite part of ALAN is bringing students to their first conference.  At the ALAN party, my two UNCW graduate students who presented at NCTE and attended ALAN, Lindsey Galloway and Samm Sawyer, were ecstatic to meet author Laurie Halse Anderson whose work both have read and studied in my YA classes.

Victor Malo-Juvera
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This was my 10th or 11th ALAN workshop. For some reason, I'm not sure why, I found myself more engaged during the author panels this year than in the past (I usually have to get up and move around constantly or have worked at the book exchange table for the past several years). It was really nice to just sit and listen. There was a great mix of super stars, rising stars, and brand new authors. I was seated near the back and so enjoyed looking across the sea of readers surrounded by stacks of books as I listened to the authors. Kudos to Laura Renzi for an amazing ALAN workshop! 
 
Dr. Marshall A. George

​For me, the theme of this year’s ALAN Workshop is the importance of recognizing and honoring the humanity around us. This means, as many of the speakers, from Jason Reynolds and Brenden Kiely to Steve Sheinkin to Jewell Parker Rhodes, so eloquently reminded us, that we have to be willing to have difficult conversations and to push ourselves out of our comfort zones in order to ensure a more just and free world for everyone. As educators and as humans, we owe it to society, to our students, and to ourselves to engage in the topics that we might rather ignore, and I’m thankful to ALAN for reminding me of this and for providing the tools to help me do this.
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Terri Suico

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"Each year, just days before we celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, related by special bonds or blood, I feel blessed to celebrate another thanksgiving with my ALAN family, related by amazing books. I thank authors, publishers, their representatives, and agents whose gifts bring together teachers, scholars, librarians, students, and close friends."
 
"More than once, the line for autographing at the ALAN Booth was so long that passersby asked, "Who's  ALAN?" or "What books has ALAN published?"
 
This next one isn't an ALAN anecdote exactly, but another interesting thing happened to me. During NCTE, a friend told me that Sharon Draper was signing her newest(?) book,Stella by Starlight (2015), at the Simon and Schuster booth. My grandmother's name was Stella, and I was hoping to get a book for our eight year old granddaughter with a title including her great- great grandmother's first name. 
 
When I left the ALAN booth, I found a very long line. The S&S rep told that I was the end of the line, and that they had run out of Stella by Starlight, but she could give me Draper's Out of My Mind instead. We had used Out of My Mind at the YSU English Festival in 2013 for 7th to 9th graders, so I would have to give the book with the condition that it might be too old for our Sophia. 
 
Wrong. The day before Thanksgiving, I reluctantly offered Sophia the "substitute" Out of My Mind, and she squealed with delight: that was the book her third grade teacher had just started reading to her class, and they were only two chapters into it. And, when she saw that Sharon had autographed it to her, her eyes widened and her mouth opened in awe. For the next few days, I was able to watch the I-Pad set aside, displaced by a paperback book.
 
Of the thousands of book titles in that convention hall from all those publishers, whodathought?
 
Rick Williams
I delivered a book talk during one of ALAN's Book Talk sessions.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton is an unforgettable story of finding your place in an imperfect world. Cliff Hubbard is a loner. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has nobody at school, and life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide.There's no one Cliff hates more than the cool quarterback, Aaron. When Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience he claims God gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said the only person that could help was Neanderthal.

As they make their way through the List, Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

Preston Norton brings an exciting, sharp voice to YA Lit. as he unravels threads about identity, bullying, oppression, microagressions and isms that plague a high school environment. Neanderthal is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

Elsie Lindy Olan
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Tyler Johnson Was Here is written by Jay Coles. Tyler and Marvin Johnson are twins, age 17, but they couldn’t be more different. Tyler is drawn into gang life in his community to help his mother pay the bills because their father has been in jail since they were 8 years old for a crime he didn’t commit. Marvin is applying to MIT because it’s the best place to study science, or so he hears.
 
When a party turns into a gang shooting followed by a police raid the brothers are separated in the chaos Marvin returns home but it is increasingly clear that Tyler has disappeared a few days later an anonymous video turns up online showing Tyler‘s death: three shots from the gun of a local white police officer. Over and over, Marvin is forced to relive the trauma of seeing his brother’s death on the news and Twitter; he can’t escape it. He tries to hold the pieces of his life together with the help of his friends Ivy, G-Mo, and Faith, seeking justice for his brother’s death, while gathering proof that his brother’s, as well as his own, life matters.
 
A powerful, visceral, painful read. This book is essential for every secondary classroom. Available in March 2018.
 
I leave you to ponder the words of teen character Ivy, “ Who do you call when the cops are the bad guys? Who can you even beg to protect you?”
 
Jenny Cameron Paulsen
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I am displaying All American Boys -- but I had on the cart behind me, all the books I got at ALAN.  One of the most powerful parts of ALAN for me was the opening with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely sharing their stories of police brutality coming from their perspectives of being 'Black and White.'  They reinforced the sad reality of racial divide that continues to plague us when we can't be open to others, can't appreciate the richness of diversity, and can't imagine their reality."

Mary Warner
The most amazing part of the ALAN workshop for me was interacting with Chris Crutcher and Laurie Halse Anderson individually at the reception on Sunday night and then hearing them speak together to all of us on Tuesday morning. Their words of encouragement about the book I'm writing on mental illness in young adult literature were just what I needed to hear as an author and presenter on the topic.

During the Tuesday session, both Laurie and Chris spoke about the power of literature to help youth experience empathy.  Laurie talked about how our brains' "mirror neurons" can be developed and strengthened easiest during childhood and and how reading books can help individuals relate more fully to their peers' experiences as well as their own. This reinforced my choice to include young adult literature in my college humanities courses (gen ed) as well as those focused on English Education. 

Chris's ability to speak from his experiences as a teacher, therapist, and child protection advocate also centered a great deal on helping students develop empathy. He also spoke to the power of books' cultural and contextual relevance to students' reading practices. I volunteer with a non-profit organization that cares for troubled children, and Chris's insight reminded me of the why I spend time gathering YA books to share with the youth who reside at Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan. Regardless of why they are not living at home, they need books - to help them relate more successfully to others, to develop empathy, and to better understand themselves. 
 
Seeing Chris and Laurie helped me as a person, a teacher, a researcher/author, and a community volunteer. I am grateful to ALAN for providing me with the opportunity to grow. 
 
Kia Jane Richmond
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Credit: Noah Schaffer
One of my favorite things about ALAN is "The Box" (of course), but I love getting the books into the hands of students even more. Even though I'm not in a classroom right now, I still have friends who are, so I sent out a tweet on Monday offering some of the books to former students. All the books were claimed by the end of the day, and made their way to my former students before Thanksgiving break. As I make my way through the box this December, I will continue sending more books out and into the hands of students. 
 
Anthony Celaya
The ALAN 2017 Workshop was once again a chance to re-connect with old friends and find new ones...colleagues, authors, publishers, and just book lovers in general..
 
Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, the Opening Speakers, spoke openly and honestly - along with Chris Crutcher and Laurie Halse Anderson - about the need to diversify ALAN's reach - the need to bring people of diverse backgrounds into our workshop - so that individuals who represent our diverse communities - are represented in our community of readers and teachers and leaders of young adult books....  
 
Speaker after speaker called for 'authentic voices' to populate the works of young adult books - so that each read becomes a rallying cry for what is good and true and honest in the lives of young people.
 
I was reminded continually of the need for fresh voices - voices of young people, born today and tomorrow - so they can be the everyone 'call their own' - as each generation becomes the voice of what matters most in the lives of young people who are living on the edge of adulthood..
 
I was also reminded of the generous gift of friendship - of all those ALAN Members - who give so warmly of themselves - to each other and to our community of readers and teachers and authors - so that all kids - real kids and 'kids at heart' - can find books that speak- seemingly - just to them.
 
I applaud Laura Renzi, and her partner-in-crime, Mark Letcher for their remarkable and steadfast leadership to make this year's ALAN Workshop 2017 - an event to be remembered in mind and photos, forever...
 
Finally, I also applaud Lois Stover - this year's Ted Hipple 2017 Award winner - for her service and scholarship to the ALAN and the young adult literature community at large.

"A big congrats to Sean Connors - this year's ALAN Review Journal Article of the Year Award winner - for his outstanding scholarship....."
 
Jeff Kaplan
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Mark Letcher and Lois Stover, the 2007 Ted Hipple Award winner. Photo Credit: Noah Schaffer
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James Blasingame and Sean Connors. Photo Credit: Noah Schaffer
At my first session of NCTE '17, I had my mind cracked open by Renee Watson, an author whose work was unfamilair to me before the conference. During a panel on sexuality, power, and rape culture, Renee Watson said that students deserve to read about a character "who isn't a mirror, but a window." This simple statement was the beginning of my questioning of my current and future curriculum. I then scoured the program for Watson's name and was thrilled to hear her speak on her writing process three more times, the final time at ALAN. This year's panels were all moving and jump starting, but Watson really spurred my own reflection. I can't wait to share Piecing Me Together with my students.
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Kate Youngblood
Before attending #ALAN17, I knew the familiar joy of reuniting with admired colleagues, the anticipation of picking up my ALAN box, the beauty of stacks and stacks of popular YA titles waiting to be signed, the inspiration from panels and keynotes featuring my favorite writers.  But this year, I discovered that I didn't know as many of the authors as in the past, and a busy fall teaching load had kept me from fully familiarizing myself with their work. Walking into the authors' cocktail reception, I scanned the room, noticing bright red "AUTHOR" buttons matched with unfamiliar faces.  And with that, I set my introvert self aside and charged ahead, introducing myself and seizing each opportunity to learn as much as possible about each "new-to-me" author I met.  Talking to Amy Reed about the plot of The Nowhere Girls, I learned that we shared a favorite book, E. K. Johnston's Exit, Pursued by a Bear, which addresses similar themes of empowering and supporting victims of sexual assault. Shaka Sengor and I spoke about Writing my Wrongs and about how he'll be visiting west Michigan this Spring; we exchanged contact information so that we could touch base then. I had a chance to tell Kathleen Glasgow that my daughter had forbidden me from reading Girl in Pieces--that she'd wanted to keep her reading experience all to herself--to which Kathleen said reassuringly, "That's ok.  Let it be hers," and then told me about her newest writing project (which I'll stealthily read before my daughter).  Of course, the reception also allowed me to meet up with authors I did know--Julie Murphy, Nina LaCour, Brendan Kiely, and Chris Crutcher--but my greatest joy came from meeting "new to me" authors, and conversing about their work, their inspiration, and their writing process. Over the course of the evening, one final joy became ever more apparent:  young adult authors work without ceasing to reach, and save, young readers. I can't wait to meet more remarkable authors--familiar and unfamiliar--at #ALAN18.
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 Dr. Gretchen Rumohr-Voskuil
​ALAN17 was my fourth time (in the last five years) attending the workshop and it gets better every year.  It is often hard to pinpoint one moment each year as a favorite because there are often so many great ones.  I think the thing that I always marvel at when I leave is simply the people involved in this incredible workshop.  Everyone is connecting with each other in different ways.  Maybe it is meeting someone that you happen to be sitting by and making a new friend (on day 2 I happened to sit by a woman who worked in a school only an hour from where I teach).  Maybe it is making a book trade with another teacher that connected with you through the Facebook page or Twitter feed.  Maybe it is meeting an author that has made in impact on your classroom or an individual student.  Whatever the case may be, my ALAN experience is always a great one because of the wonderful people involved, not only with being in attendance, but also with those who make these two days happen. 
 
Joe Godina
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The ALAN workshop was its usual celebration of YA books and authors.  From the opening keynote by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely reminding us of the racial inequities in our society, to sessions by Joseph Bruchac and others celebrating diversity, to a compelling conversation between Laurie Halse Anderson and Chris Crutcher on Tuesday discussing our attitudes toward sex and sexual orientation, the workshop affirmed its theme:  "Opening Minds, Changing Hearts, and Giving Voice to Adolescence."  I'm halfway through Chris Crutcher's new book, Losers Bracket(due out April 2018).  Vintage Crutcher, filled with adolescent issues and sharp dialogue, with a female protagonist this time.  
 
Gary Salvner
From learning that Chinua Achebe served on Joseph Bruchac's dissertation committee to Nic Stone reminding us that, "It only takes one voice to start the ripple effect" to Jason Reynolds' and Brendan Kiely's powerful keynote, there were so many highlights and golden moments during my ALAN17. During the "Speaking Out in a Time of Silence" panel, Angie Thomas encouraged teachers to teach the texts that make us look at ourselves differently and that force uncomfortable (but important) conversations. For me, the ALAN17 book and author which best allows that opportunity is Writing my Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison by Shaka Senghor. When we met Shaka at the ALAN reception, my friend recognized him from his appearances on The Daily Show and in the incredible documentary 13th, and this purposeful coordination of nonfiction subgenres (memoir, documentary, talk show) is one reason Shaka's work intrigues me. However, the main appeal of Shaka's work is the boldness of his message: even folks guilty of terrible crimes are not beyond redemption, and we've got to pivot from a "lock them up and throw away the key" mentality. Rather than being a "look how extraordinary I am" story, Shaka's memoir instead provides a possible blueprint for those currently incarcerated (whose numbers continue to skyrocket in a for-profit prison economy), of whom Shaka estimates that the vast majority are redeemable. As an English teacher, I am especially encouraged by the therapeutic value of writing for prisoners as well as the potential for the resulting literature to expand readers' understanding of modern mass incarceration. 
 
Jason Griffith
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​I presented a round table discussion at NCTE and shared how my work with students in Arlington, Virginia has been enhanced by YAL, in particular "Aristotle and Dante" by Ben Saenz.
 
As a classroom teacher with a diverse student population, I rely heavily on materials which are of high interest.  Students often check out when the material doesn’t reflect their own experiences and background.  Dante and Aristotle are both boys who are of mixed identities, gay and latino.  A significant number of my students are openly gay or have someone in their lives who has suffered discrimination.  Reaching out to the students after reading a chapter and connecting the text to self has been very useful to build language skills in Fluent Spanish I and II.  Spanish speakers in particular talk about their lives and their role as a change agent under the current political climate.  There’s sharing, discussions, but also a larger project where I have the students pick a scene in the book to recreate.  As shared in my round table, students bring in clay, design backgrounds to later animate with an app on their phone, such as iMovie.  While touching, emotionally important and relevant to their lives, the outcome of enhanced language performance has been measured using standards based assessments.  The standardized method of testing verified to my county that significant learning is taking place within the classroom at my school.  
 
I hope to one day do more research into the effects of YAL on Fluent Spanish Speakers classes, which traditionally have few YAL titles listed in the official school curriculum.  
 
As a side note, I’ve had many ESOL students from other classes come to me after hearing that I have cool books.  I’ve shared Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Beetles and Angels by Asgedom, various titles by Meg Medina just to name a few.  Students are anxiously awaiting the sequel to Ari and Dante and can’t get enough of their images in Tumblr.  Fan art is a beautiful thing.   
 
Books change lives, keep kids in school, and over time, can make the world a better place! 
 
Thank you!
 
Travis Reyes
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My highlight at this year's ALAN Workshop was Jason Reynold's taking hundreds of book-loving teachers to task. We have handcuffed our students of color, forced them face down in our stifling curriculum, in our tightly-regulated classrooms, in the panopticons of our schools. We have not only let students of color tumble through the yawning cracks of our educational system, we have been complicit in their disappearances into the school-to-prison pipeline. It's past time to give them back their agency, to get our knees of their backs, to throw away our handcuffs. The writing and reading they engage in must be theirs, not ours.
 
Crag Hill
I was privileged to introduce?  I truly loved both The Mosaic by Nina Berkhout, and Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough; both are debut novels for these authors, although Nina has written a number of volumes of poetry and Joy has written plays.  Both books have language that sings, both create a sense of time and place, both give us characters who stick with me as a reader because of their strength, their ability to carry on in the face of very difficult circumstances, their voice.  The environments in which the main characters operate are quite different.  The setting for Mosaic is a contemporary mid-west in which the landscape is dotted with missile silos, while the setting for Blood, Water, Paint is Rome in the early 1600s; in each case, the environment functions as a character, shaping the lives of those who inhabit it.  In both, the main characters are artists; in both titles, the authors take us, are readers - as well as the characters - into a realm that is about creation and beauty in spite of the destruction and violence surrounding them.  In Blood Water Paint, the main character, painter Artemisia Gentileschi, resolves to show the world "what a woman can do;" at the end of The Mosaic, the call goes out from photographer Twyla to all of us to "take in this still life."  Both authors and their characters show us the power of art to respond to the challenges of life, to live it fully, and to find beauty in the face of ugliness. 
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Lois Stover
Meeting author Nina LaCour was definitely a highlight of this year's ALAN workshop. I have read two of her books -- Hold Still and her most recent book We Are Okay. All of her books are haunting, quiet, and beautiful. The books are elegantly and thoughtfully written exposing us, as readers, to the grittier side of the human condition, and calling us to take notice of our inner, private voices. Not only are Ms. LaCour's books lovely, so is she. I am glad I was able to meet and talk to one of my favorite current YA novelists, at the ALAN reception, and then hear her talk about her work during the workshop. Nowhere else can you mingle with English teacher heroes and heroines, i.e. book authors, quite like you can at ALAN. 
 
Michelle Falter

I really appreciated Jason Reynolds and Brenden Kiely’s sharing of their stories with us in Monday morning’s keynote, particularly Jason’s admonition that “brutality is about more than death.”  He then challenged us to recognize the role we play in that brutality against our students of color.  “This is what love looks like,” Jason told the audience. “Our honesty is what love looks like.”
 
Katie Cramer
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​Highlights for me were meeting Nic Stone. I book talked Dear Martin today as a book that is on my To Read list (and I have a copy for my classroom library) and it's been not just checked out, but wait-listed about 10 students deep! The panels about identity, culture, and voice were inspiring to me as a teacher. I was excited to see so many authors of color there doing the hard work of writing their truths so students like mine can have "mirror" texts.
 
Katie Sluiter
Now that ALAN ’17 is over, I have had a few moments to breathe and reflect. Being able to work with the publishers and authors has been a highlight of my professional career. There is nothing as exciting as seeing all that planning come to life, and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone that volunteered to moderate panels and introduce authors. It was an amazing time!
 
There were so many wonderful moments, and I don’t think I could choose just one as my favorite. There were three very powerful moments for me. It began with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s  (All American Boys) keynote Monday morning. They began a conversation that is so needed in our classrooms and communities. My favorite quote was from Jason, “you can’t be more loyal to your fears than you are to your futures” This conversation continued with Jewell Parker Rhodes (Ghost Boys), Nic Stone (Dear Martin), and Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give) – powerful, honest, and truthful.  The third moment was a planned conversation between Chris Crutcher (Loser’s Bracket) and Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak). I knew when we planned this conversation that it would be entertaining, but when Chris and Laurie decided to talk about sex, and sexual harassment, and the lack of conversations that we have with adolescents about relationships and feelings.
 
These three moments were just a small snapshot of the amazing conversations that were started at ALAN ’17. The challenge was raised to all attendees to take these conversations back to their schools, their libraries, and their communities. Thank you to everyone who made ALAN ’17 one of the best moments of my life.
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Laura Renzi
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Every year I am glad I attended. I hope to see you there next year. If you can't wait a year and you want to continue the conversation. Come see us at the YA Summit in Las Vegas. Details here:  https://tinyurl.com/y82htjn5
Registration will be open soon. 

Until next week.
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Come See the Toe Tag Monologues at #NCTE17!

11/15/2017

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What does a dramatic performance by a 13-year-old have to do with English Language Arts or with Young Adult literature, for that matter?

Too often, classroom English instruction is removed from the concerns and activities of the adolescents we are trying to teach. We know that many of our students are carrying baggage right below the surface.  Byron Stringer, the director of the Toe Tag Monologues would symbolically call this baggage a toe tag. Some toe tags can be removed, but others are the real markers that police, EMTs, and coroners place on the toes of those adolescents who die from shooting, bully, drunk drive, abuse, and suicide.

The classic texts are rife with the very issues that modern students face: racism, broken homes, betrayal, substance abuse, and greed. Name a vice in a piece of classic literature, and it exists today.  Many of use believe that culturally responsive pedagogy is important in the classroom. Equally important are activities that are empathetic, that break down the emotional barriers that might keep us from really connecting with students who needs us to support them through the actual life threatening challenges of their lives.

R. Byron Stringer theatrical troupe address through Toe Tag Monologues. Through assemblies at schools these young performers bring awareness to the issues that effect the lives of students. In most cases, after a school performance students approach the actors and share with them that one of the stories they just heard is their stories. Byron hears reports for teachers, school counselors, and administrators indicate an increased number of students who open up to them and their friends.

Our goal is to promote the idea that students in classroom settings can write and perform their own monologues. In addition, we promote the ideas that the topics of these monologues exist in young adult literature as well as in the classics. If the issue of body image is to close to a student, then perhaps reading a YA novel that centers on the issue might help them write a monologue in the voice of the character. 

This is, of course, not new; however it seems that in the age of constant testing we have neglected drama as way to let students practice speaking and listening through performance. Come watch and listen to these performers as we explore strategies to include more writing that moves to performance in the classroom.
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Remixing and Going Digital!
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Teaching about Adolescence in YAL by Sophia Tatiana Sargianides, Robert Petrone, and Mark Lewis.

11/5/2017

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If you follow research surrounding Young Adult literature, you have heard people talk about a "youth lens." Of course, any time you try to reduce a concept to only two words, it is problematic. Sophia Sarigianides, Rob Petrone, and Mark Lewis have been writing articles and presenting on this issue for at least five years. In addition, they were guest editor for an issue of the English Journal (Vol. 104 I. 3) with the theme of Re-thinking “Adolescence” to Re-imagine English. 

Their thinking and hard work has paid some dividends. They have a book published by NCTE that will help people contextualize this framework. It is my pleasure to offer them some space to discuss the book. I hope that you will add it to your collection.

Teaching about Adolescence in YAL: Re-thinking the “Adolescent” in Adolescent Literacy by Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides, Robert Petrone & Mark A. Lewis

If we are honest, for a long time in our careers as secondary English teachers and now as English teacher educators, each of us has experienced a great deal of ambivalence reading and teaching Young Adult Literature (YAL). On the one hand, we saw how excited our secondary students would get when they were able to read books with protagonists who resembled them in terms of age and circumstances. Often, we found this engagement with contemporary YAL particularly significant for students of color, LGBTQ+ youth, immigrant youth, and poor students for whom the secondary literary canon was especially marginalizing and violent due to its implicit, taken-for-granted White, nationalist, middle class, heteronormative hegemony. For many of these students, YAL offered an opportunity within the official curriculum to read books that reflected their own positionalities in a way that much of the required curriculum did not.
 
And yet, each of us continued to be troubled by YAL as we watched our students reading it. When we began working with future English teachers through courses on YAL, our uncertainties began to sharpen in focus. It was in those classes that many of our students, in their discussions of which YA texts they would teach, how they would teach them and why, would consistently rely upon ideas embedded within broader cultural norms about teenagers as justification for their pedagogical reasoning. Most of these assumptions about youth are rooted in developmentalism and have become so commonplace and normative that they were unremarkable to us at first as well. “Well, we all know that teenagers are (insert stereotype), so therefore, this would really be a book they could relate to.” “Teenagers are just too impressionable at that age; therefore, I wouldn’t allow them to read this book in my class.” As our experiences in these classes developed, so too did our understandings of our mixed feelings and apprehensions of YAL: it was the way in which youth were so easily and unproblematically known, universalized, and normalized as homogeneous. Folks in our classes would never speak about other groups of people in the ways we spoke about youth.
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​From this space of discomfort, over the past few years, the three of us have worked to develop a line of scholarship that draws attention to and troubles how ideas of adolescence circulate within YAL. Foundational to this work is the idea that adolescence is a social construct, similar to gender and race, and not, like our broader cultural narratives would lead us to believe, normal or natural.  For us, this basic, fundamental concept entirely shifted our orientation toward YAL. Specifically, the locus of our engagement with YAL became trying to understand how YA texts function ideologically when it comes to ideas of youth and adolescence. In other words, how does YAL develop and circulate ideas of adolescence, whether that be in the service of perpetuating these ideas, subverting them, or even both. This inquiry led us to develop the Youth Lens, which grew into a special-themed issue of English Journal, and now a a recently-published book for NCTE Principles in Practice series, Re-thinking the “Adolescent” in Adolescent Literacy.  
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​The book presents our attempt to demonstrate how a reconfiguration of youth and adolescence can fundamentally shift literacy teaching practices, especially related to YAL. Building on the central assumption that adolescence is a social construct, we examine a range of ways this premise potentially opens up curriculum, instruction, and assessment for English teachers and their students.
 
Most pertinent for YAL teachers, we add to our existing writing on YAL with a chapter in this book on critical readings of a group of YA fiction around key assumptions of adolescence.  The chapter looks at how these novels work within and/or against dominant conceptions of adolescence, knowing that often texts do both, sometimes simultaneously. To get at these broader questions, we utilize four typical taken-for-granted assumptions of adolescence as discussed by Nancy Lesko (2012) in her foundational analysis of adolescence, Act Your Age: A cultural construction of adolescence:
 
1) youth can be signified by their specific age;
 
2) youth are intent on peer-orientations over relations with younger children or adults;
 
3) youth are governed by their hormones; and
 
4) youth experience a slow, coming of age into adulthood.
 
For each of these assumptions, we examine 2-3 well-known YA texts to reveal the ways they are perpetuating and/or subverting dominant conceptions of adolescence.
 
For instance, in the section where we discuss age, we offer readers an approach to examining how age functions in the novel. So often in our culture, age and our ideas attached to age go completely unnoticed as a construct, often taken as common sense. And yet such beliefs wield tremendous power to shape our consciousness about and behaviors in relation to others. Therefore, we encourage as one way to unearth assumptions of adolescence the concept of age. Based upon two overriding questions—How does age function in the novel? and How does age as used in the novel render adolescence, young adult characters, adults in the book, and the possibiltlies for these characters, including their interactions?—we propose the following questions as a way to start the analysis:

  • Does the book reference the protagonist’s or other youths’ ages?
  • Does the book refer to adults’ ages or just those of youth?
  • Does the book represent the character in ways that contradict your expectations of age?
  • How does the text use age in characterization and plot development?
  • Does the book use age to attach social expectations of youth—and adults—to that
character? If so, to what effects?

In the chapter, we offer brief analyses on representations of age within Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s 2012 award-winning novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and Francesca Lia Block’s 1989 novella, Weetzie Bat. We demonstrate  how age can offer a useful entry point to examine how YA texts draw upon, reify, and/or subvert normative understandings of adolescence and youth.
 
Similar to age, the chapter then moves through Lesko’s other three concepts, offering short analyses of other popular YA texts, such as Sherman Alexie’s (2007) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Walter Dean Myers’s (1999) Monster. Our hope with this chapter is to bring more attention to how these stories send messages about adolescence/ts to youth and adults. These four entry points offer teachers and students opportunities to challenge and critique stereotypes that may exist in these texts; something we believe is imperative for all students but especially for those who are already othered by dominant social discourses and institutions, like schools. It is our belief, too, that not only does this approach open up more critical vantage points to engage YAL but it also opens up more stimulation and perhaps even more fun.  We hope the book does some introduction of critical views of adolescence for those of you for whom this is new material. We also hope the book extends thinking around adolescence and texts about and for youth for those of you doing the work already.
References
 
Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little Brown
Books.
Block, F.L. (1989). Weetzie bat. New York: HarperCollins.
Lesko, N. (2012). Act your age! A cultural construction of adolescence (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: Routledge.
Myers, W.D. (1999). Monster. New York: HarperCollins.
Sáenz, B.A. (2012) Aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Thanks for following. Until next week.
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Introducing Aaron Levy and his novel, Blood Don't Lie.

11/3/2017

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One of the things I really like about hosting this blog is the opportunity to introduce new authors. Here I go again.

A couple of months ago, Laura Renzi, the current ALAN President, asked me to review a book for this year’s ALAN Workshop. She asked me to review a first novel by a new writer. Well, not a new writer, but a new novelist. I am not sure, but I don’t think Laura knew that Aaron Levy and I have known each other for over ten years. Many of the ALAN members know Aaron as a university professor and a playwright. He is the author of the young adult play, Pizza with Shrimp on Top.  
I already had a copy of Aaron’s novel and he and I had talked about highlighting it on Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday at some point. Now is the right time as we get ready to attend NCTE and ALAN.

Blood Don’t Like is a wonderful new addition to YA coming of age fiction. Aaron was kind enough to make sure I had a copy. I have to say, not all book covers draw me into the book. In this case, however, the cover was clearly a teaser for the action and the trouble to come. For the plot of the book, Aaron draws on his Jewish heritage to heighten the tension of this coming of age story. I was impressed how the book draws on the themes of religion, bullying, war, violence, and family. As you can tell, I am trying to figure out how to talk about this book in thirty seconds. This is probably impossible. In my mind, this book deserves more than 30 seconds. It deserves the time you need to read it.
You should follow Aaron on Facebook and on twitter @AaronHLevy. His book getting quite of bit of play in Georgia, where he lives. My guess, is that he would be willing to visit schools in a lot of places.

Below, you can find Aaron’s answers to my interview questions. If you are at NCTE and ALAN, I am sure that Aaron would be willing to answer more questions.
Thanks for following. If you would like to contribute a post or you know an author I should cover, please contact me at steven.bickmore@unlv.edu
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Catching up and Looking Forward.

11/1/2017

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New Feature: Writers as Positive Influence

A couple of weeks ago, a friend was contemplating the amount of negative information that flows through the various avenues of social media. He suggested that more of us should focus on positive messages. He issued the challenge to his friends to post a brief comment about a person who does positive work five times a week for a year. I thought about it and I realized I can participate. I decided to focus on people who write in some way connected to Education. My first focus will be young adult writers, but I will also post about academic writers as well. I won't only focus on YA authors, or living authors for that matter. If you are interested in helping let me know. If you can think of an author or writer that I should highlight let me know. I will post it on Facebook on Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday Page and I will also list it on a new page within Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday Webpage. You can find it here. This has been interesting so far. I am taking the opportunity to look at writers who are well established and new authors who are doing positive work through their writing.  Once again, looking at the body of young adult literature reminds me of the wonderful people involved with this large community. I feel fortunate to associate with so many great people. The authors below are the first five.

Attending the KidLitCon 2017

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I am attending and presenting at the 2017 KidLitCon in Hershey, PA. It is this Friday and Saturday November 3-4. I am trying to learn a bit more about blogging. The Conference in in its seventh year and I am looking forward to meeting a host of librarians and readers who blog about young adult literature. I will be presenting with teacher and Nerdy Book Club Blogger, Cindy Minnich and Media Speicalist, LeighWoznick. This years organizer has put together a great program and a remarkable number of authors will be presenting. You can read the program and wish you were here as well. Some of the authors that will be there are in the gallery below.

Looking Forward to NCTE 2017 and the ALAN Workshop

The NCTE Conference is just around the corner. I hope you are going. The blog will post more about events at the conference over the next two weeks. I hope you are planning to attend. I want to point you to two session: One with Benjamin Alire Saienz and one with R Byron Stringer and his troupe of actors with the Toe Tag Monologues.

First, who doesn't want to be in a session with Benjamin Alire Saienz. He will be the keynote speaker for the session and then we will have a number of roundtable sessions with experts talking about "Recapturing the YA Voice in Literature: Culture, Family, and Identity." 
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Second, when I arrived in Las Vegas. I meet a great educator. R. Byron Stringer is a retired police officer who is spending his retirement helping kids. He is the founder of the Vision Theatrical Foundation. As part of that foundation, he writes, produces school and community performances through Toe Tag Monologues. Each monologue discusses an issue that kids face that can cause death if they don't get help. We know these issues, body image, bullying, gang violence, domestic violence, and sexual orientation. I invite you to attend our session and look for impromtu performances as the young toe tag actors help us see the possibilities of including drama in classrooms so that kids can write, act, and discuss these issues in an open and safe environment.

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Thanks for following and there will be more next week.
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    Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
    Chief Curator
    Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and department chair at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods.   She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

    Dr. Steve Bickmore
    ​Creator and Curator

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

    Co-Edited Books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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