This week's posting is exciting for me. I was invited to attend the YSU English Festival as the James A. Houck Guest Lecturer. This is an absolutely amazing festival that is celebrating its 38th year of bringing students, teachers, and librarians to the university for a celebration of young adult literature (nearly 3,000 participants this year--Why aren't more universities and school districts forming partnerships to celebrate reading and writing?) Each year the advisory committee picks seven novels for middle grades students and seven novels for high school students. (see the current list here and the complete list of books from the beginning here.)
Inviting an academic like me is one thing, but each year they anchor the three day event with a fabulous author. This year's Thomas and Carol Gay Guest Lecturer is Matt de la Pena! I know, how exciting is that? I get to be at a three day event with Matt. Not only is he the current winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal, he is a great guy.
Inviting an academic like me is one thing, but each year they anchor the three day event with a fabulous author. This year's Thomas and Carol Gay Guest Lecturer is Matt de la Pena! I know, how exciting is that? I get to be at a three day event with Matt. Not only is he the current winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal, he is a great guy.
Matt really doesn't need an introduction. If you have been paying attention to the YA world you understand that Matt's body of work is important. Most of us now his major YA works--Ball Don't Lie, Mexican White Boy, We Were Here, and I Will Save You. One of my favorite things about Matt is the way he reacted to his books and others being pulled from Mexican-American studies classes in Arizona. You can read about his involvement here. Matt is a rock star. It is a gift to be at this festival talking about his books and the books of others listed below.
The list of middle grades books was quite fun to read. Some of the books were old favorites and others were completely new to me. It was great for me to spend some time in the creative fantasy exploration in Holly Black's Doll Bones. If you have read Thanhha Lai's Inside Out and Back Again_--you should stop everything and read it now. If you have, you should revisit it--It is National Poetry month by the way and this verse novel should be read over and over. I loved the character of Willow that Holly Goldberg Sloan created in Counting by 7's. This was a new author for me and I am glad that I found this wonderful novel. Vince Vawter's inaugural novel, Paperboy, was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Yes, I am old enough that I delivered The Review Journal in the Las Vegas afternoon heat and had the opportunity to collect the monthly bill from my customers. I folded 80 to 90 papers, stuffed them in a canvas bag, wrapped the bag around the handle bars of my bike, and navigate my way up down the streets near my house. I have heard about Patrick Ness for years. I know that adolescents love his work, but A Monster Calls was my first, but it won't be my last. I am not sure how to describe both its power and beauty.
The list of novels for the 10th through 12th grade also includes Matt's I will Save You but adds We Were Here. (In addition, A Nation's Hope: The Story of Joe Lewis is a bonus book for each level.) I love Matt's work and I have to continually thank Jennifer Buehler for a wonderful article she wrote for The ALAN Review a number of years ago. She forced me to think critically about Matt's work from the early stages and it has been a great journey. The other writer that is shared by both groups is Steve Sheinkin. I tell all of my adult friends who are looking for something to read to check out his books. It was a thrill to read Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. This Book provides the perfect opportunity for cross-curricular instruction. If you don't love the novels of Matthew Quick, my guess is that you haven't read them yet. The book featured for this festival is the wonderful "sports" novel, Boy 21, but I also love Sorta Like a Rock Star. In preparing for this event, I discovered he will have a new bIook out soon--Every Exquisite Thing-out on May 31, 2016. Another featured book is Elizabeth Wein's Rose Under Fire. If some of you don't the significant contributions of women during times of conflict-you need to add her books to your list of must reads. For those of you who are looking for a fast paced thriller jump directly to Marcus Sedgwick's Revolver. I can't wait to hear want the students at the festival have to say about his novel. Last, but not least Scott Westerfeld is represented at the festival with the fantastic first novel in his steampunk trilogy, Leviathan. I heard Scott talk describe how he wrote the book and collaborated with the illustrator at an ALAN Breakfast some years ago. I was riveted at the time and enjoyed revisiting it once again.
Wow! What a great day at Youngstown State University! The teachers were tremendous and the students were fantastic. Nearly nine hundred 10th grade to 12th students who voluntarily read (on average) 4 to 7 books beyond there regularly scheduled class work. Amazing! Why doesn't every school district have a partnership like this with a local university? If anyone one out there has a festival like this one, I would love to hear about it.
Updated and links added.
Updated and links added.
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