Weekend Pick for November 29, 2024
 Rebecca Chatham-Vazquez | Dr. Rebecca Chatham-Vazquez concludes November Weekend Picks. To remind our readers, she is an assistant professor and the director of English Education at North Dakota State University. She is in her 15th year of teaching and loves it just as much now as she did on day one. She has taught and worked with pre- and in-service teachers in Montana (very rural), Arkansas (urban), Arizona (urban and rural), and, now, North Dakota (urban and rural). She has been a member of NCTE since 2008, and is a strong supporter of professional organizations like NCTE, its state affiliates, and ALAN. Her research interests include teacher education, rural teacher support, YAL, and methods of teaching reading. She can be reached at [email protected] |
| Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg is the novel you didn’t know you needed. I started it and was absolutely unable to stop reading it; in fact, I may need to go reread it right now. Micah is a young person growing up in New York City in the late 1980s. He knows two things: he knows he’s gay, and he knows he doesn’t want to die from AIDS. The problem is that he has no idea how to be gay and not die from AIDS at the same time. In his quest to become himself, he finds CJ Gorman: “the ‘like’ interest,” “the ‘love’ interest,” definitely “the interest” for Micah. CJ is gay, out, and living life to the fullest, everything Micah wishes he could be and do. Destination Unknown portrays life for two young men who need, more than anything, love, support, and guidance, as they try to become the people they want and need to be. |  |
This book is for you if you are interested in YAL that addresses contemporary issues through a more historical (OMG, are the 1980s historical?!) lens: parental relationships, friendship dynamics, the importance of role models, safe sex, coming out, and love for oneself. In addition, Destination Unknown is for you if you are interested in learning more about what it was truly like to live during/through the AIDS epidemic. You can learn more about New York City, ACT UP, and medical care for AIDS patients. And you will be inspired to research more about the history of the pink triangle and the SILENCE = DEATH images that were and are so integral to LGBTQIA2S+ activist movement.
 Bill Konigsberg | Bill Konigsberg is an amazingly kind, brilliant, funny person and a talented writer of many genres. More than anything, Bill is an advocate for young people. He has won awards, including the Stonewall Award, which recognizes books that honor and truthfully share the experiences of LGBTQIA2S+ individuals. Bill’s advocacy for young people and their rights led to the creation by ALAN of the Bill Konigsberg Award for Acts and Activism for Equity and Inclusion through Young Adult Literature. His actions and words inspire others to speak and act, and I hope this book will inspire you to speak out and act up. |
I want to thank Rebecca and her students for all of their book suggestions throughout November.
To our readers, we'll be here next Friday.
Stay well and keep reading,
Leilya
To our readers, we'll be here next Friday.
Stay well and keep reading,
Leilya
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