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"Well... I'm a teacher, not quite actually, I'm still on probation. I was called to the administration office today, and I don't think I said the right things. I'm not at all happy about my answers."

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521 Class 3 Partner Work (Jill & Logan): Attack of the Black Rectangles

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521 Class 3 Partner Work (Jill & Logan): Attack of the Black Rectangles

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The takeaway for the young reader from Sarig King is a good one, one that has been repeated in various movies and books for decades: It is important to speak truth to power. In this case, the audience is young people, and the message is a tailored to them -- there are adults who will lie to you and those who will tell you the truth, that sometimes when adults withhold the truth it is on purpose and sometimes it is not. Young  people are often more equipped to call out hypocrisy than adults, and that it is important to say something when you see oppression and inequality. These are clearly important lessons for young people growing up in this increasingly oppressive political climate.

As a reader (and by extension a teacher) I related to the strong feeling of wanting to call out injustice. I frequently had this feeling as a young person, and King’s novel offers an example of how to negotiate this types of situations. This was a mirror moment for me.

It was also easy to have sliding door moments in this novel, since the author does a fantastic job of world building, in this idyllic, fantasy town that resembles Stars Hollow, where everybody walks everywhere and everyone knows each other. The book also offers plenty of teaching moments and built-in teaching exercises - for example, students could practice writing their own letters to the editor, or creating blackout poems, or looking up other real life censorship stories. Even if students haven’t experienced censorship in their own lives, this could be a window into that reality, as it was for me.

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521 Class 3 Partner Work (Jill & Logan) RYAL

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521 Class 3 Partner Work (Jill & Logan) RYAL

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YA Pedagogy Reading 1:RYAL Text, Intro & Ch. 1, “Young Adult Literature: A Brief History”

In their chapter “Historicizing Youth, Adolescents, and Teens,” Hinta & Tribunella conclude how we think about youth affects how they are represented in literature.” This stood out to me and offers a positive critical framework to help teachers reframe any negative interpretations of  YAL over the last few decades (i.e. it’s not serious literature, adults who read YA are lazy readers, etc). Most books bought in the US are YAL speaks to the fact that we as a society see our young people as society’s readers. This, from the perspective of an English teacher, can only be seen as a good thing! As the authors point out, prior to the  twentieth century, most fiction was designed for a mixed-age audience. Perhaps we have finally returned to this era.

Adolescence as a social construction - which doesn’t mean that it is a fiction, just that the time between childhood and adulthood has meant different things in different historical contexts. Surely as we have just undergone a major technological revolution as a society, we need to be reflecting on what we mean by “young adult” at this particular moment in time, when children have access to more information than any other time in history.

The authors cite Hall’s study, which found that the social ills associated with modern life came to be embodied by the adolescent, and note that his “pioneering study tells us as much about adult fears as it does about actual young people.” This is such an interesting observation, and one to which I will keep returning. (Jill)

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Two read -- many to go!

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Carl Young on Instagram: "That time of year! 🙏🏼📚
#YALit
#YALbookshelfie
#shelfie
#YALbookstack
#bookstack"

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2 likes, 0 comments - carl_young_nc on August 28, 2025: "That time of year! 🙏🏼📚
#YALit
#YALbookshelfie
#shelfie
#YALbookstack
#bookstack". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carl Young (@carl_young_nc)

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This is an analogue collage.

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Holly as a reader (when she was in middle school)

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Holly's Shelfie

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I wish I had the source for this image. If you can help me out for crediting the artist, let me know. Thanks!

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Generated AI Image using Padlet's Software

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Representation of Bethany Gooding as a Reader:

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Representation of Bethany Gooding as a Reader:

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art image of young woman with dark blonde hair reading with her golden retriver dog

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Representation of J.Gonzalez as a reader

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Representation of J.Gonzalez as a reader

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Bethany, Lucille, Jill, and Jovita - YAL List

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Bethany, Lucille, Jill, and Jovita - YAL List

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Nonfiction/Fiction

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Thriller

Mystery/Dective Fiction

Dystopian

Supernatural

Romance

Historical Fiction

Comedy

Graphic novels

Autobiography

Manga

Multi-cultural

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YAL GENRES:

Realistic Fiction

Science Fiction

Dystopian

Fantasy

Horror

Mystery

Supernatural

Historical Fiction

Romance

Coming of Age Stories

LGBTQ+

Sports

Adventure

Graphic Novels

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I'm from Ottawa, Canada and went to university in Montreal and grad school in iowa City

I've lived in NC since 2007

Places I've been recently is Boone, NC over the summer and stayed at a cool midcentury renovated motel

One place I'd like to go is Whitehorse, Yukon

A place I've visited through reading recently is Turtle Mountain Reservation, through Louise Erdrich's The Night Watchman.

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Jovita Gonzalez's Post Card Intro (She/Hers)

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Jovita Gonzalez's Post Card Intro (She/Hers)

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From: Garner, NC & I still live in Garner,NC

Place I have been to: Salt Lake City, Utah

A place that I want to go to: Arizona

A place that I have visited through reading: West African-inspired kingdom of Orïsha (Children of Blood & Bone)

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~Where I'm From:

Grew up in Winchester, VA or Shenandoah County. I currently live at Fort Bragg, NC.

~Place I've Been:

Went on my first cruise to Cozumel, Mexico!

~Place I Want to Go Soon:

Universal Studios, the Super Mario land.

~Place I've Visited:

Through reading: The Shire

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~I am originally from Denver, Colorado. I have lived in Asheville, NC for 3 years now, and work as a 6th grade assistant teacher at a private middle school called Rainbow Community/Omega Middle.

~A place I've been is Quito Ecuador

~A place I want to go is Scotland

~A place I have visited through reading is the future!

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Lucille Auteri's Post Card (she/her/hers)

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Lucille Auteri's Post Card (she/her/hers)

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I am originally from Brooklyn NY, I moved to Raleigh in the 1900s (99 to be exact)

One recent place I have been is Belhaven NC. I was so beautiful; right off the water. There was such a lovely breeze.

Place I would love to go, although I do not think it will be soon is Sicily which is where my family is from.

Place I have been through reading-Medieval Times

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He/him/his

Where I'm from: Originally from Virginia Beach, VA; currently in Wake Forest, NC

Place I've been: I visited Banff Nat'l Park in Alberta this summer

Place I want to go soon: Japan

Place I've visited through reading: Jurassic Park

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Brittany Miller's Post Card Intro (she/her/hers)

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Brittany Miller's Post Card Intro (she/her/hers)

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I am originally from Lenoir, NC. I currently still live there, though I lived in Wilmington, NC for four years during college.

I have actually only been to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. My favorite place, though, is Wrightsville Beach, NC.

Places I want to go to include Hawaii, London, and Paris.

Places I have visited through reading include London, Los Angeles, New York City, Forks, and many, many others (fictional and non-fictional!)

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Brome Lake Books, Knowlton, Canada // Three Pines

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Dr. Young's Post Card Intro (he/him/his)

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Dr. Young's Post Card Intro (he/him/his)

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~ Where I'm From: Originally from Salem, VA; Raleigh, NC for 19 years now (beginning my 20th!).

~ Place I've Been: Knowlton, a village in Quebec, Canada. (Three Pines, mystery writer, Louise Penny); Dachau, Germany

~ Place I Want to Go Soon: Back to NZ; Ireland

~ Place I've Visited Through Reading: Narnia!