# data[].attributes.body
Advice/recommendations from a growing community of bibliophiles.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Next Best Book Club - TNBBC's Lists: Top YA Social Studies Books Showing 1-14 of 14

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
14 discussion posts. Philip said: Alright, so I'm actually just looking for suggestions. The 7th grade SS dept. is looking into working with LA in order ...

# data[].attributes.body
A rich resource organized by age, diversity, and content level literary needs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You know how I'm always going on and on about how what I really want is just a book of endless dialogue because that's what I like-strong characters just talking? Well, with this book, I get that. Hand this to readers who like different formats and their romances more on the cerebral side.

# data[].attributes.body
Short summaries that will help me determine whether a children's book can be incorporated into a junior high lesson.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
We are one of the nation's leading children's book review journals for school and public librarians. We provide concise summaries and critical evaluations to help you find the books you need for your library's collection.
Fantastical depictions of history often use fantasy elements to provide emotional distance from the tragedies of the past. This month's Big Picture, Brooms, instead draws on the fantastical to amplify and confront issues of both the past and the present. Set in 1930s Mississippi, this graphic novel follows a team of magic users called the Night Storms, women of color who compete in illegal broom races by night. It is a heartfelt, gripping, and resonant story about power-how the majority wields it, and how marginalized groups reclaim it.

Our best books of the year for 2022 are available now! We were lucky this year to see a sizeable increase in the diverse identities and ideas represented in literature for youth, and with that in mind, we couldn't help but expand our own award list-there were just too many stellar examples of our field's growing inclusivity. Happy reading!

75 Years of Children's Literature

The 75th volume year of the Bulletin is being commemorated in a digital timeline exhibit at https://ccb.ischool.illinois.edu/ccb75/. As the Bulletin prepares to move into its future, take a look at its past, in glorious black and white and on bleed-through onionskin paper.

The Bulletin is partnered with the Center for Children's Books, a research center whose mission is to facilitate the creation and dissemination of exemplary and progressive research and scholarship related to youth-focused resources, literature, and librarianship.

Cover illustration from Brooms copyright © 2023 Teo DuVall. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Levine Querido.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We are one of the nation's leading children's book review journals for school and public librarians. We provide concise summaries and critical evaluations to help you find the books you need for your library's collection. Fantastical depictions of history often use fantasy elements to provide emotional distance from the tragedies of the past.

# data[].attributes.body
YA literature curated lists that make finding the right book for a student easier.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers need to create an environment where all students feel safe. Bullying poisons a school's culture. YA Literature can help teachers recognize and address bullying.

# data[].attributes.body
Building an understanding and appreciation for diverse cultures is crucial in the 21st Century. As a social studies teacher, I have a responsibility to introduce students to different points of view.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, videos, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.

Teacher Resources by Grade

Your students can save their work with Student Interactives.

More

Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan

Grades

6 - 8

Lesson Plan Type

Standard Lesson

Estimated Time

Eight 50-minute sessions

Lesson Author

Publisher

Featured Resources From Theory to Practice
OVERVIEW

Incorporating literature from diverse cultures and with diverse points of view means more than adding new books to the reading list. Exposing students to literature from and about the Middle East requires particular sensitivity, as students may approach the text with incorrect, often negative, prejudices. This lesson supports the use of multicultural literature through modification of traditional literature circle roles using a cultural response perspective. Students read and share their responses and research in collaborative groups. At the end of the lesson, they write a letter about their book's main character as if he or she has just moved to their school and community.

This lesson plan adapted from classroom ideas in Middle Ground: Exploring Selected Literature from and about the Middle East by Sheryl L. Finkle and Tamara J. Lilly.
back to top back to top
FEATURED RESOURCES

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
back to top
In Middle Ground: Exploring Selected Literature from and about the Middle East, Sheryl Finkle and Tamara Lily offer a framework for incorporating multicutural texts in the literature classroom. They note the importance of exposing learners to a broad range of texts, explaining the need to "dispel cultural myths and give students opportunities to view issues from the perspectives of different individuals and groups" (29""30). They suggest that when introducing texts that represent cultures or world views that are significantly different from the students' backgrounds, there is a need to change the instructional approach.

They assert that reader response and New Criticism are insufficient and instead support a cultural studies approach in which students "build cultural insight through sharing different views in class or conducting research . . . and experience reading as a dialectic process where they work from initial raw connections and uncritical stances to make connections to other readings that may make them uncomfortable, creating critical interpretations" (31).

Further Reading

Finkle, Sheryl L., and Tamara J. Lilly. Middle Ground: Exploring Selected Literature from and about the Middle East. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2008.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Young Adult Literature about the Middle East: A Cultural Response Perspective - ReadWriteThink

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Adapted from Sheryl L. Finkle and Tamara J. Lilly's Middle Ground: Exploring Selected Literature from and about the Middle East, this variation on traditional literature circles exposes students to a variety of young adult fiction from and about the Middle East. Students read and share research and responses in collaborative groups.

# data[].attributes.body
I have a hour commute to work, so I enjoy listening to podcasts that can inform my teaching practices.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Home › Parent & Afterschool Resources › Podcast Series

Text Messages is a monthly podcast providing families, educators, out-of-school practitioners, and tutors reading recommendations they can pass along to teen readers. Each episode will feature in-depth recommendations of titles that will engage and excite teen readers.

HOST

Jennifer Buehler, Ph.D.

Jennifer Buehler taught English for ten years before earning a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan's Joint Program in English and Education. As a high school teacher, she used young adult literature and a large classroom library to engage and inspire her students as readers. Watching students choose books led Jennifer to expand her own reading accordingly as part of the ongoing quest to meet the needs and interests of teens.

As a teacher consultant with the Eastern Michigan Writing Project, Jennifer led workshops on young adult literature for parents, teachers, and students in university methods classes. Now Assistant Professor of English Education at Saint Louis University, Jennifer teaches classes on young adult literature, English methods, writing pedagogy, content area literacy, and urban education. She was recently elected president of NCTE's Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN), and she served as a member of ALAN's first Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee.

Jennifer is the host of Text Messages: Recommendations for Teen Readers, a monthly podcast focusing on the best of young adult literature.

page | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Episode 84 | Published November 02, 2016
Being a YA Lit Advocate
Tune in to hear about what it means to be a YA lit advocate and what YA advocacy work can look like. You'll learn strategies you can use to challenge misconceptions about YA lit. You'll also hear about a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles you can recommend to teen readers.

Episode 83 | Published August 03, 2016
Finding the YA Community at NCTE Convention
Tune in to hear about specific things you can do to find the YA community at NCTE Annual Convention. You'll learn about the kinds of YA lit sessions that typically appear on the program, and you'll hear tips from YA advocates about how to make the most of the opportunity to meet authors, discover new books, and connect with others who love young adult literature as much as you do.

Episode 82 | Published June 21, 2016
Appreciating Audiobooks
In this episode, you'll hear about what goes on behind the scenes in audiobook production. You'll also hear samples from an array of distinguished audio titles including YA classics as well as newer works of contemporary realistic fiction, dystopian fiction, historical fiction, and novels written in verse.

Episode 81 | Published January 08, 2015
A Tribute to Patty Campbell
Today's YA readers benefit from knowing the wise elders of our field: those who promoted, defended, and celebrated young adult literature when doing so was far less popular than it is now. Tune in to hear about Patty Campbell: teen services librarian, writer/critic, and significant influence on the field.

Episode 80 | Published December 23, 2014
An Invitation to the ALAN Workshop
Tune in to hear testimonials from a variety of this year's attendees. Some are relatively new to ALAN, while others have been involved for years. What they all have in common is a passion for the workshop and a willingness to talk about their experience with others.

page | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
back to top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Text Messages: Recommendations for Adolescent Readers - ReadWriteThink

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Home › Parent & Afterschool Resources › Podcast Series Text Messages is a monthly podcast providing families, educators, out-of-school practitioners, and tutors reading recommendations they can pass along to teen readers. Each episode will feature in-depth recommendations of titles that will engage and excite teen readers.

# data[].attributes.body
Resources for finding literary works with multiple points of view.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, WNDB aims to create a world where every reader can find themselves in the pages of a book. To reach this goal, we've created programs to mentor diverse writers and illustrators, support diverse publishing professionals, and provide books to classrooms nationwide.

# data[].attributes.body
Read historical non-fiction and fiction book reviews.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Arntfield, Michael - Mad City: The True Story of the Campus Murders America Forgot

Blum, Deborah - The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

Cohen, Joel H - How to Lose a Marathon: A Starter's Guide to Finishing in 26.2 Chapters

Foreman, Tom - My Year of Running Dangerously: A Dad, a Daughter, and a Ridiculous Plan

Freeman, Gregory A - The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II

Haydu, Bernice 'Bee' Falk - Letters Home: 1944-1945 Women Airforce Service Pilots

Heminsley, Alexandra - Running Like a Girl

Ilgunas, Ken - Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom

Jackson, Steve - No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators

Krakauer, Jon - Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains

Lacke, Susan- Life's Too Short to Go So F*cking Slow: Lessons from an Epic Friendship that Went the Distance

Lefebure, Molly - Murder on the Home Front: A True Story of Morgues, Murderers, and Mysteries During the London Blitz

Mar, Alex - The Electricity Fairy

Raymer, Edward C. - Descent into Darkness Pearl Harbor 1941: A Navy Diver's Memoir

Sloan, David L. - Ghosts of Key West

Zuckoff, Mitchell - Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Arntfield, Michael - Mad City: The True Story of the Campus Murders America Forgot B Blum, Deborah - The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York C Cohen, Joel H - How to Lose a Marathon: A Starter's Guide to Finishing in 26.2 Chapters F Foreman, Tom...

# data[].attributes.body
Read reviews on popular YA novels, enter to win new releases, and follow upcoming release news.