My #alayma Predictions!

Posted on January 28, 2013 by thereadingzone

When You Reach Me won the 2010 Newbery Medal.

At 11am EST/8am PST the ALA Youth Media Awards will begin. I will be hunkered down in my classroom with a few students (hopefully!), watching the awards as they unfold over our lunch. Every year I set a goal for myself- read the Newbery, and now the Printz, Award winner and honor books before they are announced. So here goes again…..my predictions for this year. These are in no particular order and I don’t pretend to know what will take home the gold as opposed to an honor. These are just the books I expect/hope to see honored later today!

Newbery:
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles

Printz:
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Boy21 by Matthew Quick
The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

 

Can’t wait to see if I get any of them right! What are you predicting will take home a sticker?

Filed under: newbery, printz award, YA | Tagged: , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Weekly Diigo Posts (weekly)

Posted on January 27, 2013 by thereadingzone

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Cybils YA Favorites

Posted on January 22, 2013 by thereadingzone

The Cybils process is grueling.  As a Round 1 panelist, you read and read and read for two months and along the way you fall in love with books.  You make your list and then you talk to you fellow panelists.  Horror of horrors, they don’t see the same gems that you do!  The end result is an amazing conversation (ok, many conversations) where the final shortlist is decided.  You learn from your fellow panelists and it’s an amazing experience.  I’m thrilled with our shortlist, but of course there are books I wish we could have added to the list.  Thus, my personal Cybils list was born.  Below I have highlighted some of the books I absolutely loved in the YA category this year and I hope you love them too!

Bookshelves 3 stories

Bookshelves 3 stories (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick-Based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who survived the Pol Pot Regime in Cambodia as a child, McCormick’s tale weaves fiction and nonfiction into a raw and heartbreaking tale of childhood lost.  Arn loses his family and eventually is moved to the very center of the Killing Fields, where he is forced to make decisions that no child should ever be forced to consider.  This is a tissue book, but it’s an important one for teens to read.
  • Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk- This is definitely not a tissue book! Guy is forced to join the Forensics Club at school when his friend Anoop drags him there in the hopes of meeting girls. Guy had me laughing throughout the book, even when he was thinking about his recently-deceased father.  Nothing is sacred to Guy and he will have you laughing on every page.  The snark is perfect and Guy reminds me of some of my friends in high school.  Perfect for high school readers looking for a book not full of love or tears.
  • The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzab- Be warned- this one weighs in at over 400 pages.  But unlike many YA books that seem to drag on when they reach page 350, this one kept me intrigued.  It deals with a lot of issues that don’t crop up in a lot of YA and I appreciated that.  Caro’s older sister joined the convent when Caro was only 8 years old, so they never really knew each other.  For a long time, it was easier to lie about her sister’s whereabouts rather than explain her vocation, which only upsets Caro’s parents.  But when Hannah quits the convent and moves back up, Caro’s whole life is turned upside down.  A great addition to any high school classroom library.  (I also appreciated that the parents in this one were actually decent people who were struggling with how to help both of their daughters).
  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- Do I really need to say anything else about this one? I have 8 copies in circulation in my classroom library and they are all being held hostage by students. Easily the most popular book in my classroom.
  • Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan- This one is just plain fun! Three girls named Elizabeth, from very different classes, are brought together in in England’s scandal-filled court. It’s a very bawdy time period and Sullivan doesn’t shy away from that! But don’t assume this is just Gossip Girl set in the seventeenth-century. It’s intelligent and full of detail about the time period. Probably more on the upper-end of YA, but I would have read it as a teen and loved it!
  • Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn- When I taught 6th grade, Hahn’s books were extraordinarily popular. When this book was nominated for the Cybils I picked it up immediately. I wasn’t sure that Hahn’s writing would hold up in YA but boy oh boy, does it! Based on Hahn’s true-life experience growing up in the shadow of a local murder, this story will haunt you. Perfect for true-crime addicts!
  • Four Secrets by Margaret Willey- This one creeped me out, in a good way. A great mystery that also deals with the ramifications of bullying, it will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story is told from four perspectives, and it actually works!
  • Personal Effects by E.M. Kokie- Matt’s brother, TJ, was killed in Iraq and ever since then Matt’s world has changed. Their father is distant and cruel and Matt is pushing away his friends. But when TJ’s belongings finally arrive from Iraq, Matt sets out on an impromptu road trip to deliver his brother’s unsent letter. But did he really know Matt at all? Kokie pulls no punches and the story moves quickly and without reservation. Highly recommended.
  • You Are My Only by Beth Kephart- Two tales woven together to complete a single story, Kephart’s prose is really poetry and it’s compulsively readable. I read this one straight through and I imagine many teens will, too. I won’t spoil it, but know that the stories of two women are told- Emmy, who is abused and neglected by her husband and Sophie, a 14-year-old who is homeschooled and hidden away from the outside world. Both stories are heartbreaking yet the story is full of hope. Gorgeous!
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Filed under: cybils | Tagged: , , , , | 4 Comments »

Weekly Diigo Posts (weekly)

Posted on January 20, 2013 by thereadingzone

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Weekly Diigo Posts (weekly)

Posted on January 13, 2013 by thereadingzone

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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What Will You Do with an English Degree?

Posted on January 9, 2013 by thereadingzone
View as slideshow
  1. DavidVibert
    David Vibert@DavidVibert
    Michael Berube asks: ”what will you do with an English degree?” and concludes- a lot. bit.ly/X7lSqB

    Tue, Jan 08 2013 06:15:20

    ·

  2. roundtrip
    Greg Lloyd@roundtrip
    RT @samplereality: Another way of interpreting the data @MichaelBerube1 uses ( bit.ly/Wkefuj) is that STEM degrees need more reading and writing. #MLA13

    Sat, Jan 05 2013 06:39:01

    ·

  3. roundtrip
    Greg Lloyd@roundtrip
    “The more reading and writing they did – serious reading, analytical writing – the more they learned. ” bit.ly/Wkefuj > STEM please

    Sat, Jan 05 2013 06:42:08

    ·

  4. MariettaCollVB
    Marietta College VB@MariettaCollVB
    A very interesting article that makes a great argument for some majors that you may have never considered! fb.me/16PVsWNd7

    Mon, Jan 07 2013 09:36:31

    ·

  5. BigPictureID
    BP Instructional@BigPictureID
    Great post! Developing critical media literacy across texts and kinds of media (including film) is absolutely an asset. buff.ly/S9IMQk

    Mon, Jan 07 2013 12:50:18

    ·

  6. NIUCLASIntern
    NIU CLAS Intern@NIUCLASIntern
    That Humanities Degree you’re pursuing will suit you quite nicely career-wise… tinyurl.com/afgqyzt

    Tue, Jan 08 2013 06:50:51

    ·

  7. BrevardLibrary
    Brevard Coll Library@BrevardLibrary
    Students! rethink the humanities…. fb.me/2HMYHfvCa

    Tue, Jan 08 2013 13:39:45

    ·

  8. KaitlinSchluter
    Kaitlin Schluter@KaitlinSchluter
    To anyone who’s ever been asked, “What do you do with an English (insert other creative) degree?” bit.ly/WbYzJa @CNN

    Tue, Jan 08 2013 21:32:28

    ·

  9. PSU_Admissions
    PSU Admissions@PSU_Admissions
    Wondering about the value of a liberal arts degree? One of our #pennstate profs breaks it down for @CNN ow.ly/gEaK6

    Wed, Jan 09 2013 05:00:25

    ·

  10. Dr_Pasini
    Joy Pasini@Dr_Pasini
    Great article by Michael Bérubé on the value of a Humanities degree schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn….

    Sun, Jan 06 2013 14:35:47

    ·

  11. DonnaBickford
    DonnaBickford@DonnaBickford
    RT @KenSmith: “Humanities majors .. are employable anywhere in the economy where there is thinking to be done”–Michael Bérubé. schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn….

    Mon, Jan 07 2013 09:06:11

    ·

Filed under: miscellaneous | Leave a comment »

Weekly Diigo Posts (weekly)

Posted on January 6, 2013 by thereadingzone

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Filed under: teaching resources | Leave a comment »

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