Picture Book

When I get the chance to pick a picture book for YA's I immediately think of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. It is a huge book, but the illustrations are beautiful and move the plot along seamlessly.

For kicks, I also checked out City of Light, City of Dark by Avi. This is a graphic novel. My first one unless Diary of a Wimpy Kid counts as one and I was incredibly disappointed. The story line was horrible and completely unrealistic. One of the characteristics of good young adult novels was not too many coincidences and this book was chock full of them. I also now know why my students write in fragments. This book was full of them and I didn't see the point of them. I know authors use them purposely but this was every other page and just made me think a lot less of Avi. I will never pick up another so-called graphic novel. talk about dumbing down our kids. If anyone has a suggestion for a good graphic novel (which I think Hugo qualifies as one, but there is no comparison) I would love to hear of it. Why did Avi waste his time?

I also have Good Master! Sweet Ladies! checked out but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It is a straight-forward picture book with more prose than word bubbles.

Reader-Response Questions/chapter 4 Reflection

I currently don't teach a reading class so I passed these out to my homeroom students. Our homeroom is a combination silent reading and homework help period. I offered students extra credit in homeroom to complete it, but as HR is an easy "A" already, I haven't received any in return.

However after viewing all the lists provided in this chapter, I know that this will be one textbook that I won't sell on Ebay or to Powell's. I want to keep it so that when my own kids are old enough to be reading YA books, I will have it as a resource. I don't know what pitfalls my own children will come across in their adolescence, but I know that sometimes, books have more of an impact that a talk with a parent. Being able to have the appropriate book in my home at the time when they could come across it, may be the best way for me to continue to help shape their worldview when they are trying to create one separate of me and their dad. This text is a quick easy reference to what books I plan on buying as they enter adolescence.

Best Young Adult Books of All Time

While I agree with most of the books on the lists I have a few problems with it. First, I feel that The Catcher in the Rye is only on there because it was the first so-called young adult problem-novel. When I read it I really didn't like the main character (his name slips my mind) and couldn't identify with him much at all. He is a entitled brat in my opinion and was when I read it when I was a teenager. Then again, I was a very practical teen, but at the same time I don't think many adolescents can feel much empathy with a private school brat. One of my favorite books of all time is on there, Out of the Dust was a beautiful book and it didn't come out until I was in college for my bachelor's degree. I wonder if Holes made it up so far because that is about the time the book came out as the movie. I don't feel that that book should have received so many votes.

Chris Crutcher was on there a few more times than I would have put him on there. Yes, he really appeals to young adults, but as far as good writing goes, I don't know if he is up there with the likes of Cormier, Hesse and Lowry. I just read Ironman and it really doesn't strike a chord with me. Yes, the subjects are sensitive, but his character development is pretty generic in my opinion. Good read, but forgettable.

I am hugely disappointed that my favorite overall YA author, Richard Peck, didn't make the list anywhere. His books make me laugh and cry. However, I grew up in the exact places in Illinois that he sets his books. If youare interested A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder are wonderful. A must read if you are from the mid-west.

Seeing lists like this make me create a "To Read" list so here it is. (My ultimate goal before I die is to read the 100 Greatest American Novels of which Catcher in the Rye is the only YA book on there, but I need several interruptions to this reading goal.)

-reread Speak (I think I've read it, but can't remember it enough to feel as if I truly appreciated it.)
-Do I have to read Hatchet? That is so not my genre, but as one of my boys told me the other day, "Mrs. Alvarez, you have a lot of girl books." The child speaks the truth.
-Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
-The Pigman
-Weetzie Bat (I've never even heard of this one.)
-Stargirl (I see this in my kid's hands all the time.)

Off to the library to find these reads!

Student Surveys

Well, I feel as I had a pretty good idea of who my students were before and after the survey. Their choices were for the most part what I thought they would be. Avitar showed up a lot. It was pretty sad though in my opinion some of the movies that some of these students had seen and said were their favorite. Superbad and The Hangover aren't appropriate for 11 and 12 year olds. I need to read some Anthony Horowitz. He showed up on a few of my boys' surveys as their favorite author, and I was informed the other day by one of them that I didn't have enough boy books on my classroom shelves. Also, I want to look up Heather Brewer and Mayra Lazara Dole. They were the only two authors I didn't recognize among such names as Tolkien, Paulsen, Rawls, etc. I actually learned thought, that Lemony Snicket is a real person. I don't know why, but even though I've read the books, I thought he was a pen name. What an amazing name! Finally, the survey was pretty telling in an unexpected way. The students who had the more mature content on their surveys had more discipline problems. Now, I didn't do a statistical analysis of this, but as a teacher, I'm pretty sure my connections are accurate. Interesting. There is something to be said for age appropriate material. As a teacher, I will walk carefully if I feel that there may be censorship issues because I can understand as a parent, what I want my own children exposed to. Now that may sound old-fashioned and conservative in the public education circle, but it is my stance out of respect for my students and thier parents.

Censorship In My District

I haven't had experience with what would be considered normal censorship, I have had in interesting experience with one of my example essays I used for when I taught my "How To" writing unit. I have a wonderful student example titled "Botheration." It is a hilarious and well-written how-to on bothering people. I had a set of grandparents who were in tough situation and actually thought I was teaching their grandchild how to bully other students. I need to get online at school and post a copy of this essay. It is brilliant work in my opinion, but then again, the censors are EVERYWHERE! (Mostly, I putting this post up to remind myself to post the essay.)

The 8th grade teachers in my school get parental permission for a few of thier high-risk students to read Fighting Rueben Wolfe It is out of print, so if you want to get your hands on it, you will need to look a little bit. It is easy to find on the internet, but my library system in southern Oregon doesn't have it.

Censorship Post 2

I also decided to pick up Robert Cormier's I Am the Cheese becuase I've seen it on censorship lists along with his The Chocolate War. Now, having read the latter book, I can understand why it ends up on the lists. However, I can't really get a handle on why this book would be on the lists. There is not foul language and no tricky subject matter except (and this is a huge stretch) the main character ends up being completely insane at the end. Who knows maybe The Dairy Farmers of America were upset that the title of the book is misleading. =)

Censored Books

In honor of the censored books week, I decided to read some of the man who chimed in censorship in the textbook, Chris Crutcher. I've read a few of his books, but it has been a few years, so I chose to read, Ironman. Now this book, covers the gamut of issues and it was printed prior to what I consider the mainstreaming of many of these issues. For example, while gay rights a common topic in the news today, when IM was published in 1995 it wasn't as well, mainstream. This book also covers problems such as bullying, molestation, child abuse, etc.

The basic premise of the book is our protagonist, Bo Brewster is training for a modified Ironman when he is sentenced to an anger management class. Within this class he finds not only his support group for his Ironman, but he find his support group for life.

While, I would probably get pretty upset if my middle schooler came home with any of Crutcher's books (and I can say that from the perspective of a parent who has read several) I think these are excellent books for students of high school age. Yes, Crutcher approaches some very tough and sensitive subjects. And yes, he does not gloss over them in any way. But, yes, he handles these real situation in a mature, sensitive nature. I am an admirer of Crutcher because he presents the topics but doesn't glamorize them or use crudeness to tell his story. I think that while there are age-appropriate materials, I also think that Crutcher doesn't market or pander to preteens.

The Adolescent Mind in Movies!

For this assignment I decided to go for an old classic rather than a newer movie. (My second choice was New Moon.) So, I enjoyed watching The Breakfast Club which came out in 1985. At the time when it came out, the reviewers who weren't fans of the breakfast club, said that all of the parental figures in the movie were abusive or antagonistic. Also, the groups that the different groups fit into were a little if over-simplistic, but I think that was the point. So many adolescents however, can identify with this because they think the world has pushed them into these roles, but no one really really knows them. Also, the idea these teens can present a unified front against the adult world may be satisfying to a teenager who feels as if their parents don't understand them.

This movie would also appeal to adolescents because it doesn't sugar coat much. "The criminal" or Bender, has cigar burns from his dad; "The princess" is used by her parents as a tool against one another; "The jock" is being forced into a future that he doesn't want; "The brain's" parents don't show any compassion; "The nut case's" parents sexually abuse her, or that is what is implied. There is sex, drugs, and cussing.

I think this movie would still appeal to adolescents today. The movie's music and the characters' outfits are outdated, but I think a 15 year old would still get into this movie.

At times, from the point of view of a parent or teacher, I didn't like this movie. (I'm not sure if I would have liked it as a teen. I was pretty straight and narrow, and didn't like to hear about other kids being hurt even if it was a movie.) However, there were also scenes in the movie such as when Emilio Estevez explains what he was in detention for, made me realize that a lot of the perceived "badness" of teenagers are because of the messages society and more importantly what their first role models, their parents, send them.

Did My Perspective on YAL or Adolescent Literature Change?

I have one small amendment to to make about my thoughts on what I think adolescence is in relationship to young adult literature. The book states that YAL is usually about a teenager or young adult. While I still think that adolescence is defined by the developmental occurrences rather than the age, Pam Cole writes that most YA books are geared to the life experiences that this age group is going through.

Here what I wonder and feel free to respond. I ask this because of the convergence of two things. First the current generation in adolescence is the Harry Potter generation, and they are voracious readers (or at least book buyers Cook states in chapter 2) once hooked. Also, American culture in general is more accepting of and able to support (due to relatively luxurious lives) an extended adolescence. So, as the current generation in adolescence begins to move into young adulthood and adulthood, will we see so majority of YA books begin to focus more on (or at least expand to include) twenty-somethings?

YA Lit Bio

I have always been a reader. My earliest memories are of my dad reading "Custard the Cowardly Dragon" to my brothers and sisters and I (there were a lot of us...if you haven't read this to your children, please do!). My mom, a teacher herself, let us choose; we could lay down for a nap every afternoon in the summer or read her Child Craft Encyclopedias. I chose to read the "encyclopedias" especially the one with the short stories and poems in it. I was the kid who always read the most books for Accelerated Reader and didn't do it for the prizes. I have always read and still do.

Reading is my escape. Forget TV. Forget the Internet. I can't use my imagination with those medias. They are way too limiting and therefore boring. When I read Caddie Woodlawn and Jacob Have I Loved you can bet I saw myself as the main character. I lived with the Box Car Children in every place they found themselves and Nancy Drew didn't look like the girl on the cover of the book, but surprisingly like me. I could and still can if I'm able, drown in a book for an entire day.

I find that you can divide people into two groups--people who read and readers. I am a reader. It isn't something I do, it is something I am.

What is an adolescent?

The first incorrect assumption that must be cleared up about this term is that adolescence is an age period. Yes, typically people move through adolescence sometime in their teen years, but that being said it isn't the age that defines the term it is the change. Adolescence is the time period, short or long where one moves from being a child to an adult. It is when some life experience causes us to view ourselves not as the center of the world, but a part of the world; a part that has a specific role.

Adolescence is rocky because for the first time, we are aware of ourselves and in that awareness comes unsureness. We aren't sure how we fit into the world. As I look at my 8 month old son, I realize that the stage he is going through right now mimics the stage he will go through later on in his adolescence. Right now he is discovering the world. What happens when I drop my bottle on the ground? What happens if I yell in my crib? What does that dirt on the ground taste like? He is discovering the world because he feels the security to do so since he knows that his dad and I will be there as a safety net. When he is going through adolescence instead of discovering the world as it relates to him, he will be discovering himself as he relates to the world. What group do I want to fit in in high school? How do I want to act in groups? How do I want my teachers to perceive me? What kind of identity do I want to build for myself? Hopefully, if I do my job as a parent, that he will feel secure to make sound decisions while he creates this identity that will go with him in some form or another the rest of his life.

Adolescence is the time when we must learn about ourselves because if we don't know ourselves, we can't figure out where we fit in relation to the world, and therefore won't function successfully as part of the world.

Whatever time period we finally get to know ourselves is our adolescence. I've seen an 8 year old move swiftly through adolescence to adulthood at a young age and I've seen 27 year olds seem to be stuck in adolescence. They haven't had to figure out who they are in relationship to the world yet. So, in sum, it isn't the age that matters, it the switch in our perspectives. Adolescence is the journey to discovering who we are in relationship to the world.

Week 1 YAL Post

So I am relatively new to blogging. Luckily my school gave teachers their own blogs this past year, so I have had a chance to play around with it. I hope to learn more about blogging this term.

I apologize for the lack of creativity that this blog may display. I wanted to name it hugger-mugger (look it up on dictionary.com) and really go off on a tangent, but in the end, the other side of my brain took control, and I named it Alvarez Young Adult Literature. Boring, I know. Good thing I teach writing and mathematics. Both sides of my brain get worked out everyday!