So What?

This course has taken me from someone who reads and enjoys YA literature to someone who understands the importance and power of texts that help adolescents understand who they are and how they fit into the world. This course challenged me to expand my horizons. When I first received the book list for this course, I eagerly printed it and highlighted all of the books I had already read– 15 of the books. I had read none of the books in the mental health, speculative fiction, and retellings categories. I had thought I was a well rounded reader, but maybe not! In the weeks of this summer course, I finished 22 books on the reading list, plus James and The Secret Garden. My choices helped me understand myself as a reader. I didn’t realize I was such a fan of middle grades texts! Some of my favorite books were Thirst, Look Both Ways, and Maizy Chen’s Last Chance. My other favorites were Unbecoming, which was my first NetGalley book, Everything Sad Is Untrue, and Darius the Great Is Not Okay. 

Reading extensively helped me understand how necessary reading alongside your students is. I had read several books that were recommended on a popular podcast last year. It was how I found When Stars Are Scattered and New Kid. But I hadn’t read all of the books I’d heard about on that podcast until this summer. And when I read Dragon Hoops, I could see why my student who said he liked sports couldn’t get into it. And when I read They Both Die at the End I was glad I hadn’t recommended it to anyone without reading it first. Reading widely and extensively enough to recommend books to a classroom full of students is no small task! But it is so important, and I am eager to bring my reading self into the classroom this year. I acquired an embarrassing number of books that I haven’t read yet this summer. Next on my list is finishing Jason Reynolds’ upcoming book Twenty-Four Seconds from Now and Darius the Great Deserves Better. I am looking forward to posting my reading in my classroom. One of my colleagues posted “What Ms. M. is reading” on her classroom door last year, and it always gave me something to talk with her about. It is amazing how many conversations a book title can start.

One thing that was new for me in this class was the adolescent lens from Sarigianides, Petrone, and Lewis. Now that I am aware of common stereotypes about adolescents in Young Adult Literature, I am eager to explore and expose them with my students. I am especially looking forward to having them complete the body biography activity in which they describe a typical adolescent and then see how they consider themselves in relation to that profile of a typical teen. I think this will be a powerful way to have them think about their own identity while they examine the books they read with a critical eye. Teaching adolescent literature is a huge job, but endlessly rewarding. Just today one of my tenth grade students came into my classroom and said, “Ms. Burke, I was supposed to read They Called Us Enemy for my summer reading. Do you know that book?” I proudly exclaimed, “I HAVE THAT BOOK!” and quickly located it on my classroom bookshelf. My student took the book and sat down at a desk. A few minutes later, he looked up, and said, “Ms. Burke . . .” He paused and flipped through the pages before continuing his question. “Did this . . . really happen?” I sat down in the desk next to my student. And thus our adventure begins.