A Year in Review: 2008-2009

Well, despite a slow last couple of months, my blog has reached it’s one year anniversary.  And I think the year has been rather successful.  I experimented with different styles of reviews, having polls, and the types of YA lit that I’ve read.  I have plenty more to do, and I am hoping to renew [...]

I’ve Returned

Sorry for my long hiatus.  Once I started teaching full time I seemed to lose any extra time to just read for pleasure.  And with it, the time to post about anything I’ve read.  But, I need to find more time for myself, and I am going to make a more concentrated effort to begin [...]

May Recap

May wasn’t my greatest month for reading.  But, I did get some good books read. So in case you missed it- here’s what I read:(Numbers correspond to their placement on my list of books read so far for the entire year.)
24. Being Nikki- Meg Cabot 
25. The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier 
26. Dead is the New Black- Marlene Perez
27. Jellicoe Road- [...]

Tears of A Tiger- Sharon Draper

Shop Indie Bookstores
 
Written in 1994 Tears of A Tiger will still resonate with students now, 15 years later.  This story deals with the aftermath of a drunk driving accident that kills a high school student.  The relationships between friends, children and parents, teachers, and counselors are all discussed through transcripts of discussions, newspaper articles, diary entries, [...]

Results for Poll #5- Favorite YA Authors

Here are the results from last week’s poll about who your Favorite YA Authors are.
1.Laurie Halse Anderson 40% (6 votes)
2.Other: 27% (4 votes) 
3.John Green 13% (2 votes) 
4.Robert Cormier 7% (1 votes)
4.Sharon Draper 7% (1 votes)
4.Chris Crutcher 7% (1 votes)
It wasn’t a very big sample… but interesting results nonetheless.  Check back tomorrow for a new poll, [...]

April’s Recap

April was a good month for reading for me.  Which is surprising because I had a lot going on.  So in case you missed it- here’s what I read:(Numbers correspond to their placement on my list of books read so far for the entire year.)
17. A White Darkness – Geraldine McCaughrean
18. American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang
19. [...]

Updated Posts

I had completely forgotten that Sharon Draper is very good about having discussion guides and other resources available for teachers and librarians on her website for her books.  So I updated my three reviews of Draper books to include links to their respective resources.  Click on Draper under the categories on the left hand side [...]

The Battle of Jericho- Sharon M. Draper

Shop Indie Bookstores
I am a fan of Sharon Draper.  I love that her books are urban, but have subtle and not so subtle morals.  When I’ve used some of her other novels in class the students really identify with the characters.  She does it again with this book.  The characters are all easy to identify [...]

Copper Sun- Sharon Draper

This novel is much different than Draper’s other works.  It is set during slavery and follows  one girl from her capture in Africa through her experiences with slavery here in America.  It is clear that Draper did a great deal of research to write this book.  The main character is 15 years old.  Due to [...]

Romiette and Julio-Sharon Draper

I have liked every single one of Drapers books that I have read.  This book is great because it plays off of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by having two teens of different races dating.  It has gangs, some violence, and deals with race issues in a very real way.  Draper catches readers’ (esp teens) attention [...]