10 LGTBQ+ Books You Should Have In Your Classroom Library

Have you ever read a book and thought, "wow I'm just like the main character"? Have you ever read a book and wished that one of the characters was a real person because they would be your best friend? Shouldn't everyone feel that way at one point or another? Having a diverse collection of books in your classroom library is extremely important. Often teachers can't control the list of books they teach to the whole class, but teachers can make sure that diverse books are available to meet the needs of their students. Here are some suggestions of LGTBQ+ young adult books that would make a great addition to any secondary classroom library. 

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo: Camino and Yahaira are half-sisters, but neither has any idea the other exists until a plane crashes, taking their shared father with it. Camino, who lives in the Dominican Republic, was used to rarely seeing her father, while Yahaira, a lesbian who lives in New York City, knew her father took a lot of business trips. Finally meeting means piecing together his life of lies, but it also means finding someone who understands exactly what they're going through, and maybe that's exactly what they each need to help them get through it.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green: Two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name. The boys are complete opposites, but their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend. The book is told from both characters’ point of view in alternating chapters. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz: Fifteen-year-old Aristotle (Ari) has always felt lonely and distant from people until he meets Dante , a boy from another school who teaches him how to swim. Ari’s world opens up while they discuss life, art, literature, and their Mexican-American roots. Additionally, the influence of Dante ’s warm, open family is shaping Ari’s relationship with his parents, particularly in regard to a family secret; Ari has an older brother in prison, who no one ever mentions. The story swells to a dramatic climax as Ari’s loyalties are tested, and he confronts his most deeply buried fears and desires. 

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: It’s Simon Snow’s last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and it’s not going as planned. His magic, always unstable, has been even more unpredictable, which is bad news with the magical world’s most infamous bad guy after him. His girlfriend is distant, and he’s afraid he’ll lose touch with his best friend after graduation. But most unsettling of all, Simon’s frustrating, evil, pretty-sure-he’s-a-vampire nemesis/roommate hasn’t come back to school. Baz is probably just off plotting somewhere, but what if he’s really in trouble? And why does Simon care so much, anyway? 

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar Bengali: Irish teen Nishat can be anything she wants to be—anything except a lesbian, that is. Her parents think she can simply "choose" to be straight. Nishat's childhood friend Flávia, a Brazilian Irish girl comes back into her life, and she instantly has a crush on her. Nishat needs to figure out if her all-consuming feelings are worth defying her parents over. 

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper: Cal is a Brooklyn teen and a social media phenomenon. When his passenger-pilot father gets the call from NASA to join a Mars probe program, Cal and his mother, who suffers from severe anxiety, have to move with him to Houston. Cal develops a crush on new neighbor Leon, who is battling depression. The boys fall in love but their parents are both competing for the same spot in NASA’s mission.

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her stepsisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all–and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew.  

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo: After surviving a brutal attack, Amanda moves from Georgia to Tennessee for the new school year. She plans to stay focused and get through senior year, but kind, attractive Grant causes a distraction that wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for her deepest secret. Amanda is transgender and no one in her new school knows. Amanda struggles to live the life of a “normal” teen. The story goes back and forth between present day and the past before Amanda moved. 

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle: Sixteen-year-old Quinn Roberts is hiding from the world because her sister died in a car crash six months ago. Quinn is ready to give up his dreams of writing screenplays. Quinn’s best friend Geoff insists it’s time for Quinn to go out and have some fun. Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a good looking guy that he’s interested in. Quinn starts imagining a life where he’s a screenplay writer and living a happy life once again. 

The Black Flamingo by Dean Alta: Michael always knew that he was different in more ways than one. He would compare himself to the black flamingo of Cyprus. He was anatomically the same, but a standout amongst his flock. When he comes out during high school with uncertainties about what exactly his sexual preferences are, he’s faced with a lot of big questions related to his family, friends, and ultimately who he wants to be in the world as he prepares to take off to university.

Previously I wrote another post about this topic: 6 LGTBQ Books You Should Add to Your Classroom Library. Both lists of books are good for secondary students. If you have any YA book recommendations let me know. 

*This post contains some affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps me pay for the cost of maintaining my website.  

3 Ways to Use Classroom Libraries with COVID Concerns

3 Ways to Use Classroom Libraries with COVID Concerns

 

Independent reading is a huge part of English classrooms. With COVID 19 lurking, English teachers need to make some changes to using their classroom libraries. Don’t worry though, with these simple steps, independent reading and book choice can absolutely continue in your classroom!  

Here are 3 ways to continue to use your classroom library with COVID concerns.

Digital Checkout System

Scholars love to peruse our books, touch them, read the back, flip through to see how many chapters, or to read a few pages to evaluate their interest. This feels like a big downfall with COVID, as we don’t want our students touching the books and returning them for someone else to touch. However, there is always a solution!  You can use a digital checkout system. There are some great ones for organizing classroom libraries and many of them are free! 

•  Booksource or Libib are great choices. Even better, take the time to inventory your library in one of these systems and use it forever! It may take time in the beginning if your library is large, but totally worth it in the end. 

• If you know you don’t have the time to set up something like a digital inventory, use Google Slides to introduce a few books at a time. You can have an image, a few pages, and the back cover! This sounds like a great project for students to do too! Can we say book reviews? Our students would be so proud if you were to reuse their work as a classroom library preview! 

• Another option is using Google forms for check out. If a student wants to check out a book, have them fill out the form and then you can document check out, check in, and everything in between. Simple and effective. 

• If you're going for simple, have students search titles and descriptions of books in your library on the Internet and that could still be touchless without any of the work on your end!

72 Hour Rule

Now that you have options for check out, let’s talk safety. When a child takes a book home during this pandemic, you may shudder by the thought of it being returned. However, COVID-19 is being studied in multiple settings and reports are claiming that the virus does not continue to live on paper or books after 72 hours. This is great news for classroom libraries. Here are some more ways to keep the library safe for everyone:

•  Use clear contact paper for your covers so when it is returned the student simply wipes down the cover with a disinfectant wipe. Then it must go into quarantine before the next student can use it. Lysol and other sprays are not recommended, but you can also wipe down the book with a disinfecting wipe.

• When a book is returned, have the student place it in a specific box for quarantine. You will need a few plastic boxes or you can even use ziplock bags! Mark the date on the plastic with a post-it or an expo marker! 

• Make your procedures for checking in books clear and make check in days only on Mondays. This helps especially if you do First Chapter Friday, because the books could potentially stay in quarantine for a week making them even safer. If you always choose Monday, the time in quarantine is documented in a very organized way.

Go Digital

If you still feel uneasy about continuing to use your classroom library, there is always the option to go digital.

• Check out digital library sites like getEpic.com, which has tons to choose from.

• Find the tons of free PDFs online that are easily accessible. This is especially true for the classics.

• Lastly, most libraries allow you to borrow ebooks. It may take a lesson or two, but students could easily keep reading your favorites from the safety of their personal devices. 

Safety is obviously number one priority, but students need to be reading. Some libraries remain closed and our students continue to see us as the experts on what they should be reading. (Of course, because we are!) Keep the recommendations coming and keep the books flowing.  Keep using your classroom library with COVID concerns, but do it with precaution and preparation!. COVID has changed our lives, but literacy lives on!

The Importance of Independent Reading

When you're a young adult you're constantly being told what to do both at home and at school. It's amazing that more young adults aren't rebellious with all the rules forced upon them. If schools truly want to foster a love of reading, independent reading is a necessity. Students are constantly being told what to read and often the books that are considered part of the canon were by written predominately by white men.

In recent years there has been a push to add female authors and multicultural authors into the curriculum across the U.S. This varies from school to school and sometimes there's no rhyme or reason for the books selected. The classics are extremely important, I'd be the first one to tell you that I insist on teaching Shakespeare every year, but there's no reason why we can't teach a mixture of classical literature and modern literature. The students we teach should be able to find characters like themselves in the literature they read in school.

Being a teenager is a confusing time in one's life even if you're "normal" whatever that means. How would you feel if every book you read was written before you were born, before your parents were born? How would you feel if none of the characters were like you? How many books contain strong female protagonists? (Not a love interest, the main character.) How many books are being taught that have major characters that are multicultural? What about biracial? What about LGTBQ books? If we present literature written solely by white men, what are we telling students? Are we telling them that their gender, race, sexual preference, etc doesn't matter? Maybe reading a book about a gay character could help that student with their identity. Maybe reading a book with a strong female protagonist could give a young girl in your class more confidence. I remember having a student look at the book Persepolis and saying to me "the character looks like me" and she smiled. Why can't every student have that feeling?

I've heard people say that young adult books aren't rigorous enough which is silly. First get them to like reading and then build rigorous activities around the literature. Once they are readers you can vary the texts more. You can take a book that isn't a difficult book to read and you can still dive deeper into the text. I remember the first time I taught the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I had a group of "repeater 12th graders." (Yes they were actually called that.) These students were in high school for a 5th year and they didn't want to read. I remember reading the first chapter of Speak out loud and the students loved it. They wanted to know more about this high school girl. They could relate to either her or other students in the book. The same thing happened when I taught the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers to a group of 9th graders who were mostly reluctant readers. They wanted to know more about this 16 year old boy and how he ended up in jail. These aren't your stereotypical school books but why can't they be?

Maybe your administration forces you to teach a certain list of books. We've all been there. Maybe there's no room for books that aren't part of the cannon.That's why independent reading is extremely important. You can plan a trip to the school library or have diverse books in your own classroom library. The school's library media specialist can help you by giving book talks and giving students suggestions. In the past while in the school library every book that the librarian mentioned was checked out. You can require one independent reading book a marking period or one book a month. It's up to you. Why can't you read Shakespeare together as a class and they can read a book they enjoy in their free time? When students are given choices they take ownership. Why can't you have independent reading time once a week? If your school doesn't allow it, try once every other week.  If we truly want to cultivate lifelong readers, students need to read books that they are interested in.

Independent Reading Tasks to Get Your Students Thinking

As secondary ELA teachers, most of our readers can read texts independently. Their levels may be varied, but giving your students ownership over what they read and the tasks they choose can help them go deeper when it comes to analyzing and understanding what they read. Whether your students are reading fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, you can try these independent reading tasks to get your students thinking.

Fiction

Characters

When it comes to reading novels, let your students try some independent tasks that help with exploring characters in the book. Young adult novels often focus on dynamic characters, characters that change throughout the novel. Coming of age stories are particularly popular in YA lit. Use fiction task cards to have your students focus on character elements like realism, how the characters are involved in conflicts, and which characters are their favorites or least favorites. 

Setting

In addition, fiction task cards also explore elements of the setting. The time and place of a story can influence so many other elements, such as theme, character, conflict, and plot. Have your students explain why they would not (or would) like to live during the time and in the place of their book. Also, have them describe the setting. Get them thinking about descriptive words and phrases they can use to evoke powerful imagery.

Nonfiction

Autobiography, Biography

Explore informational text through nonfiction task cards. Nonfiction texts are as varied as fiction. Your students may read autobiographies or biographies. Have your students think about questions they may ask the subject of the book or a gift they would give the person.  

Author’s Purpose

Is the text your students are reading meant to inform, entertain, or persuade? The author’s purpose is an important part of comprehending and analyzing text. Have your students reflect on why the author wrote the nonfiction text with nonfiction task cards.

Poetry

Poetry can be a difficult genre for middle school students to dissect. First, start by expanding your students’ ideas of what poetry is. Poetry can include songs and verse novels. Give them a choice in their poems and have them think about poetry in a new way with poetry task cards. Your students can answer questions about the meaning of the poems by reflecting on the author’s particular choices. Think about the time period the poem is set (if applicable), the details the poet includes or leaves out, and the use of figurative language. Poetry is a powerful genre when it comes to independent reading.

Thinking About Reading

Your readers are ready to explore their own book choices. Let your students choose fiction, nonfiction, or poetry texts and think about what they are reading with independent reading task cards. Use the cards in small groups or for early finishers. The independent reading task cards bundle comes with cards for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. With 140 task cards and 67 pages, these standard-based question cards will help your students think about what they are reading every day! Try these independent reading tasks to get your students thinking in your secondary ELA classroom. 

5 YA Suspense/Thriller Novels You Should Add To Your Classroom Library

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena is a young adult thriller. The book is about a married couple living Upstate New York. One day Tom comes home and his wife Karen is missing and the house is unlocked. After calling the police Tom finds out that Karen was in a terrible car crash. Although she survives the crash, she’s lost her memory. What was she escaping from?

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl is a young adult suspense novel. The book is about a girl named Beatrice that is trying to find out the truth about her boyfriend’s mysterious death. It’s been a year since his death and she feels like everyone she thought she knew has changed. Does she truly know her friends? Did she really know her boyfriend?

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus is a young adult suspense novel. In this novel a group of students all get detention for having cellphones in class (which they claim aren’t their phones). During detention one of the students ends up dying from a peanut allergy. Who killed Simon? They all had a motive. They all had something to hide. Who did it?

Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes is a young adult suspense novel. The protagonist of the novel is Embry woods and after saving a man’s life everyone declares that she’s a hero. Soon after someone starts blackmailing her. She has some very deep secrets. Why was she at the hotel the night of the fire? What really happened that night? Who else was there?

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas is a young adult suspense novel. Sunnybrook High hasn’t had cheerleaders in five years because within one month five cheerleaders died. Two cheerleaders died in a car accident, two were murdered, and one committed suicide. Monica lives in the shadows of her perfect sister that died by her own hand. Were these tragedies a coincidence or are they all connected?

6 LGBTQ Books You Should Add to Your Classroom Library

June is Pride Month but many schools in the U.S. are already on vacation. Other schools are winding down the school year. Here in NY we're preparing for state exams. School librarians are doing end of the school year inventory. June might not be the best time to make a book display or book talk LGBTQ books for all of these reasons. 

ELA teachers should make sure that their classroom libraries have diverse books to meet the needs of their students. Every student should be able to find a book that they can relate to. Students are constantly being assigned books that we deem classics, independent reading should be full of choice. Here are six LGBTQ books that will make a great addition to your high school ELA classroom. We should celebrate diversity throughout the school year and not just certain months of the year.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

This book tells the story of Marin who is a freshman in college. Marin grew up in California and the only relative she had was her grandfather who died right before she started school. She left home and went to New York for school and has shut out the world. She hasn’t talked to anyone about his death and she’s fallen into a deep depression. Her friend Mabel that she had an LGTBQ relationship with comes to visit her and she slowly opens up and talks about what happened the previous summer. The main character is not only dealing with the loss of a loved one but also, she’s questioning her sexuality. The book ends on a hopeful note that Marin can stay with Mabel’s family during school breaks. 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

This book is about a teenaged boy named Simon that is gay, but he hasn’t told anyone. He fears that his friends and family will alienate him when they find out. Simon starts emailing another guy at his school who uses the name Blue online and ends up falling in love with him over email. While Simon is trying to find out the true identity of Blue, a classmate of his Martin sees his emails on a school computer and blackmails him. Eventually, Martin reveals Simon’s secret. Despite the fact that his friends and family are accepting, Simon wanted to come out when he was ready. Simon does face some bullying at school, but his friends stand up for him and he eventually finds out who Blue is. The book is about Simon’s emotional journey and the difficulties that gay teens face today.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

This book is told from the point-of-view of Jude and Noah who are twins living in California. Noah’s chapters are told when they are 13 and 14 years old before their mother passed away. Jude’s chapters are told when they’re 16 years old roughly two years after the death of their mother. When they were 13 Noah was bullied a lot and he was dealing with being in love with his only friend Brian. When they were 13 Jude was very popular. At age 16 the roles have reversed, and Jude has no friends and Noah is very popular. Both twins are hiding their true selves and working through a lot of issues dealing with the loss of their mother. Both their mother and their grandmother’s ghosts meddle in the lives to make things a little more complicated.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

This book is about sixteen-year-old Bri who is dealing with poverty and racism. Bri thought that a rap career would be the answer to all of her problems. Bri pours her frustration into her rap music but her first song is misinterpreted, and she finds herself in the middle of controversy. There are several LGBTQ characters including Bri’s aunt who is one of the few adults she confides in and one of her best friends.

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

The book tells the story of Courtney and Jupiter (Jupe) who are best friends that grew up together and their new friend, Rae, that just moved into town. The book explores the dynamics of this complicated, messy love triangle. Courtney is in love with Jupe but she’s a lesbian. Rae is attracted to both Courtney and Jupe but at one-point, Jupe realizes she’s in love with Courtney as well. The book is about identity and discovering your true self. All of the characters are multicultural and there are several LGBTQ characters.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo 

This book is written as a series of poems and it tells the story of Xiomara and her twin brother Xavier who are first generation in American and growing up in Harlem. They’re 15 when the book begins, and their parents are extremely religious. Xiomara expresses herself through her poetry, but she feels like she has to hide it from everyone. Her brother is gay but in the closet. Both teens feel like their parents wouldn’t understand them and both start secretly dating someone. There are a lot of parent/child conflicts in the novel because of the cultural and generational differences. 

ELA teachers should have a wide range of books in their classroom libraries to meet the needs of their students. These books would work well with either literature circles or independent reading. 

*This post contains some affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps me pay for the cost of maintaining my website. 

Book Review: American Street

American Street by Ibi Zoboi is a coming of age novel that will work well for grades 9-12. Fabiola Toussaint, the protagonist grew up in Haiti and hasn’t spent a day away from her mother. Their plan was to move to America and live with her aunt and her cousins in Detroit. Unfortunately, Fabiola was allowed in the country, but her mother was detained.

Fabiola is thrust into a world she doesn’t understand with people she barely knows. She thought that her life was rough in Haiti, but Detroit is full of violence, crime, and drugs. Fabiola is trying to help her mother, but can she also help her family with all of their issues? This heart-wrenching book is well-written and depicts the struggles that immigrants face including assimilation. Can one adapt to a new environment, and hold onto their own cultural identity? The characters are authentic and believable. The novel is emotionally-intense at times. Anyone who is into culturally diverse urban books would like this novel. The book contains some strong language. This novel would make a great addition to a high school classroom library. 

Ways to Use Flipgrid to Showcase Books

Flipgrid is a free resource where students can engage in a classroom or global community through short videos. Teachers start by creating grids for each class or content area and then topics for the different activities within the grid. If you’ve never used Flipgrid, this Educator’s Guide is the best place to start. In the ELA classroom, there are so many ways to use Flipgrid to showcase books. Try a few of these engaging activities on your classroom Flipgrid.

Literature Circle Book Discussions 

Literature circles are a fantastic way to differentiate instruction in your classroom by having your students read novels from different genres and reading levels. Create a topic in your ELA class grid for each of the novels being read in class. Have each group discuss the book freely in the topic. You may also want to create a grid for each book and separate topics for each discussion question.

Independent Reading Book Talks 

Let your students share the books they are reading on their own by creating their own book talks. When you post your Book Talk grid or topic, you may want to upload your own book talk as a model for students to use. Check out my book talk blog posts for what students should include in their book talks.

Read Alouds 

Use Flipgrid to practice reading fluency by showcasing first chapters of novels. This is one topic you may want to make optional as some students may struggle reading an entire chapter aloud to their peers. You may also exercise the option of monitoring the videos before posting them for the whole class to view. That way, each student may practice reading aloud for you, but you can approve the students’ videos that feel comfortable reading aloud. Videos can be up to five minutes long, so for some books and readers, they may choose to read just part of the first chapter.

Character Interaction 

Why not try a little creative acting with Flipgrid? Have your students answer questions as a character from a novel they are reading. For example, you may post a question such as, “What are your hopes and dreams?” Your students would answer as a main character from their novel while introducing the title and author of the novel in case other classmates are interested in reading it. Take it a step further and allow students to interact with each other as their characters, posting their own questions and responses.

Flipgrid is an incredible tool to use in your ELA classroom to build community and inspire young readers. These ways to use Flipgrid to showcase books can help your students find new titles to read and engage with their own independent reading novels. Try a few in your classroom.

Best Places to Find Ebooks for Your Classroom

Middle and high school students seem to be attached to their phones. More and more classrooms are going to 1:1 devices, utilizing laptops or tablets in daily instruction. As educators, we can fight the battle to keep our kids reading books instead of spending time on their screen, or we can embrace technology by finding electronic books to use for instructional purposes and independent reading.

Here are some of the best places to find ebooks for your classroom.

Overdrive

You may already know about this popular interface to check out free ebooks from the public library, but did you know that many school districts now use Overdrive with students? Check with your media specialist or librarian to see if Overdrive is being used as a delivery and check out system for ebooks in your school. Encourage your students to also get a public library card if available. Not only are their thousands of popular titles available for your readers, they’re absolutely free! Overdrive is especially helpful for voracious readers than can devour a text in less than a week. Most checkout times are up to two weeks per text. If your students use tablets, try the Overdrive or Meet Libby app to easily check out and read books.

Project Gutenberg

With more than 58,000 free ebooks today, Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books. The copyright has expired on these classic texts, so they are available to all users without registration. Students can enjoy any text available on the site for free, and your class can read them as a whole group or in literature circles. Some popular texts often taught in secondary schools are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Use Project Gutenberg to introduce your students to classic texts at no cost!

Library of Congress

The United States Library of Congress has an archive of physical and digital resources including electronic books that your students may use for research or free reading. Secondary students may also find illustrated children’s classics housed through the Library of Congress website to be beneficial in creative writing or reviewing literary elements such as theme, characterization, and plot. The scope of the site is broad enough to use in any content area. Have your students explore to see what they can find to suit their interests!

Barnes & Noble

Believe it or not, the popular book store has thousands of free Nook (ebook) books available for kids. Many of the books are young adult novels, appropriate for middle level and early high school readers. Although there are many full length novels, some are previews that students can read while they wait for popular books from the library to be available. Students do need to register with an account to read the books but may login using Google credentials. Make sure this is in compliance with your school or district’s Children Online Privacy Protection Rules (COPPA), especially for students under age 13. Some favorite books that are currently available include National Book Award Finalist The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin (first 11 chapters) and Caught in Between by Alison L. Perry. Browse the free ebooks on Barnes & Noble for yourself!

Your 21st century learners are using their devices more than ever before. Teaching them how to find engaging, accessible reading material online will help them enjoying reading even more! Check out the links for the best places to find ebooks for your classroom.

10 YA Books You Should Add to Your Classroom Library

As ELA teachers we’re always trying to add books to our classroom libraries. Ideally every child that walks into our classroom should be able to find a book that he/she can relate to. Here are a few books that I think would make great additions to any secondary ELA classroom.

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Fabiola Toussaint grew up in Haiti and hasn’t spent a day away from her mother. Their plan was to move to America and live with her aunt and her cousins in Detroit. Unfortunately, Fabiola was allowed in the country, but her mother was detained. Fabiola is thrust into a world she doesn’t understand with people she barely knows. This heart-wrenching book is well-written and depicts the struggles of many young people today.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Being Native American is hard enough in a racist society. Our main character Junior is born with an array of health issues. Even as a teen he has a lisp, he wears thick glasses and he has a stutter. He jokes about being part of the “black eye of the month club” because he was always being beaten up. He rarely left the safety of his home because he didn’t want to be beaten up. Everyone on the reservation is poor and he is often the subject of ridicule and cruelty. To make matters worse, his parents are both alcoholics. Junior escapes the trauma of being bullied, and his life of poverty through his drawings. The book is well-written and it is semi-autobiographical.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

The book starts out like a scene from The Breakfast Club: you have the jock, the prom queen, the nerd, the delinquent and the kid who ends up dying. Did one of them kill him? They all claim innocence, but someone had to do it. Right??? Who is telling the truth? Who is lying? Someone must be behind this, but it’s not what you’d expect in this teen mystery. Everyone has something to hide, but who is the murderer?

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Starr Carter hasn’t seen her childhood friend Khalil in a long time when she runs into him at a neighborhood party. Starr goes to a private school in the suburbs because she lives in a rough neighborhood. When a fight breaks out at the party Starr gets in Khalil’s car to get away from danger. She thought that she was safe, but they get pulled over by a police officer and Khalil ends up getting shot and killed. Starr is the only witness, but will they believe her? She feels like she’s being pulled between two worlds. How can she stand up for her friend’s rights and not turn her world upside down?

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The book is set in a future where everyone would rather be plugged into the internet 24 hours a day than deal with how depressing reality is. The world is overcrowded, unemployment has sky-rocketed and life in general is just not the way it used to be. Therefore, everyone plugs into the Oasis and lives the life they wish they had in real life. Wade Watts is poor, he lives with his aunt and her abusive boyfriend, he’s overweight and he has no friends. In the Oasis he’s better looking, and he has good friends. The creator of the Oasis created a contest that started when he died. The person that wins the contest gets to control the Oasis. Everyone dreams about the fame and fortune, but 5 years have passed, and no one has solved even the first part of the contest.

Wonder by R.J.Palacio

Auggie Pullman was born with a rare condition. He is 10 years old and he’s never been to school because he’s had numerous surgeries. Auggie fears going to a “real” school after being homeschooled his whole life. The book deals with issues such as fitting in and bullying. Every student should read this book so that they can get a better understanding of bullying and the painful effect of words.

Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper

Every teenager makes some bad decisions.  Unfortunately, the main character Andy makes a decision that ends up causing the death of one of his best friends. The guys were just celebrating winning the basketball game with a few drinks. He didn’t think he was that drunk…

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Susie was only 14 years old when she was raped and murdered (that isn’t a spoiler because it happens on page one). The rest of the novel is uniquely narrated by her ghost. From up in heaven Susie observes her family, her friends and the rest of her suburban neighborhood. Susie gets to see things that normally she wouldn’t get to see like her sister’s first kiss and what happens to her murderer.  This book is beautifully written, and students thoroughly enjoy it.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda went to a party the summer before entering high school. She calls the police during the party and as a result she starts her 9^th grade year with no friends. The book follows Melinda over the course of the entire school year. The book deals with issues such as bullying, depression, and sexual assault. I think this is a book that every high school student should read. This book has now been adapted into a graphic novel.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Steve is 16 years old. He should be watching cartoons with his brother, playing basketball with his friends or making films for his school project, but he can’t because he’s in jail. Was Steve part of the robbery or is he innocent? This book is about Steve’s trial. Will he get a fair trial, or will his race stand in the way of justice? You’ll have to read the novel to find out.

Some of these books I’ve used with my whole class and others I would use either in literature circles or independent reading. Some of these books deal with controversial topics but these are topics that many of our students are already dealing with.

Literature for Women's History Month

Although March is Women's History Month, I don't like to just celebrate women in the month of March. I feel that traditionally mostly white male authors are taught and that's not fair. I like to incorporate a variety of authors throughout the entire school year.

I know that some schools have very rigid book lists. If you work in a school like that I encourage you to incorporate as many multicultural and female authors as you can into your classroom library. Even if you can't teach these books as whole class novels, you can incorporate them into independent reading. If you don't have a classroom library maybe you could add some female authors that have written poetry or short stories.

Here are some female authors I've incorporated into my classroom:

Fiction

Mary Shelley: The novel Frankenstein is either taught in a 12th grade British Literature class or AP Literature because of the complexity of the text. I've only taught this novel once in an AP Literature course but I hope to delve deeper into the novel in the future.

Sylvia Plath: I love to teach the semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. I've used this book a few times with seniors. Even though the book was written many decades ago I feel like some of the internal struggles that the narrator has are still struggles that people today have. I've also taught many of Plath's poems when I taught a creative writing course.

Laurie Halse Anderson: I've taught two of her novels in the past: Speak and Catalyst. Speak is a great novel to use with 9th graders as the protagonist is their age. The protagonist of the novel Catalyst is in 12th grade and she's dealing with the stress of applying to college. I think that teenagers like seeing characters their own age because it's more relatable.

Lorraine Hansberry: I've taught the play A Raisin in the Sun numerous times with both 9th and 10th graders. I think that this play is important to teach because of the historical context of racism in the late 1950's.

Sandra Cisneros: I've taught The House on Mango Street a few times. I've used the book in entirety with 9th graders and I've used pieces of it with a creative writing class. My students really enjoy this book. There are some controversial topics in the book but these are topics that students need to talk about.

Alice Sebold: I've taught the novel The Lovely Bones several times with both 11th and 12th graders. Although the book is very sad, it is well-written and unique. My students enjoyed it and they really liked the movie version of the book.

S.E. Hinton: I've taught the novel The Outsiders a few times with 9th grade classes. This book can be used with both middle school or high school students. Working in the inner city I found that my students could relate to many of the issues in this book.

Sharon Draper: I've taught the novel Tears of a Tiger with 9th grade classes but this book could easily be used with middle school students as well. The characters are teenagers and the situations they face are situations that students can easily relate to.

R.J. Palacio: The book Wonder can be used with a variety of grade levels. I've used this book with 9th graders but it is usually taught with younger grades. Wonder is a great book to use when discussing anti-bullying.

Suzanne Collins: The book The Hunger Games can be taught with any grade 7-12. Some people might be cautious about using the novel with younger students because there is a lot of death in the book but most students are probably familiar with the book already because of the popularity of the film.

Non-Fiction

Maya Angelou: I've taught the memoir I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings once with seniors. It's both heart-wrenching and well-written. I would use this book with older students because there is a lot of abusive situations in the memoir. I also love teaching many of her poetry both in conjunction with the memoir or as stand alone lessons.

Short Stories

Shirley Jackson: I've taught both the short story "The Lottery" and the short story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson. Both stories can be used with a variety of grade levels and have interesting themes.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: I've taught the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper a few times. I think it works well with either 11th or 12th graders because of the level of vocabulary. I usually pair this short story with the short story "A Rose for Emily" (not written by a female author but still deals with feminist issues) and the poem "Barbie Doll."

Flannery O'Conner also has a lot of great short stories for upper grades.

Poetry

This is a list of some female poets I like to incorporate into my curriculum:

Emily Dickinson
Sylvia Plath
Anne Sexton
Maya Angelou
Nikki Giovanni
Marge Piercy

I have a few other female authors listed in this blog post I wrote about Literature for Black History Month.