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. 

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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.

Book Review: Spill Zone

Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld and Alex Puvilland takes place in Poughkeepsie, NY 3 years after the mysterious spill. The main character Addison illegally goes into the zone and takes pictures of the aftermath and sells them in order to survive. She acts as a parent to her sister Lexa that has been mute since the night of the spill. Lexa has a doll named Vespertine that she talks to and the doll needs to recharge in the zone. Addison is offered $1 million to get an object out of the hospital, but she’s hesitant about going in there because she fears seeing her parents.

While reading this book the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” comes to mind because the graphics are beautiful. There is a big supernatural element to this story (a psychic connection to a doll, meatpuppets, other mysterious creatures in the zone, etc.) and this is truly shown through the drawings. I don’t think this story would be as good if it didn’t have the graphics.

This book would be a great addition to a secondary ELA classroom library. We should have a mixture of regular novels and graphic novels. I love that this book is a science fiction graphic novel and the pictures are incredible. There are two books so far (Spill Zone and Spill Zone Two) and I can't wait to see how the series continues.

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.

Book Review: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

One Day Can Change the Course of Your Whole Life

“People spend their whole lives looking for love. Poems and songs and entire novels are written about it. But how can you trust something that can end as suddenly as it begins?” (Yoon 58)

Was it fate or coincidence? If Daniel hadn’t left the house early that morning, he wouldn’t have seen Natasha. If she hadn’t been delayed by the security guard she wouldn’t have been there. If they hadn’t met she might have been hit by a car. Is it coincidence that her lawyer was also the man conducting Daniel’s college interview? If you’re a hopeless romantic that believes in fate The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is the book for you.

The book is a modern version of Romeo and Juliet but instead of Capulets and Montagues you have Koreans and Jamaicans. Instead of banishment, we have deportation. They’re only 17 and from different backgrounds. Natasha is science-minded, and Daniel writes poetry. Many believe that opposites attract.

The book deals with social issues such as immigration (legal and illegal), interracial relationships, the American Dream, parent/child relationships, sibling rivalry and trying to fit in. Both Daniel and Natasha have parents that want them to date people within their own culture. Daniel’s parents have mapped out his whole life for him and Natasha’s father disrupts her life by getting the family deported. Even though they only spent one day together, their career paths and mindsets have forever been changed.

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.

Book Talks vs. Book Reports

When I was a child I had to do traditional book reports. We had to read X amount of books and write a certain amount of words/paragraphs/pages about the books that we read. I've always been an avid reader but once in 6th grade I remember writing an entire book report based upon just chapter one and the summary on the back of the book. Those were the days before the internet and I was still able to pretend I'd read a book. Today it's much easier to pretend you've read a book.

How many books have students read for pleasure in the past year?

As an ELA teacher I give book talks pretty much every day. Students will ask me what I'm currently reading, if I've read a certain book, to recommend a book or to tell them about a book in my classroom library. Also every time I teach a new book I do a book talk before giving out the books. I give so many informal book talks it's like second nature to me.

Many of my students aren't readers and they hate public speaking. As teachers we need to figure out ways to foster a love of reading and try to help students get over their fear of public speaking.

When I started teaching I gave students traditional book reports. I wanted them to read more so we'd have the book we were reading as a class and then they'd have to pick one book to read independently each marking period. The problems are that 1) I didn't know if they were actually reading and 2) book reports are boring. They didn't like writing them and in all honesty I didn't like reading them. I wanted to foster a love for reading and book reports were not the way to do it.

A few years ago my school started having independent reading once a week in all ELA classes. As a department we decided which day to do this. Students could either read a book from the classroom library or bring their own. Obviously everyone reads at their own pace and everyone picked books of varying lengths. I didn't assign a due date but I told students that they had to do one book talk each marking period. I modeled a formal book talk using a book I'd read recently. I used the following format:

Title of Book

Author

Number of Pages

Information about the author

Summary of the book ( a paragraph or two)

Connections to the book

Read a passage to the class and explain why you chose it.

Recommendation (Who would enjoy this book?)

After the book talk I asked the class if they had questions. After each student's book talk their classmates asked questions. Sometimes (not always) after a book talk other students wanted to read a book someone else had read. That never happens with a book report. The more book talks a student did (they sometimes did more than required), the more comfortable they got speaking in front of the class.

How often do your students visit the library?

I still had students that didn't love reading but I think that book talks were effective for many students. Even if you don't have time for independent reading during class, I think you should consider having students give book talks in class. It will help them with public speaking and the class will learn about a variety of books.

Why I Like To Teach Controversial Literature

When I was in 7th grade I read the novel Go Ask Alice. I was a naive young girl who grew up in the plastic bubble of suburbia. For me Go Ask Alice was a cautionary tale and to this day I've never tried drugs because of that book. The events that the main character went through scared the you know what out of me.

Five or six years ago I read the book 13 Reasons Why with a book club that I was in with some fellow teachers. I wanted to read the book because I had seen several students reading it and the plot intrigued me. After reading the novel I put it in my classroom library and added it as a choice when I did literature circles.

Although the book was on the best sellers list many years ago, the book is drawing a lot of attention (both positive and negative) because of the Netflix series. Some people think that the show romanticizes suicide and will give kids bad ideas. Yes the suicide scene in the show was shockingly graphic. I had read the book twice and I was taken aback. In the novel she took pills and in the show she slits her wrists. I read somewhere that this show was giving kids that are bullied instructions for killing themselves. I'm sorry but that's nonsense.

Maybe Hannah didn't know how to tell her parents. Maybe she thought that since they had financial issues, she didn't want to be a burden. Who knows? Maybe we can ask the author. Maybe like Go Ask Alice, 13 Reasons Why is a cautionary tale. Maybe the critics should focus more on anti-bullying and getting help for sexual assault victims. Did Hannah's friends turn on her? Yes. Did Hannah have a lousy guidance counselor? Yes. The reader/audience knows that she could have turned to Clay but she felt like she couldn't trust guys and to be honest you can't really blame her.

Many teachers are saying that they won't teach the novel because it's about suicide but these same teachers teach Romeo and Juliet which is in essence a play about suicide and death. What's the difference? Romeo and Juliet felt like they couldn't talk to their parents (just like Hannah). Just like Hannah, Romeo and Juliet killed themselves and didn't think about all the people they left behind. Not to mention all of the other people that died because of them (Tybalt, Mercutio, Paris and Lady Montague.)

Life is messy, sometimes friends suck. sometimes you have a teacher that's not trained to be a guidance counselor (in the book at least), and sometimes you feel like you have no one turn to. This doesn't mean that every kid that is bullied is going to pull a Hannah. Maybe it will be a cautionary tale and the depressed/bullied individual will be able to look around and realize that they do have someone they can trust and turn to. Maybe reading a book like this in class (even as independent reading from your classroom library) will help a student in need. I always find that teaching young adult books that deal with these types of issues bring up good class discussion. You never know when discussing a "controversial" topic that's in one of these books can help a student in need.

P.S. I have a friend from high school whose daughter has been bullied for the past 2 or 3 years. She attempted suicide and was hospitalized for many months. She's now in counseling and doing better. This friend watched the Netflix series with her daughter and she wrote on Facebook that she thinks that every parent and teenager should watch the series. The world isn't perfect, please stop being scared of "controversial" literature.