In Jek/Hyde by Amy Ross, a gothic classic finds a new home in a shiny research town. Join us as we talk about loyalty, the #metoo movement, and the darkness inside. (transcript) In today’s episode… Amy Ross’s novel Jek/Hyde offers a new vision of the gothic novella, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by…
All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor gives us a vision of obsession, betrayal, and the blurred line between fiction and reality. Join us as we chat about this new YA thriller with author Amanda K. Morgan. (transcript) In today’s episode… In the new novel, All of This Is True, we unravel the story of…
Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian is a ice cream romp with themes of friendship, feminism, and building a legacy. Join us as we chat about this fun summer book with our friend, Claire Nauman. (transcript) In today’s episode… In Siobhan Vivian’s newest novel, Stay Sweet, Amelia is looking forward to her last year at the Meade…
We take a look at online shaming and Leila Sales’ new novel, If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say. Join us this week on the YA Cafe. (transcript) In today’s episode… In Leila Sales’ newest novel, If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say: A Novel, Winter Halperin gets caught up in a storm of online…
So, like you, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to get my teenage students to love reading and writing. I spend a lot of time recommending books to teachers to help get their teenage students to love reading. I even started a podcast to help teachers, librarians, and students find new YA titles they’ll love. In short,…
In Someday, Somewhere by Lindsay Champion, Ben and Dominique are drawn together after a movie-magic chance encounter. Join us as we chat music and romance with our special guest, violinist and music teacher Leila Hobbs. (transcript) In today’s episode… In Lindsay Champion’s debut novel Someday, Somewhere we get a split perspective of a serendipitous meeting, and a…
We’ll be talking about Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi with two ladies from the Bookstagram community, Courtney and Anna. Join us as we talk characterization, context, and why it matters. (transcript) In today’s episode… In Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone, we meet Zélie, who was only five years old…
Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert is a dive inside the mind of a young artist, Danny Cheng. Join us today as we talk about secrets, tragedies, and struggles with mental health. (Listen to the podcast or find a transcription here.) In today’s episode… At the beginning of Picture Us In The Light, seventeen-year-old Danny…
We’re chatting with Anne Marie Wells, a fellow reader and foodie friend, about The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding. Check out more on this week’s episode of the YA Cafe. In today’s episode… In The Summer of Jordi Perez, Abby scores the internship of her dreams: working at a vintage clothing shop in LA. She hopes…
Picture Us in the Light – Kelly Loy Gilbert Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there’s much more to his family’s past than he ever imagined. Danny has been…
Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. On today’s episode, we’ll be talking about The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert with our guest, Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven. Grab a mug of your favorite beverage, friends, and let’s talk books. In today’s episode… The…
A Possibility of Whales by Karen Rivers Summary Twelve-year-old Natalia Rose Baleine Gallagher loves possibilities: the possibility that she’ll see whales on the beach near her new home, the possibility that the transgender boy she just met will become her new best friend, the possibility that the paparazzi hounding her celebrity father won’t force them to move again. Most…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: Americanized by Sara Saedi Description from Goodreads: At thirteen, bright-eyed, straight-A student Sara Saedi uncovered a terrible family secret: she was breaking the law simply by living in the United States. Only two years old when her parents fled Iran, she didn’t learn of her undocumented status until her older sister wanted to…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed In Love, Hate and Other Filters, American-born Maya Aziz has the same concerns as any 17-year-old: school, boys, and going to the college of her dreams (NYU) to pursue her goal of becoming a filmmaker. Her Indian parents would prefer their daughter go to college closer…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust In Girls Made of Snow and Glass, two stories intertwine. We watch Mina, an ambitious young girl, strive to gain acceptance at court. Her magician father expects her to use her beauty to get a good marriage for herself, but he insists that no one will ever…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert In The Hazel Wood, Alice and her mother have never been able to shake the bad luck trailing them. At seventeen, Alice has known more hotel rooms than homes, and truck stop food is familiar. Alice has always dreamed of living with her grandmother in her mansion, the…
How to Make a Book Tree A book tree is a great holiday decoration for nerds and English teachers, am I right? This can be great for your home, office, or classroom! Here’s how to make a book tree AND our book tree reveal for 2017. This is our second year with a book tree, and here are some…
Hello, friends! I’m here today to announce a big dream: I want to read the world. I plan to read a book from every country in the world, and record my progress here. I believe that, as a teacher, I need to read widely and often, and be able to introduce students to works and worldviews they haven’t experienced yet.…
How to Make Book Recommendations for Teens One of my favorite parts of talking about books with students is helping them figure out what to read next. Readers know the power of knowing their next book, and we can help students get there with some tools in our own reader toolkit. These tools can help you find great book recommendations…
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood by Christopher Emdin In For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education, Christopher Emdin shares his experience of learning and teaching in an urban setting and offers up a new approach to education. He dismantles stereotypes and advocates for a student-centered…
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon is a careful, thought-provoking portrait of the aftermath of a shooting, making it a strong choice for a high school read-aloud and discussion starter. Jack Franklin, white, thinks he’s doing a good deed when he shoots and kills sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson (black) as he leaves a convenience store. But what really happened? We…
Need a new pick for your classroom library? Check out The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy. After the death of her mother and the drafting of her father to the South Pacific, Aila and her brother go to live with some family friends in the close-knit town of Sterling. Soon enough, Aila has more questions than answers: why can’t she see…
Unreliable narrators in YA Lit abound, and novels with these characters make great additions to your classroom library. Unreliable narrators are voice whose perspectives on a situation are called into questions for any number of reasons. Basically, we as the reader cannot trust the very vehicle through which we are given the story! The unreliable narrator is a popular device…
I love independent reading (or student-selected reading), and I love talking about books! It only makes good sense to me, then, to allow my students to show their growth in independent reading through book conferences. Book conferences are an informal conversation between the teacher and student to show completion of and reflection on a novel. I learned a lot from…
Kingdom of Oceana by Mitchell Charles Description from Goodreads: The Kingdom of Oceana SURFER. SHARK TAMER. FIRE WALKER. EXPLORER. TEENAGER. HERO. Five centuries ago, on the island now called Hawaii, there was a kingdom filled with adventure, Beauty, and Magic. When 16-year-old Prince Ailani and his brother Nahoa trespass on a forbidden burial ground and uncover an ancient tiki mask,…
Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood Ivy grew up in her great-grandmother’s house under the constant gaze of old portraits of distinguished Milbourn women and wrapped in the dust of old prizes and journals. She comes from a long line of bright and brief stars, each taken too soon by mental illness or murder. Her grandfather pushes her to find…
Fifteen Lanes by S. J. Laidlaw Noor, the daughter of a sex worker, has grown up in a brothel through hardship, cruelty, and sadness. Grace, the daughter of a successful CEO, has her reputation tarnished by a vicious bout of cyber-bullying and spirals into depression. Can these very different girls learn from each other and eventually save one another?…
The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry Natalie’s last summer before college is off to a fine start, except that she has to drive her siblings around and her best friend is off at soccer camp. Then, Natalie starts seeing things that can’t possibly exist: houses that weren’t there before, friends who don’t even recognize her, and…
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt After a terrible tragedy, Morgan is too afraid to leave her apartment. She casts aside friends and hobbies for life as a shut-in. However, her brother just got cast in a play and a new boy, Evan, has just moved in next door. Now, more than ever, she longs to take the first step back…
Everything, Everything Madeline, who can’t leave her Clean House for fear of dying from an allergy to an unknown trigger, wants more. She wants to feel the ocean in between her toes and smell the musty old spines in a used bookstore. She reads thousands of pages to escape the confines of a white-on-white filtered-air house, but knows in her…