I'm sitting here in my empty classroom. The walls are stripped, there is junk all over the classroom. Our hallways look as if a tornado just went through: every locker is hanging open, and there is an unbelievable tide of notebooks, papers, and clothing on the floor in front of the lockers. Yes, indeed, today was the last day of school. Well, not for me. I still have two more days to clean up, get grades in (done) and check out. So what am I doing? Of course, I'm thinking about next year!
Here's where I really need some help. Event though I teach young adults, I don't know as much as I should about current YA literature. So I need all you YA folks to give me a shout-out (comment) about what I should order (novels, non-fiction) for a group of sophomore repeaters for next year. For some reason that I really can't remember at this moment, I requested a class of "repeat offenders." What high interest books would you recommend for this class? I would expect my class to have more male than female students (in the past the ratio of males to females in such a class was about 10-1) so guy-friendly books are in order. Our school serves a diverse population; most of my students have never left this part of the South in their lives. What else? Give me your best ideas!
13 comments:
I have personally bookmarked this:http://potterpercyandi.blogspot.com/2010/04/top-100-ya-books.html
It's Ann's blog and she is my source for YA books.
I personally like 'the Outsiders' for boys, and The Book Thief is a classic, which are on my list, but then again, I am just starting to read them too.
Paul Volponi books would be perfect! They're extremely high interest for boys, written at a very manageable level if you have struggling readers, and they raise big questions about why the world is the way that it is without being overly preachy.
I would also recommend Swim the Fly by Don Calame b/c it is hilarious and a perfect boy book.
Finally, Bluford Books are definitely written at a lower level but all of the middle schoolers at my school eat them up like candy. They're great "at home" reading books, since kids actually want to read them.
Good luck!
I just finished reading We Were Here by Matt de la Pena, and it was excellent. I think it would appeal to males who are reluctant readers.
I just finished reading We Were Here by Matt de la Pena, and it was excellent. I think it would appeal to males who are reluctant readers.
wish i could help ,not really a ya reader but hunger games seems popular ,all the best stu
I just read two YA novels that might be good for your class.
Does This Make My Head Look Big? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Ashes by Kathryn Laskey
My advice? Reach out to Shanyn of Chick Loves Lit. Here twitter is @shanynlee and she is a YA expert!
Anything by Walter Dean Myers. He is awesome and all my boy students love his books. I would also strongly suggest Graphic novels, like Maus I and II, American Born Chinese and don't forget non-fiction. Boys love non-fiction.
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. There are lots of good ideas (keep them coming;)
My daughter says "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
I also recommend The Book Thief. Such a wonderful book.
The Book Thief, yes.
The Outsiders, yes.
Also, since you're asking for books for boys, Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books.
For girls (I'm assuming these are reluctant readers), Ally Carter's The Gallagher Girls series.
Thanks Tom, good to hear from you. Today was the last day of school, and I got a look at my roster for this class--should be interesting. Saw a couple of "infamous" names!
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