Tomorrow is the first day of school. I just came home after spending a couple of hours putting the finishing touches on my classroom. My husband always comes and helps me set up my classroom: we finished putting up posters, hanging pictures, straightening desks, etc. My library is growing: I have three bookcases now. My goal is to have a classroom library with at least 1,500 books. I beg, borrow, and steal (not really) to get books for my students. This week I went on a bit of a book-buying binge for my classroom. YA bloggers have provided many wonderful suggestions of titles for my students. Here is what I bought this week:
Looking for Alaska John Green
Tyrell Coe Booth
Forget You Jennifer Echols
The First Part Last Angela Johnson
Copper Sun Sharon Draper
Feed M.T. Anderson
Mexican Whiteboy Matt de la Pena
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher
Leaving Paradise Simone Elkeles
Runner Carl Deuker
Have you read any of these titles? Are there any YA titles that you can recommend? Anyone else about to start a new school year?
18 comments:
Best of luck with the first day of school!
I have a YA title coming out in September and would love to donate it for your classroom. Does your school allow paranormal books?
xx,
E.J
From the Shadows
You've got some great titles there. You can't go wrong with John Green's books. I've got loads of recommendations. I'll list some here:
Little Brother by Corey Doctorow
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
Sweethearts or Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
Step From Heaven by Ann Na
A Northern Light (would make a great companion to "American Tragedy") by Jennifer Donnelly
Unwind by Neal Shustermann
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Book Thief or I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray
The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
You can find out some of my current reads on my blog.
Good luck on your first day of school!
Have a great first day! I'll be thinking of you!
Do you still get butterflies on that first day?
School seems to start sooner and sooner each year. I actually kinda miss going back to school each year. :(
I don't have any YA suggestions but I do want to say that it's really awesome you work so hard to build a classroom library for your students. Good luck on the first day!
Your students will be thrilled!! First day, new beginnings, always fun!!
@E.J.-I don't know of any challenges to any books in my school--so I'd live to talk to you about your book. You can email me at lisaalmedasumner@gmail.com
@Rummanah-thanks for the suggestions! I do read your blog and got some great ideas there too!
@Kate-butterflies? I'll say! I can never sleep the night before the first day of school!
@tedious&brief-August is a little early, if you ask me!
@Brenna-thanks! I have a missionary zeal when it comes to reading!
@Grad-thanks-you wouldn't believe how nervous I am!
Good luck with your first day! You guys are my heroes! Go get 'em! Cheers! Chris
Setting up your classroom and enriching your classroom library sounds like so much fun! What grade do you teach?
I see others have already recommended some of the books I was going to suggest. Maybe more books with "boy appeal?" My pre-teen son LOVES Wolf Brother, and others in the series, by Michelle Paver. He also really likes the Rick Riordan books (Percy Jackson and Carter Kane), the Artemis Fowl books, and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. And Leviathan by Scott Westerfield, on which he bestowed the ultimate compliments: "This book is BAD ASS" and "it's just as good as video games!" :-D
Steph
http://laughingstars.net
That's so great that you provide reading material for your students. I've only had a few teachers who did that, and it's really a great thing to do.
PS - I've given you an award; stop by my blog to see!
If you want to find some good YA novels go to The American Library Association website www.ala.org and type in the search box best books for YA's they have lists for the last several years.
Cool use of a blog.....It's been great fun to watch this blog evolve....Happy first day! Hope all else is well with you...Best, Tom
Thanks to all my wellwishers! We had a great first day of school. My creative writers lost track of time and didn't even hear the lunch bell. And my last block class voted to have me start reading Mexican Whiteboy. A very good start to the new school year...
Bibliophiliac, I'm not sure if it will work for you, but The Big Book Sale is on again. I think its Sept. 7 at the Southwest Chatham Branch (the one behind Savannah Mall). You'll probably be in school, but if you send someone you can get YA books for a dollar a piece in hardback and .50 for paperback. I agree with Rummanah about The Book Thief. Do you have The Graveyard Book by Gaiman (I bet you do). It was wonderful. Also, would Walk Two Moons or Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech be too young for your kids? If not, I'll be happy to send you my copies (bought at TBBS for one dollar each.)
My first week back was fun but tiring! I just finished a YA called the Patron Saint of Butterflies that I hope to do a quikie post on soon. It is about a kids escaping a cult-- it is a book that would open lots of discussion in the classroom.
@BookQuoter--thanks-the week has been great so far!
@Christopher-thanks-I love people who appreciate teachers! so far the week is going really well (knock wood)...
@Stephanie: I wrote all those titles down--now to beg & borrow;)
@Shannon-thanks!
@Grad, thanks, I'm going to email you!
@Lesa-I love it when I find a good book for those reluctant readers!
Don't forget to pick up the sequel to Leaving Paradise: Return to Paradise. It releases in September.
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