Even with that, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know about the community traditions of various Native Nations before I started working at ICS. As an intertribal school, there is a bit of a blending of the commonalities of several different tribes, but I also got to spend time learning a Native Language (Menominee – though in the 3 years since I’ve left and not using it, I’ve sadly lost most of my memory of it), being invited to participate in ceremonies and powwows, and receiving teachings through culture mentoring lessons and activities. I loved my time there and getting to work with students and families in that community and infuse culture into all elements of the work, and am still sad to have left. All of this is to give a little bit of context as to why I may be slightly more aware than the average White teacher about concerning and stereotypical representations of First/Native Nations in children’s literature. I also follow Dr. Debbie Reese (Nambe Pueblo) of American Indians in Children’s Literature who is an amazing resource for all of us in breaking down representations of Native characters in books.

To be clear: That doesn’t mean I won’t/don’t still make mistakes. That doesn’t mean I won’t/don’t still miss things (especially coming from an outsider perspective, there are things I would never be able to know). This is not to say I don’t still have much I can learn. But, I am concerned.

With the realization that this post is somewhat centering my White perspective, those are also the teachers I’m talking to. I am concerned about the number of teachers I see recommending books or putting elements in their schools that are problematic in their representations of First/Native Nations cultures and people or perpetuating stereotypes. But what I’ve come to realize is that so many educators just don’t know (and we could have whole other books about why the systemic oppression and supremacy in this country from its founding have led us to where we are now), but for the purposes of this post, let’s just say we all need to do better. Some educators might just need to do more Google searching to find out if there are critiques of books we’re considering using (Debbie’s blog is a great place to start). And some might need to move past the nostalgia of books we have fond memories of and realize they are problematic with our new lenses of looking at them. And all educators need to remember that we are dealing with impressionable kids and generational white supremacy is an issue, especially when any reference to “Indians” or Tribal Nations is done in a historical viewpoint that erases them as contemporary, sometimes urban, people. Really it comes down to this: We should all be doing our best to learn, grow, become more critical consumers, and get better at this whole thing, while never compromising the stance that affirming the humanity and lived experiences of ALL kids should be at the center of our work.

To help with that, I decided to make a post compiling a few picture book recommendations for using in #classroombookaday read alouds, so I have one spot to direct people to. Because my students’ humanity should not up for debate, and anything that works against that should not be in a classroom or library. As Elisa Gall succinctly reminded on twitter tonight:

So I’m sharing some #ownvoices picture books
that present positive, contemporary representations
of First/Native Nations culture and characters and creators
that are powerful books to read aloud with students. 

A look at modern Native American life as told by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation

The word otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. 

Appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah.

The sun on your face. The smell of warm bannock baking in the oven. Holding the hand of someone you love. What fills your heart with happiness? This beautiful board book, with illustrations from celebrated artist Julie Flett, serves as a reminder for little ones and adults alike to reflect on and cherish the moments in life that bring us joy.International speaker and award-winning author Monique Gray Smith wrote My Heart Fills with Happiness to support the wellness of Indigenous children and families, and to encourage young children to reflect on what makes them happy. 

Nimoshom loved to drive the school bus. Every day, on the way to and from school, he had something to say. Sometimes, he told the kids silly stories. Sometimes, he taught the kids a new word in Cree.
“Nimoshom and His Bus” introduces basic Cree words. A glossary is included in the back of the book.

Go on a Mission to Space with Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington, as he shares his flight on the space shuttle Endeavor and his thirteen-day mission to the International Space Station. Learn what it takes to train for space flight, see the tasks he completed in space, and join him on his spacewalk 220 miles above the earth.

Windy Girl is blessed with a vivid imagination. From Uncle she gathers stories of long-ago traditions, about dances and sharing and gratitude. Windy can tell such stories herself–about her dog, Itchy Boy, and the way he dances to request a treat and how he wriggles with joy in response to, well, just about everything. 
When Uncle and Windy Girl and Itchy Boy attend a powwow, Windy watches the dancers and listens to the singers. She eats tasty food and joins family and friends around the campfire. Later, Windy falls asleep under the stars. Now Uncle’s stories inspire other visions in her head: a bowwow powwow, where all the dancers are dogs. In these magical scenes, Windy sees veterans in a Grand Entry, and a visiting drum group, and traditional dancers, grass dancers, and jingle-dress dancers–all with telltale ears and paws and tails. All celebrating in song and dance. All attesting to the wonder of the powwow. 
This playful story by Brenda Child is accompanied by a companion retelling in Ojibwe by Gordon Jourdain and brought to life by Jonathan Thunder’s vibrant dreamscapes. The result is a powwow tale for the ages.

Circles are all around us. We just have to look for them. Sometimes they exist in the most unusual places.
Grandpa says circles are all around us. He points to the rainbow that rises high in the sky after a thundercloud has come. “Can you see? That’s only half of the circle. That rest of it is down below, in the earth.” He and his granddaughter meditate on gardens and seeds, on circles seen and unseen, inside and outside us, on where our bodies come from and where they return to. They share and create family traditions in this stunning exploration of the cycles of life and nature. 

“I like to eat, eat, eat,” choruses young Johnny as he watches Grandma at work in the kitchen. Wild rice, fried potatoes, fruit salad, frosted sweet rolls—what a feast! Johnny can hardly contain his excitement. In no time, he’ll be digging in with everyone else, filling his belly with all this good food.
But wait. First there is the long drive to the community center. And then an even longer Ojibwe prayer. And then—well, young boys know to follow the rules: elders eat first, no matter how hungry the youngsters are. Johnny lingers with Grandma, worried that the tasty treats won’t last. Seats at the tables fill and refill; platters are emptied and then replaced. Will it ever be their turn? And will there be enough?
As Johnny watches anxiously, Grandma gently teaches. By the time her friend Katherine arrives late to the gathering, Johnny knows just what to do, hunger pangs or no. He understands, just as Grandma does, that gratitude, patience, and respect are rewarded by a place at the table—and plenty to eat, eat, eat.
Writer and beadwork artist Cheryl Kay Minnema is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Artist Wesley Ballinger, also a member of the Mille Lacs Band, works for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

This vibrant picture book, beautifully illustrated by celebrated artist Danielle Daniel, encourages children to show love and support for each other and to consider each other’s well-being in their everyday actions.
Consultant, international speaker and award-winning author Monique Gray Smith wrote You Hold Me Up to prompt a dialogue among young people, their care providers and educators about reconciliation and the importance of the connections children make with their friends, classmates and families. This is a foundational book about building relationships, fostering empathy and encouraging respect between peers, starting with our littlest citizens. 

Set in the Okanagon, BC, a First Nations family goes on an outing to forage for herbs and mushrooms. Grandmother passes down her knowledge of plant life to her young grandchildren.

Tink, tink, tink, tink, sang cone-shaped jingles sewn to Grandma Wolfe’s dress.
Jenna’s heart beats to the brum, brum, brum, brum of the powwow drum as she daydreams about the clinking song of her grandma’s jingle dancing.
Jenna loves the tradition of jingle dancing that has been shared by generations of women in her family, and she hopes to dance at the next powwow. But she has a problem—how will her dress sing if it has no jingles?
The warm, evocative watercolors of Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu complement author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s lyrical text as she tells the affirming story of how a contemporary Native American girl turns to her family and community to help her dance find a voice. 

The determined story of an Ojibwe grandmother (nokomis), Josephine Mandamin, and her great love for nibi (water). Nokomis walks to raise awareness of our need to protect nibi for future generations and for all life on the planet. She, along with other women, men and youth, has walked around all the Great Lakes from the four salt waters, or oceans, to Lake Superior. The walks are full of challenges, and by her example she challenges us all to take up our responsibility to protect our water, the giver of life, and to protect our planet for all generations.

I hope you enjoy these books and find a way to share them with students. And I hope this post has given you something to consider when selecting books with First/Native Nations content and characters, and that you’ll seek out information to determine if they are accurate and positive representations before sharing with kids. We can all still learn, and once we do, we need to act with the new information to do better. I hope this list will help you in your efforts.

I’m transitioning from being out of the classroom as a literacy consultant into a new role as a K-5 school library media specialist.
I am beyond excited, especially to be back sharing books with kids again, and I approached this year’s list a bit differently because I’ve been thinking so much about the picture books I’m eager to share with students once we get back to school, but I also know the books I might choose to read with my K-2 kids might be different from what I choose for my 3-5 kids.
So with all of that in mind, I’m sharing my 10 books for K-2 AND my 10 books for K-5, PLUS my 5 I’ll for sure share with both grade level groups, so there’s another 10 when shared twice (I told you it was creative counting this year!). I know Cathy will call me out on this (I know, I know, I make it my own, but I love the concept!), but that’s ok, because it’s more love for picture books, which is always a good thing!

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima
Flowers for Sarajevo by John McCutcheon, illus by Kristy Caldwell
When We Were Alone by David Alexander Robertson, illus by Julie Flett
Shark Lady by Jess Keating, illus by Marta Álvarez Miguéns
If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams
Claymates by Dev Petty, illus by Lauren Eldridge
That Neighbor Kid by Daniel Miyares (wordless)
My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith, illus by Julie Flett (board book)
My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne del Rizzo
Early Sunday Morning by Denene Millner, illus by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Life by Cynthia Rylant, illus by Brendan Wenzel
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illus by Kadir Nelson
My Kicks: A Sneaker Story! by Susan Verde, illus by Katie Kath
Out! by Arree Chung
A Perfect Day by Lane Smith
Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty, illus by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Barkus by Patricia MacLachlan, illus by Marc Boutavant
King & Kayla series by Dori Hillestead Butler, illus by Nancy Meyers
Charlie & Mouse by Laurel Snyder
Fergus and Zeke by Kate Messner
My Kite is Stuck! and Other Stories by Salina Yoon (book #2)
Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton (book #2 in the early graphic novel series)

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi
The Time Museum by Matthew Loux (graphic novel)
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson
Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds (out Aug 1)

In a Perfect World by Trish Doller
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – if there’s anyone left who hasn’t read it yet!
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord
Saints & Misfits by S.K. Ali
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

*When possible, please support independent bookstores or your local library.

I had already read two of these books when I wrote my blog post in March, A Text Set to See Themselves In – Providing the Mirror or Window to get to the Sliding Door. At the time I said “I could too easily see my students in the pages of these stories, which makes them all the more impactful. These are the kinds of books our teens need to see in their classrooms, read, and discuss.” Well, I can now say for certain, all three of these are powerful books that need to be in teens’ hands as quickly and as often as we can get them there. I feel a sense of urgency about telling teachers to buy and share these books because I know exactly which former students of mine would have been changed for the better by reading these stories. Lives would have been affected by seeing themselves and their lives and their neighborhoods in these books. That’s a powerful thing to hand to an adolescent.

Please, buy/get The Hate U Give, Long Way Down, and Dear Martin. Read them. And then make sure the teens in your life do also. I promise you will not be sorry, and you will not walk away from any of these books the same you walked into them. They represent the power of story to change, validate, and affect the lives of the children in our society to make a better future for themselves, their neighborhoods, and all of us. My thoughts on each are below.

A powerful debut that grabs the reader from the start and doesn’t let go. You will ache from the injustice Justyce faces as he navigates a world that sees him primarily for the color of his skin, and secondarily for everything else beneath it. 


Another teen having to navigate a complicated world more messed up than he deserves. His story will strike a chord with the teens you know who look like Justyce and will seem themselves in his story, those who have friends who look like Justyce and want to better understand their stories, and, perhaps most importantly, those who judge and avoid teens who look like Justyce because just maybe it will give them a reason to think again. 


An important book to add to the conversation about police brutality and race relations in America and how it impacts the lives of black teen boys. Pair this with All American Boys & The Hate U Give, and open up conversations with teens, and adults, in your life.

Powerful. Important. Impactful. When people talk about window & mirror books, this is what they’re talking about, with the potential to be that sliding door for many. 


Starr’s voice is fantastic, and feels oh so real. For a debut book, this is a standout. It is written so well, and draws you into the story and makes you want to be a part of it. We care about these characters and their lives and the outcome. 


This book, and Starr’s insights made me feel like I could know my students’ lives better. A must-read for 8th & up, and a book that needs to be shared with students. Pair with All American Boys for an effective pairing to start conversation.

There is such power in reading aloud, sharing experiences with text, and celebrating the joy of picture books in all grade levels. I hope you gain some inspiration and find some new-to-you titles to add to your collection and share with students no matter what grade you teach.

*Disclaimer: This video could lead to numerous book purchases. Plan accordingly.

Sometimes Tim feels invisible at school-until one day, when Tim meets Sam. But Sam isn’t just any new friend: he’s a blue whale, and he can’t find his way home! Returning Sam to the sea is hard work, but Tim is determined to help. After all, it’s not every day you meet a new friend!
This picture book about the power of friendship by new talent Cale Atkinson is brought to life by charming, dynamic illustrations.

Perfect for a new generation of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day readers, this charming story about a grumpy cat gently shows how far a little sharing can go. Bernice is having a truly rotten time at her friend’s birthday party. First, everyone else gets a piece of cake with a frosting rose. But not Bernice. Then, everyone else gets strawberry-melon soda. Bernice gets the prune-grapefruit juice. And it’s warm. The last straw is the one lousy (squished) candy she gets from the piñata. So when the balloons arrive, Bernice knows just what she has to do: grab them all. And then, poor cross Bernice gets carried up, up, and away. Luckily, she figures out just how to make her way back down to the party…and she brightens lots of other animals’ days on her way.
Hannah Harrison’s gorgeous animal paintings come alive in her second picture book. Her “exceptionally polished” debut, Extraordinary Jane, received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and  School Library Journal. 

Just behind an ordinary housefilled with too little fun,Ernest D. decides that today will be the day he explores the depths of his pond.
Beyond the pond, he discovers a not-so-ordinary world that will change him forever.

Firefly. Cricket. Vole. Peter. Can four creatures from four very different Nations help one another find their ways in the world that can feel oh-so-big? Delve into this lush, unforgettable tale in the tradition of Charlotte’s Web and The Rats of NIMH, from the author of the New York Times bestselling Someday.
Firefly doesn’t merely want to fly, she wants to touch the moon. Cricket doesn’t merely want to sing about baseball, he wants to catch. When these two little creatures with big dreams wander out of Firefly Hollow, refusing to listen to their elders, they find themselves face-to-face with the one creature they were always told to stay away from…a giant.
But Peter is a Miniature Giant. They’ve always been told that a Miniature Giant is nothing but a Future Giant, but this one just isn’t quite as big or as scary as the other Giants. Peter has a dream of his own, as well as memories to escape. He is overwhelmed with sadness, and a summer with his new unlikely friends Firefly and Cricket might be just what he needs. Can these friends’ dreams help them overcome the past?
Firefly Hollow is nothing short of enchanting, reminding us all that the very best friend is the one who wants you to achieve your dreams. Full-color tip-in illustrations and dozens of black-and-white drawing provide added glow.

When a country raccoon used to a soft life winds up all alone in the big city, there’s no telling what he’ll do to survive — and to save his fellow wild animals in the process.
Kit, a young raccoon, has lived his whole life under the Big Sky in the comfort of his parents’ burrow. But when a pack of hunting dogs destroy his home and kill his parents, Kit finds himself in Ankle Snap Alley, a city in the midst of a turf war between the Wild Ones and the people’s pets who call themselves The Flealess. There he follows the clues his parents left behind to uncover the secret that they died for–the existence of an ancient truce that gives Ankle Snap Alley to the Wild Ones. But The Flealess will stop at nothing to keep that secret buried forever–and Kit is in serious danger.   Perfect for fans of the Warriors, Spirit Animals, or Redwall series, this first book in the Wild Ones epic is sure capture young readers’ imaginations and take them on a great adventure. 

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.
Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There’s no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.
Crenshaw is a cat. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.

For fans of Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, a heartwarming graphic novel about friendship and surviving junior high through the power of roller derby. 
Twelve-year-old Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole. So when Astrid signs up for roller derby camp, she assumes Nicole will too. But Nicole signs up for dance camp with a new friend instead, and so begins the toughest summer of Astrid’s life. There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is without Nicole…and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl. 

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper. 

In an unforgettable new novel from award-winning authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.
A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galuzzi, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?
But there were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.
Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken from the headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth. 

Laia is a slave. 
Elias is a soldier. 
Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself. 

What books are you buying as gifts this year?

When I looked back at all of the books that I’ve rated five starts, I realized that they don’t necessarily compare to each other. There are different degrees of five star ratings I give based on various criteria I, as a reader, have created for myself:
-literary value
-writing
-story/plot
-characters
-connectedness
-readability
-obsessiveness
-right time
-social value
-enjoyability
There may be more involved, but those were the first things I started thinking of. What I realized is that a book doesn’t necessarily have to have all of that for me to give it five stars, but any combination of multiple criteria could create a five star book for me.

Let’s look at an example:When I think back on THE FAULT IN OUR STARS as a definite five star book because of it’s literary value, social value, connectedness, story, writing, and characters – it definitely fits. Then, when I compare it to something like EMBRACE which was more of a five star because of it’s story, readability, obsessiveness, right time, and enjoyability – it still fits. Would that have still been a five star book if I had read it at a different time? I’m not sure. But I’ve realized that so much of reading for me is related to mood and what I might need in my life at that specific point in time. That’s why there are times when I reach for a romance book where I don’t have to think much, and other times when I reach for a book on more serious social issues that need to be thought about in depth. Depending on my mood at the time and what else is going on in my life/head and what else I might have read recently and so many other factors, different books have different levels of coming to be five star books for me.

Does that mean I should go back and adjust ratings? No, I don’t think so because, again, it’s a discrete moment in time reaction to what I’ve read (and that would be a huge headache looking at the hundreds of books I’ve read!) Does it mean I should be more stingy with my five star ratings? Again, no, I don’t think so. I think the rating is about my reaction to that book right after I’ve read it and it’s related to my personal experience with that book. And isn’t that all ultimately what we’re looking for – having a personal experience with a book and having it become part of our shared conciousness? I think so. So, please don’t judge me for my five star ratings-and don’t compare them to each other! I love books and I love reading and I love that I can be enthusiastic about books and reading and have a medium through which to share it with others. Because, as a good friend of mine (and my sister classroom experiment teacher) said recently (@brianwyzlic who newly blogs at Wyz Reads – you should be following him if you’re not yet!), “reading may be a solo activity, but literacy is absolutely a social activity.” My ratings reflect the former and can lead to the latter.

So, my plan is to keep reading and keep using star ratings, and when those books come around that blow me away for whatever combination of reasons, that’s when you’ll see my five stars come up on goodreads – and that will be your indicator that that particular book affected me in some way and is worth a read. But, it does not necessarily mean that it’s for the same reasons or to the same level as another five star book on my list. Thanks for letting me work though my thoughts here in writing (so helpful)!

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this! Comment away

Teenagers today are living in a very different world than I experienced fifteen years ago. Technology allows immediate access to a world-wide audience and perspectives that I never would have known about when I was their age. Teens need to gain perspectives on the world outside their own little sphere of self-awareness, and to realize that there is a really big world out there where people may deal with different situations and difficulties than they themselves have in their own lives. In addition, teens may find books that help them deal with things that they can’t talk to anyone about, but an author may have been able to create a character who speaks to teens and can help them in a way that no one around them could, especially during adolescence where they all feel alone at times. I think the growth in the young adult publishing world only exemplifies the fact that today’s teens need access to books that help them discover their own identities, beliefs, feelings, and ideals, and the broad range of topics out there is helping build the next generation into more socially aware citizens of a 21st century global society. Ultimately, I think it comes down to one thing – if they can’t grapple with these issues safely in their own heads through reading a book, how else might they choose to experience them or how will they know how they want to handle them? I’d much rather have teens reading about things that may help them to gain perspective on their world and discover ways to make better choices within the safe confines of the pages of a book. That is the true benefit of young adult literature today and why it’s so important for teens to have access to a large variety of books to choose from to find the ones that speak to them and open their eyes to the “real” world (whether that be through contemporary-realistic-fiction, fantasy, science-fiction, romance, paranormal, or dystopian genres). This is why young adult literature.

So THANK YOU…
to the authors who keep writing about these topics that engage teens and help them grow,
to the aspiring writers who keep striving to get their stories heard and books published,
to the publishers who keep getting these books out there to be read,
to the bloggers who keep helping to build buzz and support the industry,
to the librarians who keep putting these books into teens’ hands,
to the teachers who keep promoting YA lit trying to get students engaged in reading,
and
to all in the YA Lit community for remembering who your audience is and why these books are so important.

Teenagers today are living in a very different world than I experienced fifteen years ago. Technology allows immediate access to a world-wide audience and perspectives that I never would have known about when I was their age. Teens need to gain perspectives on the world outside their own little sphere of self-awareness, and to realize that there is a really big world out there where people may deal with different situations and difficulties than they themselves have in their own lives. In addition, teens may find books that help them deal with things that they can’t talk to anyone about, but an author may have been able to create a character who speaks to teens and can help them in a way that no one around them could, especially during adolescence where they all feel alone at times. I think the growth in the young adult publishing world only exemplifies the fact that today’s teens need access to books that help them discover their own identities, beliefs, feelings, and ideals, and the broad range of topics out there is helping build the next generation into more socially aware citizens of a 21st century global society. Ultimately, I think it comes down to one thing – if they can’t grapple with these issues safely in their own heads through reading a book, how else might they choose to experience them or how will they know how they want to handle them? I’d much rather have teens reading about things that may help them to gain perspective on their world and discover ways to make better choices within the safe confines of the pages of a book. That is the true benefit of young adult literature today and why it’s so important for teens to have access to a large variety of books to choose from to find the ones that speak to them and open their eyes to the “real” world (whether that be through contemporary-realistic-fiction, fantasy, science-fiction, romance, paranormal, or dystopian genres). This is why young adult literature.

So THANK YOU…
to the authors who keep writing about these topics that engage teens and help them grow,
to the aspiring writers who keep striving to get their stories heard and books published,
to the publishers who keep getting these books out there to be read,
to the bloggers who keep helping to build buzz and support the industry,
to the librarians who keep putting these books into teens’ hands,
to the teachers who keep promoting YA lit trying to get students engaged in reading,
and
to all in the YA Lit community for remembering who your audience is and why these books are so important.