I read YA literature.

Not as much as I would like, but in all fairness I don't read as much of anything that I like.

I didn't used to. When I was a new high school teacher, I neither read it nor taught it; as an old high school teacher I read it but did not teach it; as a middle school teacher
I read & taught it.

We can discuss my personal instructional pedagogies later. That's not the point.

Anywho, I started reading YA literature when I got my master's degree in reading education and took an elective called something like "Young Adult Literature." I took the class because it seemed like a great balance to statistics...I could just read easy lit, get my A and be done

In that course we read a lot of YA literature. I had always been an avid reader, but that course was the first time I'd heard of Sherman Alexie. I learned about the Printz awards and fell in love with House of the Scorpion.

I don't remember all the books; I do remember I enjoyed reading them tremendously.

Good YA had such GOOD stories. Wholly complete & imagined worlds. Complex characters that evolved. Foils. Allusions. Sometimes really interesting structure--but often not deeply complex syntax

(for context, I was the HS student who read Dante's Inferno & Paradise Lost for fun. When I got my M.ED, I was reading Pulizer prize winners for fun as my yearly reading challenge. I read Midsummer Nights Dream in school then read The Tempest for fun. I was/ am *that* reader.)

Anywho, I liked the course. It changed my thinking. But it didn't change my *instructional* practice. I kept teaching The Bluest Eye, Macbeth, Fences, Things Fall Apart, Pygmalion, Native Son, The Street, Hamlet, Gatsby (never Great Expectations. I hate that book. LOL)

But, personally, I did keep reading YA. I even put the books I purchased in my classroom library.

I taught HS & I had a fair amount of kids who were vocal about not liking to read. I was also no dummy, so I knew some of them were skimming, not reading, or Cliffs' noting it.

I remember my attitude was "Whatever. I'm the teacher and they have to do what I say" or "If they don't do the reading, it'll hurt them later."

Now Me to Me: "Girl, Bye."

(Hubris is real for young adults. I've grown A LOT. I evolved to be a much more empathetic teacher)

Well, that year two incidents disrupted my beliefs and changed the course of my practice. One, at the time, did not seem significant; the other did.

1. I went to a literacy PD & heard about @KellyGToGo's strategy"The Reading Minute."

Choose the juciest part of the book. Read it aloud for one minute. STOP AT THE CLIFFHANGER. Right before the character jumps, or the trigger is pulled, or a decision is made

Leave THEM HANGING

Know what happens (even for big 'ole high schoolers)?

THEY BEG you to keep going.

Don't.

Tell them where they can get the book. Then, watch it fly off the shelves.

The Lovely Bones--I couldn't KEEP copies of it. Same with Speak.

I did this every Wednesday for the first minute...after 2 weeks, it had become a feature, not a bug and they loved it.

Because I'm smart, I would mix up YA and classics. I was honestly amazed at how simple a strategy actually got my nonreaders begging me for the book.

But, to keep it going weekly, I had to keep reading YA so I had good books to introduce them to.

The YA was often (not always) a gateway book to other books with more complex syntax, structure, themes...and now I had Ss who were willing to *try* books they'd always walked right past.

Nonreaders to readers. No lie.

After a few weeks, I would hear Ss talking about the books they'd read and recommending them to other Ss.

When I got *really* smart, I used this strategy for the next canonical/classical text I was teaching. Hearing the cliffhanger got them ALL interested in starting the book

2. I had a student who came from a very strict religious family. She came to me in confidence and said "Ms. D., I think I'm a gay. I can't tell anybody. I don't know what to do."

Well, I was 25 & I didn't know what to do either except listen and be kind. So that's what I did.

I didn't know what to do, but I knew a book. In my YA class, we'd had a unit on LGBTQ YA lit & read Rubyfruit Jungle (good book)

I chose it for The Reading Minute, (honestly, I was scared. The school community was pretty Black Christian conservative & Chaldean; I just knew I was going to be reprimanded/fired. I was/did not.)

That afternoon the student came to my class and got the book.

A week later she came back to me said "thank you."

I never got the book back.

I don't always know the perfect thing to do, but I do try to operate with openness, empathy. I am genuine and unwavering in my beliefs--including that students are people first, someone's child second, and your student 3rd or more down the line.

For me to be a good teacher to them, I have to remember they are people first & meet them where they are while pushing them hard academically. HARD. They HAVE to know how to read, & that includes reading challenging, complex texts that require deep thought & critical analysis

That year was one of the few years I can point to in altering my pedagogical beliefs for the better. I began to listen to Ss differently, pay attention to their likes so I could recommend texts I bet they would read. These include graphic novels, poetry, romance, hood books,

classics, nonfiction, science fiction, science, history, sociology, philosophy, books turned into movies, magazines...

I was already a voracious reader; attuning to Ss interests and being introduced to YA made me even more so

I did not (at least I don't remember) teaching YA during instructional time in HS. I'm ok with that. Hard decisions had to be made.

I DID 100% ABSOLUTELY read YA in front of my kids, introduce them to GREAT YA and turn some nonreaders into readers. GOOD--GREAT--IDEA

I think it's important for Ts to learn who Ss are as people. I think it's important to care about what they read when they're not in front of you. I think that helps deepen relationships & create trust SO they will be more willing to start the hard book.

I think that is a part of empathetic practice--respecting who you are now while challenging and encouraging you to read harder, more complex texts.

Anywho, THIS IS NOT ME JUMPING IN THE SECONDARY READING WAR. I am reading this morning (like most mornings) and I noted the amount of YA on my bookshelf--a 40+ woman with a whole doctorate degree. I'm musing about how I used YA literature and some of the power I see in it

In my secret life, I also sometimes write book reviews for books that fall in the YA genre. I've been introduced to some GOOD books, ya'll GOOD.

*To be clear, ALL YA is NOT good literature. Just like all literature is not good literature*

Anywho, in addition to those above, here's a list of some of my favorite YA lit. These are in no particular order, but I gave them all 4+ on @GoodReadsMob

Scythe & series by Neil Schusterman
Children of Blood and Bone Tomi Adeyemi
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
The Book of Unknown Americans by Chrisina Henriquez
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
The Poet X by Elizabeth Alvarez
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell

Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
The Afterlife by Gary Soto (taught in middle school. Ss LOVED it)
The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Looking for Alaska, by John Green
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
The Graveyard Book by Neil Schusterman
The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
Fast Break by Mike Lupica
Ball Don't Lie by Matt De La Pena
Blended by Sharon Draper

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African American Voting Rights by Lawrence Goldstone
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton
Garvey's Choice by Nikki Hamilton
Zeely by Virginia Hamilton
Clap When you Land by Elizabeth Acevado