Dear Class, welcome to our young adult lit blog, the official site for sharing announcements, resources, responses to readings, reviews of hot titles we're recommending, discussion of guest speakers and topics, etc. etc. in 619.
To introduce yourself to me and to your classmates, please post and tell us about what you've been reading these last weeks. Bring the book you are currently reading (not necessarily a YA title of course) to class on TH night, 1/26. You may already know that Barnes & Noble offers a 25% discount on books for teachers through Sunday the 29th. Our syllabus includes "choice" books as part of the requirements, so if there are titles you've been wanting to purchase, this is a good time to do that.
You will need some ID (a pay stub if you've been substituting will do it) that indicates you are a teacher. If you do not currently have teacher ID, this is a good week to take a teacher friend to
B&N for coffee and enlist his/her help in buying books.
A note about books for the course: MANDO downtown has several of our titles: "What Choice Do I Have?" and two YA titles, INEXCUSABLE and THE ROOM ON LORELEI STREET. These titles should be discounted 20% off the cover price of the books, the deal I made with Tom. Please do check that and remind him that we agreed to this discount. The other course books should be available at the campus bookstore.
We will order other YA titles for lit circle discussions after you've made those choices. If you have any questions, get in touch. I look forward to reading your blog posts and seeing you on TH night. KES
Hi all! I always try to read anything my students recommend (especially if they are serious enough about it to actually bring in a copy). Last night, I finished reading the enthusiastically acclaimed Y.A. novel, SPEAK. Many students have talked about it with passion and sincerity and I finally had a chance to see for myself what all the buzz was about. It truly is an empowering book and I understand why so many of my alternative ed. students are attracted to it.
Looking forward to Thursday,
Jacqueline Deal
Posted by: JacquelineD | January 23, 2006 at 02:06 PM
J, glad you read SPEAK. I chose INEXCUSABLE as a companion to SPEAK--you'll see why. Good to see you on the blog.
Did you sign on so that you can post your own content--not just comment on others? KES
Posted by: Karen | January 23, 2006 at 05:42 PM
I would like to start by saying how proud I am of myself for figuring this out.
Unfortunately, I do not read as much as I would like to. I TRY to read a novel every 4 weeks (as I require my students to do), but I often lag behind. Terrible role model. My latest reads are a few by Chuck Palahniuk, Nick Hornby, and Tom Robbins.
Jackie, I'll have to take your advice and read Speak - I own it, but most of the time a student has it.
I read and taught Ellen Foster for the first time. I thought it was fantastic as did most of my students. A sort of "coming of age" story if you will.
I just finished Oedipus Rex and Antigone with my seniors -- fabulous time :) and trying to get through Hamlet with my juniors. So mostly I read and re-read what is on the curriculum.
See you all Thursday,
Laura
Posted by: Schilly | January 23, 2006 at 06:05 PM
Hello Peers and Professor,
I'm posting a comment, but have yet to receive an invitation from TypeKey/TypePad.
Um, I feel a little guilty saying this, but my Holiday reading had a practical subtext. I read a couple YA books (How I Live Now and The Rag and the Bone Shop) and a couple of books for Women of the Americas (When I Was Puerto Rican and Dreaming in Cuban) before reading a book simply for fun (Ha Jin's The Crazed - which, though chosen for fun, was anything but...). Right now, I'm reading a long profile of Ariel Sharon in the NYer. I figured I'd take a break from novels before the semester truly kicks in.
See you all in two days.
Chris
Posted by: Chris Johnston | January 24, 2006 at 08:54 AM
Chris, I wonder if you read the recent NEW YORKER piece on the gifted boy? Maybe last week or the week before? I'm glad to meet another NEW YORKER reader.
I will send another invitation so that you can post rather than just comment.
KES
Posted by: Karen | January 24, 2006 at 10:06 AM
I did read that article. I found the disconnect between the child and his parents disconcerting. I wish the author further explored potential links between his intelligence and his depression (i.e. was he manic depressive or did his intelligence, coupled with the home schooling, etc, lead to over isolation.)But good stuff....
Posted by: christopherJ | January 24, 2006 at 02:58 PM