Newbery Honor-winner Margarita Engle tells the story of Cuban folk hero, abolitionist, and women's rights pioneer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda in this powerful YA historical novel in verse.

This valuable guide advises teachers and librarians how to use novels in verse in functional, hands-on ways with teens, including reluctant readers. Novels in verse are popular and have recently won some important awards. They are of great value to teachers and librarians as a way of reaching all teens, including marginalized teens and those who may be struggling or reluctant readers. This guide shows readers how to pair books with teens based on their needs, interests, and specific situations. After teens are paired with books, this guide suggests activities to further engage them with the poetry. Activities are tied to Common Core and AASL standards for ease of lesson planning for teachers. Verse novels address a widely diverse demographic and a variety of topics, including various cultures, religions, racism, LGBTQ+ themes, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, sexual assault, self-harm/suicide, domestic violence, family dynamics, disabilities, refugees, English language learners, and more. Novels in verse provide a more modern, practical alternative to some older classics that may not appeal to many teens or that may intimidate them by their sheer number of words per page. This book provides a one-stop resource for choosing and using novels in verse with teen readers.

There is power that resides in outstanding culturally diverse literature'sa power that has the potential to engage students in reading and teach them about the art and craft of writing. In Dream Wakers: Mentor Texts That Celebrate Latino Culture, Ruth Culham focuses her love of children's literature'sand her decades of work developing the traits of writing'son books that celebrate Latino life and culture. She provides a wide variety of ideas to teach writing using some of the richest and most beautiful children's books available. Dream Wakers gives you: An annotated list of more than 120 books with do-it-today lesson ideas for teaching the traits of writing'sIdeas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions. More than half of the books listed are bilingual or offer English and/or Spanish editions. Eleven original, insightful essays by renowned children's authors of some of the featured books A handy reference chart that helps teachers locate books quickly by trait, genre, language, and author/publisher information. Ruth encourages all of us to make sure students of all backgrounds have access to high-quality, culturally diverse texts and recognize the difference those texts will make in their reading lives, as well as in their perception of themselves as a thinkers, learners, and citizens.

Throughout history, the verse novel has persisted as a modest but noteworthy literary subgenre, from classic works like Eugene Onegin to contemporary volumes by Vikram Seth, Dorothy Porter, and Derek Walcott. In particular, the verse novel has emerged as a popular form for young adult readers, such as the Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. As this unique form continues to flourish, it merits closer examination. In The Verse Novel in Young Adult Literature, Brenna Friesner explores both the history and current use of the verse novel in teen fiction. Examining more than 220 titles written over the last few decades, Friesner discusses the verse novel’s evolution, analyzes key works, and considers how these novels can grapple with content that distinguishes them from traditional fiction. Though this study includes volumes written throughout history, its focus on contemporary novels further demonstrates the form’s relevance for today’s teens. By explaining its current popularity, this book acknowledges the verse novel’s potential to provide accessible, authentic stories for young adults to enjoy. The Verse Novel in Young Adult Literature will be of interest to librarians and teachers, as well as anyone wanting to learn more about this burgeoning aspect of young adult literature.

This title examines the genre of nonfiction in Enchanted Air, Brown Girl Dreaming, Chasing Lincoln's Killer, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. It features four analysis papers that consider nonfiction, each using different critical lenses, writing techniques, or aspects of the genre. Critical thinking questions, sidebars highlighting and explaining each thesis and argument, and other possible approaches for analysis help students understand the mechanics of essay writing. Features include a glossary, references, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

In this acclaimed picture book bursting with vibrance and rhythm, a girl dreams of playing the drums in 1930s Cuba, when the music-filled island had a taboo against female drummers.

Taking a genre approach, this overview of young adult literature shows new librarians and library science students the criteria to use for selecting quality books, including recommended titles. This third edition of Young Adult Literature in Action draws on the success of the previous two editions authored by Rosemary Chance, updating and expanding on them to meet the needs of today's librarians and library science students. It includes a new focus on diverse books, LGBTQ+ selections, the role of book formats, and the relevance of librarians serving teen populations and is an ideal resource for teaching young adult literature courses. Organized by major genre divisions, this easy-to-use book includes new information on timely topics such as audio and e-books, accessible books, and graphic novels. Each chapter includes revised and updated information on collaborative activities, featured books, special topics and programs, selected awards and celebrations, historical connections, recommended resources, issues for discussion, author comments, and assignment suggestions. Further updates include citations of exemplary young adult books and award winners, references, websites, and a bibliography.