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  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time India n. NY:  Little Brown. Junior is a Native American from the Spokane Tribe, who lives with his family on a reservation in Washington.   Junior, who is a bright young man, is encouraged by a teacher to consider leaving the reservation and its school, to attend a school that would better meet Junior's educational needs.  Despite the cost, Junior decides to leave the reservation school and attend a different high school in a predominantly white area.  The people in his tribe and on the reservation are not as open to Junior's choice, and see his choice as him being a traitor.  While attending his new school, Junior makes new friends, joins the basketball team, and has to face hardships and loss in his life.   Alexie is able to share with his reader the inner and outer struggles that many Native Americans are facing.  The Ab...

  Chapter 11 Chapter Summary: Realistic fiction is a subgenre within fiction, and is set in a modern time setting.  This subgenre can also sometimes be called contemporary or modern realistic fiction.  These stories are going to have believable story lines with events happening that are consistent with the real world.  As well as the characters, settings, and events, are all ones that could be real.  When reading in this subgenre or selecting books from within it, it can be helpful to use some criteria to evaluate books. Criteria for Evaluating Realistic Fiction: 1.  Is everything shared following the rules and norms of the real world? 2.  Does the theme emerge in a natural way in the story? 3.  How does the content shared in the book connect to its modern audience? Chapter Reflections: I would think that this subgenre would be very popular with young adult readers.  The criteria shared for evaluating this ...

Awards Chapter Summary: For this portion of the textbook, links are provided.  The list below contains the details behind the many awards that are given for young adult literature.  These details will best summarize this chapter. Printz:  The Printz award is awarded yearly, each winter. The award is named after Michael L. Printz, who was a high school librarian from Topeka, Kansas. He was an active member of the Young Adult Literature Service Association. Here's a well-known slogan of Printz's that best sums up his commitment and dedication to his patrons, "Finding the right book, for the right student at the time." Follow this link for more information. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz/ YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction: This award is given each year for books published for young adults ages 12-18, published between November 1st and October 31. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/nonfiction-award Great Graphic Novels for Teens: The m...

Historical Fiction Chapter Summary:  Historic Fiction for children can be different than what we as the teacher think it should be.  The historic fiction portion of the textbook, shared that to children what they did that morning, could be considered history to them.  Knowing that they are still learning what this concept means, we will probably need to scaffold our activities before we ask them to read historic fiction.  Sharing this subgenre with students is important because it will allow our students to vicariously experience what life was like during that time.  In selecting from this subgenre there are some things to keep in mind. Criteria for Evaluating Historic Fiction: Does the story blend the historic time well into the story? Are the facts presented, accurate with the time? How are the values of that time shared? Is everything consistent with this time period?  Clothes, speech, technology, cultural aspects, etc. Does the ...

Poetry Chapter Summary: Poetry is considered a format and not a genre. When sharing poetry with our students there are some things to consider so that the students will not only benefit from this format, but so that they will also enjoy the shared poetry.  Students prefer narrative poetry.  They enjoy hearing stories, and narrative poetry shares a story within the poem.  Students also prefer poems that have rhyme, that have rhythm, and use sound devices.  They enjoy funny poems, animal poems, and contemporary poems.  Students do not seem to enjoy free verse poems or haiku poems.  There were many excellent examples of poems and books to consider sharing with our students.  During this portion, not only were poetry collections shared, but also some background on the authors of these poems.  We should share poetry with our students and encourage them to practice it.  Reading a poem to our students one time, does not allow ...

Literary Elements Chapter Summary: One literary element to know more about, is the theme within a piece of writing.  A theme is something that can be shown from the text.  It is a message that is stated or suggested by the author.  Themes need to be stated in a complete sentence.  There can be more than one theme within a text.   Readers may see a theme within a piece that the teacher or other readers may not have observed. Teachers and librarians can encourage these thoughtful insights in their students by reminding them, that themes are supported in the text.  It is important to also think about what theme is not within a piece of writing. A theme is not the main idea, a topic, or a summary.  It is not an old saying, moral, or parable.  A theme is not a single word.  The remaining part of the chapter shared resources for literary elements. In reviewing pieces of writing the reader needs to have a good understanding...

Chapter 6 How Do Adolescents Develop? Chapter Summary: There are many aspects of a developing adolescent that need to be considered and understood more by teachers and librarians.  Some of these aspects include their intellectual development, their moral development, and their physical development.  As adolescents are developing intellectually, their thoughts and understanding are moving from concrete concepts to more abstract concepts.  Children aged 14 years old are believed to be around the age when this transition from concrete thinking begins to move to abstract thinking.  Their moral development is also changing. During adolescents they are moving from the morals shared with them, by their parents, to beginning to form their own set of morals. Their relationships also begin to experience changes as they begin to find their place in the world.  As their bodies are experiencing physical changes they are having to learn how to adapt to ...