Young Adult Literature

A Roomful of Mirrors: Multiple Reflections of Autobiography of a Face
(Workshop by April Nauman and Becca Manery)

When she was nine, Lucy Grealy had one-third of her jaw removed to treat a rare form of cancer.  Although she survived the disease, Grealy was confronted with an even greater hardship:  the cruel teasing of her classmates.  Autobiography of a Face, Grealy’s witty and candid memoir, was hailed as a courageous tale of a cancer survivor when it appeared in 1994.  Five years after Grealy’s untimely death, readers can find several themes to explore in this multilayered work:  the struggle for love and acceptance, the relationship between appearance and identity, cultural definitions of beauty and intolerance of difference.  Through writing, supporting texts, and reader response activities, this workshop will demonstrate how teachers can encourage diverse responses to a rich and complex work of literature.  (8th grade and up)

Chew on This: The Unsavory Facts about America's Favorite Fast Food Restaurant
(Workshop by Tina Peano)

This kid-friendly version of Fast Food Nation covers a variety of important and disturbing topics about the fast food industry, including: 
            -the connection between fast food and advertising to children
            -the chemicalization of food
            -the epidemic of fast food/soda pop served in school cafeterias
            -the horrendous living conditions of cattle and chicken
            -the correlation between the rise in obesity and the popularity of fast food

To tackle these topics, we will try out some pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading strategies that can work well in any classroom, and that are new and exciting to your students.  It will be fun, it will be informative, and it will leave you with many a burning question.  Who knows, you just may kick that McDonald's habit yet!
(6th grade and up)

The Circuit / Cajas De Carton by Francisco Jiménez
(Workshop by Gina Gamboa)

The Circuit is an award-winning collection of independent but intertwined autobiographical stories in which Panchito’s family travels a circuit of unending migration from one farm to another as they search for the next harvesting job. Although impermanence and poverty largely define their lives, their faith, hope and back-breaking work enable the family to endure. This workshop will use the corrido song form to help explore the dimensions of Panchito’s young life.

Wartime Hysterics: Exploring the World War II Incarceration of Japanese Americans Using Dear Miss Breed
(Workshop by Beverly Rowls and Katie Welsh)

Grade 6 Up–Through letters and recollections, Oppenheim relates the story of a group of young people who were interned during World War II. Breed had come to know many Japanese Americans through her work as the childrens librarian at the San Diego Public Library. When the young people were sent to camps in 1942, she began sending letters and care packages of books, candy, and other treats to her children. She also wrote articles for Library Journal and The Horn Book that articulated their plight. In return, the recipients expressed their gratitude in letters. While their lives were marked by deprivation and uncertainty, their letters reveal an unquenchable optimism. Their story, along with that of Miss Breed, is both remarkable and inspiring, and Oppenheim has done a fine job of assembling these poignant eyewitness accounts. Unfortunately, she muddles her assessment, ladling on a variety of unnecessary details and her own anecdotal experiences. Theres a lack of clarity and focus, and though this is a welcome addition to this topic, its appeal will be limited to those familiar with it. Readers seeking a concise, overall perspective would fare better with Michael L. Coopers Fighting for Honor: Japanese Americans and World War II (2000) and Remembering Manzanar: Life In a Japanese Relocation Camp (2002, both Clarion).–Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA - Review from Amazon

Enrique's Journey/ La Travesia de Enrique: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother
(Workshop by Beatriz Jamaica)

Sonia Nazario’s account of Enrique’s turbulent journey from Honduras to the United States and all of his life-threatening encounters provokes her readers to explore beyond the surface of immigration reform.  Through a variety of writing exercises, group discussion exercises and various forms of artistic expression, teachers will be able to help students retell immigrant stories.  (8th grade and up)

A  Girl Named Disaster and The Skin I'm In:  Exploring Troubles and Triumphs in the Quest for Female Identity
(Workshop by Susan Garr and Michero Washington)

In A Girl Named Disaster, Nhamo lives in her mother’s village in Mozambique.  Her mother is dead and her father is gone.  While her Grandmother provides much needed affection, her Aunt Chipo hates her and the people in her village refer to her as “Little Disaster.”  In The Skin I’m In, Maleeka Madison’s classmates taunt and pressure her to follow the crowd; a new teacher prods and pressures her to achieve. Young, Black and beautiful, Maleeka is a 7th grader who doesn’t blend well with her peers.  Although both stories reflect the troubles and triumphs of young girls, the books present issues that all adolescents face:  fitting in, accepting oneself, taking responsibility, survival and the importance of family and friendships. This hands-on workshop will explore the journey of self-discovery by examining the way in which our main characters' identities are shaped, shifted and stifled by their response to life circumstances.  Activities will address the importance of self-esteem, culture and skin tone bias as the foundation for transforming the relationship between external features and misperceptions of the self.  Through hands-on before, during and after reading activities, this workshop offers teachers a variety of ways to bring these books to our students.   (7th grade and up)

Navigating The Golden Compass: Using Fantasy to Teach Science and Philosophy in the Middle Grade
(Workshop by Karen Boran)

In this hands-on, highly interactive workshop, participants will explore how fantasy – specifically, Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass – can help students understand complex scientific and philosophical concepts in concrete, tangible ways.  Teachers will receive curriculum materials, including unit plans, study guide questions, and more.

Examining An Inconvenient Truth
(Workshop by Polly Mills and Germania Solorzano)

As Al Gore states in his book, An Inconvenient Truth, “the Chinese expression for ‘crisis’ consists of two characters side by side…The first is the symbol for ‘danger,’ the second the symbol for ‘opportunity’.” Looking at the inconvenient truth of global warming, we hope to empower teachers and students to allow inconvenient truths into the classroom through reading, writing and research.  This workshop will use selected readings from the book to examine how Gore’s personal relationship to the material guided his inquiry, as well as how to use research in writing.  Using the principles of permission and attention, from the Story Workshop Approach to the Teaching of Writing®, and teambuilding games, we will use the text to inspire our own questions, hypotheses, and discoveries of other inconvenient truths in orally told stories.  Finally, we will write our own text based on these stories.  We hope this workshop will motivate teachers to use An Inconvenient Truth in their classrooms, and open the door to further inquiries led by their students’ needs and interests. (6th grade and up)

Minotaurs, Satyrs, and Gods - Oh My! The Art of The Lightning Thief
(Workshop by Mary Massie)

Think the Greek gods are just artifacts of ancient history?  The Lightning Thief will bring you up to date! This hip adventure-quest brings the Olympians to New York City— just 600 floors up. Percy Jackson, a middle-school misfit, is surprised to find he has the super powers of a demigod, and that Poseidon is his long-lost father. Percy is a wise-cracking hero, the modernized gods are hilarious, and the parallels to Harry Potter are all in good fun.  Riordan is faithful to the original myths, offering an irresistible chance for teachers to hook kids on the ancient stories that continue to inspire works of literature and art. Our workshop will use arts integration, including drama techniques and pieces of art, to enjoyably explore the myths that Percy learns the hard way.  (5th grade and up)