I was delighted to be able to attend the “What’s New in Young Adult Books” workshop in Sioux Falls, SD, as last year I was “blizzard-ed out” on the day of the workshop. The presenter was a 20 year veteran Teacher/Librarian, having experiences throughout the Middle School and High School grade levels. There were all kinds of ideas and projects to help librarians review, select, promote the newly published books, either in a classroom or a media center setting. The Resource Handbook started out with reviews of almost 400 titles. Naturally, the presenter had to choose the best of the best to highlight, and it was fun to hear about other participants’ top choices, too. Lists were also generated by topic, genre, medals and awards (with corresponding websites.) One of the things I like best was that the presenter spent a good portion of time talking about nonfiction books – and most of these were narrative nonfiction. There were sample book talks and rubrics for evaluating student book talks – I think a student voicing his or her opinions on books holds as much, or maybe even more, sway with their peers. Another wonderful resource was the promotion of audio books, with Common core standards tied to the use of this platform. There were also links to teacher guides, discussion guides and lesson plans. The presenter also had examples of lesson plans that she had used, and great ideas from teacher sites such as Teachers Pay Teachers (many of them free or very low cost.) This workshop was exciting, and overwhelming in its coverage of the topics and ideas surrounding young adult literature. I am very grateful to SAMMIE for the opportunity to experience, learn and disseminate the knowledge gained from this workshop. Thank you!
