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Scratch (scratch.mit.edu), is a free computer program from MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten Group that’s changing the landscape of how young people learn programming, engage in media-based project creation, and develop 21st-century literacy skills. Today’s young readers are experiencing reading and books as more than a one-dimensional printed medium.  The growing popularity of books with cross-over components (39 Clues Series, Skeleton Creek, The Softwire Series just to name a few), as well as the proliferation of fan fiction sites, fan forums, and eBooks, are only the beginning.  People raised with technology integrated into all aspects of their lives see no disconnect with enjoying a story in multi-leveled, multi-facetedRead More →

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Comic generator site MakeBeliefs Comix has a new offering. Users can create their own comic strips, selecting characters, colors, stories and formatting choices.  Strips can be downloaded and printed.  Comics could also be created with speech bubbles left blank for ELL and other students to fill in their own narratives. Comics can also be created in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Latin. Be sure to check out the Teacher Resources page with tips on how to use comics in the classroom.  Sweet!Read More →

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In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Reaching Reluctant Readers, Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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In the first of a new sci-fi action series by prolific author James Patterson we meet Daniel X.  His secret abilities — like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses — have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn’t have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond what anyone could imagine.  From the day that his parents were brutally murdered in front of his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to assume their quest to hunt down the worst aliens hiding out onRead More →

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Opening and closing with the funerals of 2 teens killed by drug violence, Walter Dean Myer’s Autobiography of My Dead Brother, is a stark portrayal of youth for urban teens.  I am always impressed by Walter Dean Myer’s ability to tell honest, and sometimes gritty, stories about the difficulties faced by young men, often African American, whose lives are surrounded by violence. His characters are multi-dimensional and he deftly illustrates how much everyone has in common with everyone else, and how fine the line between good and bad choices really is. Fifteen-year-old Jessie has always seen his slightly older friend Rise as a hero, and the boys made a blood-brother bond as children.Read More →

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July’s School Library Journal cover story Street Fight: Welcome to the World of Urban Lit, is a thought-provoking article about the genre of books that aim to accurately represent the sometimes harsh, violent world of today’s inner city life. Amy Pattee’s insightful investigation of the history and continued cultural relevance of this genre provides good background for those who are unfamiliar with it and yet are confronted with teen readers’ requests for these types of books.  Pattee also provides a good bibliography of urban lit titles written specifically for the teen audience, although her point that some “young connoisseurs of urban lit may find these more restrained stories babyish or inauthentic”Read More →

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The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 is a fantastic sci-fi book for all ages.  Excellent for reluctant readers! Johnny Turnbull, aka JT, and his little sister Ketheria never knew their parents.  Years before they were born, their parents agreed to leave Earth to make a long trip through space to work on the far-off rings of Orbis.  After a malfunction killed all of the adults on the ship, the computer raised the embryos that the adults had brought on board.  When these children, no older than twelve, arrive on Orbis they discover that they must work off their parent’s debts by being virtual slaves for theRead More →

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   The Afterlife by Gary Soto grabs the reluctant reader in the first few pages with the story of Chuy who is stabbed, dies, and becomes the ghostly protagonist of this compelling story.  As Chuy struggles to find the significance of his life and watches his family come to terms with his violent end, he meets the lovely Crystal, also recently deceased.  I read this story with junior high students who “HATE to read” but they were quickly drawn into Chuy’s search for understanding and the question of whether his death would be avenged.  The author of this book, Gary Soto, is a favorite ofRead More →