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Greetings,
We're pleased to bring you reading recommendations from youth book clubs around the country.
We've also highlighted an inspiring school-based reading program that brings middle school students and community members together over books.
The authors featured in our Choose a Book - Invite an Author program have news to share, including new releases and awards. Take a moment to browse the titles and authors, and be sure to invite an author to join your next discussion.
Please take a moment to share news from your book club with us.
Happy Spring!
Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp
Co-authors of The Kids' Book Club Book
and The Book Club Cookbook
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 BOOK CLUBS RECOMMEND
Reading Suggestions from Youth Book Clubs
Ravenous
Readers of Bordentown Regional High School, New Jersey, recommend:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Young Readers,
2007), Fiction, 240 pages
"Junior
is a lonely, sad Indian kid living on the Spokane 'rez'. He can't
change his poverty or his parents' drunkenness and depression, but he can
change himself and rise above the limitations of the rez. He leaves for Reardon, a rather small and
somewhat claustrophobic town 22 miles away - seeking adventure, new friends,
acceptance, and ultimately a new direction.
"This book was all powerful. Throughout the book, there are obstacles and
hardships Junior faces, yet the author portrays them with warmth and laughter
and hope through his cartoons. Topics our group discussed include
discrimination, self-esteem, drugs, loyalty, poverty, and the importance of
education. The students overwhelmingly
loved this book. The drawings are a sure hook for the reluctant reader,
especially boys. The boy who can't sit
still will love the fast pace, the pictures and the occasional humor this book
has to offer."
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CREATING A READING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Journal Buddies
 Wisconsin's
Viroqua Area School District has found success with a program that brings
middle school students together with adults in the community over books -
and inspires excitement about reading in both groups.
Reading
specialist Mary Mulvaney-Kemp launched Journal Buddies in 2005. The program
pairs adult volunteers from the community with sixth-graders; each adult-child
pair selects a book they'd like to read, and over the next 4-6 weeks, emails
back and forth to create an interactive "journal" about their reading
selection. Mentor and student also meet
twice in person, once at a kickoff event where they select a book, and again at
the end of the program, for a celebratory breakfast to wrap up discussion of
the book. "The first time the partners
meet is always awkward," says Mulvaney-Kemp.
"But at the concluding breakfast, the room is full of conversation. I usually have to break things up when it's
time to go."
Communication
between adults and students deepens their understanding of the literature and
generates excitement about reading.
Pairs are encouraged to write about themselves, and connections they
notice between the text and other texts, personal experiences, and world
events. Partners then respond to these
observations or questions, and add their own.
Many partners read more than one book, and some continue to read together
once the program is finished.
The participation of community members is essential to the Journal Buddies program. Many of the adult reading partners are professionals in the community,
including the mayor, a judge, bankers, businesspeople, and even the school superintendent. "The students will see these adults out and about within
our small community, long after the completion of the project." says
Mulvaney-Kemp. "It strengthens our
community when adults and youth know each other by name and develop positive
relationships." She adds that adult volunteers find the time commitment quite
reasonable, and judge their participation to be valuable.
Mulvaney-Kemp
has also found success with variations on the program. Establishing groups of three readers - one
adult and two students - allows students to get the perspective of an adult as
well as a peer. This year, she's piloting
this program with seventh-graders, so students can continue to benefit from the
relationships they established with their mentors last year.
Purchasing
books is the main program cost, and the district received grant money to cover
these expenses. "It really is not
expensive once you have a book collection," Mulvaney-Kemp says. "We continue to
add books each year." Titles selected
by pairs in the past include Freak the
Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, Olive's
Ocean by Kevin Henkes, Al Capone Does
My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, and Pictures
of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff.
For more information, contact Mary Mulvaney-Kemp at mulmar@viroqua.k12.wi.us (Enter "bookclub" in the subject line.)
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CHOOSE A BOOK - INVITE AN AUTHOR
Author News
Our Choose a Book - Invite an Author
program allows you to browse for great titles for your club and
schedule author chats. Here, we bring you news from our featured
authors.
Welcome to new authors Anna Hays, Charlotte Kandel and Michael Sullivan.
NEW AND UPCOMING PAPERBACK RELEASES
The Midnight Twins by Jacquelyn Mitchard (March)
NEW RELEASES
Look Both Ways by Jacquelyn Mitchard (March)
Portia's Exclusive and Confidential Rules on True Friendship by Anna Hays (May)
AWARDS
Escapade Johnson and the Coffee Shop of the Living Dead by Michael Sullivan: 2009 Mom's Choice Award Gold Medal for Juvenile Literature
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen:
2009 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers and named to the 2009 Texas
Lonestar Reading list. Audiobook: ALA 2009 Amazing Audiobook and
finalist, 2009 Audie Award in the Teen Books category
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