How can literature advocate for society? How do teachers make space in the classroom to read for discovery, problem solving, identity forming, and healing as students make sense of their worlds – our world?
Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity…They [young people who have said they love my books] have been struck by the recognition of themselves in the story, a validation of their existence as human beings, an acknowledgement of their value by someone who understands who they are. It is the shock of recognition at its highest level. (Walter Dean Myers, “Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books,” Sunday Review, The NY Times)
Below are two book lists that nurture compassion and advocacy for ourselves and others. These are booklists that Lesley Roessing and I discussed in our session at NCTE, Atlanta and promised we’d post here. Lesley and I have been reading nonstop to provide this resource for teachers and our students. We post book covers and reviews on Facebook weekly (sometimes daily), so please join us in sharing the books that are moving your hearts and minds.
They [children I meet in school visits] see books less as mirrors and more as maps. They are indeed searching for their place in the world, but they are also deciding where they want to go. They create, through the stories they’re given, an atlas of their world, of their relationships to others, of their possible destinations. (Christopher Myers, “The Apartheid of Children’s Literature,” Sunday Review, The NY Times)
If we teach so that our students will sustain and improve our world, then they must imagine how our world ought to be. And if that world is to be healthy, then our students must become conscious of and seek out understanding of all that is humanity. Books can help our students get closer to the “all” of humanity.
Mirrors, Maps, and Windows Booklists
From Lesley Roessing of the Coastal Savannah Writing Project, click on the link for a PDF of YA Novels: Issues in Adolescent Lives and Development (Grades 4-12)
From Sarah Donovan of Ethical ELA, click on the link for a PDF of her Inclusive Literature Book List.
Our books also have great young adult book recommendations:
Please share your recommendations with us.