Rated YA-MA discussion

Discuss the YA to Z Challenge here.

1. Ask questions.
2. Request or give book recommendations.
3. Comment on your personal challenge progress

To officially join the challenge, sign up here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

@DivaDiane
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

My initial reaction is to write your own version of the challenge. My human reaction is do what brings you joy. If a challenge is a chore and not fun, why do it?

This challenge will hopefully let me clear out my backlog of books that I own but have yet to read...SO MANY!!!!!! I have a book buying problem....
So, I am excited to give it a go.

Yeah!

This month I read...

L Lore Olympus: Volume One- it was a bit more risque than I was expecting. I'm unlikely to continue the series.

S Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 4- book 4 in an already started series. I will read v 5 when it's available either in my library or on Scribd.

and our group BOTM
T The Ten Thousand Doors of January

This month I finished 3 more letters

M- #Murdertrending Chosen on a whim but a good start to a dystopia world. It borrows from a lot of tropes but is well executed.

P- Panic Group book of the month. A bit heavy on the teenager angst, but overall an enjoyable read.

R- Red Rising A reread. It has been long enough that I forgot a lot of details. I probably enjoyed it more the first time around.

Consistently reading 3 each month. I'm waiting till summer break to tackle the 'difficult' letters.

C- Chains
G- The Graveyard Book reread
H- The Hunger Games reread

How was your reread of The Hunger Games?

I still like it, but since I've reread it every year for 4 years, I didn't really notice new details or have any new revelations.

...plus there was parent drama with the book section. I'm kind of hoping I don't have to teach 7th grade next year.

Melanie wrote: "I still like it, but since I've reread it every year for 4 years, I didn't really notice new details or have any new revelations.

...plus there was parent drama with the book section. I'm kind of ..."

Ugh! I've been contemplating getting my Master's in Library Sciences, but with everything going on in this country, I don't know if my heart can take it.

I will say that there is a difference between books students are told they have to read and books students sign out independently and choose to read. The temperature should turn down in a year or two, but these are the time we live in .. it is what it is. I'm trying to be positive and roll with it. The broader community did not support this parent, who in the end did not avail themselves of the option to have their kid read an alternate text. But they also had valid points to their argument. IDK.

Oh, I’m sorry to hear about those problems Melanie.

Why do you think the temperature should turn down in a few years? Just that the parents of today’s younger kids will be less “indoctrinated “?

@DivaDiane- A few reasons I suppose. Firstly, things always change. It's part of why I love my job. Even when I teach the exact same content to the same age level, every year is different. ... Okay, well that is usually an amazing job perk. When I get too far into "the kids these days" doldrums, it'll be time for me to move on.

Also my beat on American politics suggests it will too. The parent rights movement began as a very valid desire to get students back into school after a pandemic. It also was because what is taught in school became more transparent when learning was forced to be at home ... and there was some stuff that parents did not like. The broader public, though in favor of having a say in what their students read and learn, are not supportive of not letting other people choose what books their kids can and cannot read. And I think they'll win the day.

Right now it is trendy to start a social media blitz @ the slightest dislike, but good schools have procedures and policies in place to appropriately address parents concerns. My school does. Also, the national library association {I forget it's formal name/ acronym] has a whole process for schools to follow to determine what books should/ should not be present in adolescent libraries. In may case we followed the process and it was stress but it worked out because I know why I teach what I teach and the parents had choices too (which is only right and fair). I think schools that reactively start excommunicating books from libraries are deeply wrong. I'm not fighting that battle here. But I would because it's a battle worth fighting.

end diatribe

Thanks for that, Melanie! I’m glad you work in a place that has it together. I bet that’s worth its weight in gold.

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