Diverse Reads in Children's and YA Literature

  Summary Eleven-year-old Rick is dealing with the challenges of navigating his first year of middle school as well as having a friend named Jeff who objectifies girls and bullies other students, especially if he sees them as different from him. Rick, who feels no liking toward girls or boys, discovers a club on his campus called the Rainbow Spectrum which welcomes students of different gender orientations and identities. As everything plays out, Rick has to decide if his friendship with Jeff is beneficial to him and he also has to figure out how to navigate as a kid who is asexual and aromantic. Justification My justification for including this text is the fact that it has received favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journa l. Also, students in Grades 3-6 could also gain awareness about fellow classmates who may be in the LGBTQ+ community and how to properly interact and engage with them (i.e., by addressing them by their preferred pronouns). Accurate Rep...

      Summary Sixteen-year-old Yamilet's life is turned upside down after she comes out to her best friend (also her crush) and becomes alienated. In an attempt to rebuild her life she assumes the identity of a straight girl at a Catholic high school. The text chronicles her challenges to keep her same-sex attraction a secret, especially as she develops a crush on Bo, a girl who is out and boldly wears rainbow attire and openly confronts homophobic teachers. Other issues pointed out in the text are racism, religious differences, mental health struggles, peer pressures, and familial ties. What does the text have to do with the reader personally? If the reader is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, they can easily identify with Yamilet. Throughout the text, Yamilet experiences many forms of alienation from her former best friend and her father after she comes out to both of them. She also fears that she will be kicked out and forced to support and provide for herself if she c...

Summary    This text unlocks the mystery of what happens with animal waste at the zoo. Filled with many zany facts about the shapes, sizes, and colors of different kinds of zoo animals. The text also teaches readers about where the waste is transported and what it is used for once it is disposed of.   Justification for this text   I chose this text because just the title enough is attention-grabbing for many young readers. The inclusion of simple rhyming words in this informational picture book makes it an easy and enjoyable read. The text also includes a good number of descriptive terms to help students visualize the different types of "poo" for the animals. Attractive Design/Read the Pictures The illustrator, Allison Black provides vivid pictures that serve as an effective narration that could tell the information without the words. As the book describes the different types of "poo," the illustrations support these descriptions accurately. Little-Known Facts Ac...

      Summary    This text is a picture book containing informational poems about living creatures that live underneath the Earth's soil. In this text, readers will discover 15 humorous poems that teach about dirt and the creatures that call it home. This text represents an unconventional observance of dirt, how it is formed, the living creatures that reside in it, and its critical role in supporting the planet as an active resource of life.   Justification for this text   I chose this text because the author of the book, David L. Harrison has achieved multiple accolades for his poetry works. Also, students could benefit from the text's vivid illustrations and humorous language to inspire an interest in poetry, which can be a challenging genre to promote interest in. Attractive Design/Read the Pictures The illustrator, Kate Cosgrove showcases vivid illustrations of chipmunks, ants, earthworms, spiders, and other creatures functioning in their natural...

  Summary The Gilded Ones is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Deka who discovers that she possesses gold blood which is considered to be a curse and heavily forbidden in the ancient kingdom of Otera. After discovering this at purity ceremony, she is immediately disowned by her father, her only living family member (her mother is deceased). Following this discovery, she suffers many "deaths" only to recover miraculously and reincarnate back to life (one of the most common characteristics of gold-blooded people). She soon joins a tribe of other gold-blooded women and is soon met with a major dilemma--deciding whether she should stay in her home village and be ostracized, or accept her true identity and go to war against the entities that attack girls like her. What does the text have to do with the reader personally? Although this is a fantasy text, readers may be able to discover some real-life topics of the book. One of them would be self-discovery. This is something that...