February 10

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My Top Ten Books I Booktalk Every Year by Julie DeMicco

Posted by on February 10, 2018 in Top Ten Lists | 23 Comments

I teach junior high students. Junior high students who mostly don’t like to read. Junior high students who are only in my class because they have scored poorly on our state reading test. Junior high students who would rather not be in my class because if they weren’t, they could have a study hall. Needless to say, it’s a challenge.

 

I have individual goals for my students, as each of them have very different needs, but I also have overarching goals for all of them. I want to lure them into being readers. I want them to fall in love with characters, get lost in a book, laugh out loud while reading, perhaps shed a tear or two, be able to name favorite authors and genres, see themselves in a book as well as learn about people very different from them. I want them to WANT to read for pleasure.

 

I know I can do none of this alone. But I can accomplish this with the help of a tremendous classroom library. Access is everything. My students, at least at the start of the year, are not the students who will hear about an interesting book, hold that thought until they have a free period, remember the title and/or author, and then march down to the school library and retrieve said book. Don’t get me wrong; our school library is fabulous, as is our librarian. But for my students, immediate access is better.

 

If I book talk a book, and a student wants it, I need to have it to hand to him/her. While I am an avid reader and read new books constantly, I also have my tried-and-true favorites that I booktalk every year. These are the books, that in the past, have hooked students. These are the books that every year have caused students to say, “This is the first book I have finished in three years.” These are the books that students have TAKEN HOME to continue reading. These are the books that my students will come back to me and say, “Do you have another book like this one?”

 

And here they are, in no particular order:


Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper

The Tears of a Tiger trilogy was new to me when I first started to teach at this level. Tears of a Tiger is the story of seventeen-year-old Andy who is feeling terribly guilty for accidentally causing the death of his best friend through drunk driving. Personally, this book kind of tore my heart out. Sharon Draper wrote this in 1994, but it is timeless. She could have written it yesterday. I love how this book could stand alone, or a student could choose to read the entire trilogy.

 


What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

This is the story of Sophie, a freshman in high school, struggling through the usual issues a freshman girl might face. This is a novel in verse, and is just so accessible and relatable for a student who might not really like to read. Some students read this book and then read everything Sones has written. All the white space on the page is extremely attractive to many of my students.

 


El Deafo by Cece Bell

El Deafo is the first graphic novel I ever read, and it hooked me on graphic novels forever! El Deafo is about a girl who experiences hearing loss and struggles with having to wear something called a Phonic Ear. When I booktalk this, I always play a YouTube clip of Cece Bell talking about her book and her experiences. When students hear that this book is loosely based on Cece Bell’s life, they clamor for it! I always have a waiting list. None of my students has ever abandoned this book.

 

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

This was added to my list recently, as this book was published in 2015. I have always been a fan of Schmidt’s books, but this one is definitely my favorite. This story is about Joseph, a thirteen-year-old in foster care, who has fathered a child named Jupiter. Yes, you heard me right: thirteen. This book also kind of tore my heart out.

 


The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Part-Time Indian is about Junior, a boy growing up on an Indian Reservation. He likes to draw and to write, and realizes he may have to leave his home to make a better life for himself. This book is laugh-out-loud funny. My students are drawn to the drawings inside, the humor, and the “curse words” that I hint are inside.

 

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

This is an amazing book written in verse about basketball, family, parental health, and coming-of-age issues. My students eat it up, and almost always go on to read another book by Alexander.

 


Blood Trail by Nancy Springer

This is an older book I discovered when trying to find shorter books that were of high interest to my students. It is about two good friends and a murder. I don’t have to say much about this book, and a few students always ask to read it.

 

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

My students loved this book before the release of the movie, and they loved it even more after the release of the movie!

 


Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

This is the first “sports” book I ever read. I made myself read it so I could book talk it, the year it was an Iowa Teen Award choice. This book is about so much more than just football. I am forever a Deuker fan, and so are many of my students!

 


The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I love dystopian fiction. I always book talk it, hoping my passion is contagious. When I talk about this series, I show the first movie clip. Unfortunately, some students only want to watch the movie, but usually at least a few are drawn to the book.

 

Julie DeMicco is a junior high reading teacher who has been teaching for a long time, but who has been reading even longer. She considers herself lucky to be such a fast reader; the more books she reads, the more books she can book talk. She is proud to have raised two reading daughters, and a dog who tries. She can be found on Twitter at @demiccoj, and at #NerdCampMI every July.