For the past twenty-three years, I’ve taught in a middle school. For MORE than twenty-three years I’ve had a passionate affair with young adult literature. It started in 6th grade when I found a copy of Judy Blume’s Forever at a local bookstore and never went away. Even when my kids were little and I […]
Tag Archives: @mindi_r
Top Ten Authors We Were Excited to See at ALAN by Kellee Moye and Mindi Rench
posted by CBethM
Each year during and immediately following the NCTE (National Council Teachers of English) annual convention, ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) holds a breakfast on Saturday morning, a cocktail hour on Sunday evening, and a workshop on Monday and Tuesday. During the two days of the ALAN workshop, we find ourselves completely surrounded by YA […]
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater – Review by Mindi Rench
posted by CBethM
Summary from publisher: If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take? Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself. One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams. And sometimes he’s not the only one who wants those things. Ronan is one of the raven […]
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater – Review by Mindi Rench
posted by CBethM
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic, 2012) Blue Sargent isn’t clairvoyant like her mother, but she does seem to be an amplifier for other people’s powers. Gansey is a Raven Boy, a student at Aglionby, the local private school who is on a quest to find a long-dead Welsh King. Blue has a strict […]
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson
posted by CBethM
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson (Delacorte, 2011) Summary from publisher: I am Miss Kanagawa, Master Tatsuhiko’s finest – and final – creating. In 1927, my fifty-seven doll-sisters and I were sent to this country as Ambassadors of Friendship. Oh! The parties and receptions and admirers. But let me assure you, it wasn’t all peach […]
Top 5 Reasons to Let Kids Choose Their Own Books
posted by CBethM
Over the past 18 years, I’ve done my share of “traditional” teaching: I chose a book, I decided how many pages my students would read each night, I wrote questions to see if they read the book, I came up with what I thought were awesome projects so the kids could have fun after reading […]
The 2011 Nonfiction Nerdies Go To…
posted by Colby Sharp
The Nonfiction Nerdie Goes To….. Time for a bit of confession here: I am not a big reader of nonfiction. I prefer my books to have a narrative arc, a conflict, character development, and perhaps a little romance thrown in for good measure. Don’t get me wrong; I love learning new things and reading about […]
Nerdy Book Club 