This year's American Library Association Youth Media Awards celebrate books in a range of style and subject matter. Tune in to hear a report on the year's most distinguished titles for teens.
Celebrating Teen Book Awards
Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, and More
Vampire books—along with books about werewolves and zombies—are a big business in YA publishing today. Tune in to hear about some of the most popular vampire, werewolf, and zombie titles currently being read and shared by teens, plus titles that offer funny spoofs and satires of the Twilight trend.
A Conversation with Deborah Wiles
Tune in to hear how Deborah Wiles uses visual artifacts-including news headlines and song lyrics, maps and snapshots, cartoons and excerpts from speeches-to tell a story about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis through the eyes of an eleven-year-old girl.
Reading Text Sets
Tune in to hear about texts sets organized around themes such as revolution and espionage, relationships with brothers and fathers, and buying and selling in America.
A Conversation with Nancy Werlin
In the world of YA fiction, there's no one better than Nancy Werlin at sucking you into a suspenseful tale that will also lead you to reflect deeply on human nature. Tune in to hear Nancy discuss the appeal of dark stories and the inspiration for her newest novel, Extraordinary.
Censorship and Your Freedom to Read
In honor of Banned Books Week, tune in to hear about some of the most frequently challenged books for teens in 2009, along with YA authors' perspectives on the experience of being censored.
Dystopian Literature
Tune in to hear about books that imagine the future darkly by exploring the consequences of war, environmental disasters, and creepy repressive governments.
Sampling Short Stories
In this episode you'll hear about a great variety of story collections organized around topics ranging from sports to prom, guns to ghosts.
Adults and Teens Reading Together
Tune in to hear about eight new novels that all focus in some way on teens and their complicated relationships with family members, peers, and the larger world.
New Voices in Young Adult Literature
Tune in to this episode to hear about a range of titles by first-time YA authors, including mysteries, romances, humorous stories, and great contemporary realistic fiction.
Teen Book Awards Revisited
Tune in to hear about the latest winners of the Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature as well as select titles that are popping up on multiple award lists.
Life's Journeys: Help Along the Way
Tap into teen and preteen readers' interest in adolescent-mentor relationships with these recommendations!
Narrative Pyramid
After students read a short story or chapter of a novel, they can use the Narrative Pyramid to reflect on key ideas and details.
Connection Web
Students use this printout to expand on connections they have made to a text and use those details to write essays or create projects about the text.
Double-Entry Journal
This printout helps students record ideas and situations from texts in one column, and their reactions in the second, thus making a connection between the text and themselves, another text, or the world.
RAFT Writing Template
Students can utilize this printout to organize their writing as they learn to use the RAFT strategy. This printout enables students to clearly define their role, audience, format, and topic for writing.
Sequence of Events Chart
This graphic organizer helps students see the sequential or cause-effect relationships between multiple events in a text.
Anticipation Guide
Help establish a purpose for reading—and generate post-reading reflection and discussion—with this guide.
Being a YA Lit Advocate
Tune in to hear about what it means to be a YA lit advocate and what YA advocacy work can look like. You'll learn strategies you can use to challenge misconceptions about YA lit. You'll also hear about a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles you can recommend to teen readers.
Finding the YA Community at NCTE Convention
Tune in to hear about specific things you can do to find the YA community at NCTE Annual Convention. You'll learn about the kinds of YA lit sessions that typically appear on the program, and you'll hear tips from YA advocates about how to make the most of the opportunity to meet authors, discover new books, and connect with others who love young adult literature as much as you do.