For years financial education experts have asked for our schools help to improve students’ understanding of money matters. Well today is no different! There are so many great books out there with the sole intention of giving kids a leg up on preparing for financial decisions from the everyday to the more complex. Here’s a list of books to help K-12 students with some basic financial skills that are- dare I say- fun as well as empowering.
“Singking in the sea
Of forgetfulness
I reach for the raft
of remembering.”
Wars might end, but they do not go away. Many try to forget what they have experienced and move on from there, but others, like Ibtisam Barakat in the poem above, have chosen to remember. To tell their stories. To inspire a solution for the conflicts that have touched their lives so painfully.
On that note, you might want to pair Barakat’s memoir with more books about the Middle East.
Or perhaps you can direct readers to other stories of war and conflict that may inspire them to come together for peace.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone from Tandem Library Group! In the spirit of the holiday we've put together three title lists to inspire you and your students to celebrate Valentine’s Day all year long.
Losing a loved one is a painful experience for both young and old. Finding quality books to share with your students may help them through this tumultuous experience. Titles in this week’s featured list highlight beautiful picture books and stories of strong characters persevering through one of the toughest times in their lives.
I have loved historical fiction since I was a teen. In particular, I read everything I could find that was based on a real historical figure. The idea that this was something that might have really happened was so romantic to the teenage me, and I ate it up. In that way Angelmonster by Veronica Bennett was almost nostalgic for me when I read it last year because it reminded me so much of what I actually read as a teen. Plus, I happen to be a bit of a poetry geek as I’ve mentioned before, so the story of Mary Shelley’s life with her poet husband Percy was fascinating to me.
Fans of this week’s Book of the Week, No Shame No Fear, might be interested in Alice Hoffman’s book for teens, Incantation, in which a young girl in Spain learns that her family are secretly still practicing the Jewish faith despite the fact that it was highly dangerous to do so at the time. She is forced to make a choice about what she will do: uphold her family’s religious traditions or give in to pressure from the Inquisition.
But historical fiction isn’t just for girls. The Strongbow Saga is Judson Roberts’ new series that begins with Viking Warrior in which Halfdan, who has been a slave his entire life, is given his rightful place as the son of the chieftain. He begins his training as a warrior, and soon he finds a need to use his newly acquired skills. This action-packed book is full of details about life in a Viking village, and the story is engaging from the very beginning. Dragons From the Sea continues Halfdan’s story, and fans will want to know what happens in this saga.
There are many more options in this growing genre. Here are a few more that might be of interest to your teens.
The Chinese New Year starts February 7, 2008 and goes through January 25, 2009. First in the cycle of twelve animal signs, the Year of the Rat will be a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. Some may find it a good year to begin a new job, get married or make a fresh start.
The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin is the sequel to The Year of the Dog and Pacy is not happy about the big changes the Rat Year has in store. Students in Grades 3-5 will find it easy to relate to Pacy as throughout the year she finds the courage to face up to one change after another. Near the end of the book Pacy’s attitude towards the Rat Year improves after she chooses to be ‘brave like a tiger’. By reflecting on the changes through the year that had made her uncomfortable or nervous Pacy finds how much she's grown up during the Rat Year. What's more, she finds she has the power to shape her own future and appreciate the differences between fate and destiny as well as wishes and resolutions.
What will the Year of the Rat bring for you?
One great book recommendation deserves another and another. Check out these titles:
Great Picture Book Titles with Asian-American characters
Great Elementary School Titles with Asian-American characters
Great Middle School Titles with Asian-American characters
Great High School Titles with Asian-American characters
Sports stories, real or imagined, often feature several of the qualities that make great narrative: teamwork, competition, heartbreak, reward, heroism, to name a few. Good sportswriters are particularly adept in the use of synonyms, action words, and metaphor. From daily papers, popular magazines, and the Internet, some sportswriters have branched out to offer action-packed and thought-provoking titles for younger readers. Check out these great books by authors who make a living writing sports commentary.
Sometimes you just want both sides of the story. Or all sides.
One of the most popular novels from 2006 was a fast paced, two-sided look at one night. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist took two major talents in teen fiction and put them side-by-side in a novel that made high scores in both quality and popularity. Cohn and Levithan are back together with 2007’s Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, which has even more perspectives on a story of two friends when friendship gets complicated.
Levithan is no stranger to alternating narrators. In Are We There Yet? We get both points of view as two brothers, as different as can be, are tricked by their well-meaning parents into taking a vacation together. At first, they get on each other’s every last nerve. 17 year old Elijah’s serendipity clashes with 23 year old Danny’s organized business like manner. A girl comes between them and changes things, as girls always do. Levithan’s insightful prose makes it possible to experience Venice, Florence, and Rome along with Elijah and Danny, each in their own way.
Middle school readers might not be ready for Cohn and Levithan’s books, but they will not want to miss another great collaborative novel: Never Mind: A Twin Novel. Rachel Vail and Avi put their talents together in this novel that alternates between two siblings.
Don’t be limited to just one point of view. Check out this list of great multi-voiced fiction for middle and high schoolers.
First-time authors are getting a lot of press lately with The Class of 2k7 and now The Class of 2k8 ready to roll, as well as the new William C. Morris YA Debut Award. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will announce the first recipient in January 2009. With hundreds of debuts by young adult novelists each year and new ways to celebrate and spread the word about these debuts, we’d like to chime in with our favorites from 2007 that are not to be missed:
Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a middle grade novel about what happens when reality doesn’t quite match up with your expectations. Both funny and heartwarming, A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a potential pick to win the Newbery.
More intermediate level author debuts from 2007
Skulduggery Pleasant is an ace detective, a snappy dresser, a crackerjack sorcerer with razor-tongued wit, and a skeleton. He also happens to be the Tandem Collection Development Team’s Favorite Hero of 2007. How could he not win an award just for being him? Watch for all of our team’s 2007 Award picks in our upcoming Spring Must-Have Titles catalog, coming January 2008.
More middle school level author debuts from 2007
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr is a great read-alike for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books. This incredibly popular 21st century faery tale is void of vampires, and unlike Bella in Meyers’ books, Aislinn desperately wants to stay human.
Looking for more like Tyrell? Urban fiction is a hot topic for teens right now, and many libraries are looking for titles that show the harsher side of city life from a teen’s perspective, much like Tyrell does.
These are stories that include drug use, violence, sex, teen parenthood, crime, etc. These aren’t necessarily pretty stories, and they definitely aren’t “safe” or “clean.” But, for many teens, this is reality. Inner city librarians or those working with young people who are incarcerated have reported that these books are “flying off the shelves” – or at least that’s how an article in Young Adult Library Services put it last fall referring to Philadelphia Public Libraries. These books may or may not be appropriate for your library, but you’ll definitely want to be aware of this trend in YA lit.
One title that does fit most collections for teens while depicting the less pretty side of urban life is Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff. First published in 1993, this novel and its sequel, True Believer, have remained relevant and readable. Perhaps the staying power can be attributed to the format. The story is told in simple, spare verse that tells just enough to keep the reader interested. Or maybe it’s the characters. LaVaughn is a teenager who is under a lot of pressure from her mother—a single parent—to go to college. LaVaughn understands why her mother wants her to go to college, and she wants that for herself too. But the idea of “College” has become too big to be real. She describes the word college like furniture in their living room you have to walk around. People in her neighborhood don’t go to college. People in her neighborhood end up like Jolly. Jolly is 17, with two kids, no high school diploma, and no money. Jolly’s life is the sort of future that LaVaughn is trying to escape. But the two young women become inextricably intertwined, and the result is a novel that has broad appeal and is full of hope.
LaVaughn learns from Jolly that the life of a teenage mother isn’t easy, but in Broken 
China by Lori Aurelia Williams, China learns that lesson herself. China became a mother at twelve years old, and now, at 14, she is struggling to be a good mom to her little girl. But finds that she is trapped by the choices she has made. In Baby Girl by Lenora Adams, Sheree makes a different decision. Like China, she too had gotten pregnant at twelve years old, but she decided to have an abortion. Now, at seventeen, she is pregnant again, and looking at the life before her with the eyes of a mother as best she can.
Give your collection an international feel with Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow. Doria and her mother live just outside of Paris, France. Sounds glamorous, but life isn’t like the movies. The screenwriter of their life doesn’t know about happily ever after, says Doria. Her world in the Paris projects isn’t actually all that different than that of an urban American teen. The international and multicultural elements of this book make it standout from the crop of urban fiction featuring African American characters in American cities. And Doria’s precocious cynicism will speak to many teen readers.
These are just a few options, check out this list for more urban titles for high school.
