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Friday, May 30, 2014

Armchair BEA 2014 :: Middle Grade/Young Adult

My most recent Scholastic Book Club Order

I have a confession.

I think I became a teacher because I loved book orders so much and if I were a teacher, I could pass them out to my students... and maybe even order a book, or two, or a few dozen at a time for myself. 

When I first started book blogging, I didn't really have a game plan. I didn't really know where it was going to head. I just knew I wanted to talk about books. Over the course of my first year blogging, I realized a fact that I couldn't ignore anymore. I really, really like reading kid lit. 

Maybe it's because it reminds me of the books I would devour as a kid and the piles of books I'd bring home from the local library. It could very well be because I still feel like a kid at heart. 

Plus, when I read middle grade/young adult fiction, it makes me even more powerful as a teacher (aka book pusher extraordinaire) because when a kid comes to me and wants to read a book about dragons, zombies, animals, girls liking boys, etc., I have a growing list in my head (and shrinking bookshelf space in my classroom) of books that I can share with them to fuel their love of reading.

I also owe a lot to MG/YA fiction. Harry Potter, in particular. Even though I was a voracious reader as a kid, once adolescence hit me, leisure reading went completely out the door. Sometimes I wish I was a young adult during this current/present time because there are now a whole section of bookstores and libraries devoted completely to books for teens. When I was a teen, I read Flowers in the Attic and then the other choices I had that weren't too "childish" were Tom Sawyer and all the classics, which weren't exactly easy to read on your own (at least they weren't for me at that age). This lack of reading continued as I went to college... until, I read Harry Potter

Reading Harry Potter felt like I was transformed back into my 5th grade classroom as a 10-year old, reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the first time.

It was magical. #punny ;)

No, really. It was truly magical. For the first time in years, I wanted to read again. I craved the feeling of escaping into other worlds. I read books for fun again. I didn't just read to highlight information to remember for a midterm or to cite and use in a final paper. I actually read, just to read. And it.felt.good.

So, even though I'm a much older Potter-head than most people, I find it interesting and somewhat poetic that it was MG/YA that got me back into reading again. 

Nowadays, I'm proud to be a MG/YA reader. Since we're confessing things, here's another one for you... I read more MG than adult fiction actually. Having two young kids means that free time to read is pretty much nonexistent, so reading MG/YA is usually easier for me because they tend to be shorter and easier to digest in a smaller amount of time. 

So, I guess what I'm really saying is... I really, really love middle-grade/young adult fiction. 

Plus, I still get super excited whenever the Book Box arrives in my classroom. 



14 comments:

  1. so have you read these books or just order them? I am asking for a recommendation for my cousin who's son is a 4th grader but very high level reader for books they could read together in a book club this summer

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    1. I order a lot for my classroom library and I try to read them before I place them on my shelves, but then again there are only 24 hours in the day. ;)

      What does your cousin's boy like? What are his interests?

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  2. Thats a lot of confessions in one post! :)

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    1. I know, right? Stick around and maybe you'll get a lot more out of me. :)

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  3. I agree or identify with so much here. Having kids definitely makes reading MG/YA the right choice, when I was a kid it was Flowers in the Attic and Alice for YA, HP is what got me into YA again when I was in my early 20s.

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    1. EXACTLY! The only thing I remember reading as a teenager for leisure was Flowers in the Attic. HP is exactly the reason why I got back into reading again as an adult. :)

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  4. I owe soo much to Harry Potter as well! It really transformed my childhood reading from fairy tales and "typical" kid lit to actual novels. I never thought of Harry Potter as YA, although it of course is! For me it was always a classic because I can't imagine my life without it and it shaped so many people of my age! I quite enjoy reading childrens' lit every once in a while because it reminds me of how open children are to literature! Thanks for your post :)
    Juli @ Universe in Words

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  5. That sounds like a wonderful perk of being a teacher. To be able to order all the MG/YA books you want and then to be a professional recommender for your children... it just sounds so nice.

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    1. It is definitely a HUGE perk, but can be hard on the wallet at times. ;)

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  6. I love the Harry Potter books and Charlie and the Chocolate factory! The chapter books I loved most when growing up were Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. There is just something magical about children's books!!

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  7. I loved the book clubs when I was a kid and I think it's fantastic that they inspired you to become a teacher :D

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