I'm So Glad You're Here
Hi! I’m Kara. I’m a seventh grade ELA teacher, and I can usually be found with my nose in a book or on a long walk with my pup, Riley. This blog is a combination of two things I love very much in this world, and I’m so excited you’re here for it!
I believe in the power young adult literature has to turn adolescents into avid readers, critical thinkers, and more compassionate human beings. However, I don't think putting books on a shelf or taking a trip to a public library is enough for most kids. Adults have to engage with novels by hooking students with a sneak peak of an engaging chapter, an insight into the novel's setup, or a discussion about its relevance to a child's life. Students need an adult to model how to pull a title from a shelf, read the synopsis on the back or inside cover, and evaluate from the first few pages whether a novel is an appropriate topic or reading level for them. Without adults to show children how, kids are lost in the world of reading--or worse--they may never even enter it.
My hope is that this blog will make the job of recommending books easier for any adult who wants to share literature with a child. Our kids need us!
"The Alliance for Excellent Education has declared a “literacy crisis among middle and high school students” in the wake of research from the National Assessment of Educational Progress that finds 65 percent of graduating high school seniors and 71 percent of America’s eighth graders are reading below grade level."-Michael Cart for YALSA