For Teachers

Gravity by Leanne Lieberman, 2008

Ellie, a 15-year-old Orthodox Jew, is happy to go to Bubbie's (her grandmother's) cottage this summer to learn about the flora and fawna. There, she meets Lindsay, a beautiful, provocative blond girl, whom Ellie is attracted to. Unlike boys, whom she is supposed to like, Ellie is captivated by Lindsay. They swim together in a canoe, and she visits Lindsay at her cottage.

A Taste of Perfection by Laura Langston, 2002

Erin was ecstatic about her chance to volunteer at the SPCA over the summer, only to learn that her father had been laid off and she was to spend the summer at her grandmother's kennel, with black and yellow Labrador Retrievers. On the positive side, at least she gets to see her friend Cassie, who is about everything horses, and her sister Treena, who help her embark on a major makeover for seventh grade. Like any teenager, Erin is very self-conscious, in particular about the warts on her hand, the hair on her legs, and her height. Luckily, Erin's grandmother is very understanding and convinces her mother to let her shave so 

At a Day of Dialog a couple of years ago, an employee of School Library Journal asked me if I wanted to review books for the journal. I did not quite get into it until I started blogging last year.

You have not crossed the bridges I have crossed.
You have not listened to the music I have listened to.
You have not been in the top of the World Trade Center the way I have been there.
You have not seen the waves I have seen.
You have not fallen from horses the way I have fallen.
You have not felt the guns on your neck the way I have felt them.
You have not been in the sea with a big storm in a little boat the way I have been.

—Excerpt from "Don’t Give Me Advice," by Luis Marin, Tompkins Square CRW

This month is National Poetry Month, and here at the Center for Reading and Writing (CRW) some 

A Horse for Mandy by Lurlene McDaniel, 1981

I love a lot of the topics for the Children's Literary Salons at The New York Public Library. They always seem to include discussions about cutting-edge topics in technology or children's literature. I was very excited to hear what the children's author/illustrator and employee of One Hundred Robots, an online apps for kids store, had to say about this topic. I don't have an iPad or an iPhone, but I am a little bit familiar with application software and its function. Luckily for me, the presentations, panel discussion, and audience questions elucidated this matter for me to a high degree. I went from having a fuzzy understanding of apps (I have discussed them 

Firehorse by Diane L. Wilson, 2010

Imagine a world where horses pull fire engines, hoses and firemen, galloping to fight fires and save lives. Imagine a place where "ready-made" clothes are the talk of the town, and women gasp at the prices, where dalmatians nip at the heels of horses to make way for the fire horses, where a working "woman writer" at the Bostonian newspaper Argus is scandalous, and Rachel's father wonders who is taking care of the children, and who is cooking for her husband. The women of the family counter that he does not even know if she's married. Girls are not supposed to witness births, get dirty, 

A woman came into the Library's Center for Reading and Writing, where she was enrolled in a basic literacy class. Visibly shaken, she pulled a staff member aside and confided that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to continue in the class. She had felt some pain in her breast, and her doctor had recommended that she have a mammogram. Not having any idea what a mammogram was, she understood it to mean that she had cancer. The staff member showed her how to find information about mammograms in library books and online. After consulting these resources, she went to her next doctor's appointment knowing what to expect and what questions to ask.

On February 4, 2012, supervising librarian Elizabeth Bird hosted a meeting of the minds, bringing a school librarian, public librarian, bookseller, parental blogger, and an author/illustrator together in the Margaret Berger Forum of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

We hope to get you and your students in a New York state of mind with these non-fiction resources about the Big Apple! There are so many great books on this topic, so please feel free to add to this list as you see fit. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

February is African American History Month! The New York Public Library's databases have loads of information on influential African Americans. Let's take a look at Frederick Douglass as an example.

The way that I have been inspired to read teen literature tends to be from meeting authors, listening to them talk about their work, and then getting curious about what they wrote. This happened to me first with Walter Dean Myers, then with David Levithan. I heard Levithan discuss his work at a Teen Week event at The New York Public Library and was inspired to read How They Met and Other Stories. Levithan seemed very interesting to me. I have read some of his other works, but I am impressed by the variety of perspectives he has on love stories in this particular work. Explore more of Levithan's work in the Library's collection >>

Yes, it is one of my blog posts about a Walter Dean Myers book... again. I have a thing about Walter Dean Myers after hearing him speak a couple of times, and he seems very interesting. We also have a shared interest in teenagers and the criminal justice system. Anyhow, here is another one.

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers, 2010

By now, everyone probably knows how much I love Walter Dean Myers as an author. So, here's another booktalk of a very highly decorated book in terms of awards:

Monster by Walter Dean Myers, 1999.

To help in your lesson planning, we've highlighted some databases that feature information on the Treaty of Versailles:

The New York Public Library’s databases will unveil loads of information on these pioneers.

To help in your lesson planning, I've highlighted some databases available at the Library that are related to Prohibition.

Game by Walter Dean Myers, 2008.

Drew's mom sees inner city kids shot dead outside and wants him to stay out of the street. He does, but he also goes to legal hearings about other kids in trouble. Other guys without the smarts, or guys that get into trouble with drugs or the law — they don't make it. Maybe they don't have support from someone like Drew's mother.

Riot A protest of the Civil War draft by Walter Dean Myers

My First Booktalk Riot by Walter Dean Myers was my very first real booktalk. I presented it first to kids in a local middle school who seemed to enjoy it. There are powerful voices in the stories, issues of racism and wartime, and best of all, it is written as a screenplay.