AdLit News Headlines

Lowry, who has lost a sister and a son, has spent decades writing about the pains of memory. Literature, she says, is “a way that we rehearse life.”

The National Assessment for Educational Progress, the organization that produces the periodic Nation’s Report Card based on student testing, found that the numbers of 9 and 13-year-olds who regularly read for pleasure has plummeted. During the 2019-20 school year the proportion of middle schoolers who frequently read for fun dropped by more than half, to 17%, while the percentage who seldom or never do more than tripled. This is worrisome for many reasons.

Here are five standout YA novels from 2021 that could continue to pick up steam into the new year because of their clever plotting and lyrical writing.

Wilmington’s Residential Adolescent Achievement Place bridges educational and social gaps existing among “at-risk youth” in New Hanover County. A network of community partners as well as college students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College volunteer with the organization, which has resulted in the program success, growth, and outreach.

A literacy professor and a professor of criminal justice are serendipitously brought together and a research project on how students could learn from young adult novels, and the criminal justice issues addressed in those novels.

Finding books for autistic tweens and teens that will reflect what they are feeling and experiencing is really, really tough because there is a wide spectrum of experiences and emotions when we are considering autism. Books that cover these types of topics are hugely important because it allows those who are neurotypical to attempt to step into the shoes of someone who is neurodiverse, at least for a little while. It’s never fully possible to live inside someone’s mind but reading books on the subject, especially through fiction, is one of the best ways to do this.

Read about four stellar titles that feature odd couples and ragtag groups embarking on ­fantastic adventures of redemption and discovery. 

The partnership between WriteOn NYC and Parsons Scholars turned out to be a natural fit, as the two programs share a mission of helping high school students from low-income backgrounds explore their creative talents and find connections between their interests and possible careers. 

We are in the midst of what could be a meaningful moment of cultural and social change but most research on the impact of media on young people has focused on television shows and video games rather than books. 

You are fully welcome to judge books by their cover in this post.

Read about how the Burlington Public Library has remodeled and expanded an area designed for young readers, and introduced new programming that offers teens everything from yoga to cooking classes.

Naomi Bailey, Donna L. Shrum, Crystal Watson, and Jenny Edwards, Ph.D. share meaningful takeaways from working with students.

Five expert book club facilitators to share some of the ways they run their clubs and spread book love with young readers.

A new study of more than 2,400 adolescents ages 13 to 16 shows that just two online single-session interventions can help curb teen depression.

Read a conversation with YA author and former high school English teacher, Ashley Perez, about what it’s like when your book is the one getting yanked out of libraries. 

Employers are seeking non-academic skills, skills students build through SEL, as they search for successful job candidates.

What comes to mind when you think of graphic novels? Maybe it’s superhero comics, easy reading or books not written for me. Read more to dispel a few of those myths.

Food for thought is on the menu when middle school students attend the Sí Se Puede Book Club during lunch at Jefferson Academy in Hanford.

Here are four strategies park rangers use to create an audience-centered experience and establish reasons for learning that could work in any classroom.

A New Mexico district is replacing some professional development days with teacher wellness retreats

They say reading can take you anywhere, anytime. But right now, for students at Pioneer and Garrison middle schools, reading can also get a flavor of ice cream named after them. 

The graphic novelist Ken Krimstein illustrates the stories that were revealed when a trove of prewar personal accounts from Jewish teenagers was discovered.

Students returning home from juvenile detention centers deserve support to reintegrate into their communities, especially during the pandemic.

The new teen center serves as the New York Public Library’s flagship space for young adults to be built throughout the library system over the next five years.

Young adults in Louisville between the ages of 16 and 24 have a new resource for career and educational assistance. “The Spot,” housed on the campus of Jefferson Community and Technical College in downtown Louisville, was created to help young adults reimagine their futures by overcoming trouble with the law, homelessness and other issues.

It’s always insightful to see which YA novels/series become popular YA movies. From romantic comedies like To All the Boys to action movies like MCU’s Spider-Man, these young adult franchises stand out as the best of the best.

Listen to an interview with Darcie Little Badger about her new Young Adult novel, A Snake Falls To Earth that asks young adult readers to tackle big, real world problems. 

A glance at recent YA literature seems to show a more diverse cast of characters, with POC, disabled and LGBTQ+ protagonists and secondary characters. While diversity initiatives and individual authors’ successes are highly significant, it seems that YA still has a way to go in order to be truly diverse. Meanwhile, other areas of literature, such as adult fiction, may not be as far behind YA as one might initially think. 

Seeking to attract a more diverse group of students to science, technology, engineering and math, many programs target students as early as possible, to demystify the fields and get students comfortable with them long before they apply for college. 

A NY Times reporter spent six months with Genesis, one of one million New York City students who has lived through the most disrupted moment in the modern history of public education. This is Genesis’ story.

The teenage years can be a challenging time for people under normal circumstances. The coronavirus pandemic added a layer to the challenge, but for some, being able to avoid difficult peer-to-peer interactions was a silver lining, according to University of Delaware researchers.

A college access program will now serve almost 2,000 students at seven Philly high schools. The Philadelphia Education Fund will expand a college-access program that provides full-time, in-school guidance, one-on-one advising, and campus visits, as well as other offerings over the course of students’ high school careers. 

Larry Ferlazzo, an English and social studies teacher in Sacramento, CA shares ways that teachers are incorporating culturally responsive, social-emotional learning in their classrooms.

The weather is finally turned chilly, and long, cool nights always pair well with a good book. Here are five poetry collections whose rhythms and rhymes are perfect for reading aloud with elementary and middle schoolers.

Researchers found that male and female adolescents may respond differently to gossip or other forms of social aggression.

Rash decisions, new crushes, Scrabble, at least one Leo, and an ahead-of-schedule apocalypse await you in these new releases.

Making science class more culturally relevant is just one of the strategies K-12 science teachers are using to better engage students of color at a time when Black and Hispanic people remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math careers and national discussions continue on how to make education overall more equitable.

Educators have found themselves in the role of legal analyst, discussion leader, and counselor.

Data is critical to addressing inequities in education. However, too often data is misused, interpreted to fit a particular agenda or misread in ways that perpetuate an inaccurate story. Data that’s not broken down properly can hide gaps between different groups of students. Facts out of context can lead to superficial conclusions. 

Two committees found the books “Lawn Boy” and “Gender Queer: A Memoir” had literary value that could be relatable for students with underrepresented identities.

Students in Los Angeles public schools said they have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed a “non-negotiable” need for academic success: mental wellness. Yet one in three students of color say they don’t have an adult at school with whom they feel comfortable enough to talk about how they are feeling, according to a survey released Wednesday.

You could say Ernesto Cisneros is in the middle of everything. He is an award-winning middle grade author and a middle school language arts teacher in California. Cisneros spoke with PW to share how his early life experiences, teaching, and writing intersect, and why he places students and readers smack dab in the middle of his life.

The great thing about fairytale retellings is there are so very many of them. These middle grade fairytale retellings take those classic tales and spin them into wonderful new stories for a generation of young readers. You’ll see tales here you recognize and some you may not, but all of them are fairytales in the making.

Inspired by his great-grandfather’s repeated escapes from an Indigenous boarding school, Ku Stevens, 18, retraced the route. Then he set his sights on winning a Nevada state title.

A Maryland 12th grade English teacher and Howard University graduate on Wednesday was named the winner of a global teaching prize worth $1 million; the biggest such award for educators in the world.

If your corrective feedback is very detailed but your positive comments are quick and vague, you may appreciate this advice from teachers across the country.

It is no surprise that more time at home led many to enjoy such fruitful activities. Last year also featured a sales increase in all literary categories. Young adult fiction and nonfiction experienced the largest change, amounting to respective increases of 21.4% and 38.3%. Were there other positive impacts on adolescents’ reading habits? Read to find out more.

There have been a handful of great YA books in recent years that depict cheerleaders and what it takes to be good at the sport, but I’ve also enjoyed reading some 2021 YA novels that also look at the social aspects of being on the cheer squad, from toxic friendship to performative allyship to the political stances that athletes take. Let’s dive in!

Kids can handle books on race and sex. It’s their parents who can’t. The most fear is directed at challenging, complicated books that deal with the exact sort of struggles and themes that many parents would prefer their children never face in real life. But the students who most need to read many of these books are the ones who are struggling with these issues in real life.

High school students report on the impact summer reading selections can have on students’ empowerment to affect change in their communities. 

School experiences are crucial for shaping individuals’ developmental and well-being trajectories later in life. Past studies have explored associations between types of primary and secondary schools and academic achievement, but outcomes beyond academic performance remain less well understood. According to a new study published this week by Tyler VanderWeele of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US, and colleagues, adolescents who are homeschooled are more likely to report greater character strengths and fewer risky health behaviors later in life, compared to peers at public schools, but are less likely to attain a college degree.

The reason for the pandemic’s toll on reading achievement is obvious: It’s hard to learn when schools are closed. But the reason that reading scores fell before the pandemic is less straightforward. Educators and researchers are weighing three theories on what is responsible for the decline: money, instruction or reading itself.

Research shows that reading aloud to your students—even long after they’re reading independently—benefits learners of all ages.

There is no better time for reading than the fall. As temperatures drop and the leaves change, the autumn air creates a perfect atmosphere for settling into a comfy chair, under a blanket, with a good book. And fortunately, a spate of highly anticipated young adult releases, each showcasing a unique coming-of-age tale, are here to keep you company throughout the cozy season.

Education scholars debunk myth that young people today are lazier, more immature than prior generations. “What has changed is that youth are reaching the markers of adulthood later,” says Nancy Hill, Charles Bigelow Professor of Education.

A few years ago, high school teacher Joshua Moreno got fed up with his grading system, which had become a points game .Some students accumulated so many points early on that by the end of the term they knew they didn’t need to do more work and could still get an A. Others — often those who had to work or care for family members after school — would fail to turn in their homework and fall so far behind that they would just stop trying. Moreno decided to change his grading system as part of a growing trend in which educators are moving away from traditional point-driven grading systems, aiming to close large academic gaps among racial, ethnic and economic groups.

Is there any purer expression of friendship than mutually deciding to disappear into your respective books?

Listen as NPR’s Michel Martin talks to York, Pa., high school seniors Olivia Pituch and Christina Ellis about helping to reverse their school district’s ban on certain books and films being taught to students.

Fusing the study of art and literary texts is a great way to foster analytic thinking in high school learners.

Almost two years into the pandemic, over 18 million households lack high-speed internet access. Even if it’s available, they can’t afford it, according to a new report(opens in a new window) released Thursday entitled “No Home Left Offline.” In 43 states, the inability to pay for internet service accounts for more than half of the digital divide; even in those with large rural populations. How can we bridge the digital divide? Read to find out more.