Melody’s love of words has taken her on a variety of adventures, beyond the adventures on the page, including librarian, bookseller, literary intern, dramaturg, and script reader. Reading hundreds of books a year, she's constantly seeking that next literary fix.
Three curses. A collection of hearts buried under the ocean floor. Mermaids born of human tragedy. A coastal town’s worst nightmare that rolls in with the mist. These 2018 YA debuts center on the sea creatures sailors feared—seductive and strong, and out to lure you to the bottom of the ocean. Follow the siren song […]
In literature, the woods are an in-between place where there are no rules. There is magic, which is often a form of trickery—and sometimes, the dirtiest tricks reveal the starkest truths. Those who wander may lose or find themselves, but they will never come out unchanged. If you’re in the mood for atmospheric autumn reading, […]
It’s October and we’re settling into the school year, so it’s the perfect time to shake up required reading lists. I love the classics, but I’ve also got some reimaginings of these favorites to jump-start your Socratic seminar. These take you beyond John Gardner’s Grendel and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea—which are already required reading anyway, right? […]
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before starts streaming on Netflix on August 17. The film—whose trailer (above) has accrued more than four million views at the time of this writing—began as a 2015 novel from Jenny Han, which imbues a night-sweat inducing scenario (all your secret crushes find out!) with humor, charm, and swoon-worthy romance. […]
Memorial Day is over, and all the summer reading lists are out. So grab your lemonade, hit the beach, and play Summer Reading Bingo along with us.
Have you caught royal wedding fever? Are you out of pages in your Harry and Meghan coloring book? Whether you’re an avid scourer of the pages of Hello or just want an excuse to indulge in a novel that will give you the warm fuzzies, it’s time to bust out the watercress sandwiches and the Earl […]
We all deserve a good romcom. Luckily, Love, Simon, the hotly anticipated movie based on Becky Albertalli’s well-loved YA novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, is now in theaters. The film’s marketing went all-in on the coming out angle, as Simon is the first big teen romcom with a gay lead, but front-and-center queerness isn’t the book’s only […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
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