Lolly’s children’s literature class at the Harvard Graduate School of Education wrapped up in November with lively discussion and debate in their Mock Awards committees, a terrific culminating event. Tomorrow, adolescent lit begins, and we’ll continue to hold our class book discussions out in the open here and invite you all to join the conversation.

Winnowing a list to only six weeks of reading is quite a challenge for both Lolly and me. It’s always difficult to let a favorite book go, but I’m excited about bringing in some outstanding new titles this year.  We start off this week with two books that span the YA age-range: E. Lockhart’s heady and provocative novel We Were Liars and Rachel Vail’s latest, a romantic comedy with her pitch-perfect ear for middle-school humor and angst. We’re delighted that Rachel will visit our class on February 13.

As students sign up for class just a few days before we start, comments on these books are optional, but we invite you to share your own thoughts or classroom experiences. (No spoilers, please :-).)

Here’s the complete reading list for the class. Some weeks they are choosing books from this list rather than reading all of them.

January 23, 2018 (first class, intro to adolescent lit)

• Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail


• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

January 30 (windows and mirrors)

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie


• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

February 6 (historical fiction and information books)

• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia


• The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & The Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming


• No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson


• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose


• Marching For Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge


• Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, the Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carol Boston Weatherford; illus. by Ekua Holmes

February 13 (fantasy and sci fi)

• Feed by M. T. Anderson


• Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

February 27 (illustrated books)

• The Arrival by Shaun Tan


• Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by 
Ashley Bryan


• Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang


• March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illus. by Nate Powell

March 6 (last class, dessert)

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson