Mindfulness has emerged as a leading intervention for dealing with stress in the school setting. But the term has become overused and watered down, and it can be difficult to sort through the clutter to understand what mindfulness is and how it fits with a Christian worldview. In fact, many Christians are wary of mindfulness […]
Young adult literature continues to be fertile ground for an amazing range of books covering almost every subject imaginable. Below are quick reviews of the best eleven books that I read in the past year. These books are appropriate for middle school and/or high school readers. Not all these books were published in 2019, but […]
Young Adult (YA) literature is exploding. A broad range of stories is coming out right now in the unprecedented numbers of books for young adults. On the one hand, this has meant some incredibly powerful stories that can connect deeply with our students in terms of both the brokenness of our world and also the […]
This year I read a lot of young adult fiction, and I was struck by how much these books engaged social justice issues in a complex and nuanced way. Fair warning, though: when teenage protagonists struggle with issues of equity and difficult moral decisions, they sometimes use vulgar language. While such language is quite common […]
Katie (not her real name), a high school junior, walked briskly toward her first hour class, making sure to get in the room before the bell rang. As she approached the door, I waved a greeting and said, “Good morning, Katie!” No response. Katie, normally wide awake and talking with friends, walked silently, her head […]
This year I read many excellent adolescent and young adult books. Many of these books have a common theme: they take readers on a journey alongside someone very different from themselves—a good theme for students to engage in. I organized these books in order of how much I enjoyed reading them (from the ones I […]
This year as I looked over the books that I have read in the past year and I tried to figure out whether to do a list of the best graphic novels, picture books, or young adult novels, it occurred to me that it might be best to do a series of short lists. So […]
10. Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. If you haven’t read it yet, do so now. Actually, that is my whole review. But if you want don’t like being commanded to buy a book and want some reasons, here they are: The voice of the storyteller is masterful; the story is […]
The student’s words unsettled me. We had been discussing the topic of courage, the letting go of our fears so that we could become a source of blessing and wisdom. Then we read together a quote, “We are able to live with this degree of courage, reflected in focus and passion, only if we are […]
1. Fleischman, Paul. Whirligig. New York: Macmillan, 1998. My friend Kim has recently returned to the joy of reading. This one is especially for her. There is a seventeen-year-old kid named Brent who has just moved to a new school. He is nervous and insecure and trying to fit in, so when he is invited to […]