Courage I Am Not Starfire There are a lot of reasons to love I Am Not Starfire, written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Yoshi Yoshitani. The art is fantastic, the characters are sharp, and it is both
Canadian Black Water, On the Trapline, and Kīwew One amazing thing about the writer David A. Robertson is his ability to write compelling literature for any age group. Some of his most recent work demonstrates his versatility as he focuses on
LGBTQ Felix Ever After Warning: Minor Spoilers Ahead Felix Ever After, by Kacen Callender, tells the story of Felix, a seventeen year old student going to art school in New York. At the outset of the book,
Antiracism New Kid and Not Talking About Race This year, I was able to teach my identity literature circle for the first time. Having put together the text sets before going on parental leave, I was excited to finally dive into
Canadian Surviving the City: From the Roots Up Surviving the City Vol. 2: From the Roots Up, written by Tasha Spillett and illustrated by Natasha Donovan, is a graphic novel that explores the intersections of Indigenous culture and gender identity. It
LGBTQ Rick Rick, by Alex Gino, is the sequel to the award winning middle grade novel George. In Rick, characters from the first book have moved onto middle school, which brings new questions about identity,
Literature Circle Piecing Me Together Piecing Me Together, by Renée Watson, is a young adult novel that examines issues of race, privilege and identity for a teen girl from a poor neighbourhood. Jade, the book's main character, is
Human Rights On the Come Up On the Come Up is Angie Thomas's follow up to the hugely successful The Hate U Give. It tells the story of sixteen-year old Bri, an aspiring rapper who aims to make it
Human Rights Other Words for Home Stories are important tools for promoting empathy and understanding of others. It is harder to divide the world into "Them" versus "Us," to dehumanize the other, when we understand
LGBTQ Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World As a middle school teacher, I have tried to fill my classroom library with books that are representative of LGBTQ students' experiences. I have collected a variety of books relating to trans youth,
feminism The Poet X I am a sucker for narrative books in verse, and the newest addition to my collection, The Poet X, is a powerful one. Written by slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo, it tells the story
Identity Islandborn Islandborn, written by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa, is a gorgeous book that explores the difficulty in negotiating identity for immigrants. Islandborn tells the story of Lola, a girl who can
LGBTQ Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the coming of age story of two teenage boys as they embark on a friendship that gradually becomes a deeper relationship. With beautiful
Identity Identity Literature Circle Earlier this year, I decided to develop another literature circle for my grade seven classroom. I currently teach two literature circles that focus on the themes of human rights and heroic journeys respectively.
LGBTQ The 57 Bus: A Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives Summer is an excellent time to catch up on reading, so stay tuned for book reviews of texts that belong in the classroom and beyond. Today's review is on The 57 Bus, by
Identity Posted by John David Anderson Over the last two months, I have been toying with the idea of building a new literature circle for my class based on the theme of identity. As I investigated texts, a second
Identity One for the Murphys Book Review Every once in a while, I pick up a book that makes me view students differently. One for the Murphys, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, is one such book. The novel focuses on Carley
Human Rights Sadia Book Review My hometown of Winnipeg is an increasingly diverse place, and every day in the classroom this fact is becoming more and more evident. Students come from many parts of the world, practice different
Indigenous He Who Dreams - The Importance of High Interest Books For years, when I taught whole class novels I often felt stuck when it came to supporting struggling readers. Asking them to independently read a text that was beyond their current abilities clearly
LGBTQ Lily and Dunkin Recently, I started hunting for novels for an identity themed literature circle. Lily and Dunkin, by Donna Gephart, was a recurring suggestion. The book has been on my list for a while, so
Identity Pashmina Book Review This week I was delighted to discover Nidhi Chanani's debut graphic novel Pashmina. The book is the story of Priyanka Das, a girl who feels caught between two worlds. Growing up in America,
Identity Amina's Voice, plus Mirrors and Windows I was in grade twelve when the September 11 attacks happened and overnight the world changed. For weeks, it was the only thing news outlets could focus on, as pundits talked about Muslims