Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Why: This is part of my 2014 YA Lit challenge

When: January 2014

How: as an ebook on my iPad

Thoughts: I loved this book. Lots to think about. It's set in a high school that doesn't operate on the heteronormative view that organizes our society for the most part. The GSA in this book, for instance, exists to help the straight kids learn how to dance for homecoming. The quarterback of the football team is transgender and also the homecoming queen. And in the middle of all of that, a romance builds--a realistic, honest, teenage romance.

Click on the book image to read about the book on Wikipedia.

Review Haiku:
teenage love without
the obstacles of our world
human loves human

The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks

Why: I read this to prepare for a two-day seminar I'll be teaching for the Colorado Writing Project this spring.

When: January 2014

How: I read this one in hard copy. Took notes old-school (on note cards that are now stuffed in the book).

Thoughts: I definitely picked up some ideas in this book about using digital tools to support the writer's workshop. And this book got me thinking more about getting my students to produce digital, multimedia texts. That is a skill that their world will likely ask of them.

Click on the book image to learn more about the book.

Review Haiku:
literacy now
in the 21st century
demands technology