Literacy Now

Many of us grew up listening to and learning from fiction. In fact, we have wonderful memories of those stories, and there is a certain comfort level we associate with them. However, the current educational emphasis is focused on the use of informational texts. With research and the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (ELA CCSS) encouraging us to use more informational texts with children, is there any time left in our classroom for fiction?

I believe we have to find the time. The current emphasis on disciplinary literacy doesn’t mean that we have to remove stories from our shelves or throw the books in the cabinet at the back of the classroom. In fact, students must be familiar with fictional texts in order to meet the ELA CCSS.

The ELA CCSS expect elementary students to not only recognize a wide variety of texts (stories, plays, poems) but also be able to retell what is occurring in the texts. In fact, children as young as first grade must be able to explain the difference between narrative texts and informational ones (RL.1.5).

However, with the need to expose our students to a wide variety of text in a limited period of time each day, we must carefully select and use fictional texts in the classroom. Here are a few suggestions:

Use Fiction to Learn More about Students

While research has shown that students enjoy and have an interest in factual books, students also enjoy diving into a good story every once in a while just because it catches their interest. Regardless of the type of text, everyone loves to see students reading. Let’s take a closer look at the fictional texts our students are reading at home, viewing on the Internet, or discussing with peers. Talk with students about those stories. Are there certain informational texts which might be suggested based on student interests with fiction?

We all have students who enjoy mysteries or fictional sports stories. Take advantage of that interest. Share excerpts from a variety of texts during read alouds and talk about stance. Is there a difference in the way that they might read a fictional sports story compared to an autobiography or biography on a famous athlete? If they are reading to take away information versus reading for enjoyment, does it impact where, how, or when they read? Talk about why they may choose to read one text over the other. Why is it important to read a variety of books?

Think Two by Two

Pair up a fictional and a factual text. The ELA CCSS expect elementary students to examine multiple texts on a topic. There are so many outstanding informational texts available now that it is easy to find factual and fictional texts which complement each other. Take a popular science trade book such as Seymour Simon’s GORILLAS (2008) and a fictional text such as the award-winning Katherine Applegate novel THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (2012), which is based on a true story. Students can work collaboratively to examine the two texts. Use think alouds to help them develop metacognitive awareness with all types of text. What is different between the two texts? Perhaps keep a class chart as they go through the two texts. Why are the books written differently? Is the purpose or audience for the books the same or different? How would they describe the texts to others? What type of information would they use when writing an advertisement or a book review for each text?

Encourage Close Reading

Close reading is a topic that is attracting a great deal of interest right now. In fact, the Literacy Research Panel of the International Reading Association recently released a policy brief on close reading. As part of their findings, the importance of teaching students to close read for an authentic purpose is emphasized. Just as with other literacy skills, we don’t want to teach a skill merely so students learn to do the skill.

Encourage close reading by selecting a variety of texts, including fictional ones. Model how to close read a chunk from each text. Encourage discussion as students close read the texts. These questions can target various aspects of the CCSS. After modeling close reading of diverse texts through a series of minilessons, allow students to work in groups or with partners to close read. Then provide a meaningful activity which is based on the material they read. Ask students how the types of questions and answers differed depending on the text. What types of strategies did they use to close read the diverse text? How did the strategies vary?

p: chotda via photopin cc

Remember the Power of Choice

Even as adults, it still feels good when we have a chance to choose what we want to do instead of someone telling us what to do. When appropriate, allow students to choose the type of text they want to read. Give them a sheet to keep track of the text they chose, the genre, and the date they read it. Explain your expectations, but share that they can choose when they are going to read the different texts. Explain why it is important to experience texts which cut across genres. Review the sheet and conference with the students to ensure the range of text they are reading is diverse. Of course allowing choice isn’t changing the fact that they have to read a wide variety of texts, but it is allowing them the power to make the decision of what type of text they want to read on a specific day.

Remember They are Digital Natives

We have to remember to weave technology throughout our lessons. Our elementary students are what Prensky calls digital natives. They thrive in a world that is constantly “plugged in.” Therefore, allow them to explore digital text that ties to a fictional text they might be reading. Perhaps they can review a YouTube interview with the author or research information on the author and create their own video with a partner portraying the author. They can also determine if the author has a blog and create a question to post on the blog. Another suggestion is to examine various websites to see the reviews and numerical ratings of the text and create a visual to illustrate their findings.

The next time a fictional text catches our eye, let’s not automatically assume we don’t have time for it in the classroom. After all, fictional text helps broaden our students’ definition of text and serves an important purpose in their literacy learning. While I believe we need to emphasize informational text, that doesn’t mean we have to ban fiction from our classrooms. With the classroom clocks ticking faster than ever, let’s remember the importance of finding time for fiction.

Jennifer L. Altieri, Ph.D. is a professor of literacy education at St. John's University. Queens, NY, and the author of POWERFUL CONTENT CONNECTIONS: NURTURING READERS, WRITERS, AND THINKERS IN GRADES K–3. Contact Jennifer at jenniferaltieri@bellsouth.net. 

There are literally thousands of excellent websites available to educators these days, but every so often one comes along that provides something you’ve quietly wished for all your career. For me, NEWSELA, currently in beta and free, is one of those finds.

Just in time for the Common Core emphasis on non-fiction reading, NEWSELA provides daily current events articles written specifically for K-12 students. Each day the site adds three new articles to their collection, which includes the categories War and Peace, Money, Kids, Science, and Law. But here’s the highlight: for every article there are versions written at several different Lexile levels. With just a few clicks, a teacher can provide the same story leveled for students of differing ability. For example, here is a story I might use with my 8th graders, written at a Lexile of 1180:

And below is the same story “translated” into a Lexile of 870:

That alone makes NEWSELA a highly valuable resource for a teacher working to meet individual student needs. But there are more tools available. The site has a search option, making it possible for students doing online research to locate accessible news articles on specific topics. A teacher can also set up classes, register individual students in each class (no student emails required), assign articles to classes, and monitor student work. Once a student has an account, she can join more than one class, so it’s possible for teachers of different subject areas to use the site with the same students. 

Once students are logged in, they can highlight and save articles, and teachers have access to view those. There are even brief online comprehension quizzes for many of the articles, and teachers can monitor those scores as well. A “Binder” tab at the top of the teacher’s page allows for a search of student activity “by article” or “by student,” so it’s simple for a teacher to monitor individual reading logs and quiz results. And because NEWSELA is a current events site with new articles appearing every day, teachers across the curriculum, within the same building and at different levels, can integrate this site into their courses without concern that a previous teacher has already used the materials. It’s a site everyone can share! 

At this time NEWSELA is optimized for iPhone and iPad, and quizzes are available on iPad only. But according to the NEWSELA site, Android optimization is coming soon. There is also a NEWSELA Facebook page, where ideas for implementing class activities are readily available and a network of practicing teachers provides suggestions and guidance.

Now, I would be one of the first to argue that Lexile levels are a somewhat narrow measure by which to judge a text’s complexity. But I do have students whose limited vocabulary and fluency makes it difficult for them to read texts at grade level. The ability to level their texts (see Paul Morsink’s excellent TILE-SIG post on the Digital ZPD) without having to sacrifice their participation in meaningful group dialogue is a huge affordance. 

One of my favorite methods for teaching shared inquiry into a text is the Socratic Seminar, in which the students work together to question, discuss, read closely, and make meaning of rich texts and the issues they raise. With NEWSELA, all my students can participate in relevant conversations about current events, form opinions about their world, and become civic participants—using resources appropriate for them. What’s more powerful than that?

Angie Johnson is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University and teaches 8th grade Language Arts at Lakeshore Middle School, in Stevensville, MI, ajohnson@lakeshoreps.org.

This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

by Richard Long
International Reading Association
October 31, 2013

Early in October, the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices issued a paper: A Governor’s Guide to Early Literacy: Getting All Students Reading by Third Grade. The report observes that those students who are not reading at grade level by the third are at risk of failure. They cite that only one third of all students enter the fourth grade with the literacy skills needed to succeed. The report makes three observations:

1. Starting at Kindergarten is too late.
2. Reading proficiency requires three sets of interrelated skills:
1. Language and communication skills,
2. Mechanics of reading, AND
3. Content knowledge.
3. Parents, primary caregivers, and teachers have the most influence on children’s language and literacy development.

They recommend that the governors and other policy makers take five actions to adopt policies and change systems to better ensure that all children are on track to be strong readers by the end of third grade:

1. Adopt comprehensive language and literacy standards and curricula for early care and education.
2. Expand access to high-quality child care, pre-Kindergarten and full-day Kindergarten.
3. Engage and support parents as partners.
4. Equip professionals providing care and education with the skills and knowledge to support early language and literacy development.
5. Develop mechanisms to promote continuous improvement and accountability.

This report is part of a wide ranging initiative by NGA to promote early childhood education by encouraging changes in state policies and encouraging an expansion of early childhood programs. The advisory group they convened worked with representatives of six states to develop the core ideas around what worked well and what needed to be done. The U.S. Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is expected to create a set of recommendations to create a new program to ensure universal pre-Kindergarten for all students, with the first phase being those children who live in poverty.

The report may be of use to IRA members as they advocate for state policies that support early literacy development. The report can be accessed on the NGA website.

Reader response is welcomed. Email your comments to LRP@/

I know the subset of humanity who will attempt to ‘correct’ me and say, “You mean, kids (and grownups) ‘think’ they see ghosts.” No…actually, I mean what I say, kids see ghosts. I’ve collected over 500 stories from direct interviews backed by signed waivers of many people who shared their true tales with me about encounters with ghosts, spirits, angels, and more. I’ve written nine books of ghost stories and it’s clear to me from anecdotal evidence that children experience psychic reality just like adults.

p: 27147 via photopin cc

I’m a professional storyteller and when I finish a performance of one of my ghost story programs—I have so many ghostly tales that they’re broken down into various programs, such as Civil War Ghosts, Hispanic Spirits, Shaker Ghosts, Animal Ghosts—children desperately want to talk to me afterwards to share their own experiences, and I mean kids of any age. They’ve seen orbs, had crazy Ouija board happenings, talked to deceased relatives, spent their youth with an invisible friend, and talked of being in heaven before their birth. I believe that children deserve to be listened to and respected for what they have seen, heard, and felt.

Kids meet developmental stages for not just body, mind and emotional growth; they also move through life testing out and finding experiential bases for psychic/spiritual growth as well. No matter what their parents and other adults say, they have to test their own notions in the real world. And a certain percentage of kids are particularly sensitive.

Now, a child will use whatever language and media images they have at their disposal to talk about their experience the previous night. One boy in Hawaii told his mother over breakfast, “God is walking through the walls at night.” Doesn’t make any sense, right? But he had recently seen the movie BRUCE ALMIGHTY and God, played by African American Morgan Freeman, walked through walls. So this eight year old was basically saying that he saw a dark skin native Hawaiian coming through a multi-dimensional portal. His parents listened, recruited a native shaman, and they took care of closing that energetic doorway.

Storytelling is an entertaining and safe way for kids to listen and wonder and ask about the other realm. And they can take whichever wisdom they want, regardless of the belief system of the parents/family. Many of the ghost stories that I tell also carry moral lessons, such as doing good during our life before actions are more problematical when reoriented into the astral dimension in that final transition. Kids see dead birds, dead grandma in the coffin and see lots of violence on electronic screens. Ghost stories for Halloween—and kids will happily tolerate ghost stories anytime of year—allow the younger and older members of society to look at death, life and what may very well survive the cessation of the physical body.

In HALLOWEEN SLEEPWALKER, a boy wants to go outside and explore on Halloween night. His family talks about their fears related to Halloween and he insists, fearless and adventuresome, that he’d like to go out that night. Denied permission, he heads to bed and later that night gets out of bed to sleepwalk. He goes outside and encounters witches and ghosts. Given an enchanted apple, he temporarily has the second sight. The witches also send him flying on a magic broom.

This fanciful tale allows children to imagine their own wild Halloween fantasies and brings the idea of “third eye” viewing into play. What is our accepted matrix of reality, and do we automatically give that to children, or can they be allowed the freedom to imagine other dimensional strands in the Universe? When I tell ghost stories, I help children deal with a basketful of issues, such as fear of ghosts, appropriate boundary setting and communicating with the dead, testing of magical thinking as balanced with spiritual realities, and permission to simply talk about what is often invisible, denied and yet right in front of many a child’s radar. Our children need tools for dealing with spirits, angels, and with visions—glimpses of information not gained through traditional modes.

I’ve told ghost stories from pre-school to assisted living, and I can tell you that at any and every age level, I can find two peers sitting side by side, with one wide eyed, “I’m going to have nightmares!” and their buddy next to them saying, “That’s not scary enough!” It’s a finely tuned exercise to bring scary tales into a safe environment, but through well-selected stories—some funny and outrageous—songs, and by allowing kids to state their opinions and note their experiences, children benefit greatly from hearing ghost stories.

I back up my ghost story programs with nonfiction books, research, and interviews drawn from my trips around Kentucky, and as far as Alaska and Argentina. We find ghost stories in every tribe, each culture and every state of the union and in each country. From the banshee to La Llorona, witches to disappearing ghosts, common themes emerge in ghost stories. Many of the true tales which I write about and tell in performances are actually heartfelt interventions of deceased loved ones, family or friends, providing rescue or other timely help in our life. Children are now a fairly sophisticated audience, being familiar through television with orbs, EVPs, EMF meters and other tools and terms of ghost hunters.

In most families, they have already seen and heard more than you know. Do you know about Stick Man? Ask any class of fifth graders and a dozen hands will go up. What do you say when your seven year old says, “There’s something under my bed!” Likely the parent will nod sympathetically, talk blandly about nighttime fears and send the kid off to bed—father knows best? But here in Louisville, Bonnie Phillips, a woman who ‘clears’ houses tells a story about arranging a house clearing for a family with two kids. Bonnie tells the host parents to make sure that the kids are off to school or with grandparents, all the pets are out of the home, because “we may stir things up”.

In this case, the younger daughter who had special needs slept with mom and dad, and the boy, off in his own bedroom, was reporting the troublesome spirits. Bonnie met the parents on the front porch and then proceeded into the house, Bonnie going in one direction and her daughter Amber heading into the boy’s bedroom. Amber heard a hiss and a growl from under the boy’s bed. She immediately thought the parents hadn’t removed the cat or dog. She went back to the front porch, in a huff, accusing them, “We can’t do our job until your remove your pets!” The parents looked at them with a blank stare, replying, “We don’t have any pets.”

Building upon April’s multicultural book review column, we highlight books which focus on movement in literal and figurative ways. Our global communities are continually shifting as people, ideas, and cultural practices enter and exit geographic locales. The books reviewed this week span the continuum of life and time. They highlight physical migration, illustrate the ramifications of social and political movements (or lack thereof), document ideological shifts, and celebrate the moving effects of creativity. International books recently published in the U.S. are also included to broaden our understandings of books read around the world.

GRADES K-3

Bar-el, Dan. (2013). Dream boats. Illus. Kirsti Anne Wakelin. Vancouver, Canada: Simply Read Books.

Just as “a picture is worth a thousand words,” dreams enable us to embark on wondrous adventures. Readers of this picture book will be captivated by the journeys of legend and lore as young children around the world reunite with their culture, tradition, history, and heritage. These youth meet Viracocha near the Andes Mountains; Ganesh near Mumbai; Bear Spirits and Baba Yaga near St. Petersburg, Russia; Obatala alongside the Niger River, among others. They also engage in spontaneous “play dates” with each other. Their adventures become “stories woven into their blankets” and their memories become cognitive maps of past and future. The poetic vignettes and lush, detailed mixed media illustrations will enchant readers of all ages. For those with a more pragmatic purpose for reading, the end pages also offer detailed instructions of how to create one’s own dream boat.

—Jennifer M. Graff, The University of Georgia

Nastanlieva, Vanya. (2013). The new arrival. Vancouver, Canada: Simply Read Books.

Using a cross-hatch style and warm color palette, and perhaps inspired by her own immigration experiences, Bulgarian children’s book creator, Vanya Nastanlieva, offers young readers a heart-warming and humorous story about making friends. Sam, an endearing hedgehog, embarks on a journey to find a new home. While his new home is idyllic in many ways, it’s missing one critical element: friends. Sam looks everywhere for friends of any kind and endures the extremities of weather during his search. He even sacrifices much of his “hair” (quills) to affix “Wanted Friend” notices to the forest trees. Unbeknownst to him and just before he gives up hope, his forest mates organize a party to welcome him into their community. The asides spoken by the forest mates throughout the book provide the readers with assurances that everything will be well in the end. Making friends, a never-ending dilemma for people of all ages, is one story which needs repeating, and this book is a welcome addition.

—Ying Cui & Jennifer M. Graff, The University of Georgia

Young, Jessica. (2013). My blue is happy. Illus. Catia Chien. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.

A young girl’s discovery that she and her sister interpret the color blue differently leads to her realization that divergent beliefs are part and parcel of life. Intrigued by her discovery, the girl engages in a fascinating exploration of the meaning of colors within her community. Catia Chien’s bright and captivating illustrations go beyond the verbal narrative and invite young readers to discover many interesting details that fulfill our daily routine. This story is a playful reminder about how we can not only coexist in difference, but also how the world is enriched by difference. My Blue is Happy might become a classroom favorite and a gateway to discussions about colors and their symbolism from both individual and cultural perspectives.

—Oksana Lushchevska, The University of Georgia

Yum, Hyewon. (2013). This is our house. New York, NY: Frances Foster Books.

This is Our House is a story about three generations of one family. Following the young girl protagonist’s narrative, readers learn about things that are cherished by her family: their house, their street, and the trees, among other items. Readers, however, might notice that the house is itself a strong and firm character in the book. Its doors, steps, stairs, and rooms relate to a time when the girl’s grandparents arrived from “far away with just two suitcases” (unpaged). Page by page, the canvas of immigrant life unfolds; they settle in the house and area, and their children and, then, grandchildren are born. Thus, in this short and vivid story, Yum manages to cover many details about how a house becomes a home with her vibrant mixed-media illustrations and the child-like narrative. After using this book for a read-aloud in the classroom, teachers might engage young learners in a discussion about the history of the origins of their own families.

—Oksana Lushchevska, The University of Georgia

GRADES 4-6

Leyson, Leon, Harran, Marilyn J., & Leyson, Elisabeth B. (2013). The boy on the wooden box. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

This memoir from one of the young children saved by Oskar Schindler during World War II helps readers better understand how one person can make a significant difference in the world. Leon Leyson was born Leib Lejzon, the youngest of five children in a loving, working-class, Jewish family living in Narweka, Poland. While Leyson enjoyed the first decade of his life, he began experiencing the horrific consequences of prejudice and the persecution of Jews at the age of ten. The majority of this memoir details how Leon, his family, and friends endured the horrors of living in Jewish ghettos and working in concentration camps, even with the continued support of Schindler. Leyson’s stoicism, as conveyed through his matter-of-fact tone, does not diminish the emotional impact of his story. Photographs and an afterword by his wife and children, complement this gripping tale of past atrocities and emphasize the need for survivors’ stories to be told and retold so as to not forget. Some educators and parents might want to reserve this book for early middle school readers due to the content.

—Jennifer M. Graff, The University of Georgia

Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2013). P. S. be eleven. New York, NY: Amistad.
 
Rita Williams-Garcia delights readers with the sequel to her award-winning novel, One Crazy Summer (2011). Upon returning to Big Ma and Pa in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, Vonetta, Fern, and Delphine continue to explore the wonders and complexities of growing up and desiring independence while remaining sheltered within the cocoon of their community. Informed by their summer spent with their mother, Cecile, in Oakland, California, all three sisters continue to negotiate their roles as sisters, family members, and citizens of the world. The girls are excited by the return of Uncle Darnell from Vietnam, yet disturbed by his personality change. They also experience a redefinition of family when their father weds Marva Hendrix, a younger woman who seems on the surface to be the antithesis of Cecile. Such feelings are compounded by Delphine’s desire for a mother who expresses her love in a way Cecile does not. Young readers will definitely relate to episodes of friendships tinged with friction and sibling squabbles. Throw some Tina Turner and The Jackson 5 into the mix and you have a winner for all ages.

—Jennifer M. Graff, The University of Georgia

GRADES 7-8

Crossan, Sarah. (2013). The weight of water. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.

This contemporary fiction novel narrates the transnational escapades of Kasienka and her mother as they search for Kasienka’s “missing father." Although Kasienka understands that her “tata” ran away from them, she abides by her mother’s decision to remain in England until they find him. At school, Kasienka goes through all of the misfortunes and turbulence of being a newcomer. She is often bullied; however, her athleticism as a swimmer helps her acclimate to the culture of her new community, Coverty.

The hallmark of The Weight of Water lies in its narrative. Written in free verse, the novel communicates all the tension and emotional unbalance that Kasienka and her mother experience. Since the title was first published in the UK, it will definitely serve as an essential book for developing global awareness. To deepen the discussion on the immigration theme The Weight of Water might be paired with Thanhha Lai’s (2011) free verse novel, Inside Out and Back Again.

—Oksana Lushchevska, The University of Georgia

Matti, Truus. (2013). Mister Orange. Trans. Laura Watkinson. New York, NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

Twelve-year-old Linus Muller is proud of his brother Albie’s decision to fight in WWII. The idea that Albie will become a fearless hero fighting for justice, like his favorite Action Comics character, Mister Superspeed, fascinates Linus. He imagines his brother bravely and tirelessly fighting Hitler and the Nazis. Then, he meets “Mr. Orange,” a mysterious immigrant from England. Mr. Orange, also known as artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), shares with Linus the destructive nature of war on all aspects of life. Through these conversations, Linus starts to understand that his brother is not doing a heroic deed but, rather, is struggling to stay alive. When Mr. Orange passes away, Linus learns that he is the founder of a new trend in art: neoplasticism. Mr. Orange’s final work “Broadway Boogie-Woogie” helps Linus to see the colors of the future, which, of course, for the contemporary generation, is the past. Mister Orange is written by a Dutch writer whose novel Departure Time (2010) became a 2011 Batchelder Honor Book. The text is masterfully translated by Laura Watkinson. The book also includes some information about Piet Mondrian.  

—Oksana Lushchevska, The University of Georgia

Sandler, Martin W. (2013). Imprisoned: The betrayal of Japanese Americans during World War II. London, UK: Walker Books.

Through engaging and insightful perspectives, Imprisoned reveals important, and perhaps unknown, details about the horrific events involving the internment of Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Selecting information from extensive, previously unpublished interviews and oral histories with Japanese American survivors of internment camps, Martin W. Sandler expertly crafts an in-depth narrative of their lives before, during their imprisonment, and after their release. The author also includes a lengthy and moving section about the young Japanese Americans who served in the military in a variety of capacities, from actual combat to intelligence and translation services. Ironically, while these brave soldiers were battling prejudice and tyranny overseas, their families and friends were experiencing both at home. Extensive use of photographs furthers this gripping narrative. These photographs tell their own stories and illustrate a range of emotions often unattainable through words. This is a must-have nonfiction book for classroom and personal libraries.

—Ying Cui, The University of Georgia

GRADES 9-12

Joseph, Lynn. (2013). Flowers in the sky. New York, NY: HarperTeen.

In this contemporary fiction novel, fifteen-year-old Nina Perez, known as the “flower girl” in her hometown of Samana, departs from the Dominican Republic to New York City. Although Nina does not want to leave the town where she grows flowers and watches the whales, her mother insists on this trip. Her mother is sure that Nina’s older brother, Darrio, will take good care of her, and one day, she would have a better life in America. However, as Nina discovers upon arriving in New York, Darrio has been incarcerated. Fortunately, a barber, Luis, and Senora Rivera help Nina out. Nina ultimately decides to stay in New York to not only help Darrio but also build a new life.

In Flowers in the Sky, readers can envision New York through a newcomer’s eyes and will also have a chance to understand what the protagonist’s homeland means to her. The geographical landscapes of the Dominican Republic and Nina’s reflections on her flower garden are two of the most enjoyable aspects of this novel. Additionally, the lives of immigrants in the U.S. and the image of the U.S., as presented by Lynn Joseph who left Trinidad for the U.S. at the age of ten, are crucial components for classroom discussion. Educators and students can learn more about Joseph and her life on her website.

—Oksana Lushchevska, The University of Georgia

Farizan, Sara. (2013). If you could be mine. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers.

What extremes would you go to in order to be with the one you love, especially if your love is considered criminal? This is one of the essential questions posed by author Sara Farizan in her debut novel, If You Could Be Mine. A few years prior, Sahar was devastated by her mother’s death. Now, at the age of seventeen, Sahar experiences further devastation. Nasrin, her best friend and confidante—a woman who Sahar has loved since the age of six—will soon marry the man of her parents’ choosing. Feeling lost and alone in a country which considers homosexuality to be a crime punishable by death, Sahar struggles to figure out not only how to better ensure she and Nasrin can secretly stay together but also how to survive if they cannot.  For Sahar, a sex-change operation is the perfect solution. If she could become a man, then she and Nasrin could legally be together. With the help of her cousin Ali and a transgender community in Tehran, Sahar seeks out a surgeon for the procedure. Yet, she cannot escape the nagging feeling of personal betrayal. Is sacrificing one’s self to help retain the love of another worth it?  Can Sahar follow through with the procedure, and even if she does, will Nasrin cancel her arranged marriage? Readers will appreciate both the contemporariness and timelessness of this sensitive and poignant look at identity and love from multiple perspectives.

—Jennifer M. Graff, The University of Georgia

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online.