Young+Adult+Literature+Assessments

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 * Young Adult Literature Assessments**

I have included three items: Appraisal Checklis for Audio Materials, Booktalk Scripts, and a YA display idea and bibliography.

1. **Appraisal Checklist for Audio Materials**

ITEC 57400: Selection and Utilization of Educational Media

November 2008, Professor Stahr

This link takes you to the checklist for appraising audio. I chose to evaulate a collection of poems that is suitable for secondary students.

//Poetry Speaks: Hear Great Poets Read Their Works from Tennyson to Plath// Ed.s Elise Paschen and Rebekah Mosby. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks, 2001.




 * 2. Booktalk Scripts**

LIS 60626: Library Materials and Services for Young Adults

February 2009, Dr. M. Nichols

I’m sure you remember one of the ice or wind storms we’ve had in the last few years. The electricity was out for days. There was no TV, no way to charge your iPod, no way to cook your food, nothing to do. Well, what if the electricity didn’t come back on at all for months. . . because there was a war in your city and the enemy had knocked out your power? What if your cell phone didn’t work and there was no way to reach an adult for help and your food was running out, and then some soldiers pounded on your door? Daisy, in //How I Live Now// by Meg Rosoff, is thrown into this realistic and frightening scenario. Her dad sends her to live with an aunt in rural England because her step-mother is having a baby and they don’t really want her around. This is a survival story, but there’s more to survival than electricity and food. Daisy needs to find her cousin Edmond to ever feel safe again. But she has no idea where the soldiers have taken him.

Rosoff, Meg. //How I Live Now//. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004.

Another character who has to deal with soldiers is Ishmael Beah, the narrator in the memoir //A Long Way Gone.// My hunch is that many of you like to play XBOX or Play Station and may have a war game or two. It’s fun to test your shooting skills when it’s a game. But Ishmael was given a gun when he was a young teen and was forced to join the army as a child soldier. His is a true story of a civil war in a country called Sierra Leone. Being a soldier isn’t the whole story, though; he has to learn NOT to be a soldier once he is out of combat. After killing people, he has to figure out how to live in society again. Will he be reformed or will he join the army again to get revenge on the people who separated him from his family?

Beah, Ishmael. //A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier//. Sarah Crichton Books, 2007.

Bobby in //The First Part Last// by Angela Johnson isn’t in a war, but he’s in a very difficult situation just the same. Bobby just became a father and he’s only 16. In fact, on his 16th birthday, his beautiful girlfriend Nia brings him a red balloon and some big news: she is pregnant. This story moves between THEN, before Bobby’s baby is born, and NOW, when little Feather is in his life. Newborns are hard to take care of; they cry and poop and don’t want to be put down; they keep you up all night. Bobby learns all this really fast! He wants to be a kid again, shooting hoops with his friends and eating pizza all night. THEN, he and Nia had decided to put their baby up for adoption, but NOW, Bobby is juggling school with caring for his daughter. You’ll want to read //The First Part Last// by Angela Johnson to see what happened THEN to make Bobby decide to keep his baby.

Johnson, Angela. //The First Part Last//. New York: Simon Pulse, 2003.


 * 3. YA Services: Display to Highlight Teen Collection **

LIS 60626: Library Materials and Services for Young Adults

Spring 2009, Professor M. Nichols

This is a football theme that connects to central Ohio’s love of the Buckeyes, who play in the Big Ten League. The Big Ten is a familiar phrase to central Ohio teens. The slogan suggests ten types of resources offered to teens by the library and emphasizes that teens are unique and special.
 * Theme: Teen’s BIG TEN: In a League of our Own **

With its football theme, this display could be used at the end of the summer or any time in the autumn. There is an excitement in the air in the autumn, whether it is due to sports or a new school year. This display will hopefully intrigue both sexes because it includes items about football, cheerleading, and marching band.

A cheerleader run-through style sign would bear the slogan in the library colors (if there are any), school colors (if there is one dominant school), or neutral yet sporty colors. These types of signs are on poles that could be mounted like flags. The sign could be raised up so that the table with resources could be placed in front of it. The sign could also be on the floor with the table next to it, depending on the space. I think the oddity of seeing a run-through sign in a library would catch a few eyes. The corners of the sign would hold pom-poms. I would also place some pom-poms, footballs, and band instruments in random places nearby (floor, tables, on an easel, etc.) to add texture and interest.

The book/ resource display would be on a table near or in front of the sign, depending on the space available and the sign size. The table would be covered in a green tablecloth or paper made to look like a football field using white tape as the lines. I would make football helmets out of cardboard or use small plastic helmets; each of the 10 helmets would be labeled with ONE of the BIG TEN resources offered in the teen section of the library. The resources in each category would be placed by the corresponding helmet.

The teen BIG TEN = Audiobooks, Audio CDs (music), Autobiography / Biography, DVDs, Fiction, Gaming, Graphic Novels, Magazines, Manga, and Non-Fiction.

(I thought about using Databases as an item since a library has a lot of these, but it didn’t seem right for this kind of display.)

This display could be at the entrance of the teen space to pull teens in. The content itself is colorful and lively; most resources have fun, attractive covers.

To make this really fun, popcorn could be popped and offered in the teen space after school to add that great smell and to attract hungry teens.

1. Audiobooks
 * Teen’s BIG TEN: **

//Football Hero// Tim Green 2008 // [|Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream] // H. G. Bissinger, Alex Karras, and Buzz Bissinger  1991 // Playing for Pizza // John Grisham 2008 2. Audio CDs (music)

//Cheer Mixes Music// vol. 1 (various artists) 2003 //ESPN Jock Rock// (various artists) 1994 //Fan Jams// (various artists) 2005 // [|The Best of College Football Fight Songs], // Allen / Sweet (various composers) 2007

3. Autobiography / Biography

//A View from the Bench// George R. Mills 1991 //Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton// Walter Peyton, Dan Yeager 2001

4. DVDs

//Blast! An Explosive Musical Celebration// PBS, 2001 (non-fiction, about bands) //Bring It On// Universal Studios, 2001 (fiction, about cheerleading) //Football Box Set// Sony Pictures, 2003 (contains //Rudy, Jerry McGuire, Radio//)

5. Fiction

//Band Geek Love// Josie Bloss 2006 //Bleachers// John Grisham 2007 //Crackback// John Coy 2005 //Gym Candy// Carl Deuker 2008 //I Was a Non-Blond Cheerleader// Kiernan Scott 2005 //The Line// Courtney Brandt 2007 (about band) //Roughnecks// Thomas Cochran 1999

6. Gaming

// [|Backyard Football 2009] // Atari Inc. ( Nintendo Wii ) [|//Madden NFL 08// DVD] Electronic Arts (Windows 2000 / 98 / Vista) // [|NCAA Football 09] // Electronic Arts (Xbox 360, Playstation)

7. Graphic novels

//Tales from Band Camp: The Arrival// Amy Brown, 2004 8. Magazines

//American Cheerleader// MacFadden Performing Arts Media //Sports Illustrated// Time, Inc. //Sports Illustrated: Kids// Time, Inc.

9. Manga

//Eyeshield 21// vol 3 Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata, 2005 (Yes, there is a Manga book about football!)

10. Non-Fiction

// [|101 Cheerleading Facts, Tips, and Drills] // Tinker D. Murray, Mike Sardo, and Gladys Keeton 2007 //Football for Dummies// Howie Long and John Czarecki 2007 //Football Rules Illustrated// George Sullivan 1985 //The Dynamic Marching Band// Wayne Markworth 2008