Literature Engaged

 💥💥💥👎👎👎💥💥💥  I chose this book as one for a diversity project. Ideally, it should have been great. It had a plus size girl who is a person of color, along with a variety of different sexual orientations within the story. This story had the opportunity to glimpse into many different cultures and express something positive about being different. For the most part, Charlie Vega is pretty normal. There’s nothing that makes her an outcast, except for the fact that she is plus size. She’s a beautiful girl, and we know that because of not only the description of her, but also the image of her on the front of the book. She definitely has self-esteem issues, though.  I totally understand having a negative self-esteem, and how that can affect the relationship one has with everyone around them. I actually had a few very personal connections with the story from time to time. When I got to experience these moments, it was good. I felt like I was reading something beneficial to...

  This is another relatively old work I had never heard of before. I originally chose to watch this after I began to miss Italy. I was hoping that a movie that took place in Paris would suffice, even though it’s definitely different and an Italian would not enjoy that I even thought that way. This movie was so much more enjoyable than I had expected. There were so many references to amazing authors from the 20’s, and the references were comical for sure. This is not the type of movie I’m used to seeing Owen Wilson in, but I definitely really enjoyed him in it.  The ideas that I found could be useful for my older students are that they were born at the right time. They were not too early or too late, and they have a purpose and the ability to make the best life for themselves in the time and places that they are in. Wilson also portrayed a screenwriter who really wanted to be a novelist, so it also influences the watchers to never settle and to do what will fulfill them.  ...

   This book has easily become one of my favorites of all time. I do tend to enjoy historical fiction, but this book really stood out to me. The narrator was death, and I think that allowed for a lot of insight that could never have happened with anyone else from the story as the narrator. The characters were so easy to get attached to, and when bad things happened it hurt me in the soul. This book, for me, is the epitome of a page turner.  This is perfect for my classroom whenever I do historical fiction. I think it’s one of the best genres for learning how to function as humans, because it gives us a glimpse into some of the most testing moments of humanity. I would love to pair this with The Crucible, and possibly something from another genre, such as science fiction or dystopian. I wrote a lesson plan for one class where the students compared this book, The Crucible, and The Giver after finishing this book. It seemed so logical to have them compare and contrast the t...

  This blog is for my to share my thoughts and reflections about young adult literature that will be exciting and engaging to my future students. This blog will be helpful for anyone looking to find engaging material for their students, or future students, to read!