OBJECTIVES:

Participants will:

• exam and read young adult literature for the following: genres, analyzing themes, real-world connections, multiple perspectives, problem-solving, and personal experiences.
• independently read three selected young adult novels.
• answer online discussion questions.
• reflect upon other participants discussion question answers.
• complete online assessments at various points in the course.

TEXT:

Young adult novels available at schools, public libraries, book stores, and Amazon.

• Leon & the Spitting Image by Allen Kurzweil (ISBN: 978-0060539320) Amazon Link

This book is about a hotel full of animals. And an evil ice maker. And glass eyeballs -- oh, and really old panty hose and Possibly Fake Hair. But mostly, it's about Leon Zeisel and his epic quest to survive fourth grade, despite his teacher, Miss Hagmeyer, and his archenemy, Lumpkin the Pumpkin, a human tank with a deadly dodgeball throw. Luckily, Leon has friends who will stand by him even if his magical plans for rescue and revenge involve ... SPIT!

• Nightmare at the Book Fair by Dan Gutman (ISBN: 978-1416924395) Amazon Link

All he wants to do is play lacrosse. So when the president of the PTA asks Trip to help her out on his way to tryouts, he is not happy. He is even more not happy when a stack of books tumbles onto his head and knocks him out cold. And he is even more not happy when he wakes up and has absolutely no idea where he is. Now all he wants to do is get home. But after encountering a haunted house, aliens, talking animals, and much, much more, he realizes getting home might be just a little bit harder to do than he thought.

• Jungle of Bones by Ben Mikaelsen (ISBN: 978-0545442862) Amazon Link

Dylan Barstow has finally crossed the line. After getting caught on a late-night joyride in a stolen car, Dylan is shipped off to live with his ex-Marine uncle for the summer. But Uncle Todd has bigger plans for Dylan than push-ups and early-morning jogs. Deep in the steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea, there's a WWII fighter plane named Second Ace that's been lost for years, a plane that Dylan's own grandfather barely escaped from with his life. In all this time, no one has ever been able to track down Second Ace -- but now Dylan and his uncle are going to try. Lush and haunted, vital and deadly, these alien jungles half a world away could mean Dylan's salvation, or they could swallow him whole.

"GREAT CLASS AND BOOKS."

"I LOVE READING LITERATURE THAT CAN HELP ME CONNECT TO MY STUDENTS. RELEVANT AND UP TO DATE!"

"READING BOOKS I MIGHT NOT HAVE CHOSEN MYSELF AND DISCUSSING THEM WITH COLLEAGUES."

"IT IS A VERY FUN AND INTERACTIVE CLASS THAT HAS HELPED ME TO EXPAND MY CHOICE OF LITERATURE TO READ WITH MY CLASSES!"

"READING THE BOOKS AND HEARING HOW OTHER EDUCATORS WOULD TEACH THE BOOK IN THEIR CLASSROOMS."

"I APPRECIATED THAT THE INSTRUCTOR GAVE TIMELY FEEDBACK AND GRADING. IT WAS A VERY SATISFYING CLASS."

"GOOD CONTENT - GREAT STRUCTURE."