Diverse Young Adult Books

Funded May 3, 2022

Thank you so much for helping our classroom reach diverse readers. The books that were purchased through your donation has helped with our classroom library. All the books are from Black and African-American writers which has widened the reflection of lived experiences among students in our class. What's great is that we always incorporate at least fifteen-twenty minutes of silent sustained reading in class and students have opted to read from many of the books from this selection.

One of the sophomore lessons that we do is choice reading and literature in reading groups. We have a unit in the spring where students not only read a book of their choice in book groups, but students create presentations on these books. Students create artistic representations that can include posters, movie posters, movie trailers, and different forms of artwork. Students are able to ask inquisitive questions about identity, race, social justice, and have difficult conversations. Many of the students both White and BIPOC students have chosen many of the books on this list. It's been amazing seeing students be so excited picking up recent texts that reflect their identities.

The moment that I put the books on the shelves, many of them flew right off and have been rotating through many student hands. In particular, The Hate U Give, Ace of Spades, Dear Martin, and It's Trevor Noah are the top texts that have not made it BACK onto the bookshelves because there are a line of students who want to read them. It's an amazing feeling that students are excited about reading and in particular, reading stories that reflect their experiences.

Once again, thank you. Thank you Donors from Clackamas High School!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Tumalad-Granados