September 30, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
by Amanda MacGregor Jefferson High School, Davisburg, Virginia. 1959. In Robin Talley’s Lies We Tell Ourselves, it’s been two years since the Supreme Court said all schools must integrate. The people in Davisburg have done everything they can to resist this order, including entirely shutting down their schools for months. High school senior Sarah Dunbar […]
July 30, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Here’s a look at today’s discussion in the #SVYALit Project. Today’s topic is historical fiction and we’ll be discussing MAID OF SECRETS and MAID OF DECEPTION by Jennifer McGowan, A MAD, WICKED FOLLY by Sharon Biggs Waller and GILT by Katherine Longshore. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfMQtsqndt0] Here’s a link to the Cuddlebuggery post on Sex Positive YA […]
May 29, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine Publisher’s Description: “There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive […]
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May 26, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Today is Memorial Day. Today is a day to honor the men and women who have served and died in the U.S. Military. I come from a military family, the Air Force. Every three years we moved to a new military base. Twice members of my family were stationed overseas. My brother was born on […]
April 9, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Evil governmental oppressors, secrets, spies and deception, a roiling underclass yearning to break out of bondage and one true hero who finds the way to do it – this is the stuff we love in our dystopian novels. But these are not only features in dystopia. We can look to history for plenty of examples […]
January 17, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
This month, my middle school book club and I talked historical fiction, naming titles, authors, and six words or phrases to describe the books. As we shared our past month’s reads, two themes featured prominently: required reading is not always their favorite (e.g., My Brother Sam is Dead and Hound of the Baskervilles) and yes, […]
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June 25, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS
So, I have now read the 4th out of 5 books in my personal historical fiction challenge. That book was Tarnish by Katherine Longshore. So, let’s chat. We all know I am not awesome at history, that’s the reason for the challenge. This book is about Anne Boleyn, and even I know who she is. […]
May 29, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS
When I was in the 5th grade I had a history teacher who told us that his idea of Heaven would be to sit in a movie theater and watch all of history like it was one long, epic movie. That was he wanted, well that and really buttery popcorn! Much later, I went on […]
May 23, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Today we are going “Beneath the Surface” for the Collaborative Summer Reading program and talking about Mummies. Earlier, we shared some movie and programming ideas. But you’ll definitely want to share some good reads as well. For example, you can’t go wrong with a John Bellairs mystery, can you? Here you have Johnny Dixon searching […]
May 22, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS
When I was in the 8th grade, my parents received a mysterious letter in the the mail. I soon would learn it was called a “Progress Report”. In this particular case, it was reporting the fact that I was not making very good progress in the subject of history. In fact, I was failing. There […]
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Politics in Practice
by John Chrastka
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