Ready to teach? Grab my complete Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Unit here!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Born a Crime Summary

Born a Crime is Trevor Noah’s memoir about his early life in South Africa. If you’re not familiar with Trevor Noah, he was a long-time host of The Daily Show and a stand-up comedian. 

He was also born a mixed-race child during South Africa’s apartheid. This led to a host of challenges for him and his family, as well as a unique perspective on race and oppression.

Born a Crime follows Noah’s early years. The stories of his youth introduce readers to his beautiful, stubborn, intelligent, and tough mother. It shows us the realities of living during extreme racial segregation. Most of all, this novel is sure to make you laugh as Noah shares anecdotes from his youth. 

The novel is available in two formats: the original, unabridged version and a young readers version. 

The unabridged version is unfiltered; there’s more swearing and some more adult-themed snippets. The young readers version is a little shorter (with the more mature scenes cut entirely) and swear words are swapped for milder ones. 

Born a Crime offers a humorous point-of-view with deep, meaningful themes. The availability of both versions of the text allows you to choose one right for your class, students, and school.

Reason You Need to Teach Born a Crime #1: Humor

The best reason to teach Born a Crime is a simple one: it’s funny!

How many times have you heard students complain that everything they read in English class is boring? Or depressing? 

Born a Crime is a refreshing break from the usual canon. While it does have its serious moments and themes, its author is a comedian. Your students won’t be able to resist laughing at young Trevor’s antics, his mother’s parenting, or the situations he finds himself in. 

Reason You Need to Teach Born a Crime #2: New Perspective

Another great reason to add Born a Crime to your curriculum is the new perspective it offers. 

Trevor Noah grew up in South Africa but later emigrated to the United States. This means he can speak to life in South Africa as a true South African in a way that is accessible to Americans. He explains the differences in culture, education, and society. 

For teachers trying to expose young readers to a world outside of America, this unique perspective and voice is gold. 

I also love that it shows students what racism in another country looks like. Students should be aware of America’s history of slavery and segregation, but they might think it’s a problem only in our country. Born a Crime shows a more global picture. 

Plus, after learning about poverty in South Africa, your students may find themselves a little more appreciative of the opportunities and education they have here at home. 

Reason You Need to Teach Born a Crime #3: Deep Themes

Lastly, the novel makes for great teaching material. Any teacher looking for a teachable novel is probably on the hunt for deep themes, and Born a Crime has plenty. 

With apartheid in play, you can engage students in rich discussions about systemic oppression. Since these systems are not America-based, you may even find that your administrators and parents are less likely to oppose this novel than others based on controversy. 

Secondly, you can explore love and family. These ideas play a huge part in the novel from page one to the very end.

Trevor and his mother navigate the world together–a world that never condoned Trevor’s conception in the first place. This can lead to all kinds of discussions about love, family, and fostering personal growth through relationships. 

Another theme worth exploring is identity. As a mixed-race boy, Trevor often finds himself at odds with a society that insists on categorizing everyone by color.

He changes his racial identity and language frequently to suit his situation. Enjoy having some deep discussions about identity with your students while reading. 

Lastly, even humor itself can be a theme to explore in Born a Crime. Trevor and his mother often use humor to create resilience as they face tough situations. No doubt, this is an idea your students will have some experience with. 

There is no shortage of deep, complex ideas to discuss and analyze with your students in Born a Crime. In between laughter, you’re sure to have some rich talks. 

Conclusion

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah offers a unique combination of humor, deep ideas, and a diverse perspective to teachers and their curriculum. I know I’ve searched for books like it for a long time. 

If you need a refreshing new title for your classroom, be sure to check it out. 

And if you need Born a Crime teaching resources, check out mine right here!

The post You Need to Teach Born a Crime appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

What Is Moxie About?

Moxie follows the protagonist Vivan, a girl who has lived in a small town in Texas her whole life. The football team (and their admin fathers) run the school. No one does anything when they make sexist jokes or act inappropriately around the girls. Boys will be boys, after all. 

After a particularly bad day of enduring sexism, Vivian looks to her mother’s Riot Grrrl past for comfort. The feminist’s zines of her mother’s past inspire Vivan. Before she realizes what she’s doing, Vivis is creating and copying a ‘zine of her own. 

After anonymously distributing her zines throughout the girls’ bathrooms at schools, Vivian is surprised to realize that she didn’t just blow off some steam. She started a movement.

(I actually saw a lot of parallels between the protagonists of Moxie and The Hate U Give even though their causes are very different.)

Is Moxie Classroom-Friendly?

Personally, I found Moxie a lot more “classroom-friendly” than many other young adult novels my students have enjoyed. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect for conservative schools or parents, however. 

Moxie does contain some swearing. 

There are also a few scenes that include sexual harassment. While not overly graphic or violent, these could be uncomfortable for some parents (and triggering for some students). Mathieu takes the story just far enough to get across the importance of the issue, without making anything gratuitous.

Why Does Moxie Deserve to Be in My Classroom Library?

We teachers have a lot to cover. In addition to the basics of reading and writing skills, we’ve become the go-to experts lately on equality, inequities, and making sure our students have both open minds and hearts. It’s a lot. 

Moxie approaches women’s issues in an approachable way. Those who fear “bra-burning feminists” will see a softer–but firm–side of feminism in the pages of Moxie. 

I really appreciated Mathieu’s discussion of the word “feminism” in her novel. While some characters adopt the “feminist” identify readily, others are more hesitant. Mathieu gracefully explains the true meaning of feminism while separating it from its stereotypes.

Another reason I think Moxie is valuable is because it shows the role of the ally. A lot of men instantly become defensive when women’s rights are brought up. Mathieu, throughout the novel, is able to convey that “yes, not all men,” while proving that “enough men” and that male allies have a role to play in a feminist movement. 

She is also able to show that allies are not perfect. They might not say the right thing all the time, or completely understand what it’s like to be the victim of inequality, but the good ones keep trying. 

Lastly, Moxie acknowledges that large groups of women have historically been left behind in previous feminist movements. Mathieu touches on the intersectionality of race and gender issues beautifully through her characters’ interactions and Vivian’s reflections.

What Students will Grab Moxie From the Classroom Library?

Moxie’s intended audience is clearly young women. The protagonist, her friends, and most of the major characters are female. While there will certainly be some young men in your classroom who enjoy the novel, the book will certainly find more ground with young ladies. 

That said, I think it’s a powerful read for all young women if only to understand more about feminism, its true meaning, and why some withdraw from that word. 

Being a novel about teenage girls, this novel might resonate more with shyer girls who are still finding themselves in high school. The protagonist herself is not brazen or overconfident; most of her actions toward change are done anonymously. 

Moxie does a great job of empowering young women, without forcing them to be something that they are not. (If you’re looking for a great example of what happens when young women do not work together, check out the dystopia The Grace Year!)

How Can I Use This Book in My Classroom?

Moxie could certainly be a whole class novel, although you may have to work a little harder to earn buy-in from the boys in your room. I would love to see this novel taught in an all-girls’ school or to a class that just happened to be mostly women.

I think Moxie could also be a valuable independent read for girls’ groups that you might have on campus or in leadership classes. 

If you do any literature circles on social justice issues, around the young adult genre, or gender studies, this would be an excellent addition! Moxie would especially make a great addition to any social justice unit because the characters’ actions are so accessible. (If you do want to do a social justice literature circle, I have a done-for-you unit right here!)

Since its publication, Moxie has also become a Netflix movie directed by Amy Poehler! Depending on your school’s movie policies, this could be a great tool for using the novel in the classroom as well. 

A Final Word on Adding Moxie to Your Classroom Library

Whether you’re looking to add Moxie to your classroom library, literature circle, or curriculum, it’s a powerful novel choice. 

My students always respond to injustice, and I think your students will too. Depending on where you teach and the culture of your school, this novel may hit very close to home for some of your students. 

But, the greatness of Moxie is that it shows that change can begin with small actions. It is by banding together that change becomes lasting. Moxie is informative, exploratory, and inspiring. There is certain to be a young woman in your room who Moxie would inspire. 

If your students love Moxie, you could also recommend these novels with strong, female protagonists: Internment, Slay, or With the Fire on High.

The post Why You Need to Add Some MOXIE to Your Classroom Library appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

If you’re looking for a young adult novel to add to your English class curriculum or classroom library, this is one you won’t want to miss.  

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez follows the story of three young Guatemalans who leave home to seek refuge in the United States. Fueled only by dreams and hopes, the three face countless dangers on their journey. 

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

This Story About Immigration Is One That Needs to Be Told

I have been looking for a book like this for a long time. 

Years ago, I began the unending process of trying to add diversity to both my classroom library and my curriculum. Luckily, the young adult world has been publishing a ton of really great books the last few years from black authors. 

I was having a hard time, however, finding books from Latinx authors that felt “teachable.” At least, until I received a recommendation for Sanchez’s novel.

The three protagonists in this story are each escaping a man named Rey from their hometown in Guatemala. Rey has victimized Pequeña, who even gives birth to his child. Rey has been tormenting Chico and Pulga, forcing them to participate in his cartel activities. 

The three decide to follow the stories and dreams that they’ve heard from others who attempted to reach America, even though it means breaking their mothers’ hearts. 

This story about immigration pulls no punches when it comes to the hardships that the children face. For example, Pequeña disguises herself as a boy to avoid more sexual assault in her life.  

Together, they face adults who would steal from or deceive them. They jump train cars and cling to the tops of them, sitting awake for days at a time in the hot sun. They cross borders, sometimes with help and sometimes alone. 

While many of our students know all too well these hardships, so many of our students. Worse, they don’t understand why some people choose to immigrate illegally or the conditions that these immigrants are leaving behind them.

We Are Not From Here can help students empathize with those who choose to immigrate illegally.

This Is More Than a Story About Immigration

We Are Not From Here deals with more than just immigration. 

It is about family, too. Chico, orphaned after his mother is shot in the market, is adopted by Pulga and his mother. Pulga and Pequeña are cousins, but they become closer through the journey.

We Are Not From Here is also a story about the American Dream.

While growing up, Pulga and Chico listen to adults talk about the journey to America or their relatives who made it to the United States and now send money home. Pulga listens to cassettes his father–an American–made, dreaming of one day living a life like his father had. 

Each main character dreams of American–and what it would mean to arrive–in their own way. I can definitely see this novel become part of an American Dream unit!

Hardship and sacrifice also play an important role in Sanchez’s book. Each character makes his or her own sacrifice along the way–some greater than others. No character emerges at the end of this book unchanged by the experience of crossing borders. 

This novel, however, isn’t all a downer. Pequeña, Chico, and Pulga encounter genuine good human beings along the way. They encounter other travelers like themselves who long for a life of safety and opportunity. 

Tips for Teaching This Story of Immigration

We Are Not From Here would be a great novel for a literature circle themed around hardships, the American Dream, or multiculturalism. 

I could also see this being used as a whole class novel, but it is a little long, so keep that in mind. You may need students to use some time outside of class for reading. Otherwise, a large chunk of your teaching time will be spent just reading.

There is some Spanish woven throughout the text, but it’s always immediately translated or made obvious by context clues. 

The ages of the main character vary. Chico and Pulga are younger teens while Pequeña is a little older. You could teach this novel at the middle school level. The Lexile is right and, considering how adult the situation is, the story is told in a way that is very appropriate for younger readers. 

However, while not very graphic, We Are Not From Here does deal with rape, death, and murder. These issues are handled delicately and in good taste, but you may want to run this choice by admin first, just in case. 

Because some of the content could be considered mature, you could also teach this in high school (especially with lower-level readers who don’t want to be babied). 

Prior to reading this novel, you’ll definitely want to cover some background information.

Make sure you show where Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States are in relation to one another.

You’ll also want to front-load students with information about illegal immigration into the United States and the dangerous journeys that some people are willing to take for a chance at a better life. 

A Final Word on We Are Not From Here

We are Not From Here, ultimately, is just a good story.

You empathize with the characters and you want them to make it. Their adventure is dangerous enough to provide tension throughout the story. 

If you’re looking for other novels like this for yourself or your classroom, check out Internment by Samira Ahmed. I think the two would pair together wonderfully. 

The post This Is The Story about Immigration You Need In Your Classroom! appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Reason #1 To Teach All American Boys: Diverse Perspectives

The diverse perspectives All American Boys presents makes the novel stand out from other social justice novels. The story is told in first-person from two different characters–one white and one black.

Rashad is a black teen. He’s in the military academy. His father is a police officer. When a police officer brutally attacks him, Rashad is more confused than angry–he didn’t realize he was “that kind of black.”

Quinn, the other protagonist, witnesses Rashad’s beating. He’s a white teenager, on the basketball team, and the son of a veteran who died in combat. Even more important, he is close to the police officer who attacks Rashad.

While Rashad grapples with his own injuries, Quinn examines his own biases.

While Quinn weighs whether to side with old loyalties or examine his own privilege, Rashad has to decide whether or not to speak up about that injustice committed against him.

Neither character knows the other well–they attend the same school, but run in different circles–yet their stories nevertheless intertwine. 

Connections for all Students

Even in the most diverse classroom, Quinn or Rashad’s story will resonate with someone in your class. 

There are a lot of great young adult novels that discuss social justice or the Black Lives Matter movement. Very few, however, incorporate a white perspective.

Now, I fully believe that the traditional English curriculum has way too many white voices as is and that the canon needs an overhaul.

But offering a white point-of-view–for better or worse–will help to get some reluctant white students to re-think long-held beliefs.

A white voice will also go a long way in getting a book about a controversial topic approved to be taught in the first place. After all, so many amazing units about race, privilege, and social justice never see the light of day because conservative administration or parents shut it down immediately.

Reason #2 to Teach All American Boys: Deep Themes

These diverse voices help establish the themes and deep ideas that run throughout the novel. 

Rashad’s Story

First, there’s the obvious issue of police brutality. An officer violently attacks Rashad Rashad while he’s shopping for a few snacks at a cornerstore. He wakes up in a hospital. 

Later on in this story, Rashad’s father–another officer–describes a moment when he, assuming the worst, fired on an innocent suspect, rendering the suspect paralyzed for life. 

The two instances allow for students to analyze the issue of police brutality from multiple angles. Rashad’s attacker is white, but his father is black. This shows that police brutality runs deeper than mere racism. 

There is a lot that you can discuss with students here. 

Quinn’s Story

Then, there’s Quinn, who witnesses the event. The officer responsible for Rashad’s injuries is a close family friend of Quinn’s, a man who helped Quinn cope with his father’s death. While the officer’s family begs Quinn to testify on the officer’s behalf, Quinn knows deep down that Rashad didn’t deserve the treatment he received.

Quinn battles with how to proceed and how to reckon the two sides of his friend: the role model he grew up with and the violent man who put Rashad in the hospital. 

Social Justice

If you’re looking to discuss social justice and the ways that students can speak out against injustice, you’ll find more than enough to talk about as well. 

Rashad’s brother, Spoony, is determined to get Rashad’s story out there. Meanwhile, his peers support him in their classes. 

The hashtag #RashadIsAbsentAgainToday appears mysteriously outside of school. Quinn eventually wears a t-shirt to school to show that he stands by Rashad. 

And the novel ends with a powerful demonstration in support of Rashad. 

Yet, my favorite lesson in this novel is the one on privilege. While racism is a theme that we see often enough in young adult books, there aren’t too many that walk readers through the process of identifying, understanding, and analyzing one’s privilege.

I love that we get to watch Quinn realize that being white has allowed him to “opt-out” of a lot of difficult conversations in his life and that he ultimately decides to no longer live in ignorance.

It’s a powerful lesson for white students, who might otherwise roll their eyes at another “racism story,” and just one more reason to teach All American Boys.

Social Justice FREEBIE

Signup for the It’s Lit Teaching newsletter and receive your FREE graphic organizer for analyzing a key scene in any social justice novel, story, or article!

You can unsubscribe anytime. For more details, review our Privacy Policy.

Subscribe

Loading…

Thank you!

Your FREEBIE is on its way! Check your inbox!

Reason #3 to Teach All American Boys: Relatability

Ultimately, All American Boys is about two teenage boys trying to understand injustices in the world in which they live. 

The story is told through their voices. They have teenage concerns like girls, basketball, and parties. They use slang and fib to their parents. 

Rashad and Quinn are relatable. Your students will recognize them, and that gives the story extra power.

Racism. Privilege. Justice. These are not just adult themes or adult issues. Whether we like it or not, these are factors in our students’ lives too; these are themes that they ponder frequently.

All American Boys shows what it looks like for teenagers to grapple with these issues. Your students will be able to relate to Rashad and Quinn’s priorities, struggles, and hopes and dreams.

That relatability will make it so much easier for students to engage. Your students will want to talk about this novel. They’ll see themselves and their town in it. 

When students are naturally engaged, without having to be baited by quiz scores or standardized tests, learning is fluid and fun.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a book about social justice, the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, or are just desperate for something that will make your students actually pay attention in class–All American Boys is a sure bet.

In addition to the above reasons, it has some additional benefits as well. 

Unlike many other novels with similar themes like The Hate U Give and Dear Martin, All American Boys is actually light on the swearing. If you want to tackle some controversy without offending parents, this is the novel with which to do it.

This novel is also not as new as other young adult novels on this topic. While the “shininess” has worn off a little bit, that’s also given educators time to create materials for the novel, making planning a little easier. 

I was lucky enough to meet Brendan Kiely when he visited our school. In addition to being a wonderful and engaging speaker, he offers some teaching resources on his website. 

You could also grab my All American Boys novel study bundle right here and call it day. 

Regardless, be sure to have All American Boys on your classroom library shelves, if not in your curriculum!

The post 3 Reasons Why You Need to Teach All American Boys appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

The fine folk of Garner County know that women have magic. They have the power to bewitch men, madden other women, and disrupt civilized society. That’s why every girl has her grace year: a period where she and her cohorts are sent out to expel their magic. But it’s forbidden to talk about the grace year. So they have no way of preparing for what’s coming. 

This is a book that will absolutely captivate you and your young adult students. The themes within Liggett’s tale are complex, but relevant. I urge you to put a copy of The Grade Year into your classroom library (assuming your teaching environment is not too conservative).

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

The Grace Year Is A Dark Dystopia

We know that teens love dystopian fiction. For this reason alone you should grab The Grace Year for your classroom library. Students who loved The Hunger Games will be more than ready for this one!

The Grace Year opens up with two quotes: one from The Handmaid’s Tale and one from Lord of the Flies. As you read, it becomes clear just how fitting these quotes are. In fact, the novel reads like an all-female mash-up of the two.

Garner County’s ideas about women aren’t too far off from The Handmaid’s Tale. Women are treated like property. If they don’t marry or can’t bear children, they’re worthless. The highest honor is to marry and produce a son; the lowest are cast-off to the outskirts, where they made do on nothing and serve as prostitutes to the county men.

During the grace year, the girls who have just reached a marriable age are all sent out into the wilderness together. You’d think that they’d work together to survive or even just enjoy the freedom they finally have together out in the woods.

Alas, their own beliefs about themselves, their value, and their roles in society follow them into the forest. During the grace year, the biggest threat may not be the poachers, who hunt them like prey, or the ghosts of grace year girls before them. 

The biggest threat could be each other.

The Grace Year Offers A Compelling, Female Protagonist For Your Classroom Library

Our classroom libraries need more strong women and wow, does The Grace Year provide!

Tierney James, the protagonist of The Grace Year, is a main character we can all root for. She’s never been a big fan of the “behave, get married, have lots of children” script that the rest of the world seems to want for her.

Instead, she spent her adolescence breaking the rules, learning survival skills from her father, and attempting to be as unattractive as possible to men on the lookout for good wives.

Unlike the other girls, she doesn’t dream of a husband. Instead, she longs to become a laborer, so she can spend time growing plants in the fields and working with her hands under the sun.

She thought her best friend understood that. When he gets in the way of her plans, Tierney can’t help but feel betrayed. 

As she goes into her grace year, she is ostracized by the other girls. Yet, she has the skills and knowledge that they’ll need to survive a year in the woods. 

At no point does Tierney give up or back down. When others lose their head, she grasps even harder onto rationale and logic. 

The Grace Year Examines Complex Female Relationships

As much as The Grace Year is a novel screaming out against the patriarchy, it’s ultimately a story about female relationships. 

Liggett does not shy away from how cruel girls can be to one another. At the beginning of the novel, the girls are as catty, cliquey, and mean as can be. They are overrun with fear and jealousy.

This novel encompasses the full spectrum of female relationships, from family to friends. It even touches on romantic relationships between women.

The women in Tierney’s family seem almost as cruel. Her mother constantly pushes Tierney to behave properly, while her sisters are proud of their marriages and never speak of their own grace year. Tierney doesn’t feel supported by them but instead feels that they willfully ignore her hopes and aspirations.

Throughout the novel, Tierney comes to learn that together, women can achieve great things. They can dismantle ancient patriarchal norms. 

But the novel doesn’t with everyone happy and friends either. Liggett offers hope and possibility, without giving readers the turnaround in character behavior that feels fake, corny, or impossible. 

While Tierney is able to earn the trust and respect of many in her community, she remains an outcast to others. While she learns to understand the love in her mother’s actions, she still must operate in an oppressive society.

The female relationships in the novel are deep and complex. Just like those in real life.

The Grace Year is Delightfully Dark 

As much as this is a reason to add The Grace Year to your classroom library, it’s also the same reason you may not want to add it.

The Grace Year for everyone, but it is a deliciously dark story. And I love a good, dark tale.

Girls sent to die in the woods. Poachers wearing gray shrouds, crouched in the woods, hunting teen girls like prey. Magic. Ghosts. Even girls’ body parts are bought and sold in little jars. This book is not for the faint of heart.

For those who love a good scary story, this one just might scratch that itch. For sensitive readers, however, I don’t recommend this one. 

While Liggett is never overly graphic in her descriptions, she doesn’t shy away from violence, rape, or abuse either. What happens to the women in this society is horrific, and Liggett is not afraid to show these events to readers.

Romance is Not Central to The Grace Year’s Plot

The last reason you should run to go pick up a copy of The Grace Year for your library is this: the plot does not revolve around a boy or romance.

Yes, there are marriages, but they are often unwanted, cruel, or forced. 

And there is a romantic interest and some plot around that, but it is not central to the story. Tierney is brave and capable because that’s who she is. While others may rescue her from time to time, she does a fair bit of rescuing others herself.

Like I said above, The Grace Year is ultimately about female relationships, not heteronormative romantic ones. The characters grow not because they fall in love, but because they persevere through hardships. 

Adding more books to our classroom library’s shelves that teach women to trust one another, to lean into one another, and to accept one another can help build a brighter future. 

What our real-world grace year girls need is not another novel extolling the virtues of the perfect romance, but one that teaches them the beauty of real, solid female friendship. 

Conclusion: Add The Grace Year to Your Library Today

The Grace Year offers a lot for young adult readers and your classroom library in general. Liggett’s themes around identity, societal expectations, and female friendship are relevant and important.

But it’s also just a well-told tale. It reads like a dark fairy tale, one not-yet-bleached-clean by a Disney retelling. 

This is a great read to offer to the young women in your class. Just be sure that you don’t hand it off to anyone too sensitive. This one should probably come with a warning label, but that shouldn’t stop you from offering it up as a suggestion anyway. 

Have students looking for other creepy dark tales? Try The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall or Broken Things.

For another dark story with an amazingly strong female character, check out Dread Nation or Children of Blood and Bone.

Need more titles for your classroom? Sign up for the It’s Lit Teaching newsletter and get a list of must-have titles for your classroom library delivered straight to your inbox!

The post 5 Reasons to Add The Grace Year to Your Library appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Now, this is by no means an exhaustive list of book. More and more publishers are releasing young adult novels that discuss social justice, police brutality, and a broken system in America.

My hope is just to offer a really great starting point.

Teaching a whole class novel study on any of these books would be well worth your time. But remember you have other options as well. You could assign a literature circle of book club using all of these titles, too.

If you can’t change your curriculum to add or swap in a new unit, you could also highlight these Black Lives Matter fiction books as great independent reading choices.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Black Lives Matter Fiction Book Pick #1: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

A multiple award-winner, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a must-read, even if you don’t teach it. The book follows the story of Starr Carter, the single witness to the police shooting of her best friend. She struggles to find her voice in a growing movement and to win justice for her friend.

If I had to pick a best fiction book for discussing the Black Lives Matter movement, this would be it. 

For one thing, Thomas balances her story well. There are good and bad black characters, good and bad white characters, good and bad cops, good and bad white allies, etc. Thomas’s foils illustrate her points beautifully. 

The novel also does more than just show the effects that police brutality can have on a person, a family, and a community. It discusses the systemic racism that exists in America. Starr and her father have a deep discussion about the system. It’s a pointed conversation about how it affects prison rates, education, and opportunities for the oppressed. 

Perhaps the best feature of The Hate U Give however is that students love it. The characters in the novel are real, funny, and totally relatable. Several semesters’ worth of my students have raved about this book. 

This book does have two downsides to teaching: it is long and there is a lot of strong language. If you have a class of strong readers and can assign reading as homework, then this a great pick.

You can still teach The Hate U Give with struggling readers. Build in scaffolds and use the audiobook.

(I talk in more detail about my experience teaching the book here.)

You’ll probably also want to get principal or district approval for this one, since the F- word appears 69 times. 

Black Lives Matter Fiction Book Pick #2: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

All American Boys is a collaboration by the great Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. 

It was one of the earliest fiction books to reflect on Black Lives Matter. All American Boys‘ storytelling technique makes it a standout for teaching. Two characters’ points-of-view weave together to craft the tale.

First, there is Rashad, a young black teen who is brutalized by a police officer. Interestingly, Rashad is also the son of a police officer. Through Rashad, the reader can see the unfairness, the cruelty, and the long-term consequences of police brutality. But there is also empathy for the difficult decisions police officers must make on a daily basis.

The second protagonist is Quinn, Rashad’s white classmate who is friends with the police officer. Through Quinn, the reader sees the struggle of a white character learning about his own privilege. Quinn has a difficult time reconciling his officer friend’s behavior with his good qualities. He also struggles through doing what’s right, even when it goes against his loved one’s wishes.

I love All American Boys because it offers two different perspectives and offers a point of entry into the conversation for any reader. 

Unlike The Hate U Give, All American Boys is also more PG. The book’s language is much milder and is better for teaching in more conservative schools or districts. 

If you’re worried about upsetting parents, All American Boys just may be your best option.

Black Lives Matter Fiction Book Pick #3: Dear Martin

Dear Martin starts with a bang. After just a couple of pages, your kids will be hooked. If you have a class of reluctant readers, low-level readers, and are short on time, Dear Martin is your novel. 

At the beginning of the novel, a police officer assaults the main character Justyce after mistakenly assuming Justyce is up to no good. This sends Justyce into a mental tailspin. He tries to figure out how to proceed, how to identify himself, and how to move forward. 

To cope, Justyce begins writing letters to Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Unlike All American Boys, I find the perspectives in Dear Martin a little limiting. The only white characters in the novel are stereotypical “white men” except for SJ, who Justyce repeatedly refers to as Jewish instead of white. 

The book also doesn’t speak about social justice, demonstrating, or creating positive social change as much as it just discusses the issue of police brutality. 

That said, Dear Martin is still my go-to when teaching The Hate U Give just won’t work. 

The book also discusses identity issues around race, education, and the neighborhood in which one is raised. These issues are incredibly relevant to our present-day students. Because of the additional thematic questions posed by Stone’s novel, I still find it a really valuable novel to teach.

I discuss teaching this novel in more depth here. 

Black Lives Matter Fiction Book Pick #4: Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Ghost Boys takes an entirely different storytelling approach. Ghost Boys follows Jerome, a twelve-year-old boy shot and killed by a police officer.

The novel focuses on Jerome’s spirt as he tries to make sense of his death. Throughout the book, Jerome learns about the history of lynching and brutality against black people in America while working through the grief process. 

Ghost Boys provides historical context for lynching and police brutality in America today through the other “ghost boys”–young black men killed for the color of their skin, including Emmett Till. 

When Jerome visits Sarah, the daughter of the police officer who took Jerome’s life, the novel offers a new perspective. Through Sarah, the novel attempts to discuss the complexities around racism in America. 

Middle-grade students will do better with Ghost Boys. The Lexile is lower than other books on this list, the book is shorter, and the protagonist is younger. 

I probably wouldn’t recommend Ghost Boys as a whole class novel for high school, unless your class was predominately below grade level in reading ability. (In this case, Ghost Boys is a perfect choice!)

If, however, you choose to do literature circles or book clubs or need a great, meaningful read-aloud, this is your novel!

Black Lives Matter Fiction Book Choice #5: How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

How It Went Down centers around the killing of Tariq Johnson, an unarmed black boy who was wearing a hoodie when he was killed. (Sound familiar?)

Snippets from a variety of witnesses, neighbors, family, and friends make up the action of this novel. Everyone has something to say about Tariq’s death, but no two accounts are the same. 

One thing I like about How It Went Down is that the Magoon never really comes out and says exactly what happened. The reader must make inferences based on the thoughts and interviews of the other characters, before finally deciding for themselves how exactly “it went down.”

The ambiguous nature of the story makes for great discussions. Your students will have an endless amount of witness testimony and character opinions to debate about.

The story weaves together commentary from many characters. If you decide to teach this novel, create a character map with your students.

How It Went Down could also be a great choice for reluctant or struggling readers because the vignettes are short. It’s the perfect choice for students who like to puzzle through problems or who have short attention spans.

This fiction book focuses less on the Black Lives Matter movement (although there is still plenty to discuss!), but I think does a better job of highlighting day-to-day instances of racism and judgment faced by people of color.

Conclusion

Any of these fiction books would be great for beginning a dialogue around the Black Lives Matter movement. These conversations are incredibly important to have in our classrooms, especially if you’re a white teacher.

Remember, you could use all of these books together as part of a literature circle or book club.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the great fiction books inspired by Black Lives Matter, but it’s a great place to start. I hope it helps.

Keep teaching bravely!

The post Here Are the Best Fiction Books for Teaching about Black Lives Matter appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

What Slay is All About

Slay follows the story of Kiera Johnson, a seventeen-year-old black girl who is a bright student by day. But after school, Keira becomes a virtual video game programmer, worldbuilder, and gaming queen.

Keira’s developed her own online video game as a safe space for black gamers: Slay. She spends her free time (and money) working out bugs, running in-game events, and developing new features. 

While Slay started as a little project, it has grown to become its own online world. Slay is a refuge to players who are sick of hearing racial slurs on other gaming platforms. Its pan-African aesthetics allows players to celebrate their own culture, heritage, and people.

After a user is murdered for in-game resources, however, Keira’s fun side-project becomes a source of extreme conflict. She feels guilty for the player’s death, she’s being dragged through the media for creating a “racist” game, and there are rumors floating about an impending lawsuit. 

Woven throughout the storyline are deep conversations on safe spaces, racial identity, and white privilege. Morris expertly, kindly, and compassionately tackles all of these difficult conversations through the lens of a subject our students truly understand–video games. 

As a reader, I was stressed out reading about Kiera’s difficulties juggling her school life, relationships, and the needs of her online community! There was always some kind of tension to keep you wondering how events were going to turn out.

How Slay Can Facilitate Difficult Racial Conversations in Your Classroom

There are characters–black and white–in Slay that dive deeply into difficult conversations. 

Kiera’s sister, an activist and high-achiever, shares her opinions openly about the way people of color are treated in American society. Her white friends do their best to be supportive allies, but they misstep along the way. Her boyfriend seems to be incredibly “woke”, but sometimes he also comes across as a little militant to Kiera. 

Morris expertly juggles the differences in these characters’ approaches to the same conversations. Every reader will be able to identify with at least one character’s thoughts. Through that conversation, they can be guided along through a broader racial conversation that extends beyond the pages of a novel.  

These scenes are highly nuanced. I found myself having to set the book down numerous times so I could just stop, think, and catch my breath. There is nothing accusatory about Morris’s writing, but there is certainly nothing apologetic, either. 

There is something, I think, about this story and these relevant conversations happening against the background of a virtual world that makes these themes more accessible to teen readers. 

Discussing politics, movements, and voting can be a lot for young readers to grapple with, but who hasn’t been sworn at or insulted while playing an online video game? Who hasn’t ever wanted to just be left alone to enjoy a game? Who doesn’t know the thrill of winning a difficult virtual battle?

How Slay Breaks Away from Typical Tropes

Not only does the backdrop of the Slay video game provide an excellent context for conversations around safe spaces, but the concept itself provides a safe space for nerdy black kids–a group often marginalized, accused of acting “white”, or just left feeling “not black enough”–in the pages of Slay.

I’ve read plenty of books with characters of color in the past few years who seem to embody “typical” black teenagers. While these books are necessary, I think we’re entering a new beginning of black voices in young adult publishing. And it’s one for which I’m thoroughly excited. 

I think we’ll begin to see more YA novels who do what Slay has done successfully: create three-dimensional black characters.

A black girl who doesn’t live in “the hood” and loves gaming? I love that more readers of all colors and personality types are being represented in young adult literature.

How to Match the Slay Novel To the Right Reader

Like all books, Slay will not necessarily be for everyone. 

I think it’s always easiest to “sell” books to people who are similar to the protagonists. Because of that, definitely put this book in front of your black, high-achieving, female students. But, don’t believe that the appeal will end there. 

There are many teen readers who do love video games. I think the idea of Slay and a teenaged video game programmer will pull in a lot of readers of both sexes. 

I find it more difficult to persuade my male students to try books with female protagonists than the other way around. But I think if you use the video game aspect as a carrot, you’d be able to get a fair amount of male readers to give this book a shot. 

The storyline does technically revolve around gaming and there is some boy-girl teenage strife. However, much of the story revolves around racial issues. The right reader will have to be open to that, and not everyone always is. 

If you have students who are not open to these conversations, it’s probably best to move on to a different book recommendation.

If you find a student who absolutely loves Slay, direct them to another empowering novel by a person of color. I recommend With the Fire on High, Long Way Down, or Allegedly.

Conclusion

Slay is another fantastic novel to add to your classroom library. It serves up video gaming to hook students’ interests, but then engages them in a larger and incredibly important conversation.

The themes presented in this novel are complicated, and Morris doesn’t aim to simplify them for her young adult readers. Instead, her complex characters teach readers that the conversation doesn’t have an end–that they must continue to always dig in to their own beliefs around race, identity, privilege, and biases. 

If you’re looking to add other diverse voices to your classroom library, I highly recommend Children of Blood and Bone, Internment, and The Hate U Give.

Want more tools and resources for matching texts with students? Sign up for my FREE list of must-have titles for your classroom library!

The post SLAY: How to Start Courageous Conversations in your Classroom appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Profit First was born when Michalowicz realized that, despite his company profiting overall at the end of the year, he had no idea where the money had gone. Even though the financial showed that he should have made a decent income, other petty charges and chaotic bookkeeping had eaten his hard-won profits. 

With the Profit First book, teacherpreneurs can avoid this problem. 

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Why Teacherpreneurs Need to Read Profit First

Teacherpreneurs are an interesting group. They’re teachers first, which means many don’t have a lot of background in business.

Yet, one way or another, they’ve found themselves with a business.

I love the teacherpreneur movement. Teachers, quite frankly, don’t earn the money they deserve, despite having so many marketable skills. So combining the teacher side of oneself with the entrepreneur side is a winning combo.

Except when it isn’t. 

It’s tempting for teachers to lead too much with their hearts: we tend to undervalue our own worth, want to give too much, and just generally fear money. These qualities less helpful when trying to run a business.

And while other entrepreneurs were taking on marketing classes and meaningful internships, we were studying child psychology.

While teachers are naturally equipped with some essential business skills–copywriting, empathy, tech skills–they are often lacking in other hard business skills.

If you’re finding yourself with a lot of accounting questions all of a sudden, then Profit First is a must-read. 

Profit First as a Business Book for Teacherpreneurs

Profit First is an easy-to-grasp framework for creating, managing, and maintaining your teacherpreneur income. Michalowicz tells you exactly how to set up your bank accounts–even the nicknames to give each account.

He provides specific percentages for distribution of your business income within your bank accounts so that you are always growing, reinvesting, and most importantly, paying yourself. 

Michalowicz even walks you through how to set up your accounts so that you take home the same amount month over month, even when your income is wildly erratic.

For my Teachers Pay Teachers sellers, you know how different June sales can be from September’s–imagine taking home the same amount of extra income, regardless of the school season!

Oh, and it’s not dry, either. Michalowicz’s writing style is engaging, funny, and down-to-earth. This is not a technical manual on finances and accounting; this is one business owner passing sage advice to another. 

Michalowicz shares his own mistakes and failures freely in hopes that you can avoid those same pitfalls.

How the Profit First Strategy Helps Teacherpreneurs

When I earned over $1,000 in a Teachers Pay Teachers payout in just my sixth month of business, I was overwhelmed. Not only could I believe it was happening to begin with, but I had no clue what to do with the money.

How much should I save for taxes? Did I earn enough to have to report my extra income (quick answer–basically any amount needs to be reported!)? How much should I be reinvesting in my business?

As my payouts continued to grow, I found myself with even more questions. How do I determine my own “salary”? Should it be the same every month or a percentage of each month’s earnings?

How do I make sure I have money for big once-a-year expenses like Tailwind and smaller, but more frequent expenses, like Teachers Pay Teachers clip art? 

As an English teacher through and through, I knew how to find the answers: I had to find the perfect business book for teacherpreneurs.

I had heard of Profit First by Mike Michalowicz through several podcasts. This title just kept coming up over and over. I had even listened to interviews with Michalowicz.

Finally, I ordered the book from Amazon.com.

And promptly devoured it.

Maybe I love reading financial books more than the average person, but I tore through Profit First. And now, it lives close to my work desk. 

The Impact of Profit First for Teacherprenuers

I set up the Profit First system immediately for my own business after reading this book. Despite already doing a pretty good job managing my business’s finances, Michalowicz showed me how to do it better.

My favorite little technique? Giving yourself quarterly bonuses! I feel like such a VIP at the end of every business quarter and love saying, “I just got my CEO bonus!” (Yes, my business is a company of one…)

Once you have the Profit First system in place, you’ll never wonder if you can afford something for your business again. You’ll know exactly how much you’ll be getting paid–even before the month begins.

Better yet, you’ll always have the money to grow, the money to pay yourself, and it’ll be virtually impossible to lost money at the end of the year. 

This year, doing my taxes was easy. Despite having my teaching income, my business income, income from a summer job, and a stack of write-offs, my records pleased my accountant. Filing taxes was painless.

I did owe the government this year for the first time in my life, thanks to the success of my Teachers Pay Teachers store. But, because of Profit First, I had put aside four times what I ended up owing!

Which means all that extra I had saved was just added to my quarterly bonus. I think tax season might become my new favorite part of the year!

Conclusion: This is THE Business Book for Teacherpreneurs

So, if you need a business book that doesn’t read like a business book, if you have no idea how you should manage your business’s finances, or you just want to make sure you continue to grow your side hustle, then I can’t recommend Mike Michalowicz’s Profit First enough. 

Grab the book for teacherpreneurs today and get your side hustle money in order!

The post Profit First: The Must-Read Business Book For Teacherpreneurs appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Your students will love her voice as they follow her coming of age story including relationships, motherhood, and the pursuit of a dream. Although Emoni’s journey may not be traditional, readers will admire her devotion to her family, and she can serve as a role model for many young women. 

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

What Drew me to With the Fire on High?

I love Elizabeth Acevedo. In my creative writing class, I use her work as mentor texts. I show her recitations to inspire students to share their work. And I encourage students to study her in-depth during our Author Study project. 

Truly, if you haven’t watched this powerhouse of a woman perform, stop reading this and go do it. For real.

So when her second novel With the Fire on High hit shelves, I knew it needed to be on my To Be Read list and added to my classroom library. 

I had assumed that With the Fire on High would be a novel in verse like Acevedo’s debut book The Poet X. So I was surprised when I opened it up and it was a book-book. Surprised, but not displeased. 

I knew nothing going into this read other than that Acevedo wrote it, but it turned out to be a delightful story. Acevedo weaves cooking throughout the story, which makes the book feel cozy and comforting as you read. 

The cover doesn’t hurt either. With the Fire on High adds a delightful splash of color to a classroom library shelf.

What Makes With the Fire on High “Lit”?

First, Emoni is relatable. She’s a single teenage mom, but she’s not a stereotype or even a “bad kid”. She made a mistake in her youth and now works hard to make her life the best it can be for her and her family. 

The love she feels for her daughter is obvious from page one. It’s part of what makes her character so endearing. The only love that can maybe compete, is Emoni’s love for cooking. 

So the second-best thing about With the Fire on High is the food scenes.

Cooking and Emoni’s growth as a chef is an integral part of this coming-of-age novel. Good luck reading this story without drooling a little bit!

Each section even starts out with a recipe that has Emoni’s special touch.

Adding Hope to Your Classroom Library

Lastly, one of the major themes of this book is hope. Emoni knows that being a single, teenage mother will be hard, but she has hope and trust that she can do it.

She wants to travel to Spain with her culinary class. Even though she has no idea how to afford it, she works hard to raise the money and hopes that everything will work out.

When she connects with the new boy in her class, Emoni knows that he’s probably untrustworthy, looking for someone “easy”, or will otherwise prove unreliable. Yet, as they grow closer, she allows herself to hope for more.

Emoni doesn’t come from an easy background. She lives in an apartment with her grandmother who mostly raised her. She has a young daughter to provide for. Yet, never does she use this as an excuse or ever play the victim.

She hopes for better and works her butt off to make it happen. 

It’s hard not to like a story and a heroine like that. And for that reason, your library needs With the Fire on High.

Who’s the Perfect Reader for With the Fire on High?

Because Emoni’s a young mother, I think high school girls will gravitate towards this book. Not that there’s nothing for young men–I think boys could definitely enjoy this book too–but Emoni’s character does deal with female-specific issues and her experience in the world as a woman defines her point-of-view.

This book will also draw in Latinx students because of the art, the protagonist, and Acevedo’s name on the cover. My classroom library lacks in this department, so it’s wonderful to have another Latinx book on the shelves.

With the Fire on High is a thick book and can be intimidating. Although the Lexile score isn’t terribly high, it might just be too much book for students who aren’t at grade level or invested in the book from the start.

This is definitely a novel that a student will have to want to read in order to finish.

Emoni’s love of cooking could also be another draw for students. At my school, we offer very few electives, but the culinary arts is one of them. I would totally throw this book at any student invested in their cooking classes (and, in fact, already threw it at our cooking teacher). 

A Role Model for Your Classroom Library

Lastly, while I’m not sure that I would directly recommend it to a specific student, I think this would be a great read for any young student who finds herself pregnant or taking care of a child while still in high school. 

Emoni faces motherhood with love and grace. She knows that her child must be her first priority and doesn’t allow anything to undermine that. 

With the Fire on High doesn’t hide any of Emoni’s fears around motherhood or growing up either; I think that vulnerability could be useful to a pregnant teenager who might not have many peers around that can understand what she’s going through. 

I recommend putting this book out there to your students: make it visible, book talk it, promote it. But don’t push it on anyone. 

The right students will gravitate towards it naturally.

Also, this is a case in which you need to know your school, parents, and your district. Having a teenage mother as the main character in a book might be “too progressive” for some schools or districts. 

If you’re worried that this novel might be met with some resistance by parents or your administration, err on the side of caution and leave it off of your library shelves. 

For an urban school, however, I think With the Fire On High is a perfect independent reading choice to add to your library.

With the Fire on High: Facts

Title: With the Fire on High

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Lexile: 810L

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Setting: The city of Philadelphia–mostly Emoni‘s house and her school

Main Character: Emoni Santiago, Afro-latinx high school senior and mother

Page Numbers: 400

Similar Recommendations:

• Internment by Samira Ahmed is another novel about a teen going through difficult circumstances.
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas will appeal to students who want to see other teens triumph in the face of adversity.

The post With the Fire On High: How to Spice Up Your Library appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

One of the greatest gifts that literature provides is the ability to see lives beyond our own. Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree introduces readers to an unnamed female protagonist and her life in an African village.

While all she wants is to succeed in school and make her family happy, Boko Haram and his men are moving toward her village.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

What Drew Me To Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree

A year or two ago, my Instagram feed was full of images of Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree. 

Like I do with all yummy book recommendations, I had added it to my Amazon wishlist. There, it languished for years. 

Recently, however, a colleague reached out to me requesting historical fiction recommendations for her social studies classroom library. I sat down to draft a list…. Only to find that I was stumped!

There was a distinct lack of historical fiction in my own classroom library. I realized that I had to remedy this gap in my library curation.

So Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree finally made it off of my wish list and into my cart. And let me tell you–it was worth all of the hype!

What Makes To Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree “Lit”?

Part of this novel’s greatness is the protagonist.

She remains unnamed throughout the whole story. This is a powerful writing move. Because so many young girls in Nigeria could tell this story, she embodies not just one, but all of their histories.

Like many young girls, she lives in a village in rural Nigeria. Education is guaranteed to no one. Often, students must leave school early to work and contribute to their families.

Our protagonist wants to finish and attend college in the city more than anything. Thus, she works hard, hoping to earn a college scholarship. 

Meanwhile, we meet her family and other village residents. I absolutely loved hearing about Nigeria’s culture and traditions through this story! 

While we learn about the struggles and the difficulties–especially for young women–we also see a lot of love and religious inclusivity. This includes meeting an Islamic family who later acts as a positive foil to militant, Muslim radicals.

Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree Connects Student to Global Events

Another “lit” aspect of the novel is that it’s based on real-life events. The authors compiled this story from interviews with Nigerian girls abducted by Boko Haram. 

The protagonist does not shy away from talking about her fear, the murders she witnesses, or the rape she experiences. There are, however, no gratuitously graphic scenes. 

It’s a “safe” way to begin conversations that can often be uncomfortable or triggering, but that nevertheless are important to have.

The recency and relevance of Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree is something that I think will really resonate with your students.

Young adults are passionate about fairness and justice. Expect some outrage when they found out this story is based on recent events. 

This novel would be an excellent supplement to a social studies class or as an anchor text in a world literature course looking to teach some YA.

This would also be a great addition to any literature circle, especially one involving social justice issues or global connections.

I think it also has the added bonus of being so pro-education! Your students will be forced to recognize what a gift their education is!

Who’s the Ideal Reader for Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree?

This book will be highly accessible to many readers!

The issues and themes presented will engage your deep-thinkers. They’ll be able to make connections between domestic and international issues, cultures, and religions. 

The Lexile level is around freshman year (ish). However, the sections are broken up in such a way that the book reads more easily than the Lexile level suggests. 

I think the inclusion of African words bumps the Lexile score higher than it should be. Throughout the text, the sentence structure is very simplistic.

Even students below grade level will be able to follow along. 

Major themes of the book are ideas to which every student can relate: education, family, and friendship.

Even students who can’t place Nigeria on a map or who haven’t heard of Boko Haram will have a point of entry into Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree.

Even the boys in class would be able to enjoy this novel. (Although the main character does discuss how her period makes attending school difficult, so be prepared!)

Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree would be a remarkable World Literature whole-class read or novel option. Because it’s so accessible, relevant, and deals with serious issues so delicately, I would teach it with global literature in a heartbeat.

I would love to see this book being taught as an anchor text (and if you do this, I’d love to hear from you!).

It is, of course, an excellent addition to any classroom library as well. 

To Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree: THE FACTS

Title: To Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree

Author: Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and Viviana Mazza

Lexile: 920L

Genre: Realistic fiction, historical fiction

Setting: Nigerian village

Main Character: Unnamed girl living in a Nigerian village who is later abducted by Boko Haram’s men

Page Numbers: 330 (this is deceiving–half of the pages are only partially used!)

Similar Recommendations:

• For another jungle adventure, try Children of Blood and Bone
• For other books about real-world issues, try The Hate U Give, Internment, or Dear Martin

Can’t get enough book recommendations? Sign up for my email list below and receive my top recommendations sent straight to your inbox!

The post Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree: Connect Students to the World appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.