teachers | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Help a Reader Out: Entering the Twilight Zone

No, this has nothing to do with a certain series by Stephenie Meyer, or even with Rod Serling. I’ve received a request from a science teacher moving from teaching high school to teaching eighth grade who needs to build a classroom library appropriate for middle school students. If you follow trends in YA fiction at all, you might have noticed that some YA books are very dark, and they can be very explicit. In fact, there’s a debate going on right now about this very thing. Most of these books are aimed at older teens, ages 15-18, and that means that they aren’t terribly appropriate for a classroom library for middle schoolers. Just because younger kids CAN and DO read some of those books, doesn’t mean they are the best selections for their classroom library. However, in spite of the fact that I personally enjoy reading books for upper elementary students, most middle schoolers are moving beyond those. It is a tricky age to find reading material that walks the line.

This doesn’t mean books can’t have dark themes. But books with foul language, explicit sex, and extreme violence and gore are not great choices for the majority of middle schoolers. As with any age, though, many of them love suspense, cliffhangers, a good scare, adventure, a little romance, humor, mystery, and stories about kids who might be going though the same things they are. Among other things.

Do you have any ideas as to good titles for a middle school classroom library? What did you read for pleasure at that age? Honestly, I probably read more of a variety of titles and genres in middle school than I have at any other time of my life, and I’d be happy to share some of my favorites with you, and with her, but I’m one person. What are your suggestions?

Teacher Appreciation

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Let me tell you about a teacher whose students and former students really admire and appreciate, Judy Buranich.

Judy Buranich is a high school English teacher who is also a published writer of erotic romance. She writes under a pen name, Judy Mays. Some parents were unhappy to discover her second job. They went to the media who exposed her career as a “racy novelist” and suggested that it was inappropriate for a teacher to write the “racy” stuff.

Happily, Judy Buranich has gotten the kind of support every teacher could wish for. Current and former students have come out swinging on her behalf. Her school is behind her. Most people are supportive. As a writer, she’s got the power of the romance community behind her.

I think people have funny ideas about what writers are like. My mom is always shocked when I tell her what some of the authors we’ve interviewed do for a living. Some of them are high school teachers, too. Writing horror doesn’t make them bad teachers any more than writing erotica makes Judy Buranich a bad teacher. Actually, being an excellent full time high school teacher AND a published author is pretty impressive! Here is a link to a video that one of Judy’s former students made to support her. It is pretty awesome to see her former student so passionate about her rights. It makes me wish I’d gone to high school in Middleburg, Pennsylvania.

If there’s a teacher you appreciate, this week is a good time to tell them.