Reading Ladders by Teri Lesesne

I first met Teri at the very first Middle Mosaic in Nashville, first time. She was presenting at a round table and had an impressive list of YA books that would appeal to struggling readers. She is now the blog I read religiously (aka DAILY) and her books are no different. Her newest book is Reading Ladders: Leading Students From Where They Are to Where We'd Like Them To Be, (Heinemann, 2010). I have to confess, I've already read it twice and not just because she is gracious enough to chair our sessions at NCTE when we bumble through our own booktalks, not nearly as eloquently as she does. And, not because she was generous enough to put up her own money to get us the LCD player we had ordered but never showed up (Philly, 2009). And, not just because she is the Goddess of YA Literature. Teri is an amazing woman as well as professor and reader. So, without further ado: Reading Ladders.

Lesesne rightly begins her book with REASONS for giving students time to read in class as well as ways to build lifelong readers. I love how she later connects Laurie Halse Anderson's WFMAD to her suggestion of RFMAD- Reading Fifteen Minutes A Day in order to get ourselves familiar with YA lit. Of course, if you've read recent entries, I seem to stay up into the wee hours if I want to finish the YA book I'm reading.

Reading Ladders are ways to scaffold reading experiences for students that build up to the "classics" that some high schools are requiring in our age of never ending testing. In the book's forward, Jim Blasingame rightly notes that if a student is required to read Lord of the Flies in 9th grade, but the last book he/she read is Harry Potter, the gap is large and the student may have a difficult time bringing the needed reading skills to the table. These ladders are a genius way to help students build the reading skills necessary for the higher level tasks later in schooling.

My favorite part of the book is that Lesesne incorporates so many different genres of books in her ladders. She uses picture books as well as graphic novels and audiobooks (one of my favorites!) I will be suggesting this book to colleagues when I present on blogging, Google Reader set-up and YA lit in a few weeks. I am excited because two people have already emailed me telling me how excited they are that this is part of PD this year!

If I Stay

Mia's life starts out idyllic: it's a snow day and everyone in her family is home. As Mia's mom, dad and little brother make plans to go out for a drive during the day, we learn that her dad is a former punk band member who gave up much of what he did when children came along. He is now a middle school teacher but the love of music in this family is immense. Mia is waiting to hear if she got accepted to Julliard- as she is an incredible classical cellist. Adam, Mia's boyfriend and love of her life, is also a musician but more along the same lines as Mia's dad.

During their drive, however, the family car is t-boned by a semi truck and Mia is the only one left alive- well, comatose. And, she has been transported out of her body so she can watch all that is happening in the hospital. The book spans only a day, but it is interspersed with Mia's detailed flashbacks of her life before this moment. It is the flashbacks that help the reader understand what her family life was like and what she would be giving up if she decides to stay in her body. It's never really clear how much control Mia has over whether she stays (lives) or goes (dies). The aspect of Mia being able to watch her operations, family grieving, and her own body hooked up to monitors and ventilators is a very unique one. I am reminded of The Lovely Bones, but Susie Salmon is narrating from heaven. I know Elsewhere (Gabrielle Zevin) has sort of the same narration, though I've yet to read it (this summer!). This was a fresh and beautiful look at how a teen can appreciate the beauty in life and how one person can choose to fight for their own life. The language read almost like a poem and I have to say that I inhaled this book and still want more. I can't wait to share it with kids this fall!
P.S. Teri Lesesne ( of Professor Nana fame) just reviewed the audio of this book and I can't wait to get my hands on it. She said it was even more of a tear jerker than than the book!