IRL: Resources for Teaching YA Nonfiction

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives  by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda- Reviewed by R. Trant, A. Sandhu, C. Stipke, E. Velasquez, and O. Martinez Retrieved from: http:// www.iwillalwayswriteback.com/ Review: Retrieved from:  https://www.mnn.com Throughout the art of storytelling, coming of age stories have developed characters who wrestle with creating lasting friendships because of the kind of pressures and changes that surround the age of adolescents.    The authors of the multicultural non-fiction young adult book,   I Will Always Write Back: How one Letter Changed Two Lives , Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda and Liz Welch, tell the journey on how a pen-pal assignment in Caitlin’s seventh grade class opened her perspective on how a journey of letters to Zimbabwe could mean to the life of a boy named Martin. Cailtin Alifirenka is currently a nurse and lives in Philadelphia with her family while Martin Ganda lives in ...

Authors: Kamylle Paddio, Justine Porciuncula, Hannah Ritchie, Andrew Ruvalcaba, Rachel Sanchez Review Laughing at My Nightmare  is a 2014 young adult autobiography by Shane Burcaw. The book is a collection of chronological stories from his life growing up and includes both new content and original content from his blog. Burcaw initially created his Tumblr blog to share funny stories about his life, which is affected by a genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). These moments make up important parts of his childhood, focusing on his family, relationships, and the path that eventually led him to the creation of his nonprofit organization, Laughing at My Nightmare, Inc. The purpose of the book is to show that although he has a terminal illness which causes him to rely on a wheelchair, he is no different from anyone else and lives a life not unlike other teens. Being in a wheelchair, or having any disability for that matter, does not automatically make...