IRL: Resources for Teaching YA Nonfiction

  Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed:  15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora Reviewed by: Allisa, Matthew, Phuong, Emily D., Emily F. Review: Trigger Warning: This book contains mentions of suicide ideation and alcoholism. Saraciea J. Fennell’s anthology, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora , investigates and amplifies the stories of Black, Indigenous, and Central American voices often silenced in the Latinx community. Including voices from 15 Latinx individuals, Fennell presents experiences spanning from growing up in and out of Latinidad to silencing mental health issues in the Latinx community. Fennell highlights the damage caused by colorism and willful ignorance both within and outside the Latinx community and, more importantly, ties these stories together by facing the myths and stereotypes present in the monolithic discussion of the Latinx diaspora. By presenting the struggles in identity formation and acceptance in the Latinx community, Fennell succee...

  Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelly Created FRANKENSTEIN     By Lita Judge Mary's Monster Book Art Reviewed by J. Martinez, K. Martinez, K. Moore, C. Morentin, and J. Nelson Review:   Book Cover Lita Judge’s Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein combines the use of poetry and hundreds of illustrations as a way to tell the story of Mary Shelley and how she created the never-forgotten tale of Frankenstein. When reading Frankenstein for the first time, or any novel really, the readers usually don’t wonder anything about the author. However, this book proves that doing a bit of research about a masterpiece’s author might actually be more interesting than one would think. This biography is a must-read for those who loved Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as it is the perfect way to get an insight of how the novel came to be.  Many of the themes that can be interpreted from Frankenstein can be seen in Mary’s Monster as...