CSLA 2008, Post 2

I went to The Best of the Best: What's New in YA Literature. Michael Cart was the presenter and while there well may be someone on the planet that has a greater sense of YA literature, I doubt it.

His format is very straight-forward. "Here's a list of books. I am going to talk about that list of books until my time is up. There will not be time for questions."

It works. I see why people pay extra to attend the workshop. Yes, when I get home I will be purchasing a number of the books he showcased.

Since you are so nice, I will give you one of his lists called "Traditional" YA:

• The Possibilities of Sainthood (Donna Freitas)
• Peeled (Joan Bauer)
• Suite Scarlett (Maureen Johnson)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockhart)
• Sunrise over Fallujah (Walter Dean Myers)
• Mexican White Boy (Matt de la Pena)
• How to Build a House (Dana Reinhart)
• He Forgot to Say Goodbye (Benjamin Alire Saenz)
• What they always tell us (Martin Wilson)
  

The first one I am going to read and booktalk is The Possibilities of Sainthood. It is the story of an Italian-American girl who starts writing the Vatican to let them know that there are living saints and that she is one of them. Among other saints, she says she is "The Saint of the First Kiss." Tell me I can't sell that book to some of my middle school students!