Book List for k-12 Designed to Motivate Reading using Science Fiction

 Last month I made a book list of award-winning authors and their science fiction or fantasy books written especially for youth. The list has books categorized by grade levels K-12.  I did this as a volunteer effort for Reading for the Future, which has since incorporated and is soon to be a non-profit organization. I used the Golden Duck Awards list, the Hal Clement Awards list and the Science Fiction Library as references for the book list.

Then I put the list on my other blog, Valerie's Memos. Do visit and download the list.  All are great reads. Teachers, you can safely use these books with children and young adult readers, even the ones not classified as YA when published.

Reference url: http://vmemos.blogspot.com/2010/10/suggested-readings-for-k-12-from-golden.html

Typos

What do you do when you post a page full of typos? Somehow, they do not always get caught. I would like to say it is because I was interrupted and posted before I remembered to proof, or I was busy and rushed to post, whatever. But I really do not know. I seldom reread my work once I post it.

Today I did, though. Oops! I just corrected several typos on the post http://soapboxbyval.blogspot.com/2008/03/getting-kids-to-read.html .

My apologies to my followers.

Comments of a Frustrated Teacher and another Suggestion for Educational Reform

Today's post on Knee Jerk Reactions is by a teacher who is frustrated by the frequent push for educational reforms. Check it out.

Banned Books Week, a Celebration against Censorship

Librarians and others celebrate the freedom to read during the Banned Books Week, reports the American Library Association on its website. Mining the site takes one to the list of nearly 50 most challenged novels, with links to sources for a list of 100--and the reasons the books were challenged. The reasons span from foreign governments banning a book for political reasons to the inclusion of profanity or other unacceptable words, sex, or violence that would make the book unsuitable for high school library use. The 50 listed on the web page are, for the most part, American classics: To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse Five, Animal Farm, etc. Surprisingly, Lord of the Rings is on the list, as is Call of the Wild.

Librarians and other groups and citizens fought to keep the books available in libraries, even high school libraries in many instances. So they are. It is the American way to read provocative, controversial books and to reflect on our lives and future through the lens offered by such amazing authors.

Let's Keep Moving Forward, America!

Election time is upon us. Since this blog is monetized with merchants that prefer not to be identified with political views, I wish to invite you to read the blog comments posted elsewhere.

I also post comments on Facebook.