The Best Young Adult Books of the Last Five Years to Excite, Challenge and Engage Your Students

(Grades 6-12)

Presented by Cathy Andronik
Outstanding Librarian, Book Reviewer and International Presenter

Specifically Designed for Secondary Teachers, School Librarians and Public Librarians

The best young adult titles published in the last five years matched with dozens of strategies to utilize them in all areas of your program
Outstanding suggestions to excite, challenge and engage your teen readers based on what works, from a highly experienced secondary librarian and book reviewer
Sample copies of the best young adult books will be on display for you to personally examine
Receive an extensive, best YA books handbook filled with comprehensive, annotated bibliographies, ready-to-use activities and more valuable and practical ideas

Practical Ideas and Strategies

You have many books on your shelves and in your book closets. But are they the right titles for your grades 6-12 audience, or do your choices need a focused tune-up? Are your avid readers turning lukewarm about books as they progress through their middle or high school years? Are your students clamoring for more up-to-date options in their curriculum? Do you have champagne dreams but a dollar store budget? Discover ways to get your teens excited about reading by not only making the most of excellent recent titles you already own, but also by expanding your collection with the most outstanding recently published young adult books.

Invest a worthwhile and valuable day with distinguished secondary level librarian Cathy Andronik, immersed in the best young adult books from the past five years that will excite your grades 6 through 12 students about reading and have them coming back for more. In addition to exploring dozens of outstanding titles, examining the books themselves and receiving detailed annotations in a comprehensive resource handbook, you will also discover a wealth of proven strategies for incorporating these exceptional books in your classroom or library program.

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

Explore the Best Young Adult Books of the Last 5 Years
Each year there are literally thousands of new YA books published … Discover dozens of the most outstanding books recently published, and how to use them to excite, challenge and engage young adults in your classroom or library
Personally Examine Many of the Best YA Books of the Last Five Years
No need to order blind: preview these exemplary titles for yourself … Explore covers, read blurbs, and familiarize yourselves with the authors of dozens of the most outstanding, recently published young adult titles
Build Reading Momentum Among Your Teens
Outstanding books and strategies to motivate your teens to read voraciously … Proven ways to increase reading and circulation
Target the Diversity of Your Unique Grades 6-12 Audience
Identify your unique and diverse teen audience … Develop, focus and create a book collection that reflects your students’ specific interests and backgrounds to better capture and hold their attention
Discover Treasures in Lesser Known “Best” Lists and Awards
Look beyond the Newbery and the Printz to other terrific, lesser known awards to help you select outstanding books for your grades 6-12 students and craft a more rounded collection
Refresh Tired Curriculum and Summer Reading Options
Transform the required reading list from boring to brilliant with titles students will not only read, but enjoy and recommend to their friends
Extend and Leverage Your Nonprint Collection
Discover effective ways to infuse audiobooks and films in your classroom and library to excite, challenge and engage teens … Ways to harness the media hype of recent blockbusters for “read-alikes” and to get your teens reading the books these are based upon
Discover Creative Funding Opportunities
Tap into your teens’ energy, enthusiasm and imagination and explore creative ways you can secure grants for expanding your book collection … Update your sources with the best places to obtain new books you can afford
Sharpen Your Interview Skills
Match the book, the reader and the moment … Learn questions and strategies that will help you suggest the right book to the right reader
Receive a Comprehensive Best YA Literature Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive Best Young Adult Literature of the Last Five Years resource handbook containing annotated booklists, book sharing ideas, resources, and more for all the books shared throughout the day

Outstanding Strategies You Can Use Immediately

Discover dozens of the most outstanding YA books of the last five years – considered top notch by students, librarians and teachers
Tips to help you make the most of your limited budget when buying books, plus great grants and grant writing tips to expand your classroom or library collection
Proven ways to create effective book-centered projects and programming
Teens like to see themselves in the books they read … Discover authentic voices in YA literature to meet your diverse students’ needs
Assemble booklists from the widest range of awards and “best” lists
Equip your teens with summer reading suggestions they’ll WANT to read
Expand your toolkit of great ways to arouse student curiosity
Learn strategies to help students connect with authors for live and Skype visits
Adolescents have a reputation for being nonreaders … Proven ways to keep that childhood passion for books alive into adulthood
Discover interesting, accessible titles for struggling readers and English-language learners
“Book” doesn’t always mean “print” … Entice young readers with excellent audio editions
Ways you can build strong collaborative links between classrooms, school libraries and public libraries
Enliven your curriculum and program with readalikes that match fan favorites
Tap into your teens’ energy and excitement: involve them in helping build your collection and develop programming
Learn to start a book club, or discover tips for greatly enhancing your existing book club … tried-and-true ways to help it grow and grow!
Teens love series, and publishers know it … Uncover the best, recent series that get better and better

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

Over thirty years as a secondary school librarian, one of my greatest joys is the challenge of recommending the right book to the right reader. The more reluctant the reader, the greater the challenge—and satisfaction. I still remember Wesley, who often helped in my library, but admitted one day he hadn’t finished a book since elementary school because “books were boring.” I was determined to change that! His sport was track. I handed him a copy of Bridge to Terabithia, telling him only that it was about two kids who liked to run. Weeks went by without his saying a word about the book—until the morning he appeared at my door, visibly heartbroken, saying, “Ms. A., you didn’t tell me someone was going to die in that book!!!!” Mission accomplished! Not only did he finish that book, but he also cared deeply about the characters. It was the right book, for the right kid, at the right time.

Like you, I’ve faced many challenges over the years. These include teens for whom English is not their first language, who have learning disabilities, who were turned off from the pleasures of reading at some point, who want stories about kids like them, who are “closet readers” and don’t want their peers to know, whose reading comprehension is significantly below or above grade level. Compound those challenges with a woefully inadequate budget. This just drove me to be even more creative, resourceful and determined to meet the varied reading needs of my students.

In our day together, I want to share with you my best thinking, my passion for outstanding books, and my experience with great ways to use those books with your young adults in classrooms and library programs. There are so many wonderful YA books that have been published within the past five years, and I’ve done all the hard work of narrowing these choices down to the very best that I know from firsthand experience your teens will truly love. My goal is to equip you to get your teens reading and keep them coming back for more, to help you make the most of what’s already on your shelves, and to expand your collection despite a limited budget. I look forward to meeting you at the seminar!

Sincerely,
Cathy Andronik

P.S. We’ll spend the day talking about the best YA books of the last five years, teens and ways that truly work to bring the two together.

Who Should Attend

Secondary Teachers, School Librarians and Public Librarians.

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive resource handbook specifically designed for this seminar. The handbook includes:

Dozens of the best YA literature titles in the eyes of teens, teachers and librarians – all published between 2013 and 2018, and fully annotated
Terrific audiobooks and films you can use to augment your curriculum, collection and programming
Lesser-known awards and “best” lists for excellent YA literature
Titles to entice your nonreaders, reluctant readers and English language learners
Tips, tricks and ways to make the most of your limited budget
Grant opportunities and strategies for securing funding to augment your classroom or library collection

Meet and Share
This seminar provides a wonderful opportunity for participants to meet and share ideas with other educators interested in enhancing their literacy programs.

Consultation Available
Cathy Andronik will be available at the seminar for consultation regarding your questions and the most outstanding books of the last five years to excite and challenge your grades 6-12 students.

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