ABOUT OUR BOOK CLUB
Y'all, it's no secret that I love the Bookelicious Middle Grade Book Club. If you've never participated, these monthly events feature:
a new title written for middle grade readers, and...
a focus on helping educators create meaningful connections between these books and the readers they serve.
Structured, in part, as a "build your own book club" workshop, participants leave with book lists and resources to use back at school, but the best part is that the authors and illustrators of the books we read join us in conversation!
Oh, and did I mention these events are free??
SEPTEMBER BOOK CLUB
This month our book club selection was Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley. The reasons I chose this book are numerous. In addition to the multiple starred reviews its received, simply put: this book speaks to my heart in a powerful way. If you haven't read Dawn Quigley's new novel in verse, it's the story of indigenous kids living in an urban, intertribal housing complex, while navigating the kinds of things all kids do: school, dance lessons and figuring out their places in the world. However, In Red Bird Danced, our two main characters, Ariel and Tomah, are also leaning on their community, culture and families to help them face the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis which has affected them in a deeply personal way.
I wrote a longer, more in depth review of the book here.
All of that said, if you've attended our book club in the past, you know that my Partner in Book Club Crime™️, Aliza Werner, and I often try to make sure our outfits and/or backgrounds are thematically connected to that month's book club pick. These efforts have turned into a (VERY FRIENDLY) competition that I look forward to ALMOST as much as I look forward to chatting about great books each month! This month, because some of the topics addressed in Red Bird Danced are solemn, we wanted to make sure our attempts to be "on theme" were also respectful. With that in mind, Aliza wore earrings inspired by her late grandmother who loved cardinals. Aliza said she that she bought the earrings right after her grandmother passed away and every time she wears them, she feels connected to her grandmother. They were beautiful. Not for nothing, although I didn't take any screenshots, Aliza's Taylor Swift red lipstick game was also very strong that night, too!
My earrings (pictured above) were created by a Ukranian artist. After reading Red Bird Danced, I went on the hunt for earrings that featured red birds (as I felt those would be easier to find than earrings featuring a red dress.) When I spotted these, they spoke to me. Not only are they beautiful, but they move in a way that reminded me of Tomah carrying that red dress through the complex to raise awareness of the MMIW movement. I could imagine those dresses dancing in the wind, almost like they were alive, but empty because the women who should be wearing them had been taken.
MICRO-COLLECTIONS & READING LADDERS
Inspired by Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs by Sonja Cherry-Paul and Dana Johansen, each month we share potential "book club bins." These micro-collections all feature that month's book club pick as an anchor text, along with several other titles that are connected by theme, genre, format or some other element that would be easy for kids to be in conversation about. The purpose of these book lists is to provide kids with voice and choice when selecting texts for book club (or literature circle) reading. Note: these suggestions are meant to serve as spring boards for educators to think about titles in their own collections that might make for great book club micro-collections, too! It's my hope that you'll also learn about some new titles to support this work AND I'm always so grateful to those who attend our events who suggest even more great books during our book club meetings!
That said, this month, because Red Bird Danced focuses (in part) on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis, I decided to lean on my friend Teri Lesesne's work and use Reading Ladders as the structure for this month's micro-collections. If you're not familiar with Reading Ladders, they are a strategy for building book lists that help readers connect with texts that may, for a variety of reasons, feel out of reach. Reading Ladders can be an effective tool for helping kids carry heavy topics, like the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. It's worth noting that Red Bird Danced appears on all the ladders below, but in various spots. It's up to teachers and librarians to decide on which rung kids would start their reading journey on each ladder.
Here are this month's Reading Ladders and themes:
Reading Ladder 1: Our Differences Make Us Stronger
Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen and Emily Bowen Cohen
The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa and Cameron Mukwa
Jo Jo Makoons series by Dawn Quigley and Tara Audibert
Rock Your Mocs by Laurel Goodluck and Madelyn Goodnight
Remember by Joy Harjo
Reading Ladder 2: Home Is Where Are People Are
On a Wing and a Tear by Cynthia L Smith
No Place Like Home by James Bird
When We Gather: A Cherokee Tribal Feast by Andrea L Rogers and Madelyn Goodnight
When the Stars Came Home by Brittany Luby and Natasha Donovan
Being Home by Traci Sorell and Michaela Goade
Reading Ladder 3: Finding and Using Our Voices
Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock
Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan
Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson
Indigenous Peoples' Day with Yasmin by Saadia Faruqi and Debby Rahmalia
We Have a Dream: Meet 30 Young Indigenous People and People of Color Protecting the Planet by Mya-Rose Craig and Sabrena Khadija
Reading Ladder 4: MMIW - Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Looking For Smoke by KA Cobell (YA)
Bertha Parker: The First Woman Indigenous American Archaeologist by Mari Bolte
Wilma Mankiller by Traci Sorell and Gillian Flint
Toypurina: Japchivit Leader, Medicine Woman, Tongva Rebel by Cheyenne M Stone & Katie Dorame
The Heartbeat Drum: The Story of Carol Powder, Cree Drummer and Activist by Deidre Havrelock
Daughter of the Light-Footed People: The Story of Indigenous Marathon Champion Lorena Ramírez by Belen Medina and Natalia Rojas Castro
Please enjoy a special discount of 20% off the titles mentioned above (or others of your choice) by visiting Bookelicious and using the code JENNIFERLAGARDE. Note: I do not make any money when you purchase books from Bookelicious, but I am delighted that you get to save some! HOWEVER, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that buying books from Bookelicious is the way we keep these events free while also supporting the authors and illustrators who join us each month, so... I hope you'll think of your book purchases from Bookelicous as supporting a good cause!
RESOURCES & LINKS
Each month, I also create activities, related to that month's book club selection, for participants to download (for free) and use with their students. Here are my creations to go along with Red Bird Danced.
Connections Puzzle:
I wrote about the process of creating these book related Connections puzzles here - including a planning document that I create to support kids when crafting puzzles of their own. This post also include a Padlet board with links to all the book related Connections puzzles (and their solutions!) that I've made so far. You'll find the one for Red Bird Danced there, too!
Coloring Sheet:
I also shared the coloring sheet that I created as a companion to Red Bird Danced. As I mention each month, I've been a bit obsessed lately with the reality that both reading and coloring are proven stress relievers. As a result, I've been creating both book related coloring sheets AND monthly reading challenges that include pages for readers of all ages to color. I hope you find these resources useful.
Reader Activity:
Because I chose to use Reading Ladders as the structure for this month's micro-collections, I decided to also make Reading Ladders the focus of this month's reader activity. While Reading Ladders were designed as a strategy for educators to use with the readers they serve, I've found that they can also be powerful when put in the hands of kids. With a little adapting, kids can create Reading Ladders of their own to help them:
think deeply about the ideas and topics in a book that mean the most to them or that they relate the most to
think metacognitively about ideas and themes that they or their classmates might struggle to understand
think deeply about their own reading lives
With those those goals in mind, I created a Reading Ladder worksheet for kids. This one is specific to Red Bird Danced, but can be adapted for use with any book. I hope you find it useful.
My Review of Red Bird Danced:
And if you haven't read Red Bird Danced yet, maybe my review will help further convince you! I love this book so much and I'm betting your readers will, too!
Finally, here are my slides from this month's event.
EVENT RECORDINGS
As much as I have shared here, really this is just the tip of the reading joy iceberg! The real value of these events comes from participating, with the next best thing being watching the recording later. However, only those who register in advance get access to the recording, so head on over to bookelicious.com/events/ right now and reserve your spot for one of their upcoming events. I mean... just look at this incredible line up of events that we have coming up this fall!
I hope to see y'all there!
