Lit Archives - A Nest in the Rocks

Back-to-school time is here, and if you’re like me, you’re busy choosing books and making plans. As I talked with a friend about our favorite middle-grade books, I realized that there are really awesome books out there for this age group – and not all of my favorites are the ones you see on the endcaps at the biggest retailers. So here are some great books with positive themes, connections to other subjects, if you choose to go there, and the opportunity to segue off into meaningful discussions and writing projects. *To make learning more about these books easy, I’m attaching links to both the books themselves and to teaching resources where available.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein is actually really famous, and for good reason. With themes of friendship and sportsmanship, with strong characters and ethics but also loads of fun, this is a story that kids just love. There are so many ways to play with this book, but there’s a lot to talk about, too. Better yet? It’s been turned into a graphic novel, and the series has extended with five more books. The sixth and, sadly, the final book Mr. Lemoncello’s Fantabulous Finale will release this November. I have an advanced copy – stay tuned for my full review coming soon!

Squint by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown is a unique story about a boy with vision problems who wants to be a graphic novel artist. His vision causes problems for him in nearly every area of his life, however – can he find ways to see beyond his circumstances? This story is deep and hard but also full of hope. There is much wisdom contained within the pages, all wrapped up in action heroes and metaphors. This is a great book for encouraging students to look beyond a person’s outside to the human beneath.

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart isn’t for the faint of heart. Mark has big dreams but he’s also seriously ill. Can he accomplish his goals in time? This book tackles really hard things but in appropriate ways. It’s a survival story on multiple levels. Told from several viewpoints, students will be engaged and invested with this book very quickly. Be ready for deep thoughts with this one!

Linked by Gordon Korman is a fabulous book to kick off the year. It digs into many things: friendship, consequences, history, our future goals, and more. Usually Korman’s books have a fairly light tone to them, but this one goes a bit deeper, and I love it. Korman tackles really tough topics here but with perfect sensitivity. It also lends itself well to hands-on activities.

Like The Honest Truth, Joan Bauer’s Soar features a chronically-ill kid, but Jeremiah is positive and upbeat from page one. This book is full of heart and provides lots of inspiration for bringing people together. I highly recommend it!

I have to share one more Grabenstein book because it’s that good, but also because I think it gets overshadowed by the Lemoncello world, and while Lemoncello is amazing, so is Shine. Co-written with his wife, Shine is about a girl attending a new school and trying to find out where she fits in. The book is about building character and celebrating people’s talents, whatever they may be. It’s a great book to kick off a school year!

So there you have it: six middle-grade books that will engage students, help you create a positive vibe in your classroom, and help you build community.

Do you have others that you would add to this list? Drop them in the comments – I love to check out great books!

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Do you use graphic novels in your classroom?

I haven’t yet, but I want to, and as I’ve been reading them in preparation for this, I realize that there’s much more to them than I originally thought.

For instance, there’s lots of vocabulary connected to the things that make graphic novels unique. Motion lines, panels, gutters, speech and thought bubbles, and much more – these are important words to know when discussing graphic novels.

If I’m going to use them with my students, then I definitely want them to be able to discuss them intelligently, and that means knowing about and understanding this vocabulary.

How to Introduce Graphic Novels to your Students

Taking that a step further, we can also analyze all of these elements That will add depth to the story and allow us to look not only at how the author crafted the story itself but how the artist adds to that through the use of color, lines, spacing, lettering, and much more.

So students need to know these things before they dig into a graphic novel for a lesson, and we need to teach it, but I don’t want that to be boring. I think it should be just as exciting as the graphic novels themselves – and that’s why I’ve created a scavenger hunt that will both engage your students and teach them many important elements of graphic novels!

This image shows the student directions and mission cards for the Graphic Novel Scavenger Hunt. — How to Introduce Graphic Novels to your Students

The scavenger starts with a direction card and a mission card for your students. The mission references the brand new Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library graphic novel, so it will fit perfectly with that – but you could use this resource to introduce these elements before beginning any graphic novel unit. (Pssst – why should you use this book? Find out here)

There are ten code word cards. Each of these cards features a short information reading passage and a question that leads to a code word that’s found on a different card. As the teacher, you choose whether to hang the cards around the room like a gallery walk, place them on tables, or hide them – it’s up to you.

This image depicts one of the code word cards with a reading passage and the student answer sheet for the Graphic Novel Scavenger Hunt. — How to Introduce Graphic Novels to your Students

To find the code words, the students move in groups throughout the space to read the cards and find the code words. They’ll likely need to read the cards several times to find all of the code words, which will help them to remember the information. They add the code words to their answer sheet and then unscramble the letters to find the mystery word.

I’ve also included a reflective writing prompt that can be used for group discussion or as an exit ticket to help the students think about what they’ve learned.

This image shows a variety of pages included within the Graphic Novel Scavenger Hunt. — Graphic Novel Scavenger Hunt

I think your students will love playing this scavenger hunt, so I’ve made it available individually and as part of a Lemoncello bundle.

Do you use graphic novels in your classroom? Do you teach the vocabulary and unique elements? Let me know in the comments and I’ll give away one scavenger hunt on December 4! Enter through the rafflecopter here.