MORE EXTRA CREDIT!

 Read any MG/YA novel. 

Watch, too, any film/serial adaptation of a MG/YA novel (theatrical release and/or streaming). Or, indeed, any film or show ostensibly directed at younger audiences. For instance, watch Sabrina or Stranger Things or Shadow and Bone or Gravity Falls, post 250 words about it below, and get extra credit. It's that easy!

#3 ADVENTURE TIME (EXTRA CREDIT)

If you were late with your previous entries, exceptionally quiet in class or feel you need extra credit for whatever reason, comment on any (or all) of the numbered blog entries (LBGTQIA+ YA, Hayao Miyazaki, Adventure Time.) The more you do, the more extra credit you accrue.

 Post ONE reaction ( minimum 250 words) to the combined reading (and listening) linked. Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.

"Castles in the Air: The gorgeous existential funk of Adventure Time." By Emily Nussbaum 

 "An 'Adventure' For Kids And Maybe For Their Parents, Too: An NPR Interview w. Lev Grossman"

"An ode to Adventure Time, one of TV’s most ambitious — and, yes, most adventurous — shows."  By Dan Schindel

#2 HAYAO MIYAZAKI (EXTRA CREDIT)

If you were late with your previous entries or feel you need extra credit for whatever reason, comment on any of the numbered blog entries (LBGTQIA+ YA, Hayao Miyazaki, Adventure Time.) The more you do, the more extra credit you accrue.

Post reactions ( minimum 250 words) to the reading linked below. Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.

"The Fantastic Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki." A new book by Tufts professor Susan Napier analyzes the Japanese anime director’s films—and his life. Click heading to read article. 

"Hayao Miyazaki and the Art of Being a Woman" by Gabrielle Bellot. The famed Japanese animator and director created heroines who defied feminine stereotypes and showed me how to be at home in my own skin. Click heading to read article.

"Hayao Miyazaki's 50 Favorite Children's Books." Click heading to review list. 

"The Animated Life." New Yorker staff writer Margaret Talbot discusses the animator Hayao Miyazaki’s films, his influences, and his temperament. Click heading to read interview

#1 LGBTQIA+ YA (EXTRA CREDIT)

 If you were late with your previous entries or feel you need extra credit for whatever reason, comment on any of the numbered blog entries (LBGTQIA+ YA, Hayao Miyazaki, Adventure Time.) The more you do, the more extra credit you accrue.

 Students are to post one response (min 350 words) to the readings linked below. Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.

A New Way for Gay Characters in YA by Jenn Doll: Scholastic Publisher and Editorial Director David Leviathan (the same Levithan behind Two Boys Kissing, Invisibility, and 2003's Boy Meets Boy) told me that the environment for gay characters in Y.A. literature has indeed changed remarkably in the past 10 years. "For so many years, so many characters have been defined by their sexuality—they're 'gay'; we don't have to give them any other characteristics," he says. "But gay characters and gay kids have lots of other things going on. No one is just this one thing." In these new books, being gay or bi or lesbian or transgendered is wrapped up in conversations of identity that often transcend sexuality, and ask what happens beyond acknowledgment, coming out, and even generalized acceptance of one's choices."

A Graphic Guide to LGBTQ YA Literature (from coming out stories to sci-fi adventures). These books aren’t necessarily right for every reader, and don’t constitute the best, or the only, LGBTQIA+ fiction for young adults available. But it is a good starting off point for those interested in exploring the way these identities are portrayed in YA fiction. Click HERE to visit the page.

Malinda Lo is the author of the young adult novels Ash, Huntress, Adaptation, and Inheritance. Ash was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book for Children and Teens. She has been a three-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Malinda’s nonfiction has been published by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Huffington Post, The Toast, The Horn Book, and AfterEllen. Malinda is co-founder with Cindy Pon of Diversity in YA, a project that celebrates diversity in young adult books. Over the past several years she's written a lot about YA with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters or issues. Click here for the index of her LGBT posts. Read two.

62 LGBTQ+ YA Books to Read All Year Long (Epic Reads). Click to review list.

 "Read with Pride! 15 YA novels with LGBTQIA characters to check out" (Entertainment Weekly). Click to review list.

"100 Must-Read LGBTQIA YA Books" Click to review list.

LGBT YA Books of January-June 2022 (Reads Rainbow). Click to review list.

Pick one author/book highlighted in any of the above posts/articles/etc. and read an excerpt (excerpts can be had by Googling the book title and the word "excerpt," or finding the book on Amazon and clicking "Look Inside.")