Five YA Picks to Celebrate World Teachers’ Day
Celebrate World Teachers’ Day with these five YA novels that have their own important life lessons to share.
World Teachers’ Day is celebrated each year to honor the commitment that teachers make to helping their students learn. Teachers don’t just teach their subjects – they also teach their students numerous life skills like time management, problem-solving, and conflict resolution. But maybe most important of all, teachers help students learn to find themselves and encourage them to chase their dreams.
As a teacher myself, one of my greatest joys is watching students growas they move through high school. I meet many students as sophomores and, by the time they reach their senior years, many have grown into entirely new people who are ready to head off into the world. And while I understand that I play just a small role in shaping these students, I take pride in that role. Because I’m so invested in my students’ lives, I find myself reading mainly young adult fiction– the kinds of texts they’re more likely to pick up.
While young adult fiction is sometimes criticized for being overly dramatic, I like to think we’re just experiencing those situations the way a younger person might. Teens also feel their emotions more acutely than adults, and that heightened response impacts their stories. Young adult fiction may be full of over-the-top drama and fantastical worlds, but these stories still drive home the same lessons we look for in other genres.
1. Speak Up: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (454 pages)
Image from Goodreads.com.
Starr Carter floats between two very different worlds–and she’s been doing it for a while. She lives in a poor neighborhood, but goes to school in an affluent area. When she witnesses her best friend being killed by the police, she is awash with emotion: anger, fear, despair, and later, drive. As the main witness, Starr is fully embroiled in the public outrage being driven by the national headlines. All the while, she has to balance her desire to find justice while also maintaining her own safety and mental health.
Why You Should Read It
Starr is a model for speaking up, especially in the face of great odds. She takes on personal risk to make sure her movement succeeds, but is also cognizant of the attention she’s bringing to herself and her family. Angie Thomas’s debut novel is a great of example of how young people can stand up for ideals they truly believe in, even in the face of staggering challenge.
4/5 Brookie Stars
2. Live Every Day Like it Could Be Your Last: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (389 pages)
Image from Goodreads.com.
Set somewhere in the not-too-distant future, the government has created an alert system with one purpose: to notify you of the day you’ll die. You receive this notification a mere 24 hours before the event. When Mateo and Rufus both receive their messages, they rush to Last Friend, an app that helps people find others with the same death day. The two form an immediate bond in their desire for connection in their final hours. Will they both actually die at the end? I was guessing until the last page!
Why You Should Read It
Much like Mateo and Rufus, most of us live our everyday lives without the fear that today could be our last day. And while there’s something to be said for living without the constant fear of death, we should be a little more thankful for and present with those in our lives that mean so much to us. Mateo and Rufus have the benefit of a warning, something most of us will never get. So, we learn the important lesson to live each day to the fullest, chase every interest, and meet as many people as possible from this character-driven story.
5/5 Brookie Stars
3. Chase Your Dreams: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (386 pages)
Image from Goodreads.com.
High school senior Emoni Santiago has a lot going on. Not only does she have her young daughter to care for, but she also helps support her abuela who took her in. The place she finds the most peace is working in the kitchen. That’s where she lets her creativity thrive, ensuring that every dish gets a little something special. When she hears about her culinary class’s trip to Spain, she’s initially disappointed because she knows she can’t afford it. But with cooking as her major passion, and the support from those around her who know she could be successful, she works diligently to find a way to make the trip happen.
Why You Should Read It
Emoni is such an engaging protagonist. While her circumstances might not be relatable for everyone, the intensity of her dream is something we’ve all felt at some point. However, she doesn’t blindly follow that dream with disregard for her responsibilities. Rather, she finds appropriate and fair ways to balance the duty she has to her family with the knowledge that she has what it takes to succeed in her field. Emoni is a model for this balance, and it’s even more impressive that she manages this stress and refuses to let her dreams slip away.
4/5 Brookie Stars
4. Follow Your Heart: Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman (288 pages)
Image from Goodreads.com.
Nick Nelson, a Year 11 student, is living his dream on the school rugby team. When someone mentions Charlie Spring, he remembers when Charlie was outed and relentlessly bullied the previous year. A Year 10 student, Charlie isn’t being openly bullied anymore, but still isn’t having a great time. When Nick and Charlie unexpectedly start talking, they instantly become friends–and something starts to bloom between them, though neither wants to admit it. Their precious story leaves us waiting to see what happy things are to come for both Nick and Charlie.
Why You Should Read It
This graphic novel, and the rest in the series, is just genuinely sweet and uplifting. That’s not something you might be used to with all of the angst that typically comes with YA fiction. The art is evocative of the emotions the characters feel and is really soft on the eyes. Both characters are often oscillating between euphoria and debilitating anxiety, something everyone can relate to–even if your own teen experiences were different. The series was also recently adapted into a Netflix show that’s wildly popular. If you’re looking for a warm series to dive into, this is a great choice.
4/5 Brookie Stars
5. Seek the Truth: A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee (400 pages)
Image from Goodreads.com.
Miuko has a safe, predictable, boring life. While she occasionally longs for adventure, she understands the dangers of her world, one where demons and other monsters live among humans. When Miuko is suddenly cursed by one of these demons, she finds that her touch is deadly. Considered a death sentence, this curse is something Miuko desperately wants to rid herself of, and she sets out to discover a cure. Her journey is filled with somewhat unreliable guides and cunning foes. She must work to not only control her transformation, but to outwit these evil spirits that are much more adept at their trickery. And as her powers grow, Miuko must decide if returning to her mundane life is really what she wants.
Why You Should Read It
This Japanese-inspired fantasy takes us to a world where the demons don’t hide and humans must shape their lives around this inherent danger. Miuko is a complicated protagonist. We feel sympathy for her when she’s cursed, but we also watch her grow into the strength of her powers. The strength she feels complicates her feelings about the line between good and evil–a line that grows thinner with each passing chapter. Miuko’s intuition and drive lead her, and us, to discover that there’s a much larger gray area in the middle than we might have thought.
4/5 Brookie Stars
Lessons Worth Learning
Teachers are responsible for teaching so much content, from calculus to comma usage. And while some students continue to ask, “When will we ever use this in real life?”, teachers continue to integrate lessons that are much more important. These lessons focus on the importance of hard work, resilience in the face of opposition, and compassion. I take my role as a teacher very seriously, and while I make sure to cover the standards over the course of each year, I also leave ample space for the lessons that help my students grow into caring and successful adults.
Love this roundup? Check out Rachel’s other review roundups here.
Rachel Gomes is a 30-something high school English teacher who lives with her high school sweetheart-turned-husband and their son. Rachel is a voracious reader who loves to learn and has her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. She’s happiest listening to podcasts and talking to friends about the latest news in nerd culture.
Favourite book: Don’t make me choose between A Song of Ice and Fire and Harry Potter
Favourite brunch spot: The Farmer’s Table
