Middle School Students Argue About Books Greene Middle School Library Club

This week our panel of students, Dhruv, Nicolas, and Ella, argue about what's hot, and what's not, in the world of middle school literature. Which books are no longer popular that once were? Which books are super popular now, but we think they'll be out in 10 years? Which books do we think will stand the test of time?

Ever read a book that just annoyed you for some reason, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it? Well it might have been the way that author's often write their characters, and especially their secondary characters, as stereotypes -- not fully fleshed out people, more like one dimensional representations of a certain type, whether it's the dumb blonde, the nerdy asian kid, or the tragic but beautiful heroine. In this episode, our new podcast team, including Summer, Ella, Angelina, and Mrs. Collins, dive into some of the stereotypes that really bug us, as well as some of the books that do a great job of turning those stereotypes on their heads. 

In this, our second to last episode of the season, tune in to get some great book recommendations that you almost definitely haven't heard of from our student panel of Tove, Abi, and Sean, and of course Mrs. Collins, your friendly school librarian. 

In this episode our student panel of Asha, Abi, Angelina, and Sean chat with Mrs. Collins about reading in quarantine in general, what we are reading, and more!

On today's episode our student panel of Abi, Angelina, Sean, Tove, and Elise are joined by Stacey Lee, author of such fabulous young adult fiction titles as Under a Painted Sky, Outrun the Moon, The Downstairs Girl, and The Secret of a Heart Note to discuss one of the most common sources of contention between middle school students and their parents and teachers -- controversial or difficult issues in middle school books. Specifically, should middle school students be allowed to, or even encouraged to, read books that include violence, profanity, sex, drugs and alcohol, or other difficult topics? What value, if any, is there in reading books that include these topics?

This week our student panel of Abi, Angelina, and Tove dive into movie adaptations. Fair warning, as book nerds, we all pretty much think the book was ALWAYS better, but we do have a few good things to say about some movie adaptations...