Praise for JUST YA
“Educators who plan to enrich student empathy will enjoy Just YA: Short Poems, Stories, & Essays since there are many diverse voices to explore. Materials are recommended for grades 7-12, but can be easily understood by adults as well. Students will easily connect to this collection by Sarah J. Donovan.”
~Heather M. Nayback, ELA Department Head at Munising High School. St. Norbert English Adjunct Professor and English/Spanish teacher for several decades
“This book is a gift to the field of young adult literature, offering relatable, powerful pieces that illustrate the breadth of writing that exists for youth readers. With attention to diversity, place, and social issues, authors capture the complexity of life and our social world.”
~Ashley S. Boyd, Professor of English Education, Washington State University, co-author of Reading for Justice: Engaging Middle Level Readers in Social Action through Young Adult Literature.
“This rich anthology of poetry, essays, and fiction showcases a range of energetic contemporary voices writing from varied and shifting perspectives, with an emphasis on currency and relevance missing from commercial textbooks. Perhaps best of all, each entry is pithy enough for discussion during even the most abbreviated class period, and the creative commons licensing allows for generous re-use for classroom teachers. An incredible resource with immediate curricular application and more than fifty pages of ideas for instructional support.”
~Wendy Stephens, Ph.D., Associate Professor & School Library Media Program Chair, Jacksonville, Alabama
“Just YA is a great step forward in the movement to teach living authors. The voices in this collection speak with an authenticity that appeals to a YA audience and does not overly simplify the complexities of life, its beauty, hardships and triumphs. Overall, a thoughtful collection of works.”
~ Kate Currie, EdD
“Just YA invites educators to integrate BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors into curricula without added cost or pressure. It includes inspiring poetry, powerful short fiction, and model worthy essays, offering insights into Dr. Bishop’s mirror theory and provides foundational texts for students to emulate in their writing.”
~ Carrie Mattern, educator in Coachella Valley Desert; author of Wakanda: Opening the High School Classroom to Afrofuturism, Coachella Valley Desert
“This open-access collection contains a multitude of age-relevant texts that will greatly appeal to the current generation of students. From essays to fiction and poetry, this collection will be useful both for secondary students as well as professors teaching English method courses.”
~Amy Montz, Professor of English, University of Southern Indian, co-editor on Adaptation on Young Adult Novels: Critically Engaging Past and Present (Bloomsbury 2020)
“Just YA offers adolescent students relevant and relatable perspectives on the struggle and joy of coming of age. The wide range of voices will engage students and teachers in discussions about identity and belonging to support students as they discover who they are and who they want to be.”
~Kerri Flynn, Education Director, The Genocide Education Project
“Just YA offers educators and young readers a multiplicity of ways to define and understand adolescent experiences and the impact of finding your own place in the world. Educators specifically will find this collection as a practical resource to have conversations with their students about family issues, trauma, and healing.”
~Edcel Javier Cintron-Gonzalez, Children’s and YA Literature scholar & Social Media Specialist, Author of Irma, Maria, Fiona & Me (2023), Normal, IL
“This beautiful multigenre text is a wonderful addition to any English methods or secondary English course as the voices and writing found within are perfect examples of how creative writing of short fiction with young adults can inspire the writer in all of us.”
~T. Hunter Strickland, co-editor on How Young Adult Literature Gets Taught: Perspectives, Ideologies, and Pedagogical Approaches for Instruction and Assessment
This resource is no cost at https://open.library.okstate.edu/justya/
