I agree with Leviathan that LGBT literature should not be an overlooked literature. Young adult literature is a time of growing, understanding, and changing as a whole. I can’t understanding how censoring literature is a good idea; it deprives our youth from being well rounded. Young readers find comfort in what they read, and often seek stories for lessons and help in their own life. LGBT is impotant to share about, because there are young adults who need to read about this life style and it may make their life easier as well. Censoring LGBT should be a thing of the past; its 2015 and same sex marriage is legal, so why are we still centering young adult literature for LGBT content?
Author Archives: lneedham1@gsu.edu
The Comfort of Darkness
Lisa Fraustino makes a very good point of that we readers ” want to read about the child of dystopia who makes us feel hope for mankind”. Protagonists characters like Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen both hungry for the dystopian fantasy that we find so prominent in both series. Lisa thinks that the source of the hunger is ran by the dead in which the story takes place, is dominated by war, fear, climate change, economic hardship, class divides and an uncertain future. As readers we root for these characters to overcome the obstacles that their world faces. we as readers want to hold, but Lisa says ” the more we understand how small and powerless we really are against the immense forces that control our existence, the more we yearn to feel meaningful”. So that is why we readers read over and over about how the savior chid in the futuristic world saves society that was beyond compare. I absolutely agree with Lisa Fraustino, I am one of those readers who waited for the next Hunger Games book to come out because I wanted to see what Katniss would do next to save everyone she loves. This can most certainly be related the The Giver, I think that no matter how crazy your future is in these types of novels, readers still want an answer to have hope the the world will be saved. Readers are inspired by Jonas and the courage to defy all he knows. I know as a child reading this book for the first time I thought of how I would have acted, and what I would have done. This is exactly what the readers should feel, Jonas’s attempt to save the dystopian future of his work inspire readers to save their world.
Kitten’s First Full Moon
For my Caldecott Medal winner I chose “Kitten’s First Full Moon” illustrated and written by Kevin Henkes. This book caught my attention because it is about a cute little kitten, illustrated in black and white and tells an adorable tale. This picture book was awarded The Caldecott Medal in 2005 along with these Honor Books: “The Red Book” by Barbara Lehman, “Coming on Home Soon” illustrated by E.B. Lewis, written by Jacqueline Woodson, and “Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale” illustrated and written by Mo Willems. It a sweet story about how a little kitten mistakes the moon for a bowl of milk. She tries with all her might to get to the bowl of milk until she becomes tired, wet and hungry and wants to go back home. It is at home where she finds a big boof milk waiting for her as soon as she arrives. 
Guess How Much I Love You
From what I can remember, the book that really brings me back to my child hood is “Guess how much I love you” by Anita Jeram. I was too young to read at this time but I remember just about everyone in my house reading it to me but especially my dad. It was my favorite book because it was about a young hare and his daddy. I was a complete daddy’s girls growing up, being the youngest of four (two boys and two girls) it was really special to me to get time to read with my dad. I would picture myself being the little hare and of course my dad being the big hare. My parents were divorced so even when I was not staying at my dad’s I knew how much he loved me because he told me so. He would buy me books from the school book fair growing up and take me to the big book store in town with my siblings as we all got older. My dad always encouraged me to read and to be smart. He always said that “pretty girls don’t need to fake smart they need to be smart”. This really impacted me through my years of school but now that I am older I can really look back on how thankful I am for his guidance in my younger years. My love for learning, reading and exploring this world came from him. If I did not have the opportunity to be read “Guess how much I love you”, I might not have fallen in love with literature and wouldn’t have the desire to become an educator. No matter how simple Jeram’s book is, it impacted my life and is a part of very special memories with my dad. 