About the Project

Hello!  I am an aspiring high school English teacher currently taking a course in Young Adult literature. This blog is my final project. Below you'll find a collection of posts that feature all of the Young Adult novels I read during the the semester as well as an online portfolio of some of my completed assignments (see above tabs).

For each of the texts, I've included book notes: a brief summary of the novel, some noted themes, a personal reflection, and a potential student reaction. I have also included several images (pieces of original art) that in some way remind me of the text. The images are meant to compliment the book. Some of them are very literal in their connection.  Others represent a theme, motif, or conflict from the text. I love visual art and literature, and I am fascinated by the intersections between the two.  Graphic novels are making their way into high school and college curriculum, and English educators are encouraging visual literacy.  I think that any of the images you'll see below would enrich a discussion of the corresponding novel, and I hope to use them in my teaching someday.

I have not included an analysis for the chosen images.  I've left this for you to imagine.  If you haven't read the books you see below, hopefully, you'll be inspired to read at least one of them.  And if you have read any of them, please feel free to comment!  I love the blog medium because it's an on-going conversation.  Nearly all of these posts were published at an earlier date on my personal blog.  Reading the comments from family members, friends, and strangers added to my understanding of the novels and made me think more deeply about the texts!  Thanks for reading and for participating in my little project,

-Courtney

Note: This blog does not include my own art. Most of the art is for sale. Nearly all of the artists have Etsy shops. Click on the links for more information on the individual artist or to purchase a piece. I love supporting the art community and I am glad that some of my readers have purchased pieces! Please do not reproduce the image with out crediting the artist.

Double Note:  In September of 2010, I started doing this as a regular post on my personal blog.  I've copied all of the relevant posts from my personal blog and have added a lot of extra components for the purpose of my class project (minus the comments, sorry).