Great Stories Club - Growing up Brave in St. Peter

First of all, isn't this cover gorgeous?   We all agreed that this cover really pulled us in.  Beautiful. We met this week to talk about our fourth Great Stories Club book discussion in ALA’s Great Stories Club series,  Growing up Brave on the Margins ! We discussed the book  Shadowshaper  (Shadowshaper #1)   by   Daniel José Older After briefly talking about our group agreements reminding us to keep this a safe a brave space, we read this poem titled "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon. Then, using this template , we wrote our own "Where I'm From" Poems, mad-libs style (paper copies of this are available in the library - if you're interested in making your own). Questions and Themes from this book What does it mean to embrace your heritage, especially when it is under attack? Community and Personal Identity Diversity and Expression through the Arts Community Change - (Gentrification) - what does this mean?  Gender Inequalit

We met this week to talk about our third Great Stories Club book discussion in ALA’s Great Stories Club series,  Growing up Brave on the Margins ! We discussed the book The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.   Icebreaker Challenge We each tried to answer this question:  Who are you today?  using only six words.  It's harder than you think!  Inspiration came from this website:  https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/teens/ Thomas’s novel asks: How can you create the space to be yourself wherever you go? What if your true identity is not accepted? How do you stand up for the rights of others? What does it mean to speak truth to power? How can you walk away from violent or hurtful situations with your dignity intact? We reviewed our Group Agreements Our group agreements help us to create a brave and honest space . Questions and Themes we discussed for the this book Code-Switching speaking truth to power Race and Ethnicity with Social Justice Discussion Questions First we looked

We met this week to talk about our second  Great Stories Club book discussion in  ALA’s Great Stories Club series,  Growing up Brave on the Margins ! We   discussed  the book The Sun is Also a Star.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28763485-the-sun-is-also-a-star?from_search=true&qid=SHfMkUJTaW&rank=1 We reviewed our Group Agreements We came up with these agreements at our last meeting to create a brave and honest space . Use the "ouch" Rule (if something is offensive to you, say, "ouch" and then you "I statements") What is said here, stays here, w hat is learned here, leaves here Lean into discomfort Speak to your own truth Take Space, Make Space (if you're naturally quiet in groups, try to talk more, if you are a talker, leave a space for listening) Be Respectful Web of Connections We did an activity to start things off and get to know each other a bit better.  First, we paired up and interviewed each other asking qu

We had our first Great Stories Club book discussion in  ALA’s Great Stories Club series,  Growing up Brave on the Margins.  this week! We   discussed  the book Ms. Marvel, by G. Willow Wilson.   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20898019-ms-marvel-vol-1?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7CmoJvIeJA&rank=1 From the publisher: “Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City — until she’s suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! When Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them, as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to bear? Kamala has no idea, either. But she’s comin’ for you, Jersey!” We gathered at 6:30 with Pizza and an icebreaker.   What's your Superpower?  As an introduction to each other, we all chose a card ( pulled from here