Adolescent Realities

This book is a much-needed resource that uses social and emotional learning competencies as a frame to teach some of the best multicultural young adult novels. Adolescent Realities offers comprehensive, creative, and cohesive units to guide those who work with teenagers every step of the way with challenging and engaging activities. Filled with practical strategies, this book is an essential addition to any educator wishing to incorporate SEL to support students’ developing identities and life skills.

-- Jacqueline Bach, professor, Louisiana State University; author of "Reel Education: Documentaries, Biopics, and Reality Television"

Before students can learn academic content, their social and emotional needs must be addressed. Many school districts, finally, have begun investing in social and emotional learning (SEL) professional development for faculty, staff, and administration, putting students before test scores. Adolescent Realties: Engaging Students in SEL through Young Adult Literature is poised to be foundational in this caring work in English Language Arts classrooms but also, uniquely, in other content areas. This book will help students understand their own social and emotional learning as they read through/with the lives of the characters in the thought-provoking texts the authors have selected. Books can contribute to our social and emotional growth. This is going to be one of those books.

-- Crag Hill, associate professor, Rainbolt Family Endowed Education Professor, University of Oklahoma, and co-editor of "The Critical Merits of Young Adult Literature: Coming of Age" and "Critical Explorations of Canonical Young Adult Literature: Identifying and Critiquing the Ca