One of the fun things about chatting to students about what they want to read when a book is out and they “need it” is what aspect of the book appeals to them. Towards the end of the last school term I had a bunch of historical fiction books out on display following our G8 Historical fiction unit. One of the students wanted to read “Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz” and I incorrectly assumed (in my head) that he was looking for more around the Second World War. However, after chatting to him further it turned out that what he really wanted to read more about was spies. It was a bit late in the year for me to have a poster read for him so I did it the old fashioned way with catalogue key words (and how bad are the subject headings these days in MARC records???).

Anyway, making these blogs motivated me to put a trio of posters together on nonfiction, historical fiction and fictional spies. The great thing about fictional spy stories is that almost all of them come in super long series, so once a student is hooked on the first in the series you can keep them going for quite a while.

Alan Gratz is one of those authors who almost all students without reservation enjoy reading, and his books get so many hesitant readers started. Below is a lovely video I found with him talking about his writing, what motivates him, and particularly at this time, the state of humanity.

By Nadine Bailey – middle school teacher librarian, currently living and working in Dubai, formerly in Beijing China, Singapore and a bunch of other cities around the world. Passionate about our students seeing themselves and their worlds in literature and developing curiosity and a passion for reading and learning.

The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed in this blog post are solely my own and do not reflect the positions, policies, or opinions of any current or former employer. Any references or examples provided are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements or official statements from any organization I have been associated with.