In-Class Response

The main idea I took away from the three assigned readings was that Young Adult novels provide young readers with different perspectives than they are exposed to in everyday life. When adolescents read books they are interested in, they gain new ideas and become aware of their own prejudices.
“In this country, where racism is still one of the major unresolved social problems, books may be one of the few places where children who are socially isolated and insulated from the larger world may meet people unlike themselves. If they see only reflections of themselves, they will grow up with an exaggerated sense of their own importance and value in the world-a dangerous ethnocentrism” (Sims-Bishop 1).
As a teacher, you should expose your students to a diverse set of books so that they can expand their cultural literacy and become educated adults.