In this week's "3 Quick Things," I kick of 2019 with two reviews of soon-to-be published YA titles and share a hyperdoc review of MLA 8 citations.
Librarians, is there anything worse than a dry lesson on the ins and outs of MLA formatting (or APA, for that matter)? After working with just about every English class on correctly citing their sources last year, I came to a point where I. Just. Could. Not. Do. It. I could not stand in front of a class, showing off the rules and practicing with examples while the vast majority of students stared at me with glazed-over expressions. I knew that my teachers wanted support in that area, since it is such a tough part of research for students, but I didn't feel like my instruction was effective in getting students to understand the purpose or the method of correctly citing sources.
I received a Netgalley ARC of Fake News: Separating Truth from Fiction by Michael Miller, and while I was expecting to learn something new in my reading, I was not prepared for how I ended up speeding through this nonfiction title, enjoying every minute of explanation, example, and definition. As a high school librarian, I work with students on inquiry-related projects where validating sources is a major concern. I appreciated that this book defined terms (including those that were unfamiliar to me but that I wish I had been using for years, such as illusory truth effect) alongside anecdotal evidence, such as the conspiracy theory that “chemtrails” from airplanes cause cancer, that made the terms come alive to the reader. The treatment of political bias in reporting, alongside the discussion of which news outlets offer more opinion and analysis than hard news, made the subject feel straightforward and nonpartisan. Miller doesn’t stop at defining terms and providing examples, though; he also explains why his readers should care, explaining that healthy democracy depends on solid journalism and then drawing connections between fake news and he Communist China of today and the Nazi Germany of World War II. His discussion of the origins of fake news and why we as citizens must combat it gave me new words to use when discussing epidemic of false information on the internet, and it did so in a way that would be appealing to both teachers and students.
I was fortunate enough to receive a Netgalley ARC of Erin Hahn’s You’d Be Mine, in which I discovered the story of Annie Mathers, up-and-coming country starlet, and Clay Coolidge, country megastar with more than his fair share of tight Levis and songs about girls and beer. Though Mathers and Clay seem to be polar opposites when it comes to music choice (Clay: popular hits, Annie: soulful ballads), values (Annie: praying before shows, Clay: carpe diem), and alcohol (Clay: the more the merrier, Annie: teetotaler), a shared experience of past tragedy and a deep love of music draws them ever closer. Predictably, their time spent on the road leads to these two falling for one another, but don’t think that this is just another romance; You’d Be Mine proves to be just as
much a search for identity as a search for love. Through her music, Annie seeks to define herself apart from her parents, yet she struggles to tame the nearly paralyzing anxiety that, along with her beautiful voice, is her legacy from her country royalty/addict mom and dad. For his part, Clay struggles with his “good old boy” industry label, battling inner demons in a pursuit of the type of music that would make his late grandfather and brother proud. While the story can at times feel episodic and it’s easy to mistake the characters as a bit older than their professed 18 and 19 year old ages, the careful treatment of addiction, subtle motif of faith, and writing that makes you feel like you’re smack dab in the middle of a sold-out summer stadium concert makes You’d Be Mine a great purchase for high school libraries. This book walks the razor’s edge, at once keeping in the PG-13 realm of romance while simultaneously delving into the dark side of fame. In the end, You’d Be Mine reads like the perfect teenage country dream, and it wins out by dealing with weighty subject matter while eventually tying everything up with a happy ending. For fans of TV’s Nashville, Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’, Lady Gaga’s portrayal in A Star is Born, and country music in general.
It's cold outside! Until next time, keep warm in the shelves of your library!
Love,
Your Library
MLA 8 Hyperdoc
With that in mind, I created the original MLA 8 Hyperdoc with one of my amazing co-teaching partners, Amy Wolk (@aewolk). Using the MLA 8 explanation and graphic on the EasyBib blog as our starting point, we used this with freshmen students and paired it with a relay race where they had to piece together three increasingly difficult citations, but we stopped at the Works Cited entries. This year, when working with my sophomore co-teaching partner, Jen Stuckey
(@mrsstuckeysays), students are reviewing in-text citations, so we took the same activity and bumped it up a notch. Combining Edpuzzle, Google Slides, and Scholastic resources, this activity has worked really well to review citation skills; my favorite part is that students are actively DOING instead of passively learning. Click here to see it, and make a copy if you think it could help you the same way it helped me!
Fake News: Separating Fact from Fiction Review
“Fake news undermines public confidence in legitimate news sources. It sways people to believe things that aren’t true--and to disbelieve things that are. It feeds on and promotes prejudice and paranoia, and it derails rational discussion. Fake news harms individuals and institutions and is a threat to democracy itself.” (72)
I received a Netgalley ARC of Fake News: Separating Truth from Fiction by Michael Miller, and while I was expecting to learn something new in my reading, I was not prepared for how I ended up speeding through this nonfiction title, enjoying every minute of explanation, example, and definition. As a high school librarian, I work with students on inquiry-related projects where validating sources is a major concern. I appreciated that this book defined terms (including those that were unfamiliar to me but that I wish I had been using for years, such as illusory truth effect) alongside anecdotal evidence, such as the conspiracy theory that “chemtrails” from airplanes cause cancer, that made the terms come alive to the reader. The treatment of political bias in reporting, alongside the discussion of which news outlets offer more opinion and analysis than hard news, made the subject feel straightforward and nonpartisan. Miller doesn’t stop at defining terms and providing examples, though; he also explains why his readers should care, explaining that healthy democracy depends on solid journalism and then drawing connections between fake news and he Communist China of today and the Nazi Germany of World War II. His discussion of the origins of fake news and why we as citizens must combat it gave me new words to use when discussing epidemic of false information on the internet, and it did so in a way that would be appealing to both teachers and students.
In the end, Miller sums up the history of fake news, its implications in today’s society, and what readers of any age can do to combat it in 101 pages before providing extensive source notes, glossary, and suggestions for further reading. Short enough to not bore young adult readers but filled with need-to-know information in the age of unreliable sources, Fake News: Separating Truth from Fiction is a primer for anyone wanting to know how to sort through the detritus of the internet; school libraries looking to support inquiry and digital citizenship should purchase for both student and instructor use.
You’d Be Mine Review
“After all, it isn’t only about how you see yourself. It’s about how the world sees you see yourself that matters.”
I was fortunate enough to receive a Netgalley ARC of Erin Hahn’s You’d Be Mine, in which I discovered the story of Annie Mathers, up-and-coming country starlet, and Clay Coolidge, country megastar with more than his fair share of tight Levis and songs about girls and beer. Though Mathers and Clay seem to be polar opposites when it comes to music choice (Clay: popular hits, Annie: soulful ballads), values (Annie: praying before shows, Clay: carpe diem), and alcohol (Clay: the more the merrier, Annie: teetotaler), a shared experience of past tragedy and a deep love of music draws them ever closer. Predictably, their time spent on the road leads to these two falling for one another, but don’t think that this is just another romance; You’d Be Mine proves to be just as
It's cold outside! Until next time, keep warm in the shelves of your library!
Love,
Your Library
Your MLA HyperDoc looks super. I sent a request for access, but it bounced back with a message that the email address is no longer valid. Would you be willing to send a copy to me? Thanks. -suehellman
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