Even though Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke is a must-read on its own, there are other things, specifically what the reader can take away from it, that help to solidify it as a must-read. One of the first takeaways is leadership. Throughout the graphic novel, Zita must learn to become a leader and live …
Author Archives: The Big Read '
Why Read Zita the Space Girl
Our third middle-grade book for this year’s NEA Big Read Lakeshore 2022 is Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke. Zita the Spacegirl is a graphic novel series and can be considered our more traditional middle-grade heroes’ journey story. The story follows a girl named Zita Danielson. On Earth, Zita is a normal twelve-year-old girl middle …
Themes in Miles Morales: Spider-Man
In the last blog post, we discussed Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds and gave a brief synopsis of the book. But what are some of the book’s main themes that you should know about, and what will be different if you decide to read the novel version and your friend chooses to read the …
Miles Morales: Spider-Man
If you are a fan of Marvel, then you should definitely pick up a copy of the second middle-grade read that the NEA Big Read Lakeshore has chosen, which is Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds. At this point, Jason Reynolds should be a household name for anyone who attends NEA Big Read Lakeshore events. …
Themes in the Long Way Down
In the last blog post, we discussed why you should read Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and even gave you some background information about the author and the book to entice you to pick it up and begin reading. This blog post will discuss the major themes that make Long Way Down a book …
Why read the Long Way Down
In keeping with our 2022 NEA Big Read Lakeshore and Little Read theme that anyone can be a hero, our team decided to show that with our middle-grade books. These are books that are targeted at late elementary, middle school, and early high school students, but are perfect for any reader. The first middle-grade book …
Today by Billy Collins
As March comes to a close so does National Reading Month. You likely know that reading comes in many different genres and themes for readers of all different interests. We hope you have enjoyed some of our recommendations and thought of reading in new ways this month. Spring is now officially here, so I hope …
Big Read 2020 Wrap-Up: Lessons Learned from “Books as Windows and Mirrors: The Importance of Reading Diverse Books”
We are continuing our Big Read 2020 Wrap-up series: a compilation of blog posts written by various community members about some things they learned (and are still thinking about) from our recent Big Read events. In this post, Abby Hamilton, English Educcation major, reflects on what she learned attending Books as Windows and Mirrors: The …
Big Read 2020 Wrap-Up: Lessons Learned from “Adventure Stories with Hope Professors”
Our Big Read 2020 program may be over but the ideas and insights presented and discussed in our program are still floating around and shaping the way the readers along the Lakeshore are thinking about the world. We’re starting a series of blog posts written by various community members about some of the things they …
Big Read 2020 Wrap-Up: Lessons learned from the”Ethics Aboard the Essex” event
Our Big Read 2020 program may be over but the ideas and insights presented and discussed in our program are still floating around and shaping the way the readers along the Lakeshore are thinking about the world. We’re starting a series of blog posts written by various community members about some of the things they …
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