As I’m writing this, the sun is high and so is the temperature. My kids and I just got back from a bike ride, and I’m grateful for the air conditioning. All of that means that it’s summer time! Since I teach middle school and university classes during the school year, summer break is prime reading time for me and my kids. We make weekly trips to our local county library branch and challenge ourselves to read as much as we can. My boys are really into books about dinosaurs and sharks, and my daughter is into graphic novels and animal stories. And, as you know, I’m really into rural stories, especially those about and written for young people.
I find myself wandering around the library looking for rural stories, but since there is no dedicated rural section, it can be a challenge. (I’ve got it on my to-do list to contact the branch to suggest making an end-cap or display featuring rural stories.) Even though there’s no rural-specific section, rural stories still seem to find me—just not with the frequency I’d like them to.
The first rural book on my TBR is Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez which won both the Pura Belpré Award and the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. I loved the bird silhouette on the cover, so I turned it over to read the summary. I made it as far as “After Tyler’s father is injured in a tractor accident….” and knew that I had to read it. My Papaw was also in a tractor accident, and I can’t resist a read that connects in some way to my own farm life and family experiences. I have high expectations for this one. I’ll report back when finished.
I will continue my quest to read and report on good rural books found at my library and elsewhere. I hope you encourage the young rural readers in your lives to pick up these and other books that can serve as mirrors for their own experiences.
Dr. Parton's Literacy In Place 