[LM_NET] HIT: Collection Development -- Urban Library

[Pam Landgraf <palandgr@UMICH.EDU>]

Thanks to all of you who responded to my requested help for collection
development.  I failed to mention that the summer camp was mostly attended
by elementary aged kids with low reading levels, but you came through with
some good suggestions for many age groups.  The responses are below:

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Take a look at Norwood Publishers.  They have a great joke collection as
well as one of the best sport series that I have seen.  It is more
historical than about the current team and will not go out of date,
Lerner has some great bios, including a new series from USA Today.
Abdo has excellent graphic novels, is that is your interest.

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If you are looking to select some Everybody fiction books with
African-American characters, I would look at Angela Johnson and Ezra Jack
Keats, and the Jamaica series by Havilland.  Chris Raschka and Donald Crews
are "urbanesque" as is the Hello Goodbye Window. For poetry, Nikki Grimes,
Walter Dean Myers, Eloise Greenfield's Honey I love.  General Everybody
fiction authors: Kevin Henkes, David Shannon, the Miss Nelson series,
Cynthia Rylant, Chris Van Allsburg (aside from Jumanji, Polar Express, look
at The Widow's Broom).  For reluctant beginning chapter book readers,
Geronimo Stilton is popular (lots of color pictures) as are Pokemon and
Spiderman/Batman.  For Nonfiction, most kids like animals especially sharks,
spiders, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, (the Scary Creatures series is really
popular with boys). How to draw...books.  Guinness World Records.  American
Girls how to books/crafts/babysitting.  Older kids (3rd-up) like the Diary
of a Wimpy Kid series. The Shredderman series-Vandraanen. Sahara
Special-Codell.  Maniac Magee-Spinelli. Wallace-funny animal stories. Star
Wars. Lego.
Sorry to be going on - I am obsessed since school ended with weeding my own
small-urban school collection and shopping for book!

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the Bluford series is a must and can be purchased direct from Townsend Press
for only $1/book. Also, look at Sharon Draper, Sharon Flake, and Walter Dean
Myers.

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If you want your students to read get the Bluford High series from Townsend
Press (www.townsendpress.com). Get several copies. They are cheap - and the
kids love them.  When I was in a middle school we had seven copies of each
of the books and they went out as fast as they came in.

I would also recommend books by Christopher Paul Curtis, Jacqueline Woodson,
and Adrian Fogelin.

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To make sure you are getting quality for your buck, I would suggest that for
cultural books that you check out

the Coretta Scott King Award books for African Americans, and the Pura
Belpre for Latinos and Spanish speaking students.

These lists can be found at the following websites:

Coretta Scott King Awards:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/emiert/cskbookawards/recipients.cfm

Pura Belpre Awards:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal/belprepast/index.cfm

I would also suggest the following African American authors who have not
received an award, but writes quality literature, too.

Hariett Robinette (good historical fiction)

Ethel Footman Smothers (Michigan writer)

Connie Porter (Addy series)

Dwayne Ferguson (Kid Caramel books, "old" books, but a good series-may have
to buy them through Amazon or Just Us Books)

I would also recommend checking out The Brown Bookshelf
http://thebrownbookshelf.com/  (for self-published African American
children's books) and

Just Us Books http://www.justusbooks.com/

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I worked in a high school a few years ago that served a large urban
population, and also a large special ed. population.  The Bluford series put
out by Townsend Press was wonderful:

http://www.townsendpress.com/catalog/tplibraryandblufordseries.aspx

It's low level high interest, the books are $1 each, and it truly leads to
students later reading other, more sophisticated, authors.  The books deal
with urban issues and are appealing without using foul language.  The
characters deal with gangs and drugs and relationships, but end up making
the right decisions.  (There was one character whose brother was in a gang
and killed, and the younger brother was being urged to take his place in the
gang.)  I really can't say enough about these books.  The students (who were
not readers before this series) read these and later came back for Angela
Johnson and Jacqueline Woodson, among many others.

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Be sure to include the Bluford High series, authors Paul Langana and Anne
Schraff.  Our middle school African-American kids LOVE these books, even the
"nonreaders."  Townsend Press did have a program where they would give away
two sets per school.  Don't know if this is still in place.


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Our reluctant reader kids love Calvin and Hobbes and all the Eyewitness
books.

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Bluford High series.

-- 
Pam Landgrafpalandgr@umich.edu
MSI, University of Michigan
Future Media Specialist
http://sites.google.com/site/pamlandgraf/

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