GMBA
GMBA -- 08/09
Submitted by ggevalt on May 6, 2008 - 10:55.
The Green Mountain Book Award committee has announced the master list of finalists for the 2009 GMBA. YWP and the committee will again be sponsoring book forums on this site. NOTE: Forums and links and study guides will be built before the end of the 07/08 school year so students can participate in the forums over the summer...
This is the fourth year of the Green Mountain Book Award, a reader's choice award for students in grades 9-12. Co-sponsored by the Vermont School Library Association, Vermont Library Association and the Vermont Department of Libraries, this program is designed to introduce to high school students some excellent books for their pleasure reading.
These books, to be read during the 2008-2009 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2009. Voting forms will be made available to all Vermont schools and public libraries in the spring so that young adults can vote for their favorite book. The master list titles have been selected to satisfy the reading interests of young adults in grades 9-12, and include both adult and young adult books. All books on the list were first published in 2003-2007 and are available in paperback.
Anderson, M.T. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party. Candlewick, 2008. $10.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-3679 (pap.); Candlewick, 2006. $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-2402-6.
Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the fictional experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age sixteen, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War.
Green Mountain Book Award -- Book Blog-In '08
Submitted by ggevalt on October 18, 2007 - 19:46.Want to read books and compare notes with other high school students around the state? We have just the thing -- a new set of forums for the finalist books nominated for the Green Mountain Book Award. Each year, a committee of Vermont librarians and educators select 15 excellent books suitable for students in grades 9-12 as finalists for the GMBA.
Working with the committee, we've created an area on this site for the GMBA books and discussion groups. Consider them online book clubs. We have book summaries, links to study guides and, of course, forums for each book. CLICK HERE to get to the GMBA area of this site. Read and join in!
The GMBA Book List -- Long version
Submitted by ggevalt on October 18, 2007 - 18:09.Welcome to the discussion group for the Green Mountain Book Award finalists for 2007-08. The purpose of this is to encourage high school students to read and discuss these books -- as part of a class or after school. We will open this up to voting on the books to help determine which book gets the award in April. YOU get to vote!
The key to this project is that we want Vermont high schoolers to read some of these books and then discuss them in our GMBA Forums Interested? Take a gander at the book summaries and links below. You will also find links to the individual forums for each book:
GMBA -- Wiki
Submitted by ggevalt on May 5, 2008 - 11:41.This wiki is designed to have students, Green Mountain Book Award committee members, librarians and teachers post their ideas on how to improve the GMBA book forums on this site in the coming year. A wiki is an "editable" (if there is such a word) document, meaning any registered user can come in, click "EDIT" at the top, make changes or additions in the "BODY" and then click "SUBMIT" at the very bottom to update the piece. If that fails, just leave a comment.
Young Writers Project worked with the Green Mountain Book Award committee in 2007/08 to set up interactive student forums, book summaries and study guides to help high school students read and discuss these great books.
We had about 140+ posts, which is pretty good, but there are a number of things we could do to improve the project in the coming school year.
We've set it up in two categories, but feel free to add more or to expand on any listed. And don't worry much if you are both stating a problem and a solution; put it in whatever category you feel like:
Problems in 2007/08
- Signing up. Some students complained that it was difficult to sign up. YWP initially activated all accounts manually and sent an email to users when accounts were activated. TWO PROBLEMS: Students aren't using email much these days; activation link was good only for 24 hours.
- Not enough student participation at the beginning. Students are like adults -- they're more apt to swim in a pond if there are people swimming in it already.
- More publicity needed. We're not sure how many teachers knew about the GMBA book forums.
- School participation issues. Some librarians reported that it was difficult to get buy-in from teachers. Why?
Suggestions for 2008/09
GMBA -- Forum guidelines
Submitted by ggevalt on October 23, 2007 - 11:42.The Young Writers Project is partnering with the Green Mountain Book Award Committee to create a live review/discussion group for the GMBA selections for 2007/08 and to assist in the selection of the GMBA winner.
YWP has set up a forum for each of the GMBA 15 finalist books. Those forums can be accessed through the YWP Book Forum links on the long or short booklists or by going to this link: Green Mountain Book Award Forums.
We have several ways for you to learn more about each book. First, we have a thorough list of the 2007-08 GMBA books with summaries, links to authors, publishers, individual forums and more.
We also have GMBA created study guides for each of the books.
YWP has a simple set of suggestions for these forums:
GMBA Study Guides
Submitted by ggevalt on October 23, 2007 - 10:01.The Green Mountain Book Award Committee has put together comprehensive study guides for each of the books. You can access the full list of these guides by clicking here.
Or you can go to the master list of books and click on the individual study guides for each book.
GMBA Book Selections -- Short version
Submitted by ggevalt on October 18, 2007 - 18:05.Welcome to the discussion group for the Green Mountain Book Award finalists. Here is the short version of the book list for 2007-08. Click here to get to the GMBA Forums Each book summary has a link to the appropriate individual book forum.
Said Hyder and Susan Burton, Come Back to Afghanistan. The author describes his experience as an American teenager when he traveled to Afghanistan to see his father, who was the spokesman for President Hamid Karzai and then became the governor of Kunar. ... YWP BOOK FORUM ... GMBA STUDY GUIDE
GMBA Committee
Submitted by ggevalt on October 18, 2007 - 18:00.The Green Mountain Book Award is a student-selected award for Vermonters in grades 9-12 and is co-sponsored by the Vermont Educational Media Association, Vermont Library Association and the Vermont Department of Libraries. This program is designed to introduce to high school students some excellent books. The GMBA is in its third year.
These books, to be read during the 2007-2008 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2008. Voting forms will be made available to all Vermont schools and public libraries in spring 2008 -- and on this Web site -- so that young adults can vote for their favorite book. The GMBA committee recommends that in order to be eligible to vote, a student should read at least three books on the masterlist.
Librarians had been talking about the possibility of such an award for several years. Marsha Middleton, librarian at North Country Union High School in Newport, Vermont and Sybil McShane, Vermont State Librarian, who made it a reality. Marsha had both the desire to start a young adult award and the knowledge of high school kids and their reading, and Sybil had strong interest in having the Department of Libraries better serve the teenagers of Vermont. Both librarians are passionate about young adult literature and bringing the best to kids, so it was a natural partnership.
The aim of the award is to select a list of books of good literary quality that:
- Engages high schools students
- Represents a variety of genres, formats and viewpoints
- May include books written both for young people and adults
- Reflects the interests of high school students.
This year's committee:
