It's a treat to be back. For the past two months, I've been buried in my National Boards Maintenance of Certification work. Now that it's submitted, I can't wait to spend more time talking about books and teaching with you. I know summer vacation is around the corner, but I hope you'll read on for inspiration to make it through the last weeks or for collecting ideas to file away for next year. Either way, I'm glad you're here.

Oh, and this week's book? It's an excellent beach read.

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Title: Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy​

Author: Angie Thomas

Genre: Fantasy

Age range: 11+

Summary: For her 12th birthday, Nic wants a dragon and for her father to teach her how to use the Gift—power stronger than magic that was gifted to the ancient Wallinzi tribe in Africa and passed down to their ancestors. What Nic gets instead is:

1. a hellhound named Cocoa
2. revelation after revelation about her family and her own Manifestor power
3. a dangerous quest to retrieve the Msaidizi, a weapon that can conquer the Manowari who is prophesied to destroy the Remarkable world

Nic, JP (her Unremarkable friend), and a newly discovered family member set off on a journey that includes the Underground Railroad, a run-in with the Devil's daughter, and Wizard Country—with no guarantee that Nic's family will be whole again.

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It's similar to:

• ​Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (a pre-teen girl's journey to master her magic leads to self-discovery)
• ​Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown (a middle school girl navigates her own blossoming magical powers, her family's secrets, and the ongoing legacy of racism)
• ​Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (pre-teen girl negotiates a new relationship to her family after learning secrets of her past)

How I'd teach it:

First up, I'd love to see this in a Book Club unit centered on modern texts re-imagining myths and legends from a variety of cultures. Students could explore essential questions like:

• Why does modern fantasy include mythological beings and storylines?
• How do authors use myths and legends to teach themes that resonate with current readers?
• Can myths help us better understand our own communities?

Other titles to include: Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting (see above), anything by Rick Riordan or in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, and the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (more fairy tales than myths, but still applicable).

Once you've got students reading it, this title is an excellent candidate for a Conflict Pie Chart (credit to @theliterarymaven). Students list the conflicts Nic faces, decide how much each one affects her, then create a pie chart communicating that data. I'd have students do three (beginning, middle, and end of the book) so that they can see how the conflicts evolve.

Finally, I'd nudge two to three students to buddy read it. There's a lot of action, a lot of humor, a lot of history, and a lot of secrets to be uncovered. Students will love talking about "all the things" with each other. Give them this quiz—Which Remarkable character are you?—to get them started.

Learn more:

• However it ends up in your classroom, use the questions in this discussion guide to maximize meaning making.
• ​Listen to what Angie Thomas herself has to say: "When I was a kid, I loved reading fantasy novels...but it was so rare for me to find anything that featured a character, the main character especially, that looked like me going on fantasy adventures...usually characters who looked like me were the background characters...they never got to go on the adventures themselves. I feel like one of my goals as an author is to write the books that little Angie would have loved."

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Literacy Love Notes:

Try this end-of-the-year writing activity: A Letter to Next Year's Students. It helps you reflect on your teaching practice and the letters are a wonderful way to introduce next year's students to your classroom culture.

I signed up for (the free) Camp Creative 2023: Teach Graphic Novels With Confidence, put on by Betsy at Spark Creativity. If you have graphic novels in your curriculum or classroom, I hope you'll join me!

Have a good one and learn everything you can,

Hannah

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