Alicia Abdul

Help, I’m trapped in the library!

After school last week, as a student was walking into the bathroom in the library, he said

Wait, Mrs. Abdul, do you, like, get sick of staying in the library all day?

He’s a library regular that uses the library more for relaxation and connecting with friends than schoolwork. So it was even weirder question because he doesn’t normally engage me in conversation aside from coming and going or when I have to address he or his friends’ behavior.

I paused for a minute– unsure what he was really getting at but then I responded

I like being in the library! But, (pauses) I can leave the library when I want to… like, I meet teachers in their classes and can walk around the building. I’m not stuck here. But there’s no place I’d rather be. I like what we’ve built in the library, we work hard to make it a place that people want to be.

I wasn’t sure if he thought I couldn’t leave the library or that it was boring being in the library all day. I can honestly say that it’s never a dull moment in the library! He seemed content with my answer and went about his business but I had a chuckle at the question.

The library is the best place to be if I had to be trapped, that’s for sure!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 16, 2024 in Blogging, Miscellaneous

Reading buddies

08 Jan

A trend I’ve noticed in my high school library over the last few months is buddy reading. Generally two girls, they come in looking for a book they can both read together. They might meander around the shelves picking up books and putting them down or asking for recommendations, but either way, they want the opportunity to connect with one another through literature.

This is easy to accomplish in our library. As a large high school, one of our collection development goals is to purchase multiple copies of many popular, well-written, and influential stories that could be used in the classroom, recommended during booktalks, and for times like these where friends are reading together. There’s nothing more frustrating during readers advisory to be talking up a book as we walk to the bookshelves, only to find it checked out. There are titles that always hit right with teens.

Book clubs are used for socialization more than deep literary conversation, so I have been excitedly encouraged by this newfound trend in our library. What better way to get to know your friend than reading and discussing literature?

Below are some of the favorites I recommend or have spotted friends reading together.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 8, 2024 in Authors, Miscellaneous, Poetry, Reflections, Verse, Young Adult

This week

30 Dec

I love the week between Christmas and New Year not only because I have it off since I work in education, but because I get to read because it’s vacation. Plenty of audiobook listening when cleaning and organizing plus plenty of tea sipping print book time. So when I saw a blogger @epiblogue’s Instagram post:

I felt seen. It’s a fun series of ladies lounging and reading their books. This one was my favorite and yes, this is exactly what “that week between Christmas & NYE” looks like for me minus the extra thick frock and fan, however I do have a chaise and a book. Endless books. This week has included Duel by the Bagleys, Tremors in the Blood: Murder, Obsession, and the Birth of the Lie Detector by Katwala, Ruptured by Rossmassler Fritz, Mascot by Waters and Sorrel, Crazy Food Truck by Ogaki, All the Fighting Parts by Sawyerr, Home Made: A Story of Grief, Groceries, Showing Up- and What We Make When We Make Dinner by Hauck, New Year’s Kiss by Matthews, The Shadow Prince by Durham, and 100 Unforgettable Dresses by Rubenstein.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 30, 2023 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Fiction, Manga, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Verse, Young Adult

Best of 2023: YA extra love

24 Dec

Like the people whose birthday falls on or near a holiday, they’re often overlooked (but not always!) Books hit readers at opportune times or speak to an experience that connects to their life in a meaningful way. Here are a few that I wanted to give a little extra love to.

The creative juices flowing in these stories in how they’re told and what focus they took were what made these stellar additions to the top books of 2023 for teens.

You’ll notice the only format I didn’t focus specifically on was manga. I read widely in this format as well but often the series have been longstanding and thus not specifically published in 2023. There are always new series coming out as well but it’s hard to pinpoint publication when they are published in the United States. Yet I couldn’t not talk about my favorites of the year that may or may not have been published in 2023, but were read in 2023.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 24, 2023 in Cover Love, Fiction, Manga, Reflections, Young Adult

Best of 2023: YA nonfiction

23 Dec

Nothing that replace the feeling of learning about a new topic while reading. The special way that an author meticulously researches, bears their soul, and creates fluidity with factual information. It’s why nonfiction is my jam.

There is always overlap on lists– of course there are several graphic novels on this list that could have easily knocked off others on the YA graphic novel list but again, there are too many amazing books this year to limit ourselves. You’ll see iconic YA nonfiction authors like Steve Sheinkin and Don Brown, but you also have vivid memoirs and American history.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 23, 2023 in Authors, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Nonfiction, Reflections, Young Adult

Best of 2023: YA fiction

22 Dec

Next up is YA fiction. So much is published each year that it feels like it’s a never-ending battle to read it all. I try to do what I can!

There is a distinct beauty to each of these stories. For the books whose authors have been around for some time or the newcomers, sentences, paragraphs, and pages can be read and reread. There are some explosive scenes, hidden histories, and even a little fun between the pages of these fiction titles.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 22, 2023 in Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Reflections, Young Adult

Best of 2023: YA graphic novels

21 Dec

As promised, there were just too many amazing books for teens this year to have *just one* top ten list. Today I continue to highlight different categories and formats with my end-of-year listicles and today is graphic novels.

For several of these, I continue to be obsessed with the series such as Something is Killing the Children, Sheets, Fangirl, and Frights from Feral while there were standalones that stuck out for their coverage of emotional stories, humor, or thoughtfulness in addressing adversity.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 21, 2023 in Authors, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Reflections, Young Adult

Best of 2023: YA romance

20 Dec

Coming up on young adult literature for the best of lists for 2023 was too hard so I had to create several categories including today’s romance, nonfiction, and fiction (but I’ll also throw in a few bonus titles too). Romance is having a moment and I’m here for it!

There are some names that wouldn’t surprise you to be on the list along with some newcomers. Each spans the categories of magical realism to realistic, features queer and straight characters, and even representation such as in the Deaf community, Judaism, and women in medicine (from way back!) Indulge!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 20, 2023 in Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Reflections, Young Adult

Best of 2023: Middle grade

19 Dec

… and today is middle grade, which was probably the hardest top ten to make. As with all of my top ten lists of the year, these are all books published this past year that were read and enjoyed.

The overwhelming statement of these middle grade were *chef’s kiss* one liners, paragraphs, and pages that readers can go back to revisit whether it’s a snarky gecko sidekick like in The Spirit Glass or Maldonado’s emotionally charged reading of Hands. Words have power.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 19, 2023 in Audiobooks, Authors, Fiction, Middle grade, Reflections

Best of 2023: Picture books

18 Dec

It’s that time of year again! I’ll have a week’s worth of posts about best books of 2023, minus books for adults because they’ve had to be secret this year because of the committee work I’m doing.

As always, my books are always based on the publication year. So these are truly my favorites of the year published IN the calendar year, not what I read this year which could include oldies or even galleys of future books.

Tonight I’ll be sharing picture books.

What do they all have in common? A beauty in their storytelling and a powerful message be it nonfiction or imaginary. Either way I could spend my time staring at each page or going back to pour over the words.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 18, 2023 in Childrens, Fiction, Illustrators, Nonfiction, Reflections