Manga Goes to School: Cultivating Engagement and Inclusion in K–12 Settings Release

Manga Goes to School: Cultivating Engagement and Inclusion in K–12 Settings
Ashley Hawkins, Emily Ratica, Sara Smith, Julie Stivers, and Sybil “Mouna” Touré

2024 | 216 pages | 7" x 10"| Softcover | $49.99 (ALA Members: $44.99)
ISBN-13: 979-8-89255-585-2

The appeal of manga is undeniable. As a worldwide publishing phenomenon, it has deservedly garnered the attention of scores of young learners. School librarians are willing and excited to harness its overwhelming popularity, and the benefits are real: with manga, you'll strengthen not only the circulation statistics in your school library but also engagement and inclusion. This easy-to-use guide published by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and ALA Editions will walk you through making it happen. Inside, you'll discover

• 12 adaptable lesson plans that incorporate the AASL Standards, with additional national and content-specific standards also highlighted to enhance instructional partnerships;
• dedicated information for elementary, middle, and high school librarians;
• an overview of manga basics, such as key genres and publishers;
• advice on collection development, readers' advisory, and organizing in your space;
• how manga collections and programming connect with and through all six of AASL's Shared Foundations;
• guidance on ways to integrate manga into your lesson planning, including anime club content that nurtures a feeling of community;
• how manga connects with and through learners from marginalized communities;
• personal librarian stories beautifully illustrated manga-style by both high school learners and co-author Touré; and
• an appendix of manga recommendations sorted by age group and a helpful glossary.

Hawkins is a school librarian for PS/IS 137 Rachel Jean Mitchell in Brooklyn and adjunct professor for Queens College GSLIS. She has written for multiple publications and is a reviewer for Booklist and a Knowledge Quest blogger. Her blog is Manga Librarian. Ratica has been in education for over seventeen years, both as a teacher and a school librarian. She is currently back in the classroom, teaching high school English. A converted comic book lover, she is particularly passionate about increasing literacy of all kinds and preparing students for their futures as information consumers. Smith is the District Librarian in California's Central Valley. She also professionally reviews manga and graphic novels for Booklist and School Library Journal. She has written articles for California English, Diamond Bookshelf, and Booklist. Stivers is the Upper School Librarian at Carolina Friends School in Durham, NC. Her work has been published in Knowledge Quest, School Library Journal, and YALS and she is the author/editor of “Include.” As an ALA Emerging Leader, she helped develop AASL's Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries. She's the 2022 North Carolina School Library Media Coordinator of the Year and the 2023 School Librarian of the Year from School Library Journal. Touré is a resident of Falls Church, VA. She creates original manga-influenced characters and self-published comics, in addition to being published in the “Dirty Diamonds” comics anthology and DC Conspiracy's Magic Bullet. In 2020, she started BlackLight Sugar Press as her outlet for organizing collaborative fanzines, anthologies, and multimedia projects influenced by shoujo manga, otome games, and music.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.

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