Book Review: \u3ci\u3eThe Book of Joshua: A Novel\u3c/i\u3e by Jennifer Anne Moses, University of Wisconsin Press, 2018

Jennifer Anne Moses’s (2018) young adult novel, The Book of Joshua: A Novel, begins with a letter from eighteen-year-old protagonist Joshua Cushing; he is writing in response to a college admissions essay prompt about overcoming a challenge or experience that shaped his life. For Josh, that experience began with his awakening in a New Jersey psychiatric hospital; he was missing his left eye and his girlfriend, Sophie, and could not remember losing either one. Moses’s book unravels the mystery for the reader, explaining how Josh lost his left eye, what happened to Sophie, and how mental illness fits into the mix. Readers learn a great deal about how Josh’s schizophrenia affects his daily life as well as the lives of his parents and his younger brother Nate, and friends and classmates

A Reflection on Writing Methods: Where Am I Going? Where Have I Been?

The author, an eminent scholar and practitioner of writing teaching methods, reflects on the growth and development of the community and scholarship of writing teacher education and highlights several key trends as discussed in this issue

NCTE State Affiliate Extravaganza II: Michigan Council of Teachers of English MYAF Creative Writing Program

Discussion of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English Creative Writing program for high school students through the Michigan Youth Arts Festival

“Developing Ideas into Articles: Strategies for Publishing about Your Teaching.”

How to develop ideas into publishable articles: strategies for publishing about teaching were shared

The Ethics of Empathy: Making Connections in the Writing Classroom

Kia Jane Richmond teaches composition and ESL at Illinois State University, where she is completing her Ph.D. in English Studies. Her focus is on the intersection between emotions and the teaching of composition at the college level

Disrupting the dominant narrative: Beginning English teachers’ use of young adult literature and culturally responsive pedagogy.

In this multiple case study that uses narrative research methodology, two beginning English teachers’ stories, their use of young adult literature, and their dialogic interactions with university mentors are examined through a lens of culturally responsive pedagogy. This study is focused on how teachers’ stories indicate the difficulties they have incorporating culturally relevant young adult literature into their secondary English classes, how they establish connections between the texts, their students’ lived experiences, and their own lived experiences, and why they struggle with the application of culturally responsive pedagogy. Findings indicate that beginning teachers’ stories (a) express uncertainty regarding the place of young adult literature in their curricula and seek guidance from mentors; (b) demonstrate difficulties meeting students’ needs, which include connecting with characters and plots that “resonate” with their life experiences; (c) struggle with the dominant narrative of a standardized curriculum that perpetuates teaching the same texts to everyone; moreover, they do not feel empowered to challenge the dominant narrative; (d) struggle with obtaining culturally relevant resources that meet all students’ needs; and (e) recognize, that after exposure to young adult literature in university coursework and secondary teaching, they feel empowered to bring young adult literature into their curricula

The Future of Writing Teacher Education

This article provides background for the creation of the journal and suggestions for future submissions and directions

Storying our journey: Conversations about the literary canon and course development in secondary English education.

Olan and Richmond present preservice English teachers’ stories about having little experience with canonical texts they are asked to teach in their field experiences