Tim and Taylor discuss Root Magic, a middle grade historical fiction/fantasy/horror novel by Eden Royce. Listen in to hear their thoughts on the book, what they think kids would like about it, how teachers might want to use it in the classroom, plus recommendations for further reading!

English teachers really love talking about a novel's themes. But is that always a good thing? Should we just chill on the analysis sometimes? In this episode, Taylor and Tim discuss the pros and cons of focusing on larger themes of a text in an ELA classroom. Does it help kids get more out of reading? Or is it just a buzzkill? 

Tim and Taylor discuss Gordon Korman's 97th (!) book, Unplugged, a middle-grade novel about a spoiled rich kid sent against his will to a tech-free summer camp in the middle of rural Arkansas. What did we think? Would kids like it? What would ELA teachers want to focus on if using it in the classroom? Listen to the episode to find out our answers to those questions. 

WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS!

When we adults think about recommending a book to a kid, we tend to think of the books that we liked as kids. But do they hold up? Would kids like them? Would these books be good to use in an ELA classroom? Or are we just biased to our childhood favorites? Would kids be better off reading something more modern? In this episode, Tim and Taylor each bring up three books that they enjoyed as kids and attempt to answer all those questions. 

WARNING: We reveal minor spoilers for the books we bring up in this episode. 

For the podcast's inaugural episode, Tim and Taylor discuss Rick Riordan's latest middle grade sci-fi/fantasy adventure novel Daughter of the Deep. 

WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS!