Understanding the New YA Books Policy in Grades 5-8

At our fall Student-Led Conferences this year, students introduced their parents to our school’s updated YA book policies for grades 5-8. In this post, we want to reinforce what’s changing and why.

Why change our YA book policies?

The short answer is that when the publishing industry changes, we must change with it. The books we encourage students to read should not only be appropriate for their ages and reading levels, but also reflective of our Roman Catholic values and school’s mission.

In the past 10+ years, authors and publishers have produced books that are increasingly violent, edgy, and geared more toward a high school audience than a middle school one... all under the very generic term “Young Adult.” As a result, we teachers have found that one universal permission slip for YA in grades 6-8 is no longer appropriate to help us match student readers to the right books for them.

We determined that we need a rating scale that can more accurately portray a book’s content to teachers, parents, and students, helping everyone choose the right texts at the right time in a child’s life. Just as the movie industry has separated PG, PG-13, and R-rated films, we seek to categorize books more accurately in our school. We will be labeling books into green, yellow, and red categories for easy identification.

What’s new in the YA policies?

Much of the independent reading experience is not changing; however, we are adding a few resources to students’ yellow folders:

• A guideline sheet, explaining the green, yellow, and red rating system
• A reading log for YA books, on which students will collect parent signatures verifying permission to read each YA book

Here's a glimpse of the YA reading log in each student's yellow folder.
There's a place for a parent signature to indicate permission to read the book. 

What’s the difference between green, yellow, and red books?

The full descriptions for green, yellow, and red books can be viewed here, including a few sample book titles for each.

However, here are just a few examples of what might indicate a green, yellow, or red YA text in our school:

Green Book Sample: From Let’s Roll, by Lisa Beamer

• Summary: This nonfiction book is written by the wife of a man who lost his life on the hijacked plane to Pennsylvania on 9/11. Other families of people on the planes and their stories are also included.
• Sample Quote: “Jeremy Glick was still talking with his wife, Lyz, as the counterattack plan began to be formulated among those on United Flight 93... ‘What do you think we should do?’ he asked his wife. ‘Go for it,’ Lyz told him. She knew he really had no choice. It had become increasingly clear that this was not the kind of hijacking from which people escaped without injury. The terrorists weren’t going to land the plane and walk away peacefully. Somebody was likely to die. And maybe a lot of people.”

Yellow Sample Novel: From Divergent by Veronica Roth

• Summary: Though the book has strong positive messages and role models, it also features a lot of violence (from hand fighting to gunfights), and there is some heated kissing (which almost progresses further, but doesn’t).
• Sample Quote: “He turns toward me. I want to touch him, but I’m afraid of his bareness; afraid that he will make me bare too. ‘Is this scaring you, Tris?’ ‘No,’ I croak. I clear my throat. ‘Not really. I’m only…afraid of what I want.’”

Red Sample Novel: From The Outsiders by SE Hinton

• Summary: As two gangs have conflict with each other, two boys run away to avoid punishment after a stabbing; they also make heroic choices, return home, and promote messages against conflict. In addition to violence, there is mild drinking and some smoking; the novel is set in the 1960s.
• Sample Quote: “‘I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy.’ Bob, the handsome Soc, was lying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still. A dark pool was growing from him, spreading slowly over the blue-white cement. I looked at Johnny’s hand. He was clutching the switchblade, and it was dark to the hilt... I want a cigarette. I want a cigarette. We had smoked our last pack... ‘We’ll need money. And maybe a gun. And a plan.’”

How can we find out if a book is green, yellow, or red?

Fully implementing the new policy will be a process for us. Eventually, all of St. Brigid’s YA books will have clear green, yellow, and red stickers on them for easy identification.

In the meantime...

• Students can simply ask a teacher to confirm a book’s color label.
• At home, parents can check www.commonsensemedia.org to see what positive and negative characteristics a book may contain.

What should students and parents do together at home?

At the start of each new YA book (fiction or nonfiction), we ask that students initiate a conversation with parents to talk about the book and elicit permission to read it. (Again, that will include taking a look at CommonSenseMedia or other sources to understand what the book contains.)

If families have any questions about a book, please email any ELA teacher, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Thank you for reading!