That’s Novel Reading

In this week’s episode, Katie and Scott discuss one of their favorite books featured on the podcast, All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. While both Katie and Scott were left speechless by this beautiful novel, they work to find words to describe this incredible story. Join Katie and Scott for this episode as they discuss the book’s major themes of faith, found family, and how characters come to define and...

This week, Katie and Scott’s Novel Short focuses on Veteran’s Day. They share their personal connection to the federal holiday and how their school’s assembly honors local veterans. And, of course, they’ll share some books students (and teachers and parents!) would enjoy to learn more about characters’ experiences with veterans and Veteran’s Day.

Scott and Katie celebrate the season of spooky and thriller by discussing Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti. This book has a great flow and structure that really keeps the reader guessing about how the central mystery will resolve. The character development is rich and diverse, even lending a powerful presence and voice to the off-page police officers investigating the disappearance o...

Starting off the season, Scott and Katie will be discussing Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez. While this book has been out for some time, Scott and Katie thought this would be the perfect book to launch the season since they celebrated Banned Books Week earlier in October. Pérez has been a vocal advocate against banning books, and Out of Darkness was a great read to begin a great season of gre...

In this week’s Novel Short, Scott and Katie discuss ADHD Awareness Month for October. Scott and Katie became aware of October’s theme from Tyler Page’s social media. As the author of Button Pusher, a book Katie and Scott featured last season, Tyler Page shares amazing resources for everyone to be better aware of ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). Scott and Katie discuss the importanc...

That’s Novel Reading kicks off season 2 with an episode where Scott and Katie catch up with their listeners! They both had QUITE a busy summer and are ready to continue to discuss the literature and topics that engage our young adult readers, and even our adult readers, too! This week Scott and Katie discuss eBooks vs. Physical Books. What do the experts say? What are their preferences? Which do Y...

Join Katie and Scott as they preview season 2 of That's Novel Reading! In this season, the two teacher/book club friends will continue to explore the contemporary young adult literature that speaks to the hearts and minds of our young adult readers, and maybe some adult readers, too. These two intrepid readers (yes, even Scott) will continue to explore young adult literature and topics that he...

This is the final episode of Season 1 of That’s Novel Reading, and Katie and Scott take some time to do a season in review. They share the origin story of the podcast, some of their favorite books featured in episodes, and begin thinking about the future for Season 2. As Scott and Katie end Season 1, they just want to thank all of their supporters and listeners who have joined them on this journey...

This week for the Novel Short, Katie and Scott take some time to discuss their reader identities. So many of the books they remember from childhood have influenced them as readers today. Listen in as Katie and Scott reminisce about some of their favorite books from when they were younger and share how to start the school year with some interesting strategies to learn about students’ reader identit...

This week, Scott and Katie wanted to feature a book that would be a great pick for summer reading: mystery edition. Join Scott and Katie as they discuss Daughter by Kate McLaughlin, a page-turning mystery book that can make your skin crawl. This title would be a great addition to your summer reading list and kept Scott and Katie wondering what was going to happen next. Check out this episode to he...

This week’s Novel Short focuses on July being Disability Pride Month. Scott and Katie discuss the history of Disability Pride month and the importance of representation of characters and authors in books we read with students. They also share some of their top picks for books to read for Disability Pride month and some books they hope to read and feature on the podcast in the future! Check it out...

Continuing their love for graphic novels, this week, Katie and Scott will discuss two graphic novel memoirs by Jarrett Krosoczka: Hey, Kiddo and Sunshine. Sunshine is Krosoczka’s newest graphic novel as a follow-up to the award-winning Hey, Kiddo. Scott and Katie felt that these stories tugged at their heartstrings as Krosoczka shares his personal experiences dealing with trauma and addiction in H...

This week, join Katie and Scott in their Novel Short where they will talk about the importance of summer reading. In this Novel Short, Katie and Scott discuss their own past experiences with summer reading as students before diving into what research suggests about the summer slide. Both Katie and Scott make recommendations for listeners about how we can reframe summer reading for our students in...

On this week’s episode, Scott and Katie discuss the release of the young adult novel version of “I Have Something to Tell You”, by Chasten Buttigieg. Chasten, a former middle school teacher and husband to Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, tells the story of growing up in a rural, conservative town in the United States and coming to terms with coming out as a gay man. His memoir revolves...

Our Novel Short this week features our first guest speaker, Jen Lendvai-Lintner (Instagram: @jenwriter). Jen is an award-winning writer who has contributed her work to The Today Show Parenting Team and Scary Mommy. She teaches a first-year college writing course at Rowan University and is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Writing. Jen is joining Katie and Scott this week to discuss Audioboo...

This week, Scott and Katie talk about a book that pushed their thinking: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. This was a book Katie wanted Scott to read for a long time, and with June being Pride Month, it was the perfect opportunity to discuss this novel. Scott and Katie will delve into the positives with this book while also addressing the controversy of the inspiration for this book hea...

Happy Pride Month! Katie and Scott have been wanting to talk about banned books for some time, and Pride Month was the perfect opportunity to delve into this important topic. LGBTQIA+ books are typically banned or challenged in the United States, especially now. In this episode, Scott and Katie discuss the importance of having LGBTQIA+ books in libraries and classrooms and share their personal exp...

This week, Scott and Katie will discuss the Nutmeg Book Awards, which are books specific to their state of Connecticut. Students from across the state partner with parents, teachers and librarians to choose the best elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school books from the past five years. Scott and Katie will discuss the book that recently was voted the middle school pick of the year, Game...

This week, Scott and Katie’s Novel Short is all about elevating AAPI literature for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. This episode will include some of Katie’s favorite past reads, Scott’s and Katie’s current reads, and what they have planned for books on deck to highlight AAPI authors.

In this week’s Novel Short, Scott interviews Katie about their Town Reads program which is based on the One Book, One Town initiative. Scott asks Katie poignant questions about the program, and Katie shares her experiences while also sharing some of the books her students are reading this year. Tune in to learn more about the Town Reads program and maybe you’ll be inspired to bring something simil...

For Mental and Behavior Health Awareness Month, Scott and Katie discuss Tyler Page’s graphic novel-memoir, Button Pusher. Page shares his journey with ADHD (attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder) through beautiful panels of text and illustrations. Threaded throughout are informational pieces about ADHD, and how people can help support anyone with this disability. Scott and Katie discuss their p...

Field trips are making a comeback at Scott and Katie’s school this year, for the first time since lockdown in 2020, and they’re so excited. Join Katie and Scott in this week’s Novel Short as they discuss field trips and highlight a brand new book by award-winning author Jerry Craft about (you guessed it!) field trips! All the characters you love from New Kid return for the newest book in the serie...

Join Katie and Scott this week as they discuss Clap When You Land by award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo in an episode that discusses building empathy through tragedy. Acevedo’s story follows two girls who discover each other’s existence through the tragic loss of their shared father. Katie and Scott discuss the major themes of this book, their personal connections on the topics of loss and fam...

You may be expecting a new episode where Scott and Katie talk about a new book this week. But like many teachers around the nation, they spent last week on their Spring Break, spending time with family and friends (or in Scott’s case seeing multiple, amazing Broadway shows). So, in lieu of talking about a new book, Scott and Katie have decided to start doing Novel Shorts. These short episodes will...

This week’s episode features a book Scott and Katie chose to highlight Women’s History Month for March and National Poetry Month happening in April. Enter the Body by Joy McCullough gives voice to four of Shakespeare’s leading ladies from the tragedies of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear and Titus Andronicus. As these females die in their respective plays, they meet beneath the stage to discuss...