Good Books Young Troublemakers

I was lucky enough to attend PLA in Minneapolis at the beginning of April and came back so inspired! There were amazing keynote speakers, so many incredible sessions, and an exhibit hall that you would not believe! It was a jam packed three days of sessions and networking opportunities. 

Photo from goodbooksyoungtroublemakers.org

There was one session in particular, presented by Tanvi Rastogi, a school librarian in Minnesota, that I'm still thinking about. Her presentation was titled Speak Up!: Using Middle Grade Books to Build Allyship Muscles. I run a 'tween book club that I feel is pretty successful, but for a while I've been hoping to add more depth to the book discussion. That's where Tanvi's presentation comes in. Tanvi introduced us to Good Books Young Troublemakers (GBYT), an organization that Tanvi founded in 2021. It's an organization that, "uses middle grade books to teach kids how to use their voices and create good and necessary trouble for a lifetime." 

Signing up for a free account gives you access to incredible book club guides for great middle grade books, each of which allows readers to practice their "troublemaking" skills. When emailing with Tanvi about sharing this information here, she said that the discussion guides, "can look overwhelming. I always tell folks to take what they need from them by incorporating a GBYT question or two into their book clubs or by using some of the facilitator talking points to help guide a discussion on a particular topic." I've looked through some of the guides, and can tell you they are an excellent resource! 

If you're interested in learning more about Good Books Young Troublemakers you can visit the website, or reach out to Tanvi at hello@gbyt.org.