Young Adult Literature with high school students

     Teaching high school students by using YAL can be very difficult at times. There are those students who don't want to come in to read, but would rather be the class clown. Then there are those who love to read, and signed up for the course to continue doing what they love. Lastly, there are those students who like to read, but prefer to have an audio version of the book and a self decided timeline of assignment dates. How is it possible to engage every single student from the 26 students enrolled?
      When I started teaching, I wanted to try having all students reading at the same speed as far as pages assigned and assignments. I printed off a calendar to help students to be organized and stay on track. I offered audio and visual copies of the books that I had decided to teach from. I also brought in ideas and such from staff, trying to get their input on what they felt students would want from the course.
      I felt that I had the course in working order, and continued each day by conferencing individually with each student to check their status and comprehension. It is then when I realized, there were a number of students who hated the book we were reading as a class. There were also students who could not find time to read outside of class, as they were involved in athletics, worked, or another extracurricular activity. Much to my surprise, I also had those students who opened up to me and said that they didn't have support at home. Their parents didn't think a class should be taken that just revolved around reading...what were they learning?
     This lit a flame under my rear. I decided to explore many books in YAL that would be better to use in my class. I had the thought in mind to remember, how can a student relate to this book, character, event, etc.? Once I started digging deeper into YAL, I realized just how important it is to students and their lives. YAL offers students an opportunity to become a whole new person while reading, it influences them to make their lives better, it is a way that they can relate to issues that they may feel are only happening to them and not others.
      I also decided to get the parents involved. I started sending home books of the month news letters. I filled out what the book had to offer, summarized the book, themes in the book, and what students could do to relate to the book. I also offered comprehension questions that students could do with their parents following reading. You would not believe the response I had to this! The parents were then seeing through my eyes the importance of YAL. They were actually supporting their student in my course.
     With a little bit of feedback, and one on one conferencing, I tweaked my curriculum and book choices, which then increased my student grades and engagement! YAL was a lifesaver, I just needed to find a way to allow others to relate to it like myself.