Unabridged Podcast

Welcome to Unabridged, the podcast where teachers take on books! Every week, Sara, Jen and Ashley (shown left to right in the photo) talk books, share recommendations, and celebrate all things bookish. On our blog (see our posts below!) we share bookish faves, pub day shout-outs, show notes, and book reviews each week.

Want to get more involved? Check out our 2021 reading challenge, join our buddy reads on Instagram, or become an Unabridged Ambassador!

Learn More

Support Unabridged

Nov 30, 2020
2 min

11 Books that Support Advocacy and Education on Human Trafficking

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) It is the eve of the first of December, which means for me, the eve of Dressember, an organization I have been advocating for for several years. My friend RuthAnn is the person who inspired my involvement. I am a part of her Dressember team. We were lucky enough to have her as a guest on the podcast last November. (Listen to the episode here.) In it, RuthAnn discusses Dressember, advocacy, and some of the books on this list. In addition, thi

9 views0 comments

Nov 18, 2020
10 min

152: Books that Encourage Activism in Young People

In this episode of the Unabridged Podcast, we share book recommendations that we believe promote and encourage activism in young people. Our selections include Brandy Colbert’s The Voting Booth, Dave Cullen’s Parkland: Birth of a Movement, and Monica Clark-Robinson's Let the Children March, illustrated by Frank Morrison. We also share what we're currently reading in our Bookish Check-In, and we share some activism accounts that we love in our Give Me One segment. Don't miss J

10 views0 comments

Oct 12, 2020
4 min

12 Books to Empower Young People of All Ages

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) With all of the tumult in our world right now, I'm thinking a lot about how we can encourage the young people in our lives to use their voices, to make wise choices, and to take action. Here are a few books for each age level that encourage young people to find their voices and to take action. Picture Books Chelsea Clinton's She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women who Changed History, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger - This i

26 views0 comments

Jun 25, 2020
3 min

Brandy Colbert's THE VOTING BOOTH - Settle in for a One-Sitting Read!

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Brandy Colbert's The Voting Booth in exchange for an honest review. The book releases Tuesday, July 7. Brandy Colbert's The Voting Booth is a perfect YA book. It's socially conscious; features compelling, nuanced characters; and has just the right amount of romance--I was grinning for nearly the duration of the book, which alternates between the points of view of two high school seniors. Marva

14 views0 comments

Jun 13, 2020
32 min

Bonus: Re-release of Jason Reynolds Highlight with LONG WAY DOWN, GHOST, and WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST

In this bonus episode, we wanted to share a re-release of an episode highlighting three novels by Jason Reynolds, one of our favorite Black authors for young people and for the classroom. We feel his body of work has applications across many age levels and grades. You can check out his body of work here. We tried to go very light on the spoilers in this episode, but a few minor spoilers were hard to avoid as we revealed what we loved about these books. Timeline Introduction a

66 views0 comments

Jun 10, 2020
46 min

129: Re-release of Angie Thomas's THE HATE U GIVE Book Club Discussion

In light of the unjust loss of Black lives in America and of the Black Lives Matter movement, we wanted to share an episode from 2018 where, for our book club, we discussed one of our favorite YA literature books for the classroom, Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give. In the episode, we discuss the novel and share pairings including Gabrielle Union's We're Going to Need More Wine, Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil's The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes Aft

31 views0 comments

Apr 20, 2020
2 min

12 Amazing Picture Books for Tumultuous Times

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) As we navigate these unprecedented times, I've been thinking a lot about how to help the young people in our lives to cope with all of the changes and uncertainty swirling around them. As I always do when struggling or trying out something new, I find myself turning to books. If you're looking to pick out some books, some of my favorite kid lit authors include Peter H. Reynolds, Susan Verde, and Jo Witek (all pictured above),

14 views0 comments

Feb 24, 2020
3 min

Picture Books to Enjoy During Black History Month (and Every Month!)

While I (Ashley) value the opportunity in February to celebrate Black history, I never want that celebration to be reductive -- Black history, culture, and experience should never be reduced to a single month or painted with a broad brush. However, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to shout out some of our favorite picture books in our house -- these books are ones that my daughters love and that we read often. Particular favorites of my girls (ages 3 and 5) include Barack

22 views2 comments

Feb 19, 2020
2 min

113: Why Teach YA? - There's Nothing I Want More than for Kids to Love What We're Doing

In this episode, we focus on classroom teachers and talk directly about how and why we incorporated Young Adult literature into our classrooms. We talk about series we saw our students loving like Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, and Veronica Roth's Divergent, and we talk about seeing our students fall in love with books. From classics like S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders to A.S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants, we talk about using YA lit in our clas

19 views0 comments

Jan 22, 2020
2 min

Welcome - Introduction and Overview

Just getting started with Unabridged Podcast? Welcome! We're Ashley, Jen, and Sara, and we are teachers and podcasters who are passionate about books. We have four kinds of posts here on our blog. On Mondays, we post about our Bookish Faves, on Tuesdays we do Pub Day Shout-outs, on Wednesdays our episodes drop, and on Fridays, we post book reviews. (Be on the lookout on Thursdays, too; we sometimes have an extra post then!) There are many ways to connect with us! In addition

384 views0 comments

Nov 27, 2019
2 min

101: Human Trafficking Awareness with RuthAnn Deveney, Dressember Advocate - Fresh-Squeezed Freedom

The three of us had an amazing conversation with Ruth Ann Deveney about ways that everyone can combat human trafficking every day. We discuss Dressember (find Ashley and Sara on social media to support their Dressember campaigns) and about how to talk to kids of all ages (both in and out of the classroom) about human trafficking and how to make a difference. We also share an array of book recommendations for all ages, including Girl Rising by Tanya Lee Stone, Tell Me by Joan

42 views0 comments

Nov 16, 2019
2 min

Brittney Morris's SLAY -- Jen's Review

Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Brittney Morris’s SLAY in exchange for an honest review. The book released Tuesday, September 24. “What if someone made a [video] game that was just for black people?” (13). This question is at the heart of the brilliant YA novel SLAY, by Brittney Morris. Kiera Johnson, a seventeen-year-old student at the elite Jefferson Academy, is one of a handful of students of color, along with her sister Steph and her boyfriend Malcolm.

5 views0 comments

Jun 12, 2019
1 min

77: Our Summer TBR Lists - We All Know How I Like the Romance

We at Unabridged are SO. Excited. About summer! As unrepentant bookworms, we have been plotting and planning which books we can fit in over our summer break. We are therefore happy to share our Summer TBR lists with you (and with each other) in this #unabridgedshort. What's on your summer TBR? Let us know on social media (@unabridgedpod). Books Mentioned Jen's TBR List Stephen and Owen King’s Sleeping Beauties Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On (to prep for the sequel!) Harry Potter s

2 views0 comments

Apr 17, 2019
1 min

69: VA Festival of the Book (Jason Reynolds, Laurie Halse Anderson, & More!) - Loving Every Minute

In this Unabridged podcast episode, we focus on our field trip to the Virginia Festival of the Book, held in Charlottesville, VA, from March 20-24. We offer our impressions of four sessions, including a dream conversation between Jason Reynolds and Laurie Halse Anderson and a serendipitous afternoon when we got to see the April Book Club Book authors Beth Macy (with Chris McGreal) and Jarrett Krosoczka in back-to-back sessions. You can find out more information about the annu

9 views0 comments

Feb 20, 2019
1 min

61: Ibi Zoboi's PRIDE and AMERICAN STREET - Cherishing Culture

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we discuss Ibi Zoboi's YA Lit books, Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix and American Street. Pride summary: In this modern day remix of Pride and Prejudice, Zuri Benitez seeks to find herself as she moves toward college. When the wealthy Darcy family moves into her neighborhood of Bushwick, Zuri finds herself arguing for the merits of her home and struggling against the change that is threatening her path and her family. American Street

19 views0 comments

Nov 1, 2018
1 min

45 - The Longest Short Episode Ever: Book-to-Film Adaptation of Angie Thomas's THE HATE U GIVE

"For me, my art is my activism and storytelling is my activism, so that’s what I’m going to continue to do, and also encourage people to define that for themselves and also remember throughout this, this is not a sprint — it’s a marathon. I think we have to get back to the idea that the first act of resistance is self-care." ~Angie Thomas in "Amandla Stenberg And Angie Thomas On 'The Hate U Give', Code-Switching, And Using Art As Activism" Mentioned in Episode Angie Thomas'

13 views0 comments

Oct 3, 2018
1 min

41 - Every Time I've Read It I've Found Something New to Love: Angie Thomas's THE HATE U GIVE

People like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right. Maybe. ~Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give Note: We read a few passages from the text of the novel that include strong language. Spoilers are inevitable throughout our discussion, so consider whether or not to listen if you haven't yet read the book! Timeline Introduction and Summary of The Hate U Give: 0:00 - 02:10 M

11 views0 comments

Sep 19, 2018
1 min

39 - Global Read Aloud with LOVE, HATE & OTHER FILTERS, AMAL UNBOUND, and REFUGEE

You can find more information about the Global Read Aloud and sign up for the program by visiting the website, by following Pernille Ripp on Twitter, and by using the hashtag #globalreadaloud on Instagram. In this episode, we're discussing Samira Ahmed's Love, Hate, and Other Filters, Aisha Saeed's Amal Unbound, and Alan Gratz's Refugee. We tried to go very light on the spoilers in this #unabridgedhighlights episode, but a few minor spoilers were hard to avoid as we revealed

30 views0 comments

Sep 5, 2018
1 min

37: Erika Sanchez's I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER -- Dude! What Is Wrong With You?

-Alternate Titles- A Boy in a Bookstore? Yes, Please. OR C'mon, Honey! OR That's the Best Advice She Had to Give Spoilers are inevitable throughout our discussion of I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, so consider whether or not to listen if you haven't yet read the book! Timeline Introduction and Summary of the Book: 0:00 - 01:26 Main Discussion: 01:26 - 33:39 Book Pairings: 34:44 - 40:49 Classroom Connections: 40:26 - 44:05 Book Pairings Jen - Gabrielle Union's We

3 views0 comments

Aug 15, 2018
1 min

34 - Everything Is Linked: Jason Reynolds's LONG WAY DOWN, GHOST, and WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST

-Alternate Titles- The Middle Drawer OR Complications of Friendship OR I like to do athletic things OR I AM athletic **We're having a giveaway of SEVEN (yes, seven!) Jason Reynolds books from Wednesday, August 15, through Wednesday, August 22. Check Instagram (@unabridgedpod) and Facebook (facebook.com/unabridgedpod) for details and to enter.** We tried to go very light on the spoilers in this #unabridgedhighlights episode, but a few minor spoilers were hard to avoid as we r