On My Bookshelf: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

The basic plot from Amazon: Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son, and to start at a new school where she knows no one.

Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

Why I liked it: I'm not usually a big fan of young adult romance, but I loved Tell Me Three Things , which was just as much about coming of age and figuring out who you are as it was about love. As if it isn’t enough that Jessie is grieving the loss of her mother, her father fairly quickly remarries (a woman he met through a grief group: her husband has also recently passed away) and moves Jessie across the country from Chicago to California during her junior year of high school.

Jessie at first struggles to fit in with her wealthier peers, some of whom seems like they stepped right off the set of Mean Girls. But when an anonymous classmate calling themselves Somebody/Nobody reaches out to her online and offers to help her navigate her new school, Jessie finds herself making new friends, hoping to meet Somebody/Nobody, and eventually falling for someone.

While struggling to find herself in a new place, Jessie also struggles to find balance in her relationship with her dad, her new stepmother and stepbrother, and her best friend back in Chicago. I enjoyed these minor characters just as much as I liked the protagonist. Rachel, her new stepmother wasn’t the stereotypical evil, controlling witch, but also didn’t try to force a relationship with Jessie. Theo, her new stepbrother, tries to ignore Jessie, but eventually becomes a fierce ally. Scarlet, Jessie’s best friend back in Chicago, struggled with fitting in after Jessie left because the two had such an exclusive friendship.

Classroom application: I would recommend this for high school and up, mostly because the book is set in high school. There's some references to sex and drug use, but nothing is actually depicted.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Tell Me Three Things for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Sunday 11/3: Professional Development

Brynn Allison,  The Literary Maven, & Lisa Spangler, Mrs. Spangler in the Middle, host #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Sunday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Friday, we post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Sunday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last year and we hope that you will join us again.

We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Sunday, November 3, our #2ndaryELA chat will be about professional development.

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Sunday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “Latest.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @spanglermiddle) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged as well as using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

You can also check out a quick video tutorial in this blog post.

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Sunday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here: