Stories that Stick: High-Interest Books for English Language Learners
- Mar 31
- 6 min read
Kaitlyn Richter - Nixa Junior High - Nixa, MO
Intro
This project provides English Learners (ELs) the opportunity to engage with high-interest texts that their English-speaking peers are reading. Edmentum (2023) discusses the importance of giving ELs time to read self-selected texts every day. ELs are some of the hardest working students in our building because of the extra mental hoops they jump through every day. They deserve the opportunity to read stories in their home language that are age-appropriate and interesting to them. Scibienski (2025) asserts that offering texts in native languages can help scaffold students’ understanding, leading to greater comprehension. This project involves purchasing books in Spanish, Russian, and Ukrainian (our school’s top languages other than English) to create a World Languages collection in the school library. By purchasing translated books that we already have in English, our ELs can engage with the translated texts in either language as their proficiency grows. However, ELs will and should be provided unlimited access to check out books in their home language, as our library strives to meet the framework for library best practices. The American Association of School Librarians (2018) lists “Include” as a shared framework, citing the commitment to “demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to inclusiveness and respect for diversity in the learning community.” The included lesson plan takes this a step further to include all students in celebrating and engaging with world languages within the library context, regardless of their home language. All students should feel included in the library, no matter their language or background, and this project is a step in the right direction for our school.
Step-by-Step Plan & Timeline
December - February
Add multilingual materials to library catalog
Shelve multilingual materials in the World Languages library section
Create signage to categorize each language collection
February
Advertise new collection in monthly staff communication and specific list of titles provided to English teachers and EL teacher
Create a World Languages display that features new books with their English language book counterpart
Create and print multilingual “READ” bookmarks to distribute to students, including a QR code that leads to a list of new resources in the library
Present a lesson to all English classes about World Languages collection, emphasizing new collection of books and bilingual dictionaries, as well as public library resources for independent language learning
Materials
Alas de fuego. Libro 1.La profecia : novela grafica (Wings of Fire, Book 1) by Deutsch, Barry
Alas de fuego. Libro 2.La heredera perdida : novela grafica (Wings of Fire, Book 2) by Deutsch, Barry
Apachurrada by Lloyd, Megan Wagner
Capitan America. El ejercito fantasma by Gratz, Alan
Crepusculo (Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Meyer, Stephenie
El crossover (Crossover, Book 1) by Alexander, Kwame
El crossover by Alexander, Kwame
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book Series [18-item series]
Bez izvilin (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 18) by Kinney, Jeff
Dolgaya doroga (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 9) by Kinney, Jeff
Neprigliadnaia pravda (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 5) by Kinney, Jeff
Polnyi Bampers (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 17) by Kinney, Jeff
Polosa nevezeniia (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 8) by Kinney, Jeff
Posledniaia kaplia (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 3) by Kinney, Jeff
Predprazdnichnaya likhoradka (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6) by Kinney, Jeff
Sobach'Ria zhizn' (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4) by Kinney, Jeff
Tretii lishnii (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 7) by Kinney, Jeff
Zvezda sporta (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 16) by Kinney, Jeff
Eclipse (Twilight Saga, Book 3) by Meyer, Stephenie
Fantasma by Reynolds, Jason
Golodnye igry (Hunger Games, Book 1) by Collins, Suzanne
Instinkt ubiitsy (Naturals, Book 2) by Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
Izgoi by Hinton, S. E
Khlopchyk u smuhastiy pizhami by Boyne, John
Luna nueva (Twilight Saga, Book 2) by Meyer, Stephenie
Making Friends Book Series [2-item series]
Una amiga de verdad. El clon de Dani (Making Friends, Book 2) by Gudsnuk, Kristen
Miles Morales corrientes extranas : una novela grafrica de El Hombre Arana by Reynolds, Justin A
Naturals Book Series [1-item series]
Nensi Dryu i znak vitykh svechey (Nancy Drew Mysteries) by Keene, Carolyn
Nezdatni by Korman, Gordon
Olvida el manana by Dunn, Pintip
Priozhdennyi profailer (Naturals, Book 1) by Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
Prisoner B-3087 by Gratz, Alan
Rebote (Crossover, Book 3) by Alexander, Kwame
Refugiado by Gratz, Alan
Restart by Korman, Gordon
Shokla shpionov by Gibbs, Stuart
Sobrevivi el ataque de los osos grizzlies, 1967 (I Survived, Book 5) by Ball, Georgia
Sobrevivi el Huracan Katrina, 2005 (I Survived, Book 9) by Ball, Georgia
Sobrevivi la Guerra de Independencia de Estados Unidos, 1776 (I Survived, Book 9) by Ball, Georgia
Sobrevivi los ataques del 11 de Septiembre de 2001 (I Survived, Book 6) by Ball, Georgia
Srta. campista by Fajardo, Kat
Srta. Quinces by Fajardo, Kat
Fantasma (Track, Book 1) by Reynolds, Jason
Lu (Track, Book 4) by Reynolds, Jason
Patina (Track, Book 2) by Reynolds, Jason
Sunny (Track, Book 3) by Reynolds, Jason
Veletka i syroty by Barnhill, Kelly Regan
Vinovaty zvezdy by Green, John
Note: The materials selected for this project were purchased for a 7-8 grade junior high building, with priority placed on high-interest titles whose English language counterparts are popular and circulate often. Availability of translated books also played a role in which titles were selected. Educators wanting to implement this plan at their building should select materials that are appropriate and interesting for their specific demographic, in languages that match their school community’s needs.
Sustainability
Now that we have a decent start for our World Languages collection, we have access to district funds that will help us to slowly grow this collection over time as more translated books become available to purchase. Having these multilingual books will be an asset for years to come, as I tried to purchase popular and interesting titles that have stood the test of time in our school library. I plan to promote them each year and coordinate with our EL teacher to make sure our students are aware that these books are available to them. As our language needs fluctuate over the years, I will pay attention to where the collection is lacking and add what I can to make sure all students feel represented in our library. The book display and lesson plan will become part of our yearly lesson rotation in the library to ensure students are exposed to our World Languages collection every school year.
Reflections
My first takeaway from this project is how far the publishing industry has to go in terms of making translated books widely available for purchase. This was a hurdle that we faced, as some of the books we wanted to purchase were not available in the translations we needed or were cost prohibitive. I originally wanted to start with a list of popular English books that I would find in various translations. Instead, I ended up looking at what our chosen vendor (Follett) had available in Spanish, Ukrainian, and Russian using the language filters as I searched, and picked popular titles from what they had available for purchase. This was a big time saver.
Other educators will need to consider the age of their students, as well as the languages present in their school and what topics are of interest to their specific school community. My list may not exactly match what will work best for another school, but it is a good starting point for any junior high libraries interested in implementing a similar program. I am waiting until later in the school year to survey our ELs on how the World Languages collection is working for them and how I can improve it in the future, but I will say that students have already started to notice our new multilingual books and they are excited!
Next year, our EL teacher will bring her students down at the beginning of the year so our students can familiarize themselves with the collection as soon as possible and use it all year! For other methods of exposure, I also included our World Languages shelf in a library scavenger hunt we did as a back-to-school review in January, and several students were actually surprised to know we had books in other languages. I think frequent reminders and exposure will be extremely important as this collection grows.
I also timed our display of the multilingual books and their English counterparts to coincide with a family night at our school for incoming students. I put it front and center at the library entrance to capture the attention of our families and encouraged them to take a bookmark to explore our multilingual resources. My hope is that our World Languages collection will eventually feel like an organic part of our library space where students and staff feel completely comfortable utilizing all it has to offer.
References
American Association of School Librarians. (2018). AASL standards framework for learners. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AASL-Standards-
Framework-for-Learners-pamphlet.pdf
Edmentum. (2023, October 31). Strategies for supporting EL in the mainstream classroom. Edmentum. https://www.edmentum.com/articles/strategies-for-supporting-EL-in-the-mainstream-classroom/
Scibienski, D. (2025, May 11). 9 EL best practices to support students. Newsela.
