News Guide

Shmoop, a digital publishing company, polishes its apple to revisit middle school.Shmoop helps students and teachers unpack the best stories in Young Adult Literature (or YAL, not y’all):

• Shmoop has the dish on classic young adult novels.FromJulie of the Wolves to The Giver to Call of the Wild, Shmoop puts a witty spin on these classics, demonstrating why they still matter today.
• Shmoop tackles movies as well, the company has the inside scoop on the books that inspired them. Shmoop's take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will have your mouth watering for more Wonka bars and tasty symbolism**.Mmm, symbolism.And for students who loved the animated Coraline, Neil Gaiman's original and super creepy story will blow you away.
• What better way to hear a young adult story than from a young adult?Some of the favorites, including Walk Two Moons, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and When You Reach Me, are told from the point-of-view of a kid.And Shmoop is here to explain why that matters.
• Shmoop isn't afraid of getting real.Within the Shmoop collection, the company showcases the darker side of young adult lit: The stuff that's not all Everlasting Gobstoppers and happy endings. Shmoop helps students tackle the topics of teen suicide (Thirteen Reasons Why), the Holocaust (The Book Thief, The Diary of Anne Frank), and mental illness (I Am the Cheese) while remembering to appreciate the literature behind it all.
• And last but way far from least, Shmoop is joining the 50th anniversary celebration of that beloved young adult classic, The Phantom Tollbooth. Take a ride through the Lands Beyond with Milo, and Shmoop will help students unravel the meaning behind all those puns, allegories and flying watchdogs.

*No relation to Simon’s show.
**The reading of this guide is not approved by Jenny Craig.

About Shmoop

Shmoop is a digital curriculum and test prep company that makes fun, rigorous learning and teaching materials. Shmoop content is written by master teachers and Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and other top universities. Shmoop Learning Guides, SAT Prep, and Teacher’s Editions balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous materials to help students understand how subjects relate to their daily lives. Shmoop offers more than 7,000 titles across the Web, iPhone, Android devices, iPad, Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader. The company has been honored twice by the Webby Awards and was named “Best in Tech” for 2010 and 2011 by Scholastic Administrator. Launched in 2008, Shmoop is headquartered in a labradoodle-patrolled office in Mountain View, Calif.