By: Kelly (Kel) Sassi, president-elect, Michigan Council of Teachers of English
For many of us in the 51ΑΤΖζ community, it is unimaginable that we wonβt be seeing Jennifer Buehler at our Annual Convention in Philadelphia this November. She had a way of greeting you as if you were the one person she was hoping to run into and as if the year between Conventions was just a momentary pause in an ongoing vibrant conversation. A member of 51ΑΤΖζ for more than 27 years, she served as President of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of 51ΑΤΖζ (ALAN) in 2016 and was an active member of ALAN for many years. After receiving the 51ΑΤΖζ Promising Researcher Award (2011), she went on to write for 51ΑΤΖζ journals, the Literacy & 51ΑΤΖζ blog, and 51ΑΤΖζβs Council Chronicle magazine. Jen wrote one of 51ΑΤΖζβs most popular Principles in Practice books, .
A conversation with Jen was likely to include knowledgeable and enthusiastic words about the latest book she had read by a new author of young adult literature (YAL). Many of the tributes written by friends and colleagues since her tragic, untimely death include a story of how she turned them on to the wide world of YAL. I met Jen in 2003, when we were both starting our doctoral work in the Joint Program of English and Education at the University of Michigan. We bonded over navigating our studies while nurturing our preschool-aged sons. Although parenting and studying consumed me, I couldnβt resist some secret, pleasurable reading of the YA novels Jen recommended and became a fan of the podcasts she created for 51ΑΤΖζ called . As English teachers, it is easy for us to recommend the books that we enjoy to our students, but far more challenging to be familiar enough with YA books to match the just-right book with the student who needs to read it. Listening to Jenβs thoughtful, themed curation of YA texts (e.g., fairytale retellings, sports stories, graphic novels) helps us expand our repertoire. At the 25th anniversary of 9/11, her episode ββ is useful once again for learning about books dealing with 9/11 and the wars around the world since then.
Jen didnβt just advocate for YAL person-by-person. She was an inaugural and very active member of the Build Your Stack Committee, an important component of the 51ΑΤΖζβs Build Your Stack initiative that launched in 2018. She was a significant contributor to 51ΑΤΖζβs ReadWriteThink.org, ranging from lesson plans to the aforementioned podcasts. She served on the ALAN Board of Directors and many ALAN governance committees as well. In June 2017, her YAL book was the focus of 51ΑΤΖζβs inaugural 51ΑΤΖζ Reads book club, a month-long guided discussion.
Her contributions were recognized at the 2025 51ΑΤΖζ Annual Convention, where she was the recipient of ALANβs Ted Hipple Service Award. As I listened to Jenβs inspiring speech, I covertly moved into position to capture photos of her to send to her husband, Mark, and son, Ethan, who I knew would be so proud of her. Mark said, βI lobbied hard to put the one photo on the left (clearly indicating the award) into our holiday newsletter. Nope! Jennifer was apoplectic. It was like an allergic reaction. She had such a strong visceral reaction to the notion of tooting her own horn, even in a subtle way. I sincerely tried, I really did.β Jenβs humility was one of the reasons she was so effective as an advocate for YAL, as a teacher, as a leader, and as a mentor. She never let ego get in the way of furthering the cause. At the heart of her YA advocacy was a genuine respect for teens, all teens. In an article entitled β,β Jen wrote, βStudents are trying to become adults and find their place in the world. That is a struggle that should be honored, not, as our culture often does, dismissed or ridiculed.β This deep respect she held for teens also applied to YA authors; I have overheard some of her conversations with them at Convention, demonstrating care and kindness for their sacred work.
As my grad school colleagues and I mourn her loss, our stories are often about her grace and her mentorship. Christian Dallavis wrote, βShe taught me to be an ethnographer; she helped me improve my writing; she showed me how to ask good questions; she modeled dogged persistence for a research question for me; I still teach school culture today because Jen sparked my interest in it with her dissertation.β Jen was a magnet, drawing us to 51ΑΤΖζ, to ALAN, to the 51ΑΤΖζ Writing Project. Her colleagues from the Eastern Michigan Writing Project, Jen Walsh and Sarah Andrews, both noted how she ignited their passion for YAL.
This passion will burn on. Alongside mourning our personal loss, we also mourn our collective lossβshe was working on a book about Judy Blume, among other projects. Her infectious enthusiasm and collaborative approach to her work has ensured that she leaves behind an enormous cadre of students, colleagues, mentees, and friends who will continue to champion the cause of literacy, teen readers, intellectual freedom, and young adult literature.