Our semester ended before Christmas, and I had to say good-bye to all of my students. Because my school operates on a block schedule with four 90-minute daily class periods, I am only allowed to keep students one semester. (I hate block schedules, but that’s a different blog topic for the future.) Next week I will meet 75-85 new students.
Because my seniors have finished their English requirements, they will complete little reading and writing next semester. To encourage them to keep reading, however, I have started a voluntary reading group for AP English students. We will read one book each month and then meet before school to discuss it – no quizzes, no tests, no papers – just reading and discussion.
I invited all of my 84 first-semester students to participate, and so far 26 of them have joined the group, not bad for seniors in their final semester of high school!
I want the group and reading to be fun and profitable for students; therefore, I need to select books of high interest that will “speak” to 17 and 18 year olds a few months away from college.
In January, we are reading John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, a book that most teenagers enjoy and have fun discussing. For February, I’m considering Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, a poignant book about racism in South Africa.
I’m looking for suggestions for other books that I can introduce to these students. They are all excellent readers and good students. Because they have volunteered to participate in a book group, they also obviously enjoy reading. I may suggest one book each month for the entire group or offer 3 suggestions and let them choose the book they want to read.
When you think back to your high school and college years, what books resonated powerfully with you? Can you remember a book that you could not put down or a book that you considered powerful because it opened your eyes to a new world or situation that you had not considered previously?
I would appreciate any advice or suggestions. Since I know senioritis will start nipping at these students in the next few weeks, I want to make our reading group as meaningful and engaging as possible.
Thanks!
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2 comments on this topic
2. January - 4:49 pm
A few years ago, when completing my Master’s, I took an Adolescent Literature course. WOW, did we read some amazing books I’d either never heard of or read (happens a lot I’m finding out when you’re in kindergarten)…
Anyway, three that REALLY made an impact on me were
1. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
2. The Land by Mildred Taylor
3. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt
These books provided our class of adults with HOURS of meaningful and passionate discussion.
2. January - 6:23 pm
Ayn Rand- The Fountainhead
Plus, there is an essay contest:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_contests_tf
2. January - 11:02 pm
Thanks for the suggestions. Believe it or not, I haven’t read any of these books. I guess I have more reading to do.
2. January - 11:04 pm
Thanks, Sarah! I had forgotten about The Fountainhead, and so many students love it.
2. January - 11:06 pm
–I thoroughly enjoyed Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, but it may be a book that sophomores find captivating, but seniors do not connect with as well.
–Vonnegut’s Slaughter House V is fascinating, but well not everyone loves science fiction…
–Tuesdays with Morrie, was a book I read in high school and found very powerful. Its themes are universal.
–The Great Gatsby is short and sweet with quite a bit of ground for discussion, and I found it very enjoyable in high school.
–I think your reading group would benefit from a memoir that really captures the point your students are at which really is grasping with the future and understanding their hopes, ambitions, and dreams with the limits of reality; a book that empowers them by showing that those limitations are not as real as they appear. Gifted Hands comes to mind as a possibility.
3. January - 9:52 am
Thanks for the suggestions, Andy! All of my kids have already read (and loved) Gatsby, and most of them have read Salinger. I had never considered Tuesdays with Morrie, but I think it might be a book that most of these kids will treasure right before they graduate. I have been looking for a book similar to Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture because the kids love it. Morrie may just fit the bill. I just ordered Gifted Hands. Prior to your post, I had never heard of it. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
3. January - 3:54 pm
Edie, over the years many of my male students told me that Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley (it was on my History reading list) really changed the way they thought about things. I agree with Andy about Tuesdays With Morrie and would venture to say that it changed my adult life.
3. January - 4:01 pm
Brothers Karamazov .. there’s a novel. It totally changed my life…..I have always said that all people need to read the Russians — they know how to suffer.
I loved The Namesake by Jhumpia Lahiri — great story and so interesting. Everyone I have suggested that book to has come back and said, “Wow.” Of course, not you, cause you never read what I tell you to read even though I read everything that you tell me to. I’m that kind of friend.
What else?
Hmmm.
I like a Leon Uris novel too, but he might be dated. When I read Trinity, I was like — “crap. There’s some religious conflict for you.” I was young — and didn’t even know there was an Ireland. I’m kidding, but I did learn a lot.
I also think that Life of Pi is a great novel for discussion.
I recently read People of the Book — great read — too.
Eh.
That’s all I got.
3. January - 4:24 pm
Thanks for the suggestions, Margaret. I think I’m going to list all of the books and let the kids vote on the ones they want to read. I’m going to hold out Morrie and read it right before the kids graduate. I think it’s one they will remember forever.