As a teacher, I get asked hundreds of questions a day.
"Did I miss anything yesterday?"- (Of course not! We can't learn without you! Instead we decided to reenact the entire plot of Interstellar!)
"Can I quick go get my binder/ipad/pencil before class starts? I'll only be a little late!"- (Sure, but you have to skip all the way there!)
"Mrs. Pomeroy, why were you gone yesterday? We had to have a sub!"- (Sorry, I was actually auditioning to be on the next Survivor, I will run it by you first next time!)
Of all of the questions I am asked, my favorite is, "What book should I read?"
#1 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian By Sherman Alexie
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Who I recommend it to:
EVERYONE, but I especially recommend
it to reluctant readers.
Why you should read it:
I believe this book will become a
part of future high school curricula. It touches on themes like: racism,
poverty, bullying, and identity. But don’t
be dissuaded by the tough subjects, the book is fun! It is “slap your knee” hilarious.
The narrator is smart and witty, and there are cartoons!
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com: “Bestselling
author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing
up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his
own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white
farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.”
#2 Anna and the French Kiss By Stephanie Perkins
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Who I recommend it to:
Typically, girls who are looking for
something fun to read. Boys tend to be
put off by the title, but I will keep trying!
Why you should read it:
Like the other books on this list,
“Anna” has won numerous YA awards since its release. This book is a fun read.
It is a love story that somehow makes you root for all of the characters
instead of making you want to groan and roll your eyes. The characters are
intelligent and their story gives you that warm and bubbly feeling in your
stomach. The students who read this book often go on to read the other books in
the series, Lola and the Boy Next Door,
and Isla and the Happily Ever After.
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com: “Anna can't wait for her senior year in
Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the
verge of becoming more. So she's not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly
ships her off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair,
the perfect boy. The only problem? He's taken, and Anna might be, too, if
anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end
in the French kiss Anna awaits?”
#3. The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman
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Who I recommend it to:
Everyone, especially reluctant
readers and students who enjoy fantasy/supernatural books.
Why you should read it:
This is a story unlike any you have
read before. It is enchanting and weird in the best way. You will get lost in Gaiman’s world where the abnormal, is normal. The Graveyard Book is beautifully
written, and it will continuously surprise you.
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com:“Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's
the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts,
werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs
of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability
to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the
wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?”
#4 The Selection by Kiera
Cass
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Who I recommend it to:
Students who enjoyed The Hunger
Games and Divergent.
Why you should read it:
This book is an easy, fun read. It
may not ever be part of the “Literary Canon”, but you will enjoy reading it
the entire time. It is a dystopian novel with a “Bachelor” twist. My students
typically come back to school the next day asking for the second book in the
trilogy!
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com: "For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the
chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them
since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless
jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It
means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her.
Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want.
Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to
question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's
always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined."
#5 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
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Who I recommend it to:
I recommend this book to students who
are already frequent readers, but who are looking for something different than
the typical YA stuff.
Why you should read it:
“Curious” is a breath of fresh air
in a world full of predictable YA plots lines. At points, the novel stings with
the bitterness of reality, but the writing is always funny, witty, and genuine.
At the end of the novel, the reader feels lucky to have gone on this adventure
with Christopher.
What is this book about?
"From Amazon.com: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all
the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to
7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions.
He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate
the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most
captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years."
# 6 Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
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Who I recommend it to:
To my reluctant readers, especially the
ones who think they are “too cool for reading”.
Why you should read it:
This is not the feel good book of
the year. At times it is dark and bitter, but it is clever, sharp, and
sarcastic. This book also has the fast-paced danger of war, an original take
on history, and an emotional search for personal identity- a theme that teens tend
to love.
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com:"Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He
didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask
for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps
pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the
target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.
But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the
mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden
jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be
a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a
place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep
hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?"
#7 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
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Who I recommend it to:
Reluctant readers
Why you should read it:
My students attach themselves to
this book. The book’s premise is intriguing and it draws in even the most skeptical
readers. Readers will want to find out what Hannah has to say, just as much as
Clay does.
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com: "Clay Jensen returns home from school to
find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he
discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and
crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that
there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of
them. If he listens, he'll find out why.
Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as
his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows
Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life
forever."
#8 I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
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Who I recommend it to: Everyone, Young, Old, Everyone
Why you should read it: Malala’s inspirational true story is
about strength, bravery, the importance of education, and the power of a single
voice. Did I mention this is a TRUE (ongoing) story? This non-fiction work is
so important. It reminds young adults (and Adult…adults) that one person really
can make a difference in this world. Even if an entire country is telling you
NO, if you work hard, and believe in yourself, then you have the power to stand
up and say YES.
What is this book about?
"From Amazon.com: On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was
fifteen...She was shot in the head at point-blank
range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.
Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize."
Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize."
#9 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
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Who I recommend it to:
Readers who enjoy supernatural or
scary movies/books
Why you should read it: Ransom Riggs has written a thrilling
supernatural adventure that travels across locations and time. “Peculiar
Children" is filled with delicious mysteries and outrageous adventure. It is
definitely a page turner!
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com: "A mysterious island. An abandoned
orphanage. A
strange collection of very curious photographs.
It all waits to be
discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable
novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As
our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob
journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the
crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob
explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the
children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous."
#10 The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
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Who I recommend it to: Mature/Advanced readers
Why you should read it:
This is a novel about truth. This is
a novel about story-telling. This is a novel about war. This book will challenge you. It will
challenge the way you think about truth, story-telling, and war. I include this
novel in the top 10 most influential books I have personally read. Be warned: this book
holds back nothing. It will wreck you, and you will be better for it.
What is this book about?
From Amazon.com: "A classic, life-changing meditation on war,
memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling, with more than
two-million copies in print Depicting the men of Alpha Company-Jimmy Cross,
Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the
character Tim O'Brien, who survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and
writer at the age of forty-three-the stories in The Things They Carried opened
our eyes to the nature of war in a way we will never forget. It is taught
everywhere, from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative
writing, and in the decades since its publication it has never failed to
challenge our perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, and courage,
longing, and fear., Tim O'Brien's modern classic that reset our understanding
of fiction, nonfiction, and the way they can work together, as well as our
understanding of the Vietnam war and its consequences."
So what do you think about my list? Do you have any great book suggestions that your students love? Let me know in the comments!
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Always,
KP
