This is the week that most kids have donned their Dora the Explorer backpacks and light-up Power Ranger kicks with high hopes and great trepidation for the year ahead. School's back in session, folks. And while I have no kiddos of my own to help board that great yellow bus, I am in the back-to-school spirit.
With some thanks to Miss Tangerine, herself, I'm thinking about assigned readings. The books I'm so glad my teachers introduced me to, and the books I still want to burn to this day.
Love 'Em
I remember reading this book in tenth grade. My teacher, Mrs. Jacobs let the tears freely flow down her face as Scout escorted Boo Radley home. I remember thinking at the time, "Wow...someone's a little emotional..." A couple years later when I re-read it. I finally got it. I let the tears fall and my heart felt like it might burst as Scout left her childhood behind and began her journey to becoming a woman. Mrs. Jacobs totally had it right.
Leave 'Em
Okay, I get it. This book is full of symbolism and forces us to consider the realities of human nature. But my junior high self probably could have done without a story about little boys killing and eating each other!! What the hell, teachers? What. The. Hell.
Love 'Em
Leave 'Em
Love 'Em
Whenever we were asked to volunteer to read, I always waited for the perfect moment. As the teacher forcibly assigned the roles of the love-sick main characters, I bided my time until...Titania. My hand shot into the air as soon as the list dwindled down and only the fairies were left. I had no interest in a love triangle- I wanted to be a fairy queen! While typically I have no interest in Shakespeare, I love this story. It's full of magic, mischief and surprisingly, some really good humor. Who knew ol' Billy liked to have himself a good chuckle?
Leave 'Em
Ick, ick, ick! This book is icky, morbid and...icky. None of the characters are likable and the story is just horrible and depressing. I much prefer the silly green guy with bolts in his neck, because the original Frankenstein stinks!
Love 'Em
I absolutely love historical fiction, and I'm super fascinated with the French Revolution so it makes perfect sense that I loved this book. You've got love, you've got history, you've got suspense. While the ending is not exactly uplifting, Dickens is such a beautiful writer that you kind of let it pass. I don't think I've read anything else by Charles Dickens, so I think I may need to change that!
> > >
What required readings surprised you?
Do you have any classics I missed and need to check out?
Love 'Em
I absolutely love historical fiction, and I'm super fascinated with the French Revolution so it makes perfect sense that I loved this book. You've got love, you've got history, you've got suspense. While the ending is not exactly uplifting, Dickens is such a beautiful writer that you kind of let it pass. I don't think I've read anything else by Charles Dickens, so I think I may need to change that!
> > >
What required readings surprised you?
Do you have any classics I missed and need to check out?
I love these Kaity! I especially love Lord of the Flies. I read it for the first time as a seventh-grader and still love it to this day :)
ReplyDeleteI can see why Lord of the Flies is not a book for everyone. I would say it is probably good to reach out to boys which are typically not natural readers like girls. Also, personally, as a teacher, I love books that are more difficult, not so much with the language but with challenging ideas and topics. It's important to approach it in the right way and make the following discussions pertinent, but it can be fun. For example, Lord of the Flies or Tuesdays With Morrie are books that I enjoy working with a lot for the discussions and reactions it prompts.
ReplyDeleteI also read the first two books you mentioned for school and totally agree: Loved TKAM, didn't love LOTF. I love your format for this post! It was great. And I've never read A Tale of Two Cities, but I keep meaning to. Maybe your post will finally be my kick-in-the-butt to get a copy! Thanks for linking up this week. :)
ReplyDeleteI totally hated LOFT in high school, not only was it not a pleasant book to read but the painful essays that came along with it and trying to find the hidden meaning in this and that was just awful haha
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the Book Chat! :)
I loved Lord of the Flies even though it was morbid. Great picks!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love To Kill a Mockingbird! And while I definitely agree with you on the Lord of the Flies thing, I actually kind of like Frankenstein!
ReplyDeleteWe were supposed to read LOTF but some parents complained it was too "graphic" for their poor children. Yeah it's graphic but so was Natural Born Killers and they were ok with that. I always loved reading books I'd never pick up myself like The Iliad. I don't remember the storyline much but I do remember liking it.
ReplyDelete"To Kill a Mockingbird" is my favorite book to read and to teach! I Loved reading this book even more with my kids last year. I'm not sure if I cried quite as freely, but there were some sniffles going on - and not just from me! I loved how my kids got into the story, they would gasp or wince or say, "that's not fair!" Best book ever? I think so. I could go on and on... I will spare you from my babblings about the other books :)
ReplyDeleteah, lord of the files! i need to go back and reread that again.. it's so great!
ReplyDeletelindsey louise
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