Books for 10th Grade Class?

Question

I teach a year-long 10th grade English class and would like to add a new novel to our curriculum. I'd like something from a world culture other than the US, as the majority of the novels I have are set in the US. Currently we read (for novels) Of Mice and Men, A Separate Peace, and Z for Zachariah. These are very different in terms of difficulty, but they all work well in terms of discussion and analysis.

In general, I'd like a novel that would appeal to the age group and be about 200 (give or take) pages. In addition, it has to be a novel that will encourage discussion (vs. one that would be read more for just entertainment). Finally, as much as I would love to include Mockingbird or Lord of the Flies, or Gatsby, these are all taken by other curriculums in the school.

Thanks for any input!

Answer 1

Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen is based on a true story of the author's experiences adopting a Rwandan orphan. It is a very good novel and would definitely provide a look at a different world culture.

http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2006/09/childs-perspective-on-terror.html

Real Time by Pnina Moel Kass is a fiction novel set in the Middle East (Israel) and features varied perspectives--sure to lead to lots of discussion. The novel is an honest look at terrorism, and the reality of living in a war zone.

http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2006/09/real-time.html

Answer 2

I read most of these btwn 7th and 11th grade. I dont know what level they are, but I do know that they are all AWESOME!! The Children of the Red King by Jenny Nimmo: Midnight for Charlie Bone Charlie Bone and the Time Twister Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy/the Blue Boa Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors Charlie Bone and the Hidden King Charlie Bone and the Beast/the Wilderness Wolf Charlie Bone and the Shadow of Badlock Charlie Bone and the Red Knight Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning thief The sea of monsters The Titan's Curse The Battle of the Labyrinth The last Olympian CHERUB by Robert Muchamore: The recruit Class A Maximum Security The Killing Divine Madness Man VS Beast The Fall Mad Dogs The Sleepwalker Dark Sun The general Brigands MC Shadow Wave Henderson's Boys by Robert Muchamore: The Escape Eagle Day The Secret Army Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl The Arctic Incident The Eternity Code The Opal Deception The Lost Colony The Time Paradox Atlantis Complex The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide The Seeing Stone Lucinda’s Secret The Ironwood Tree The Wrath of Mulgrath Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz: Stormbreaker Point Blank Skeleton Key Eagle Strike Scorpia Ark Angel Snakehead Crocodile Tears His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass The subtle Knife The Amber Spyglass Lyras Oxford Hunger games by Suzanne Collins: Hunger Games Caching Fire Alosha The Saktra The Yanti The CERUB series is the best by far but it has some sexual content and swear words. Its about an institution of kid spies but before you read it first read Henderson's Boys that explains how CHERUB all started it!! Alex rider is also about kid spies but in this series there is only one kid spy: Alex Rider. Its all action and no romance at all. Artemis Fowl is Kid Criminal MasterMind. Percy Jackson is a demi God Charlie bone can travel through pictures! Happy Reading 8D! HAPPY READING 8D

Answer 3

Kids that age love Herman Hesse, especially boys. If you want to teach symbolism, try the novella, The Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers, especially if your students are advanced. If you haven't read it, it's wonderful. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, also by McCullers would be good, as well. Albert Camus', The Stranger, is also a possibility. Just thought of another, The Ox-Bow Incident. Can't remember who wrote it. It teaches some profound lessons.

Answer 4

I would recommend Joseph Conrad's "Secret Agent".
It's and easy read about 200 to 250 pages, set in England in the late 1800's (best I remember), and deals with the first anarchists/terrorists. It's a true classic that ties into modern times well I think.

Answer 5

Flowers for Algernon, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Huckleberry Finn (And if you do pick that for your class, include the racism, for it is that, that made the book what it is. And tell them who Samuel Clemens is, many teachers just read and give no information about the book or author.)

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

Or get a series of short stories from different countries and read a different one each day. With being short stories that should leave time for discussion and analysis.

Answer 6

In my 10th grade Honors class we read "Chronicles of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He's most famous for introducing the concept of magical realism, an artistic genre in which magical elements appear in an otherwise realistic setting (Wikipedia). I haven't read it, but his "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is supposed to be his finest work.

Answer 7

I read most of the books mentioned so far when I was about that age in school. However, I really enjoyed only one, and that was Candide. I don't remember much about it now, but I've never forgotten that I enjoyed reading it and that it stood out from the rest.

Answer 8

Cane River by Lalita Tademy

Answer 9

Do they still read Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo in school? Powerful antiwar book. Devastating. No way anyone of that age could read this book and think war is a great thing. No way.

Answer 10

Animal Farm - George Orwell

It's GREAT!

Students can "understand" it at SO MANY LEVELS!