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MY READING LISTS

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie

    • A brilliant pairing of the comedies and tragedies of youth and the Native American experience​.

  • Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson

    • A dark exploration of the impact of assault on an individual and a community.​

  • The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

    • The original young adult novel! How could I not teach this book?!​

  • Number the Stars, Lois Lowry

    • I've never read a more compelling account of the Holocaust than from the perspective of a young girl in Lowry's novel.​

  • The Giver, Lois Lowry

    • I encountered multiple teachers at the 2017 NCTE Convention who said that if they could only teach one novel in middle school, it would be The Giver. ​

MIDDLE SCHOOL

  • Dumplin', Julie Murphy

    • This is a tough world right now for you​ng girls, especially those who don't fit the Hollywood standard for physical appearance. Julie Murphy has an excellent method of breaking down the walls of body shape, pageant culture, and femininity. 

  • 1984, George Orwell

    • There has never been a more relevant text to the political and social climate of the 2010s. If you want to mold informed and courageous students, you must teach 1984.​

  • Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

    • Vonnegut is a visionary. Teach a book to freshmen that is written in traditional narrative structure, and then teach them Slaughterhouse Five and blow their minds.​

  • The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien

    • The Vietnam War is an underrepresented global event in our history books, and what better way to explore philosophies of war, nationalism, and mental health than through the fictionalized account of Tim O'Brien's experiences as a solider in Vietnam.​

  • Carrie, Stephen King

    • The ultimate high school horror story. This one requires mature readers, but pairing it with the 1978 film (dir. Brian DePalma) could build a fantastic youth on girlhood and social stratification.​

  • Beowulf (trad.) & Grendel, John Gardner

    • Beowulf​ is so hard to digest on its own, with its deep, Anglo-Saxon roots. Grendel re-tells the heroic story from the antagonist's perspective, using more contemporary language. This might be a good unit to include Camus' The Stranger and connect them through the philosophies of nihilism and existentialism.

HIGH SCHOOL
FOR VIEWING

  • A Simple Plan (1998), dir. Sam Raimi

    • When teaching traditional three-act Hollywood story structure,​ A Simple Plan takes the cake. It's interesting, captivating, and the students will have such a great time identifying protagonists, antagonists, climax, and resolutions.

  • Cinema Paradiso (1988), dir. Giuseppe Tornatore​​​​

    • I was a young man of about 18 the first time I saw myself as a film lover lovingly and accurately represented on screen, and high school students like me deserve to feel that connection much sooner. The film that gave me that opportunity was Cinema Paradiso, a love letter to film and all of its wonders (it's in Italian with subtitles, but it's totally worth it)​.

  • A Beautiful Mind (2001), dir. Ron Howard

    • A heartbreaking and warming chronicle of how mental illness impacts not only the diagnosed person, but those who surround them and hold them close.

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