Help With Dd English Reading Assignment:

[MrsPete]

I have an 14 year old freshman. A/B student, but not a reader!
She(WE) just finished to KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, now we have to choose our next book:

The Prime of MIss Jean Brodie
Rebecca
A Day no Pigs would Die
Lord of the Flies
Jacob Have I loved.

I am leaning towards Jacob Have I loved, or A day no Pigs would Die.

any suggestions???

Prime of Miss Jean Brodie -- I don't know that book.

Rebecca -- This is a little more advanced than the others; while it's not difficult, it's more adult than the others, which are all Junior-high type novels. It bothers me somewhat that we never know the narrator's name. It never made the ranks of a true "classic", but it's moderately famous.

A Day No Pigs Would Die -- Not a "girly" book, not very interesting, in my opinion. Little long-term literary value (and this from an English teacher).

Lord of the Flies -- Ugh. I know that lots of people love this book, but I dislike it. It's dirty and gritty, and I just don't like the subject matter; however, of these choices, it's the most "classic" novel. Classics are valuable in that the students will find references to them in other pieces of literature, popular culture, etc.

Jacob Have I Loved -- I loved this book when I was younger. It's an easy read -- isn't it by Katherine Patterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia, which is just being made into a movie? It's a "girly" book and an easy read, more of a Junior-high book, but not too babyish for 9th grade.

 

[Sirius]

Those really are different reading levels. I recommend The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, as it is one of my favourites.

 

[Glynis]

I have an 14 year old freshman. A/B student, but not a reader!
She(WE) just finished to KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, now we have to choose our next book:

The Prime of MIss Jean Brodie
Rebecca
A Day no Pigs would Die
Lord of the Flies
Jacob Have I loved.

I am leaning towards Jacob Have I loved, or A day no Pigs would Die.

any suggestions???

I love Jacob Have I Loved. Wonderful book. I just finished reading Rebecca and it, too, is wonderful. It's a bit wordier than Jacob, and there's not a lot of major dialogue. For a 14 year old I would recommend Jacob...

That's my 2 cents.

 

[Katie]

Well, we went to the book store.

Jacob, I have loved ---
A Day No Pigs would Die- was the two final choices.

Jacob , I have loved was 100 pages longer than the Pigs..so, no shocker here...
she choose A Day No Pigs would Die! Only 150 pages!

She is all about the easy way out! Hope it works out!
Thanks for everybody's input!
just FYI- If it was up to me...I would have picked Jacob, I have loved!

 

[golfgal]

I liked Lord of the Flies in high school. I think there are GREAT messages and life lessons in Lord of the Flies however, if she isn't going to be doing classroom discussions with the books she may not pick up on a lot of the themes.

Does she have a specific list she needs to choose from and has narrowed it down from there or did she just pick these books? DS14 read To Kill a Mockingbird this year and liked it. They are reading Romeo and Juliet and he is less then thrilled with that.

My Antonia might be another option for her if she can pick other books. I also liked Old Man and the Sea when I was in high school. Can she pick more current books? DS LOVES the Dan Brown books-Angles and Demons is his favorite book right now.

If she has other choices, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have written two prequels to Peter Pan, Peter and the StarCatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves. Both might be of interest to her as well.

 

[DVCLiz]

Rebecca -- It bothers me somewhat that we never know the narrator's name. It never made the ranks of a true "classic", but it's moderately famous.

But that's one of the most fascinating techniques du Maurier used, don't you think? And I would argue that Rebecca is absolutely a true classic.

 

[RitaZ.]

Katie,
I would seriously recommend having your daughter pick up each of the books at the store, or the library, and read the first 5-10 pages. Whatever book grabs her the best, she should get. I think the mistake a lot of teens that aren't readers make is going by the back cover and then find themselves disappointed.

Very good point.

 

[Sherri]

I have an 14 year old freshman. A/B student, but not a reader!
She(WE) just finished to KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, now we have to choose our next book:

The Prime of MIss Jean Brodie
Rebecca
A Day no Pigs would Die
Lord of the Flies
Jacob Have I loved.

I am leaning towards Jacob Have I loved, or A day no Pigs would Die.

any suggestions???

A Day No Pigs Would Die