Hoggirl Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I am still working on our reading list for discussion next year. I thought I might see what everyone enjoyed reading "back in the day." I don't want fluff, but it can be fun, kwim? Thanks for any ideas you can throw at me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) I don't remember being required to read anything that wasn't in the "English" book for 7th grade. We did do A Christmas Carol by Dickens as a class play. I remember reading short stories like The Lady or the Tiger and The Gift of the Magi. Outside of school I was reading things like My Side of the Mountain, Rascal, Black Beauty, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Cold River. I still love those books. Now that I think about it, I liked "Man against Nature" kinds of books at that age, but I don't think that was typical girl fare. ETA: I think 7th or 8th grade was when the English book also had "The Lottery" and "The Monkey's Paw" as short stories. Edited May 27, 2009 by Virginia Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 In my 7th grade English class, I remember reading short stories (August Heat & The Most Dangerous Game were the most memorable) and poetry. I had to memorize & recite Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. On my own, however, I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty Social Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I don't remember any of the titles I had to read for class, but on my own I read Roots and loved it - a little heavy though. For a lighter, more fun series I loved the David Eddings books - the Belgariad series, the Mallorean series, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison_B Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 My younger son is finishing 7th grade, and he especially enjoyed, "Alice in Wonderland". If he read it earlier, he wouldn't have notice the logical elements within the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 My childhood reading blurs together and I can't really distinguish what I read when except Gone with the Wind. I read that in 6th grade. My 6th grade teacher gave it to me and I still have it! (I saw her a few years ago. Kind of a funny story --- I usually only go to bars when my brother is in town. This was one of those times and she was there with her dh & friends. My brother recognized her. We had a nice little chat.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Hands down, both the Hobbit, and Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave. It was a good year :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna Tomlinson Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 One book that generated a lot of discussion when my ds was 7th grade is The Giver. He also enjoyed LOTR trilogy. My dd enjoyed The Chosen when she was in 7th grade. My 7th grade favorite was Jane Eyre, but a boy may not want to read it. I agree with Virginia Dawn - a lot of the American short stories are fascinating. I still remember reading "The Lottery" and being stunned by the ending! Another one is "Young Goodman Brown" and "There Will Come Soft Rains". These generated great discussions in my 8th grade lit class a few years ago. Many of these stories can be downloaded for free. Total Language Plus has a great guide entitled "American Literature: Short Stories". I usually don't like TLP guides but this one is a great intro to American Lit. ~Leanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 For me, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was the highlight of 7th grade English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) ...the Lord of the Ring books. Before that my absolute, hands down favorite was "The Diamond in the Window." My recollection is that during 7th and 8th grades we read a bunch of American short stories for literature, including a bunch of Nathaniel Hawthorne ones (that I universally hated), "The Luck of Roaring Camp," and many others. A few foreign ones included "Rain" and "Bliss." I know that we also read several novels; the only one I remember specifically was "The Scarlett Letter." ETA: We also studied "Animal Farm." Edited May 27, 2009 by Carol in Cal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 My 7th grade favorite was To Kill a Mockingbird. My mom actually did this as a read aloud to my 7th & 8th grade class and we loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 When I was in 7th grade, we read Lord of the Flies, Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451. Kind of a downer year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 That was the year I discovered Tolkien. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Wow! I'm really surprized. You ladies read a lot more books written for adults than I did at that age, and I was an avid reader. I didn't read most of the books mentioned till high school. 7th grade is only 12 years old, of course that was 1978, maybe things were different then? I just couldn't imagine reading Roots or A Brave New World at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret in GA Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 My 7th grade favorite was To Kill a Mockingbird. My mom actually did this as a read aloud to my 7th & 8th grade class and we loved it. My son, 12, is reading this now. This year he also got into The Three Musketeers, Ender's Game, and Huckleberry Finn. We're requiring The Chosen for this summer as well. He reads tons of goofy Star Wars books for fun, also. I wouldn't recommend them as they are the very definition of "twaddle" ;) Margaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceinMD Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Ds just this year has enjoyed The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as well as Ender's Game. I remember reading and liking Edgar Allen Poe stories in 7th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Tolkien and C. S. Lewis (I think that was the year I read his Space Trilogy). Murder Must Advertise - Dorothy Sayers. I don't remember what we did for school other than act out Don Quixote. We might have read Huckleberry Finn in 8th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Hands down, both the Hobbit, and Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave. It was a good year :) :iagree::iagree: Peela, those are my two all-time favorite books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 The book that I loved when I was in middle school was "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. I adored that book & read it many, many times. (I don't remember that it was a 'required' book for school & I can't remember any that were 'required' reading then. I think my memory is shot, lol.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 The Outsiders was my favorite in 7th grade too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) On my own, however, I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Me, too. I still have my copies from back then of two of the three with my name and the date in the front cover! To tell the truth, I don't remember anything else I read back then. ETA: Now that I've read the rest of the thread, I also remember many that others have mentioned: To Kill a Mockingbird, the Mary Stewart books (there were 4, I think) - several times, Bradbury - Farenheit 451 & Something Wicked This Way Comes (I still reread it every October!), Orwell - 1984 & Animal Farm. I also read Christy, and some Herriot books. Oddly, I think I read more in 7th-8th grade than at any other time in my life! Edited May 27, 2009 by OhM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 (edited) What a lot of great responses. We have already done the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. I am not familiar with Mary Stewart???? I didn't read Brave New World or 1984 until 11th grade! I can see why that year would have been a downer! I'm glad to have some short story titles as well. Thanks, again!:D ETA: forgot to ask...where does one buy the Total Language Plus guide for American Short Stories? Edited May 28, 2009 by Hoggirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Mine was definitely The Hobbit!! It was assigned reading in 7th grade -- then I spent the entire summer reading The Lord of the Rings series! I also remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird in 7th. It's still one of my all-time favorite books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I am not familiar with Mary Stewart???? Mary Stewart wrote a fantastic series based on the Arthurian legends, centered on Merlin. It was a trilogy when I first read it: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and the Last Enchantment. I knew of a fourth written in the 80's - The Wicked Day, but just now when I wiki'd it to check on titles, I learned of a 5th written in 95! - The Prince and the Pilgrim. Something for summer reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 ...where does one buy the Total Language Plus guide for American Short Stories? I bought a copy from the For Sale boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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