Jean in Newcastle Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Is this ok for an 8th grader (age 13)? He reads at an adult level and we would discuss the themes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I'd say yes. I love that book, I think about it all the time. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 This was one of my all time favorite books, especially growing up in Cleveland. I could imagine the old industrial areas being alive with immigrants and workers and the communities they formed. The subject matter is powerful and disturbing, but not as emotionally traumatizing as All Quiet on the Western Front (at least for me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Yes, I think it is a great book. You will have lots to talk about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I think I read it in 6th or 7th grade (I was 12, so probably 7th) so I'd say yes. I completely quit eating meat after reading that book. I haven't had a hamburger in over 20 years because of that book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 14, 2010 Author Share Posted August 14, 2010 I think I read it in 6th or 7th grade (I was 12, so probably 7th) so I'd say yes. I completely quit eating meat after reading that book. I haven't had a hamburger in over 20 years because of that book. The librarian did tell me that a lot of people become vegetarian after reading this book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I became a vegetarian after reading that in 8th grade. I didn't last more than a year (I love me some charred cow), but it totally grossed me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Is this ok for an 8th grader (age 13)? He reads at an adult level and we would discuss the themes. Here are some suggestions from Susan's list: "Call it Courage" by Armstrong Sperry "The Lantern Bearers" by Rosemary Sutcliff "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan "Gulliver's Travels" by Swift "Don Quixote" by Michael Harrison "The Beggar's Bible" by Louis Vernon "Amos Fortune, Free Man" by Elizabeth Yates "Johnny Tremaine" by Esther Forbes The Jungle Book" by Kipling "Their Eyes were watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston (this was a little too much - content wise - IMHO for my 8th grader) "Strong Poison" by Dorothy L Sayers Some of these titles were partially rewritten to be appropriate for 8th grade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I'm having my 14yo read it next year. He's already read Fast Food Nation (and loved it), so I figure he's ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I think The Jungle is fine for an 8th grade who can handle the reading. "Don Quixote" by Michael Harrison This is appropriate for maybe 4th or 5th grade, certainly not much higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in WA Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Hi Jean The Jungle is on my 8th and 9th grader's reading list for about 2/3's of the way through the year. I know I read it the first time in junior high school, and my boys can handle the reading level. I will be reading everything along with/ahead of them for discussion purposes this year though, since it was a really long time ago that I last read not only that, but most of what is on their reading list this year. Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 15, 2010 Author Share Posted August 15, 2010 Hi Jean The Jungle is on my 8th and 9th grader's reading list for about 2/3's of the way through the year. I know I read it the first time in junior high school, and my boys can handle the reading level. I will be reading everything along with/ahead of them for discussion purposes this year though, since it was a really long time ago that I last read not only that, but most of what is on their reading list this year. Elizabeth Good - they can all become vegetarians together.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I think I read it in 6th or 7th grade (I was 12, so probably 7th) so I'd say yes. I completely quit eating meat after reading that book. I haven't had a hamburger in over 20 years because of that book. Ayup. In my case, it primarily affected my hotdog intake for the rest of my life. And yes, absolutely I think it's a great book for that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrystal Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 This was one of my favorite books in high school. I, too, was one of those that couldn't even look at a piece of meat for a long time after reading it. Happy reading to you and yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punchie Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Yep! I read it in 7th or 8th grade (I don't remember which). I had a huge impact on me. I want my children to read it, and we'll follow it up w/Fast Food Nation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyfulMama Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I read The Jungle in college. I was already vegetarian, and had a hard time through parts of the book. However I read the book as part of a social welfare class. We expanded themes a lot more than I would have as a high school student or younger. I think I will pull it down and read it with again, as I don't know how early I would introduce this book, honestly. I don't think the reading level is difficult, but there's a lot of history there that I know I wouldn't have understood prior to high school. But then again, I also think Don Quixote has so much more to offer than a 4th or 5th grader would get out of it, and my 5th grader has no difficulty in the literature analysis department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Hippies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 15, 2010 Author Share Posted August 15, 2010 http://www.quotes.net/quote/75 I love this quote. He really wanted to make a socialist statement in the book but ended up making a lot of people vegetarian instead.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 (edited) It's the only book my son (now 27) ever returned to me and refused to finish. He just handed it to me and said, "I.DON'T.CARE." :thumbdown: He was so resolute I knew it was pointless to argue. He loathed Chaucer...but he did read it. He could and would read anything: Plato, Milton, Dante, Augustine, Dostoevsky...but not that little book by Sinclair. Geo NOTE: I think the content most likely threatened his love affair with meat. In other words, it wasn't a literary turn-off...but a dietary one. *added 8/17/2010 Edited August 17, 2010 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 The librarian did tell me that a lot of people become vegetarian after reading this book. Yeah, my kids won't read that book because they are already vegetarians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 YES! I read this in 9th grade and it was always on my top 10 favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Yes. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalieclare Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Both my girls started to read this book --they were 13 and 12. Both of them felt sunk with sadness as they read. They asked to have a new assignment, which I gave them. It wasn't too difficult except on their emotions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 http://www.quotes.net/quote/75 I love this quote. He really wanted to make a socialist statement in the book but ended up making a lot of people vegetarian instead.:D Well, it worked on me--when I read it in high school I wrote on my best essays on the theme of how the changes in the main character's political affiliation were the real message of the novel. I am still proud of that one. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 when I read it in high school I wrote on my best essays on the theme of how the changes in the main character's political affiliation were the real message of the novel. Hey, me too! :) Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Hey, me too! :) Tara Cheers!:cheers2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 My husband and I believe the meatpacking industry had a profoundly adverse affect on Chicago that still lingers today. My grandfather, an immigrant from Germany, worked for a few years in the Chicago stockyards back then, and it utterly disgusted him. I'd recommend reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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