Book club suggestions for 9th grade girls?

[Matryoshka]

I've been running a book club for the past two years, which has been going really well. It's a great group of girls, and we've had some great discussions. Most of the girls are homeschooled, but a couple are in ps. Next year, that balance is going to shift, as most (though not all) of the now 8th grade girls will be headed to high school next year (including mine). But it's pretty unanimous that we want the book club to continue through the high school years.

 

Anyhow, I have a list of books "for the future". Some I'd like to wait on till the girls are a bit older. I'm also trying to use books that they won't also be assigned in English class (though I'm fine with using a different book by the same author - so if the school has them reading Pride and Prejudice, maybe we'd go with Emma). I'm also trying to stay away from huge tomes (though there are a few on my list :rolleyes:), as I figure they're going to have a lot of other assigned reading and I want to keep this fun and not overwhelming. I do want books with lots of meat for discussion, good language, from different genres and time periods, that girls will enjoy.

 

So, any suggestions? For background, the past two years we've already read these books (and we've done LL8 and LLfLoTR and read all those books):

 

7th grade: Nory Ryan's Song, Girl of the Limberlost, Julie of the Wolves, A Wrinkle in Time, A Wizard of Earthsea, Bambi: A Life in the Woods, Watership Down, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Little Women

 

8th grade: Captains Courageous, War of the Worlds, I, Robot, House of Stairs (Sleator), Silas Marner, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (Miller translation), Lost Horizon, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Red Scarf Girl, Dracula

 

This is my current short list for 9th, very subject to change:

The Martian Chronicles

Frankenstein

Autobiography of Frederick Douglass

something by Austen

Tale of Two Cities

Flatland

something by Vonnegut (any suggestions?)

Till We Have Faces

Portrait of Dorian Gray

 

And for even further out (or could be moved to next year) I've got:

The Left Hand of Darkness

The Count of Monte Cristo (Buss translation)

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Coming of Age in Mississippi

something by a Brontë

My Antonia

The Plague (Camus)

Of Mice and Men

Kidnapped

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

[Amy in TX]

Just a thought--I noticed you have The Left Hand of Darkness on your list. Have you read Lavinia, also by LeGuin? It's an absolutely beautiful retelling of The Aeneid from the point of view of Lavinia, the princess of Latium who marries Aeneas. Even if your students haven't read The Aeneid, you could give them a little backround, and I'll bet they'd really enjoy it. (There is one character who is homosexual, but it isn't mentioned till near the end, and if they're going to read the gender-bending Left Hand of Darkness, I'm assuming they wouldn't by shocked by this. :))

 

Oh, and my dd loved The Scarlett Letter when she was 14-15.

[Matryoshka]

Just a thought--I noticed you have The Left Hand of Darkness on your list. Have you read Lavinia, also by LeGuin? It's an absolutely beautiful retelling of The Aeneid from the point of view of Lavinia, the princess of Latium who marries Aeneas. Even if your students haven't read The Aeneid, you could give them a little backround, and I'll bet they'd really enjoy it. (There is one character who is homosexual, but it isn't mentioned till near the end, and if they're going to read the gender-bending Left Hand of Darkness, I'm assuming they wouldn't by shocked by this. :))

 

What? A LeGuin I haven't read? She's one of my favorite authors, and I've read nearly everything she's written (except the newer young adult stuff she's recently published). :D I will just have to read that book whether I decide to put it on the list or not! And, yeah, the gender-bending in Left Hand is why I'm saving it for now, but I think in another year or two it could bring up some good discussion.

 

Oh, and my dd loved The Scarlet Letter when she was 14-15.

 

I was figuring the school would probably have that on their reading list, but I'll check. I asked the English coordinator on the phone for their reading list and she was really vague and evasive. :glare: The rest of the coordinators have been really friendly and helpful - hopefully I can get her to be more forthcoming when I meet with her in person next week.

[medawyn]

Books that have met with great success at my own 8th/9th grade girls' book clubs:

 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

The Scarlet Letter

Farenheit 451

Wuthering Heights

any Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers novel

 

You have already read or listed several others, but I'll certainly give Til We Have Faces a big plug. (Most of) my girls loved that one.

 

We also planned one or two "movie nights" to correspond with our reading; Alice in Wonderland with both the original Disney cartoon and the recent feature film lead to some very interesting discussions. Emma, Pygmalion and An Ideal Husband were hits also.

[medawyn]

I forgot to add that you will be very surprised by what schools are NOT reading. Most of my girls came from a range of public/private schools in the area, and there were many classic novels left on the table after I combined all their reading lists.

[Amy in TX]

What? A LeGuin I haven't read? She's one of my favorite authors, and I've read nearly everything she's written (except the newer young adult stuff she's recently published). :D I will just have to read that book whether I decide to put it on the list or not! And, yeah, the gender-bending in Left Hand is why I'm saving it for now, but I think in another year or two it could bring up some good discussion.

 

Oh, you should absolutely read it! I came across it in the library last year; I hadn't heard of it either. I think it's possibly her best book, and I'm also a fan who has read most of her stuff.

[Matryoshka]

I forgot to add that you will be very surprised by what schools are NOT reading. Most of my girls came from a range of public/private schools in the area, and there were many classic novels left on the table after I combined all their reading lists.

 

I am very curious what their reading list will look like. The school has an excellent reputation - the partial list I've been able to get included To Kill a Mockingbird (which they've already read), Romeo & Juliet, The Catcher in the Rye :ack2: and the Outsiders - the latter two don't float my boat but are pretty "standard". I read a lot of the standard classics in high school, but then I did go to Catholic school, and yeah, it was a few years back. :tongue_smilie: Coming of Age in Mississippi, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, The Plague and Flatland are all books that I was assigned in high school that stuck with me, and I had a feeling they wouldn't be on their hs's list, so I put them on mine. This book club idea might just partly be an evil plan for me to make sure that their high school reading includes worthy literature if the school's selections are too 'lite'. :sneaky2:

 

Thanks for reminding me of The Book Thief - that would be a great addition. I read it when we studied WWII and thought the girls were just a smidge too young for it yet then, but that was a few years ago. Love Farenheit 451 and will add it if it's not on the high school list. Oh, and I meant to include either Animal Farm or 1984 (again, if the school passes them over). I love me some dystopia. :D The girls suggested this week that maybe we should discuss the whole Hunger Games trilogy, since most of them have read it. I'm considering.

Edited April 16, 2012 by matroyshka

[Matryoshka]

Oh, you should absolutely read it! I came across it in the library last year; I hadn't heard of it either. I think it's possibly her best book, and I'm also a fan who has read most of her stuff.

 

I just put it on hold at the library. :D

[Matryoshka]

:bigear: Any other ideas???

[Kareni]

A few other suggestions:

 

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Sherlock Holmes stories

Edgar Allan Poe stories

 

Regards,

Kareni

[RobinL in Canada]

Are you looking primarily for "classics/ literature"? The bulk of your lists read that way though I see you did include A Wrinkle in Time and House of Stairs (I acutally bought this last year based on the glowing reviews on Amazon and was very disappointed--I thought it poorly written and undeveloped : ( ) Anyhow, I ask because you don't seem to be including much in the way of contemporary young adult writing, but if you are willing to do so, then I don't think you could go wrong with the Hunger Games trilogy. Again, not stylistically the best writing, but thematically/ conceptually can lead to great discussions, and the protagonist is a strong young female character. Also possible, if you are interested in other dystopian SF,would be the Predator Cities series by Philip Reeve (British author) and the Fever Crumb prequels--again, a female protagonist. More complex and better written than the Hunger Games but more introspection than action.

[Matryoshka]

Are you looking primarily for "classics/ literature"? The bulk of your lists read that way though I see you did include A Wrinkle in Time and House of Stairs (I acutally bought this last year based on the glowing reviews on Amazon and was very disappointed--I thought it poorly written and undeveloped : ( ) Anyhow, I ask because you don't seem to be including much in the way of contemporary young adult writing, but if you are willing to do so, then I don't think you could go wrong with the Hunger Games trilogy. Again, not stylistically the best writing, but thematically/ conceptually can lead to great discussions, and the protagonist is a strong young female character. Also possible, if you are interested in other dystopian SF,would be the Predator Cities series by Philip Reeve (British author) and the Fever Crumb prequels--again, a female protagonist. More complex and better written than the Hunger Games but more introspection than action.

 

I would like to include some more contemporary stuff, but I want it to be good - if it's really new, I probably haven't read it and it's hard to judge, hence the skew on my list towards stuff I'm familiar with. The first year 4/10 books were published in my lifetime (which seems contemporary to me, but I guess that is close to a half a century span :eek:), the second year it was only 2/10 (although I, Robot was at least 20th century). Yeah, and next year so far the Bradbury is the most modern thing on there (though I do think I'll add The Book Thief and quite probably the Hunger Games books). There are a few more 20th century and up ones on the "future" list, but it does look like the list could use more balance.

 

I do like dystopian SF, but I don't want the list to skew too heavily in that direction, because the girls do have diverse tastes. One or two a year is plenty. :) Diverse is good, as long as the book is well-written and has thematic matter to talk about (Nory Ryan's Song, for example, was a big disappointment on both levels, I have to say.) I keep thinking the Golden Compass books would spark great discussion, but that breaks my rule on great tomes (and you do have to read all three for a real discussion about them).

 

Any other 20th/21st century books that are worth the read (and aren't part of a series? Many of the modern young adult books seem to be written in bunches. I guess some of the series books stand alone, but I'd say many of the good ones with meaty themes (like Hunger Games and Golden Compass) really need to be seen as a whole to 'get' the author's message. Most modern series books that stand alone, ime, are just fun/adventure/fluff.

[RobinL in Canada]

How about i Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith? It's a contemporary stand-alone and highly acclaimed.

 

http://www.amazon.ca/I-Capture-Castle-Dodie-Smith/dp/0312201656/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334703529&sr=1-1

[Amy in TX]

High-literary-quality 20th century stuff that I've read recently:

 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster

Fire in the Blood or All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

The Pianist by Wladislaw Szpilman

An Imaginary Life by David Malouf

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

Voices From the Other World by Naguib Mahfouz

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

[Matryoshka]

High-literary-quality 20th century stuff that I've read recently:

 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster

Fire in the Blood or All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

The Pianist by Wladislaw Szpilman

An Imaginary Life by David Malouf

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

Voices From the Other World by Naguib Mahfouz

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Ooo - a bunch of interesting suggestions! Some I've heard of, but many I haven't. Would you say these are all accessible to high schoolers? I'll go start looking at Amazon synopses/reviews...

 

I've also put an ILL hold on that book recommended in another thread (Classics for Pleasure) - it looks like it has interesting and varied recommendations.

 

I was just thinking a Barbara Kingsolver novel might be good to add. I've read most of them, but it's been a while - anyone have an opinion? The Poisonwood Bible? Bean Trees? Animal Dreams?

 

What about Fried Green Tomatoes by Flagg? Been a while since I read that one too...

I've been running a book club for the past two years, which has been going really well. It's a great group of girls, and we've had some great discussions. Most of the girls are homeschooled, but a couple are in ps.

 

I would consider myself blessed to be able to run such a group when mine are this age. How lucky you are!

 

If I were you, I'd try to stretch out into more genres if possible. Non-fiction always seems to get short shrift, for some reason, especially once you get outside of biography. We ask our kids to write all kinds of essays and reports, but never have them read really good non-fiction. (I think Barbara Kingsolver has a book of essays, come to think of it). Our library has a bunch of books in the series "The year's best xxx", where xxx is travel, essays, short stories, crime, sports, etc. This might be a fun source of non-fiction.

 

"How to Read a Book", by Adler and Van Doren is a classic that every book club should read, ideally first.

 

I didn't see much drama on your list, it might be fun do to a group read-through of a play, especially if you have a theater group in town doing something interesting.

 

I didn't see anything from the magical realists on your list, I know they aren't for everyone, but maybe they'll enjoy it?

 

The Man Booker prize was just announced, it might be fun to go through various literary prize lists to look for suggestions, the Pulitzer and Nobel prize for literature would be interesting venues to investigate (as well as all the genre prizes).

[Amy in TX]

Ooo - a bunch of interesting suggestions! Some I've heard of, but many I haven't. Would you say these are all accessible to high schoolers? I'll go start looking at Amazon synopses/reviews...

 

 

Yes, I think so, although you may want to give some historical backround for some of them. (And now that I think about it, Things Fall Apart and The Metamorphosis are popular high school assignments, so you may not end up doing them.) It would also depend on the interests of your students.

[Matryoshka]

nm

Edited April 18, 2012 by matroyshka
duplicate post

[Matryoshka]

I would consider myself blessed to be able to run such a group when mine are this age. How lucky you are!

 

I do feel very lucky! I started another one this year with my younger dd and her friends, but what a different bunch. Hopefully they'll outgrow the giggles in another couple of years...

 

If I were you, I'd try to stretch out into more genres if possible. Non-fiction always seems to get short shrift, for some reason, especially once you get outside of biography. We ask our kids to write all kinds of essays and reports, but never have them read really good non-fiction. (I think Barbara Kingsolver has a book of essays, come to think of it). Our library has a bunch of books in the series "The year's best xxx", where xxx is travel, essays, short stories, crime, sports, etc. This might be a fun source of non-fiction.

 

"How to Read a Book", by Adler and Van Doren is a classic that every book club should read, ideally first.

 

I didn't see much drama on your list, it might be fun do to a group read-through of a play, especially if you have a theater group in town doing something interesting.

 

I didn't see anything from the magical realists on your list, I know they aren't for everyone, but maybe they'll enjoy it?

 

The Man Booker prize was just announced, it might be fun to go through various literary prize lists to look for suggestions, the Pulitzer and Nobel prize for literature would be interesting venues to investigate (as well as all the genre prizes).

Lots of interesting ideas. I do have a few non-fiction, but other than Bury My Heart, which is a fantastic, yeah, there are two autobiographies and a memoir. I just also thought of West with the Night (autobiography of Beryl Markham, female pilot living in Africa in the 1920's).

 

I also just thought of Amy Tan (yes, fiction, but at least not Victorian - I feel like there's a lot of Victorian on my current list) - maybe Kitchen God's Wife? Or would there be a better one?

 

In two other completely different directions, I thought of Dava Sobel's Longitude, and Calvino's Cosmicomics. I love Calvino, but he's not all that accessible... Cosmicomics is what got me started on his books, though...

 

I've read a lot of magic realism myself, but all in Spanish. :tongue_smilie: Most of them have some pretty steamy scenes, as well...

 

Yeah, and no drama. I guess I was thinking they'd read that in school? I remember reading a lot of drama in English class, as well as in my foreign language classes (Dürrenmatt, Brecht, García Lorca). I guess I'll have to get my hands on that reading list from their high school...

 

We've been seeing, rather than reading, a lot of Shakespeare lately, live and on film. My dds want to have their friends over for a Shakespeare party (including watching a film or two). :D

[Matryoshka]

:bigear: Anyone else?