pairing classics and YA

[Farrar]

Hey, I'd like to do some classic lit and YA lit pairings for next year for 9th grade English. So, what I'm thinking is books that have similar themes or plot elements. Think Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games.

There are some articles and lists online about doing this. This one has a few suggestions:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/zola-books-/8-modern-ya-novels-to-pai_b_5452763.html

I'm especially thinking about doing ancient and medieval lit next year since it'll dovetail with history (and since, good grief, kid said he didn't care what he did, he just wanted me to pick). I have a few thoughts, but I think this is one of those that could use a group brainstorm. Any thoughts about pairings for The Odyssey or Beowulf? Or for a Shakespeare play... I'm undecided as to what, though I'll probably not do R&J since his twin will have read it this year and he'll have seen multiple performances of it for 8th grade partially as a result. YA pair must be a piece of worthy YA lit on its own (no Twilight level junk for example). Right now my classics list is a bit white male leaning, so I'd love more diversity in my pairings.

 

[Farrar]

Also, just to add on, if you've done YA and classics pairing with totally other books, I'd love to hear what they were. Or if you just have an idea of one even if you didn't ever teach it, I'd love to hear that. Just to brainstorm good ones for the future or for others.

[RootAnn]

SYNC summer audio titles did this a couple of years back - maybe 2015? I linked to their previous season's listings. In 2014 and earlier years, they always had a Shakespearean play. I think they attempted to pair it with a newer YA title - but I don't know how related they were (except for the Cleopatra year).

I haven't been as fond of the books/pairings since 2015, but some of the pairings might give you some ideas. (I loved The False Prince / The Prince and the Pauper pairing, but it has been years since Jennifer Nielsen came out with her trilogy, so they aren't very new. Or the 2010 Bloody Jack / Treasure Island pairing. Fun!)

Edited April 21, 2018 by RootAnn

[Miss Tick]

Ach, Farrar what a great idea! Wish I had something useful to add. (Also wish i could put a nice, smiley emoticon here) 

[historymatters]

Beowulf/Lord of the Rings go well together. 

[Farrar]

I wish I could get this kid to read Lord of the Rings, but that's so not in the cards. I am thinking a good fantasy would be good for either Odyssey or Beowulf, but I'm not sure what exactly. I'd like to do things that are more recent for the pairs anyway. LoTR is a classic in and of itself!

[Farrar]

2 hours ago, RootAnn said:

SYNC summer audio titles did this a couple of years back - maybe 2015? I linked to their previous season's listings. In 2014 and earlier years, they always had a Shakespearean play. I think they attempted to pair it with a newer YA title - but I don't know how related they were (except for the Cleopatra year).

I haven't been as fond of the books/pairings since 2015, but some of the pairings might give you some ideas. (I loved The False Prince / The Prince and the Pauper pairing, but it has been years since Jennifer Nielsen came out with her trilogy, so they aren't very new. Or the 2010 Bloody Jack / Treasure Island pairing. Fun!)

Some of these pairings are great. Like, even beyond classics with new YA books... Grasshopper Jungle and Omnivore's Dilemma is a good example. But the classics too... March and Little Women, Dodger and Great Expectations... Nice list! Thanks!

[freeindeed]

This is such a cool idea! I found some more suggestions online: Night by Elie Wiesel and Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick; A Wrinkle in Time and When You Reach Me; Fahrenheit 451 and The Last Book in the Universe; Catcher in the Rye and Looking for Alaska; Frankenstein and This Dark Endeavor.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 4/21/2018 at 1:09 PM, Farrar said:

Some of these pairings are great. Like, even beyond classics with new YA books... Grasshopper Jungle and Omnivore's Dilemma is a good example. But the classics too... March and Little Women, Dodger and Great Expectations... Nice list! Thanks!

 

I read Little Women and March last year. I came away really disliking March.

[historymatters]

On 4/21/2018 at 7:05 PM, Farrar said:

I wish I could get this kid to read Lord of the Rings, but that's so not in the cards. I am thinking a good fantasy would be good for either Odyssey or Beowulf, but I'm not sure what exactly. I'd like to do things that are more recent for the pairs anyway. LoTR is a classic in and of itself!

Oh, that's too bad. They fit perfectly together.  I'm sorry, I don't have an alternative to suggest. What about The Odyssey and The Hobbit?

What about a ancient Greek myth or compilation of Greek myths (like Mythology by Edith Hamilton) paired with Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis (1956)?

[Tanaqui]

Farrar, Summer of the Mariposas was explicitly written to tie-in with The Odyssey, you might like that.

[Farrar]

9 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Farrar, Summer of the Mariposas was explicitly written to tie-in with The Odyssey, you might like that.

Ooh, that looks very promising. And it won the Belpre award. I wasn't familiar with it at all. Thanks!

[Farrar]

10 hours ago, historymatters said:

Oh, that's too bad. They fit perfectly together.  I'm sorry, I don't have an alternative to suggest. What about The Odyssey and The Hobbit?

What about a ancient Greek myth or compilation of Greek myths (like Mythology by Edith Hamilton) paired with Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis (1956)?

We did The Hobbit as a read aloud ages ago. It's how I know LOTR wouldn't fly. He's also not really a big reader and definitely not a big fantasy reader. And I definitely am wanting YA books and recent lit for him to go with older stuff anyway. Ah well. Thanks for the ideas.

[Bocky]

Build Your Library year 10 is ancient and medieval literature and history paired with some YA fiction as well as historical fiction. They have John Gardner's Grendel paired with Beowulf; Madeline Miller, Song of Achilles paired with the Iliad; and Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes paired with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. I'm looking at BYL 10 for my 9th grader-to-be next year.

[Farrar]

55 minutes ago, Bocky said:

Build Your Library year 10 is ancient and medieval literature and history paired with some YA fiction as well as historical fiction. They have John Gardner's Grendel paired with Beowulf; Madeline Miller, Song of Achilles paired with the Iliad; and Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes paired with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. I'm looking at BYL 10 for my 9th grader-to-be next year.

Honestly, I know it was a big bestseller, but I read An Ember in the Ashes and I really didn't like it. Grendel and Beowulf is one I've considered... it's older and not YA though. I'd love to find something better for this particular kid. I wish BYL's high school plan looked better to me. Many of the books on their list I'm just very lackluster on or I think are kind of young, especially for 10th grade. Like, Enchantress to the Stars and Inquisitor's Tale are both good... for middle schoolers. It's also the case that this particular kid is not into fantasy literature, so anything I push on him has to be worth his time because he's not going to like Ember in the Ashes any more than he'll like Julius Caesar... I mean, he might like either of them, but my hunch would be he'd be more into Caesar. I'm good with throwing in a few things that are a bit young, it just feels like there's a lot in there. Also, our science and electives would not align at all.

[Bocky]

3 hours ago, Farrar said:

Honestly, I know it was a big bestseller, but I read An Ember in the Ashes and I really didn't like it. Grendel and Beowulf is one I've considered... it's older and not YA though. I'd love to find something better for this particular kid. I wish BYL's high school plan looked better to me. Many of the books on their list I'm just very lackluster on or I think are kind of young, especially for 10th grade. Like, Enchantress to the Stars and Inquisitor's Tale are both good... for middle schoolers. It's also the case that this particular kid is not into fantasy literature, so anything I push on him has to be worth his time because he's not going to like Ember in the Ashes any more than he'll like Julius Caesar... I mean, he might like either of them, but my hunch would be he'd be more into Caesar. I'm good with throwing in a few things that are a bit young, it just feels like there's a lot in there. Also, our science and electives would not align at all.

Good to know about An Ember in the Ashes. I am an incorrigible tweaker and was considering skipping it for dd13, who prefers upbeat fiction. I do like the look of the YA book Scythe, the first book in BYL 10; maybe it would pair with something like Brave New World to explore the themes related to perfecting humanity and death, or with Dante's Inferno. Summer of the Mariposas looks very interesting to pair with the Odyssey. For Shakespeare, how about Tempest? There could be YA reads that take up the post-colonial reevaluation of Caliban. It's not too recent, but I thought of Terry Pratchett's Nation as a possible pairing.

[Farrar]

I'm going to read Summer of the Mariposas, but I'm excited for it. I may just let Beowulf be alone and do a pairing for something more medieval instead. We'll see. It's all up in the air.