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Erica Sanchez
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This is very long. I went ahead and copied the unit descriptions from the website. Thank you in advance to anyone who reads this and is able to make a suggestion or two!!!
I wondered if you all could help me and my 15 year old decide which books to read for her 10th Grade English course. We use a public charter school and are doing our best to follow the state standards, which really isn't too much trouble as it entails just a lot of reading and analysis of that reading, but I am skeptical of their literature suggestions.
I am specifically looking for literature suggestions in each of the categories that are not problematic for a sweet, somewhat innocent, very serious about her Catholic faith girl. She just said that this description makes her sound homeschooled! Funny gal!
We would both be fine with serious subjects, difficult subjects even, but without the darker details, if you know what I mean.
Unit I: The Individual and Society (What are the essential elements of a society, and how do they create order? What responsibility do individuals have to act as agents of change in society, and when is subversion justified? What are the social values that you value and how can you act to protect them? How are leaders in society formed, and what are are the characteristics that make a good/just leader?)
Suggested Supporting Literature:
Antigone, by Sophocles
Julius Caesar
Lord of the Flies
“The Guest” by Albert Camus
“Letter from Birmingham Jail,”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Day no Pigs Would Die
Inherit the Wind
various short stories and poetry
Unit II: Facing Adversity (How do people face adversity? What are the clashing forces in life that cause adversity? How does literature help us better understand adversity, and how do the characters prevail?)
Suggested Supporting Literature:
Of Mice and Men
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Black Boy
All Quiet on the Western Front
Night
Cry the Beloved Country
various short stories and poetry
Unit III: In Search of Identity (How is identity formed? What impact does history have on identity? How does society influence identity, especially in terms of gender? How does childhood impact identity, and what turning points determine who we become as adults? When bombarded with ideas and images of “what we should be” how does one remain true to him/herself?)
Suggested Supporting Literature:
A Doll’s House
“Ain’t I a Woman,”
A Tale of Two Cities
Bless Me Ultima
The Joy Luck Club
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Black Boy
various short stories and poetry
Unit IV: Truth & Justice (Are there certain truths that can be considered universal or absolute, or is it subjective? What are the consequences of examining truth? How does literature help us discover truth? How do we arrive at our own personal truth? When and how should people stand up for truth, and is this heroic?)
Suggested Supporting Literature:
Antigone
A Tale of Two Cities
Cry, the Beloved Country
Of Mice and Men
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Good Earth
“The Witness for the Prosecution"
“Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” by Steinbeck
various short stories and poetry
Extended Reading Recommendations:
House of the Spirits
Kim
How Green is My Valley
The Kitchen God’s Wife
Coming of Age
Brave New World
Macbeth
She doesn't have to read any of them. I haven't even heard of many of them.
I would be very, very grateful for any suggestions.
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Have a beautiful and fun day!
Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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Kristie 4
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Off the cuff (I have a 10th grader):
-Cry, Thy Beloved Country
-Julius Ceaser and Macbeth: gore etc.but you could pre-read some of the kids versions to get a feel
-A Tale of Two Cities: Dickens is real! But his stories are so full of life and have so much redemption and depth. His character's are very well constructed- my 10th grader has read a 2 foot stack of them in the past year and they definitely are his faves! There are hard things involved, very sad at times, but not disturbing the way you would find a modern novel disturbing, more just sadness for the sorrow of the characters.
-To Kill a Mockingbird: Not a hard read and my 9th grader loved this.
-Antigone: hard, difficult, and pretty dark material in there. I would definitely pre-read this yourself before handing it off. My son read it in 9th but we really talked about it- if your daughter is sensitive I would personally drop it.
-Kim: This is great reading!
I haven't read How Green Was My Valley, but there is an EXCELLENT old (very old) black and white movie that is truly beautiful- Welsh coalminers in a very loving family.
I find that my hs-ers only have so much time on their hands so I try to pick the best of books to accomplish our goals. So while we do read some more popular modern books, it is often done in our pleasure reading time unless I really feel that it is contributing to our goals.
Good Luck!!
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Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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Erica Sanchez
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Kristie 4 wrote:
| I find that my hs-ers only have so much time on their hands so I try to pick the best of books to accomplish our goals. |
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Exactly! Mine read plenty of modern fiction, but it's light, youngish even, and doesn't take much time to get through.
I had seen Cry, the Beloved County on a Seton list and figured it was good. And, she's read Macbeth. :)
Thank you for your great reply, Kristie. Very helpful.
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Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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stellamaris
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Erica, have a few comments on some of your choices:
How Green Was My Valley-I actually just finished this a little while ago. If only I hadn't been reading it just before I fell asleep each night, I might remember it better!  It was a beautifully written and poignant story of life in a Welsh coal mining town. It is a first-person narrative told from the standpoint of a young boy growing into a man as the coal industry becomes industrialized, unions begin to move in, the green valley is overtaken with sl*g from the mining operations. The peaceful, tightly-knit village confronts its first criminals. Deaths from starvation occur during a strike to improve mine conditions and secure fair pay. There are a few instances of teen s*xu*l interactions-not terribly graphic, but pretty descriptive, plus an unwed teen pregnancy. One character goes insane. It also illustrates the persecution the Welsh suffered from the English. Ultimately, the main character is forced to leave his family home behind as the sl*g heap pushes down the walls; he is left only with his memories of another, happier time and place, long lost.
Night I read this in 9th grade. I remember it as a gut-wrenching story of the Holocaust. Eli Weisel's loss of faith in God in the midst of these horrifying circumstances left an indelible impression on my mind. Not a book for the sensitive souls.
The Joy Luck Club My daughter read this story for 10th grade at her Catholic high school. I myself would not have chosen this for her. It describes using the technique of flashback the tramatic experiences of four Chinese women during the Japanese occupation of China in the 1930's and 1940's. Death, war, pr*stit*tion, loss of family members, torture....you get the idea. All of this difficult life experience is contrasted with their quiet, staid, safe life now as older women in America. It is a unique look at the "little old Chinese lady" you pass in the street; you may not be able to imagine what her past holds. My first-generation Chinese college roommate loved this book; she said it reminded her of her mother and her mother's friends.
The Good Earth I can't remember anything about this except it was set in China, I read it around 12-13 years of age, and I loved it. It could have a lot of questionable stuff in it...but it didn't stick with me! You can read a few of the reviews here. Both this book and How Green Was My Valley won Pulitzer's.
A Doll's House secrets and deception in marriage; read the summary here.
Lord of the Flies is about the evil that dwells in the human heart, even in children. Very dark and disturbing, if you ask me.
I read Brave New World (a negative Utopia) and Of Mice and Men in high school. Don't recall a lot about either one.
I hope some of the descriptions above help you decide which books you might like to include in your dd's 10th grade choices.
ETA: I tried to write the word sl*g, meaning the melted refuse and debris of mining operations, but the program keeps putting in an asterick...so maybe it means something else, but in this case, it just means the pile of dirt, waste, and refuse from mining.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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stellamaris
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Oh, just saw you are looking for suggestions for each category...I'll think about that!
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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JodieLyn
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Re: books about the holocaust... I read the Diary of Anne Frank and found it boring. In contrast I found Night better but don't remember much about it. But the reason I'm saying anything Is that I really like the book The Devil's Arithmatic by Jane Yolen It may be a bit younger but in contrast to what Caroline said about "Night". This story is a modern young jewish girl who is embarrassed by her families experiences and is transported back to that time and goes through the experience of being sent to the concetration camps.. she ends up saving another by taking her place in the gas chamber which is when she's transported back to the modern world with a new understanding of her family. I just remember that it left a very strong emotional impression with me and the basic story line. I'd recommend anyone to read it before passing it onto their children. But thought it might be a reasonable alternative.
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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guitarnan
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My top picks (from selections I've actually read):
Unit I
Julius Caesar (I assume this is Shakespeare)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Unit II
Of Mice and Men (Must pre-read; some disturbing content)
All Quiet on the Western Front (same)
Night (same, but much less than I expected when I read this book)
Unit III
“Ain’t I a Woman,”
A Tale of Two Cities
Unit IV:
A Tale of Two Cities
To Kill a Mockingbird
Other suggestions:
Individual and Society:
Animal Farm
(1984 would work, too, but is much more intense)
Fahrenheit 451
Facing Adversity:
The Hiding Place (serious World War II themes, but such a very inspiring book...God really is present everywhere and He has a plan for everything...Corrie ten Boom's life story shows this so very clearly.)
In Search of Identity:
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (not at high school reading level, and subtly pro-Darwin, but a good perspective on the plight of young women of scientific turns of mind when women weren't supposed to have minds)
Many saint biographies would work here - particularly for St. Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Katharine Drexel
Truth and Justice:
Red Scarf Girl (a landlord's granddaughter suffers unjust persecution in Maoist China)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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setonmom
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if your daughter is very innocent, and you'd like to keep it that way, I would point out that The Good Earth has quite a bit of mature content. The main character takes a second wife and there are pages-pretty intense- about all of his cavorting with her. When my son had to read it for diocesan high school, I ripped those pages out of the book. There is also an infanticide. The book does portray the taking of the second wife as ruining the mans life; the infanticide is more neutrally portrayed. There is a positive portrayal of a special needs child. I would definitely pre-read before giving it to a child.
I would recommend the play "A Man For All Seasons" (about St Thomas More)- I think it could fit under several of the categories.
I also second the recommendations for 1984 and The Hiding Place.
setonmom
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Erica Sanchez
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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I am so grateful for all of you taking the time to help me sort through this. I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water with just about everything else in my life. Trying to decide what to have Emily read, knowing I had very little time for pre-reading, is so difficult.
I wanted to add that she is not particularly sensitive. She is innocent in that while she knows a lot about the world (i.e. we pray at abortion clinics, my parents recently divorced, an uncle lives with fiancee, etc.), she doesn't know a lot of the 'finer' details about these issues. I'm not all that excited about her reading about someone having s*x. I don't want to read about that!
We were dicussing Left To Tell last night. I want her to read this book. It is excellent and would fit very well in the adversity section above. But, I don't want her to have to carry the burden of the inhumanity and horror that is in the book just quite yet. Am I off in that kind of thinking?
I figured many of the books listed in our state standards (California!) would be awful, so it is nice to see that some of them are good. I'll have her read those and also the alternatives that were recommended.
Thank you again!
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Have a beautiful and fun day!
Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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Angie Mc
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Erica, we've been sick here this week but I want to respond to this topic when we recover. Aiden, as a freshman, has read several of the books mentioned so I thought you might find his perspective helpful.
Love,
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Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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setonmom
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I made a mistake in my initial reply- when I said I second the recommendation for 1984 I meant to say Animal Farm. I haven't read 1984 and don't know as much about it.
A suggestion I have is to look at Seton's website and see what they have they're high schoolers read. My kids do Seton for high school and in general I've been pleased with the literature selections. Which reminds me- I would HIGHLY recommend Robinson Crusoe- just be sure to get the unabridged version. It would fit in beautifully under the "FAcing Adversity" category.
hope this helps!
setonmom
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ekbell
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We were assigned Lord of the Flies for grade nine english.
It's a pretty vivid look at children descending into mob mentality and nastiness when isolated from human civilizaton. The author's discriptive style has beem discribed as having the vividness of a fever dream which, given the subject, can make this book a compelling nightmare to read.
I'd not recommend it unless you spend time discussing the ideas that the author was reacting against, particularly the idea that civilization had a corrupting moral effect.
Inherit the Wind is an interesting play although you do need to be careful to make clear it's not meant to be a strictly historical account of the Scopes trial. Lots of room for picking things apart as neither side has the fullness of truth from a Catholic prospective (which is why my teacher at my Catholic school had it on the curriculum).
Ain't I a woman? is quite short and worth reading simply for historical reasons.
I'll repeat the recommendation for A Tale of Two Cities
While I read The Good Earth as an older teen and got a fair amount from it, I do agree that it's one you should pre-read first.
Assuming ["The Witness for the Prosecution" is the short story by Agatha Christie, I'd recommend it. She also adapted it into a play with an alternative ending (she frequently changed the plot when converting stories into plays as she thought the different mediums had different requirements).
Brave New World portrays a classic dystopia which means that it's pretty dark. I'd recommend the non-fiction CS Lewis's Abolition of Man as an alternative if you wish to avoid too much darkness as it covers the same topics without the disturbing portrayal of a society where parenthood is obscene and casual sex and drug use is encouraged.
Macbeth is of course a classic tragedy and much to be recommended.
Looking over the books I"ve read from that list, it does seem to be heavily weighted towards dark and disturbing. I'd make one more recommendation, to be careful not to accidently weigh the curriculum down with too many dark books as from personal experience this can lead to an intensely gloomy year.
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guitarnan
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My dd's homeschool book club read Lord of the Flies last year and I allowed her to skip it. (She was in grade 7.)
I agree that this is a fairly depressing reading list...I'd probably be inclined to lighten it up a little (maybe with poetry or Twain short stories or something...) just so things don't get really heavy in the dead of winter!
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Kristie 4
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Oh my, I think I remember the Joy Luck Club having some very depressing content (men having concubines, woman drowning her child- please double check this as I could be mistaking it for another read set in the same place!).
How Green Was My Valley: I hadn't read the book so thanks for the heads up. But, the movie doesn't have any of that shocking content- so it could still work.
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Willa
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I don't like their choices for Unit III. Almost all of them have objectionable content for a 15 year old. Tales of Two Cities is fine --
Ain't I a Woman is a speech, and fine as far as I know.
But Black Boy is a semi-autobiographical account of "a curious child living in a household of strict, religious women and violent, irresponsible men. He quickly chafes against his surroundings, reading instead of playing with other children, and rejecting the church in favor of atheism at a young age."  Not for a 15 year old.
Bless Me Ultima"Much of the novel is spent with Antonio trying to reconcile Native American religion with traditional Roman Catholicism ...In this story Antonio asks questions concerning evil, justice and the nature of God. He witnesses many violent deaths, which force him to mature and face the reality of life. Ultimately, the Catholic Church, dominated by female imagery, by concentrating on the Virgin Mary and a vengeful Father God, on ritual and superficiality, is unable to answer Antonio's questions." Nope, not for a Catholic 15 year old.
Joy Luck Club -- I read this years ago, and liked it as an adult, but it was lightish reading and I wouldn't hand it to my teenagers. I don't remember any explicit parts. But it has a modern feel and just isn't to me the best use of their time during those school year.
I like the idea of units exploring Big Questions! I could see doing this with Catholic books and themes.
The other units look like they have better choices. A few caveats:
I wouldn't give Brave New World to a 15 year old Catholic homeschooled 10th grader. Rather explicit s*xual content.
Inherit the Wind is about the Scopes Monkey Trial -- it makes Clarence Darrow look like a hero (which he wasn't -- he mostly did divorce trials) and the religious opponent in the trial, William Jennings Bryant, into a regressive fundamentalist (which he wasn't, he was a sort of genial populist) The play is supposed to be about the "right to think" -- I would substitute A Man for All Seasons which is about St Thomas More's trial and martyrdom.
The Day No Pigs Would Die is a young adult "coming of age" novel which includes a very graphic description of the killing of a favorite pig.
Nan basically wrote my list of what I would give to a 15 year old for literature study from the list.
Some possible substitutes (in addition to what Nan mentioned)
If your daughter loves to read -- The Betrothed is an excellent novel -- long, 19th century language, but extremely Catholic -- it was influential in 19th century England.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok is a good coming-of-age book about a boy from a traditional Jewish family.
An Episode of Sparrows might be good -- about children from an inner city who try to make a garden.
If you want to read about the black experience, I think the Life of Frederick Douglass -- my 15 year old read it last year.
Animal Farm is a good substitute for 1984.
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Willa
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stellamaris
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Another good choice for the slavery experience in the United States is Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington. I don't know if it would be classified as literature, though.
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Caroline
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Kristie 4
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Chosen is excellent- I just finished it and am handing it to my ds 10th grade...
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Kristie in Canada
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Erica Sanchez
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I can't tell you all how much I appreciate this! The summaries of each book are priceless to me. And, the alternate suggestions very helpful! I feel very good about now creating a list for her. Count on me to back when it comes time to look at the 11th grade list. :)
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
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Have a beautiful and fun day!
Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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JodieLyn
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what about the Grapes of Wrath? I don't recall how explicit it was.. but I read it in high school.. and I was thinking of the "adversity" category.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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stellamaris
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I was thinking another option for the dealing with adversity question might be Gone With the Wind.
For the "Individual and Society" thread you might consider Thomas Paine's Common Sense or the Declaration of Independence.
Or, maybe Evelyn Waugh's Edmond Campion.
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Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Help with book choices - 10th Grade
