8 More Books I Love to Teach
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
In last week's episode, Ashley and I shared some of our favorite books to teach, Stephen King's On Writing and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, so I thought I'd offer up a few more favorites. I've been teaching for 27 years, so the circumstances for each are different, but they've all brought my students and me joy at some point in my teaching career.
David Baldacci's Wish You Well (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "Following a family tragedy, siblings Lou and Oz must leave New York and adjust to life in the Virginia mountains--but just as the farm begins to feel like home, they'll have to defend it from a dark threat in this New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story.
"Precocious twelve-year-old Louisa Mae Cardinal lives in the hectic New York City of 1940 with her family. Then tragedy strikes--and Lou and her younger brother, Oz, must go with their invalid mother to live on their great-grandmother's farm in the Virginia mountains.
"Suddenly Lou finds herself growing up in a new landscape, making her first true friend, and experiencing adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. When a dark, destructive force encroaches on her new home, her struggle will play out in a crowded Virginia courtroom...and determine the future of two children, an entire town, and the mountains they love."
This one is a callback to very early in my career: we taught this one throughout the 11th-grade. It's a book that's accessible to students with a variety of reading levels, and—because I was teaching in rural Virginia—it features a setting that really resonated with my students. There's a satisfying courtroom setting, plenty of tear-jerking events, and some lovely symbolism. Oh, and there are some great parallels to The Wizard of Oz's characters.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s."
Well, that synopsis isn't great, but I'm also not sure it's necessary. I actually haven't taught this one at my current school, but it remains one of my favorite novels to read—I'm constantly amazed by the relevance of Fitzgerald's story and by the beauty of his prose. To me, the glamour is outweighed by the melancholy of Gatsby's ill-fated dreams, but the constant journey in search of those dreams never gets old for me.
The book is also built for the classroom, with its nine chapters and succinct length. I highly recommend Jesmyn Ward's "Jay Gatsby: A Dreamer Doomed to Be Excluded. The Novelist Jesmyn Ward Explains," an incredible consideration of the book.
Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
"A thrilling feat of world-building and a novel of exquisite tenderness and impeccable restraint, Klara and the Sun is a magnificent achievement, one that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?"
I offer this as a literature circle choice for our bioethics unit, and it rarely fails to capture students. Ishiguro explores a multitude of ethical conundrums that feel all too close, and Klara is an incredibly compelling and empathetic example of an unreliable narrator whose humanity is a central question in the novel. (I'm reserving judgment on the upcoming adaptation—I'd love to be excited, but I'm just not sure this one can be captured on film. We'll see.)
A. S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.
"But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?
"Michael L. Printz Honor recipient A.S. King's smart, funny and boldly original writing shines in this powerful novel about learning to cope with the shrapnel life throws at you--and taking a stand against it."
This is another one I haven't taught at my new school, but I had some amazing classroom experiences with it. This YA novel is accessible for students at different reading levels but contains some challenging structural elements that make it intriguing to untangle . . . and fabulous for discussion. If I were to teach this one now, I might consider offering it in a literature circle since content warnings abound.
Toni Morrison's Recitatif (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "In this 1983 short story—the only short story Morrison ever wrote—we meet Twyla and Roberta, who have known each other since they were eight years old and spent four months together as roommates in St. Bonaventure shelter. Inseparable then, they lose touch as they grow older, only later to find each other again at a diner, a grocery store, and again at a protest. Seemingly at opposite ends of every problem, and at each other's throats each time they meet, the two women still cannot deny the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them.
"Another work of genius by this masterly writer, Recitatif keeps Twyla's and Roberta's races ambiguous throughout the story. Morrison herself described Recitatif, a story which will keep readers thinking and discussing for years to come, as 'an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial.' We know that one is white and one is Black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage?
"A remarkable look into what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, and how perceptions are made tangible by reality, Recitatif is a gift to readers in these changing times."
All right, I'm cheating here a bit because this work is actually a short story, but I can't resist including it. This is the text I've added to my teaching most recently, and I have not had a bad experience with it yet. I ask my students to read the book at home and then, during discussion, I play the first part of Zadie Smith's introduction for them—it's the section where she explains Morrison's experiment upon the reader. Wow. What a masterpiece.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
"The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, 'each the other’s world entire,' are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation."
Ashley and I have mentioned this one on the podcast before, and it's one of my all-time favorites to teach. I've used it in both whole-class and literature-circle units. The writing is gorgeous and spare, the story is compelling, and the book offers so many topics for discussion. There's also a wonderful mystery at its center: what is the apocalyptic event that sets off the book's events? Another student favorite.
Veronica Roth's Divergent (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "Perfect for fans of the Hunger Games and Maze Runner series, Divergent and its sequels, Insurgent and Allegiant, are the gripping story of a dystopian world transformed by courage, self-sacrifice, and love. Fans of the Divergent movie will find the book packed with just as much emotional depth and exhilarating action as the film, all told in beautiful, rich language.
"One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior's society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions.
"Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she's determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous."
Ashley and I both taught this one at my previous school—it was part of a whole-school read our department led shortly after the book came out. While the rest of the series doesn't live up to book one (and the adaptations follow that trajectory), this YA novel is accessible, soooo compelling, and great for discussion. Roth is also releasing a new book in the series in October, so this would be a timely one to consider reading.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Synopsis: "Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel presents the epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror."
My colleague and I co-teach this one as the center of a unit on bioethics. Not every student loves this one—it can be a challenging read—but every year, many of the students name it as their favorite. It has a three-volume structure that works well in the classroom, and the opportunities for discussion and debate are endless. It's also fun to see students shift their view of the "Frankenstein" they know from pop culture to the truth of Shelley's creation, and they're always amazed by how young she was when she created this science fiction classic.
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