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/lit/ - Literature

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5059983 No.5059983[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

I'm an English teacher, (private international school for rich, mostly English-fluent kids in a dirt poor East Asian country), and I've been set the task of drafting a document for new Middle-School English teachers recommending resources for next ac. year. One of those resources is a list of recommended books for reading.

There's no set reading curriculum like in most of the west, so as long as it is suitable enough that the parents don't complain (no obvious sex basically) it is OK.

This recs doc will be sent to the 32 English teachers in Middle School and be available to about 50 more in Elementary and High for reference.

Don't want to pollute your recs, so I'll post the books I've already listed after. Please post from your heart things that you genuinely think a 12-14 year old would dig.

tl;dr: good books for middle school kids to read at school

>> No.5060015

I remember our class really liking Of Mice and Men in grade 9. I think it hits a good balance between "Wow High-Brow Literature" and feels to both appeal to kids and serve as a potential gateway to more High Literature.
Maybe Lord of the Flies, too.
Both of those are probably better suited to a 14-year old than a 12-year old, though.

Oh, maybe the His Dark Materials books for the younger ones?

>> No.5060043

>>5059983
All quiet on the western front
To kill a Mockingbird
Little women
Enders game
I'm supposing being in rich private school they are able to comprehend the main points in these

>> No.5060091

>>5059983
Ulysses

>> No.5060105

What country, OP? I'm in a similar position. Hopefully you're not among the Yuon.

>> No.5060136

>>5059983
Most of the books people are suggesting so far are more high school level. I guess no one remembers what they liked to read when they were 13, let alone what an EFL middle school student is capable of.

When I was 13, it was all about Ray Bradbury and Edgar Rice Burroughs. But I would only recommend one of those authors to your students, OP.

>> No.5060178

>>5059983
>me talk pretty some day
>the things they carried
>animal farm

>> No.5060189

Thanks for the replies so far.

>>5060015
I hated Steinbeck at that age just because my teacher shoved it down my throat. Same teacher also killed LOTF for me, although I did rediscover Steinbeck as an adult. Noted though.

>>5060043
Enders Game is a good idea, the others are a little obvious. I love the idea of doing sci-fi with them, as it's easy to integrate with Scient projects (this school is all about cross-discipline collaboration projects)

>>5060091
...

>>5060105
Indonesia

>>5060136
Luckily the kids actually do have good English. About half are pure bilingual, and most of those speak English at home. The others are a grade or two behind at most.

Basically, rich Indonesians speak English. Except for the Chinese ones.

>> No.5060278

>>5060136
I read naked lunch when i was 12 or 13 and thats what got me back into reading consistently again after losing interest in harry potter. But that was probably mainly because of the edge.

But, OP, some more kid friendly books I remember liking back then too were: The Giver, Flowers For Algernon, The Shining, Hemingway, Vonnegut

>> No.5060463

>>5060278
Dunno how to include Vonnegut on such a list. Only work I can think of that would definitely be tolerated by the parents of middle school kids is Sirens of Titan. Amazing novel (maybe my favorite of his), but I don't see kids that young being able to appreciate it very well.

>> No.5060506

The Crying of Lot 49
Infinite Jest
Shoplifting from American Apparel

>> No.5060548
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5060548

>>5059983

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

I don't know how popular hence how easy it would be to find this book. I read it when I was a little older but it was easy enough to read. The language is simple because it is a young adult book but it does leave you with a little to think about. I read it pretty quick and I read slow.

If you can add comic books you could also put The Watchmen in there.

I read the stranger in high school but I wish I would have read it earlier. I just connected personally with that book because the main character felt so much like myself. Even without all the philosophical exploration it is a good read.

You just want books that get kids hooked on reading.