cool books for 9th and 10th grade english

It might be a little risque.. but I think everyone that age needs to read The Catcher In the Rye at least once.

 

one flew over the cuckoo's nest, huckleberry finn and i know why the caged bird sings are books that we read last year that i remember everybody in my class seemed to like..especially cuckoo's nest, that's my favorite book and everybody in the class actually read it a feat in itself...well that's my experience in 10th grade lit.

 

they should try Keeping You A Secret......or maybe...SPEAK....OR TRUE BELIEVER...YA IDON'T NO I SLEEPY..BYE

 

Sorry to drag up such an old post, but I was curious as to how things have played out and what books you decided to use this year, Kayte. I also have another book you can add to the mix if you get the opportunity to teach the same English classes next year. It's called "A Hope In The Unseen" by Ron Suskind. We were supposed to read it before I started my freshman year of college (but the reading's not difficult or anything), but sadly, I couldn't afford school, so I'm currently struggling to go. The book's subject was supposed to be at freshman orientation. I never finished the book because I was really bummed about not being able to go to school, but this thread inspired me to dig for it in my boxes.

 

I loved The Silver Sword by Ian Serellier(?) sooo much that i nicked it.. that was thirty odd years ago, and now my 11 year old daughter has it on her list of books to read for secondary school!! She wont have to nick it as i`ve still got it! (This was the ONLY time i ever pinched anything EVER!!) do i feel bad? nooo, it`s a much loved book...

 

i would recommend harry potter books. i was actually just telling my brother the other day that if i were an english teacher, i would totally give them harry potter books to read. i suppose everybody's taste in novels is different though.

dannayelli

 

Brave new world, its short which is a big plus for highschool kids and it touch's on a lot of interesting and controversial topics which are open to opinion rather than question-answer which highschool students generally dont like.

 

the books I read for 9th and 10th grade english that I liked were catcher in the rye, of mice and men, and to kill a mockingbird. Don't make them read the once and future king like I had to.

+1 for cuckoo's nest and brave new world. A few of my school's senior academic classes are reading cuckoo's nest now so if you are teaching 9th grade but they have a lower reading level than that, I'm not sure if it would be the best.

 

This is an old thread, but meh. I'd suggest "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, "April Raintree" by Beatrice Culleton, "Rumble Fish" and/or "That Was Then, This Is Now" by S.E. Hinton.

 

William Golding's "Lord of the Flies". I read this and studied it for my GCSE exams in 10th/11th year at school. Fantastic book, lots of room for discussion and interpretation.

 

I would suggest reading a book with them in class. Any book a teacher did that with my kids tended to get excited about even if they wouldn't have normally liked the book otherwise.

This year my daughter who was in 10th grade really enjoyed Jennifer Government. It's quite an interesting book that brings some great questions about commercializations to light in novel form.

She also enjoyed The Golden Compass. That is being made into a movie right now.

Another that everyone in the house liked was Enders Game which is also being turned into a movie.

The two books I've decided they MUST read in high school so far are The Diary of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain and Flowers For Algernon.

My daughter also enjoyed just about anything by Tamora Pierce.

I like BookAdventure.com

It's free, it helps readers pick out books they will enjoy, it has comprehension test. The results can be set up to be sent to you automatically.

I only require my kids to read something on or above thier level and write a book report twice a year. The rest of the year they can read whatever they enjoy.

If reading comprehension is a problem I'd say get one of those books at the library or parent teacher store that has short but high interest stories you can read out loud and then questions for comprehension and discussion. That should take only ten minutes or so a day.

There are also a LOT of good online teacher resources. Come back and let us know how things are going from time to time.

HTH,

Valdis

 

I suggest whatever you chose, you read parts of the book in the class out loud and encourage discussion. Most poor readers don't want to be ask to read out loud, so you do it, and make it interesting. Make it relevant to their lives. Many disadvantaged children have never been read to, they have no concept that books are stories and shared life experience. They don't realize that most films started as books and have never experienced the way that reading a book can be a richer experience than seeing a film.

 

HMM... I Just now realized that the only story i remember reading in 9th grade was " The cask of Amantialldio" or some shit like that. it was by Edger allen poe.

and Of course.. romeo and Juliete. and... umm.. 10th grade was just ablur.
oh crap.. haha... i'm uber late. ah well...

 

Life of pi by Yann Martel, It blew my mind.

 

How and why did it blow your mind?