Hi! I’m a 9th grade English teacher and I have the opportunity to completely redo our 9th grade book list and curriculum. I’d like to focus on a loose theme of “the individual and the community”. Please spam me with any and all suggestions that you think a 9th grader might enjoy! No restrictions! Thanks!
by redfire2930
6 Comments
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah,
Of Mice and Men,
Enders Game,
Piranesi,
The Absolutely true diary of a part time Indian
All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque), The Pearl (Steinbeck), A Raisin in the Sun (Hansberry), Shakespeare — The Winter’s Tale, Romeo/Juliette, The Outsiders (Hinton), Divergent (Roth), As I Lay Dying (Faulkner), The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway)
… now, for the second semester … 😏😉😄
I tried to include some “boy” books because this is the age where boys tend to lose interest in reading.
Not to offend the other comments but I fully disagree with a lot of these. I’m a former high school teacher and librarian. You’re going to get no love from your students for any of the classics, and when given a chance to re do something, why would you fall back on classics? That’s why so many tend to lose interest. Focus on newer books that they can relate to and see their own experiences in. Born a Crime, Enders Game, Part Time Indian, and, against my previous statement, The Outsiders are good suggestions for your theme. You could look at authors like Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds. Long Way Down would be great for this but it is a hard subject matter. The Hate U Give would also be great for these, but is also difficult subject matter, and depending on where you are, is being targeted for censorship by conservative groups. You could try either of it’s sequels. I think Concrete Rose in particular would be an interesting study. After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, The Name She Gave Me by Betty Culley, The Rock and The River by kekla Magoon, The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, Saints and Misfits by SK Ali, and The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe (this one in particular) might all work really well.
Outside of your theme, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was a great one for 9th graders, as was another suggestion, Of Mice and Men.
The Outsiders- S.E Hinton ; Spud – John van der Ruit
the martian by andy weir classroom edition. Mostly joking unless it’s a good idea in which case was 100% serious.
An Inspector Calls is very much about responsibility to the community as an individual. Also Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, Animal Farm and Chinese Cinderella are some other books/plays that I enjoyed studying in high school.
Definitely include the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson — a very powerful lesson in the individual versus the community 😅