Hello! I know this isn't a typical request because I'm assuming most of us are adults here, but my students read at very high levels so I thought I would ask this sub.
In the past, for class novels at all levels, I have done The Outsiders, Unwind, The Hobbit, The Giver, and my favorite: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
This year, for my gifted classes especially, I was thinking of Watership Down and/or Flowers for Algernon. I'll confess I haven't read either of these novels since elementary/middle school, and, to be quite honest –as a mom of two tiny children with not much time on my hands– I would probably just read them for the first time again with my students (don't judge lol). So I was hoping to gain some insight and or opinions on these novels (for those of you who remember them better), or suggestions for other great books that you guys think would work for middle school advanced/gifted children. For example, as much as I love Tolkein, I would probably not reread The Hobbit as a class novel because there are many dragging parts, and it's actually a little long for the time constraints.
Thanks for any help!!
by radishburps
5 Comments
A Separate Peace
Watership Down is a great novel, but it gets awfully dark
Maybe Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
*The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak – far better than Striped Pajamas
*Frankenstein* by Mary Shelley
*Fahrenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury
Watership Down is a great novel and Fiver overcomes being bullied. The embedded mythology is brilliant.
I also love Watership Down, but the only drawback is that it’s LONG. If you’re considering not reading the Hobbit because of the slower descriptive parts, which is completely understandable in a school setting, you might experience the same thing with Watership Down.
I’d also recommend:
**Holes**, by Louis Sacher: it’s an easier read than everything else here, but I genuinely think it’s an incredibly well-written and well-constructed novel.
**The Hunger Games**: if they like The Giver, they’d love this! The first and best of the YA dystopia trilogies imho.
I would love to read **The Little Prince** with a class. Short, with a ton of potential for discussion.