I'd also suggest that you use a bookmark to make notes--on characters, key quotes, pivotal scenes--anything which will help you understand the book--and might help you write about it later. If you already have a good idea of how you might want to do a creative project on your book talk to me. Then you can be more focused in your notes as you're reading. You will have the option, when the time comes, of doing individual or collaborative projects.
The essential first step here, after exploring these novels a bit, and writing brief summaries of five (this an in-class activity) will be to choose your book, figure out how you can get a copy, and begin reading. Need help finding one of these books? Talk to me. Having trouble choosing? Consider reading more than one.
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1984 by George Orwell
A dystopian novel published in 1949.
Deals in a more in-depth way with many of the issues raised in The Hunger Games--totalitarian regimes and how an individual can and might respond in the face of such.
Digital booktalk
1984 on Shmoop
1984 at Amazon
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
More than a movie with Keira Knightley, this classic novel published in the early 1800's was ahead of its time in looking at marriage and at issues between women and men. It's funny too.
A short booktalk
Short short summaries
Pride and Prejudice on Shmoop
Night by Elie Wiesel
This novel, based on Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel's experiences in a concentration camp, is a powerful classic read and appreciated by many sophomores in World Lit classes. I have multiple copies of this.
Elie Wiesel at NPR talking about the importance of bearing witness
Night at Amazon
Night on Shmoop
Digital booktalk
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
This novel, which focuses on African-American sisters in the 1930's received both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1982. Written as a series of letters, the topic of siblings is something I thought many of you might find appealing. Has some explicit content--and deals with tragic early circumstances--but ultimately is a about the healing and empowering potential in relationships.
Book review
The Color Purple on Shmoop
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Another well-written novel about family. Contemporary. The story of what happens when a happy family falls apart. Could tie in well with the Persephone myth.
Book review
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This novel, another excellent read, published in 1937, inspired Alice Walker's A Color Purple. It's a Great Read at the Forsyth County Library and the National Endowment for the Arts this fall. The public library has multiple copies.
The Big Read
Book Review
Their Eyes Were Watching God on Shmoop
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Like Night, this is another classic novel often read in high school. And, like Night, its author is a Nobel Prize winner. Think of this as a kind of Survivor tale with British schoolboys stranded on an island. Not a pretty story.
Digital booktalk
Review
Lord of the Flies on Shmoop
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Interested in issues between mothers and daughters? Interested in the importance of stories? This novel follows four Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters through a series of lyrical and beautifully written short stories. It deals, among other things, with the importance of stories for passing on culture from one generation to another.
Joy Luck Club at Amazon
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
This popular and critically acclaimed novel, first published in 1982, follows three generations of a family in Chile. Combines politics, family, romance and magical realism.
Book Review
House of the Spirits at Amazon
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
A gothic nineteenth century novel with strong chords of romance and the supernatural. Twilight lovers may find this one appealing.
Wuthering Heights on Shmoop
Text available online
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
First published in 1985 in Spanish, it was later translated into English. This fourth novel, again by a Nobel Prize winner, contains, like House of the Spirits, elements of magical realism.
Love in the Time of Cholera at Amazon
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
This is yet another novel often read in sophomore World Lit classes. It follows the inner spiritual journey of a young man in India who encounters the Buddha. A great choice if you're interested in spiritual quests. I have multiple copies.
Siddhartha on Shmoop
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
This is the only book on the list that's not a novel (though Night is based on a true story). First appearing as an article in Outside magazine, this narrative describes the inner and outer journey of a young man who went into the wilds of Alaska. Heartbreaking story. Beautifully written. Meshes beautifully with our study of hero's journey. I know at least one student in the class is choosing this one--has already chosen it.
Excerpt
Book summary
Into the Wild on Amazon
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