Junior and Senior English with Mrs. M

Students, this page is meant to help you with book choices and to peak your interest in novels we will read as a class.  I want YOU to add to this page!  If you find a book that you think other students would like, let me know and I will add your mini-review to this page.  You can be identified by your first name or remain annonymous.  Your choice. 

Here’s a few to get us started … (I tried to identify [in capital letters] which audience the book appeals to, but don’t be afraid to stretch into a new genre!)

p.s. Has anyone read Uglies or Pretties or Specials?  This is a new series that is getting a lot of chatter in the young adult literature world but I have not read any of these.  I’d love to get some info on this page about those titles, let me know if you can help me. 

–Ms. H.

 ALL STUDENTS, Maximum Ride has been a hit with my past students (males and females).  So far, Maximum Ride is a triology (I’m not sure if the series ends after 3 or not, ask around, several students have read them).  Max learns she is part of an experiment (she has wings!) and she escapes the lab (with other teenages like her) and is on the run … very fast paced, lots of action …

 Probably appeals more to FEMALE readers, The Secret Life of Bees has been getting a lot of attention as being one of those books that will have a very long life in the world of readers.  A girl displaced by choice, forced to figure out life on her own, but finally learns she can depend on others.

 ALL STUDENTS, The first book of the Dragon Tales … written by a high school student.  I read this book over the summer and never thought I’d find myself getting attached to a character that has scales, spikes, and wings … Saphira the Dragon!

 JUNIORS, we will read this book during the second quarter.  It is a favorite among students.  The author, Elie Wiesel, survived a Concentration Camp and tells his story is this short, but intense, book. 

JUNIORS, this is another novel we will investigate as a class.  A classic Fitzgerald novel … the haunting eyes on the book’s cover have many symbols in the book … care to take a guess as to their meaning? 

 JUNIORS, Another novel we will read … Of Mice and Men is an all time favorite written by John Steinbeck.  Have you ever known the true loyalty of a friend … a friendship that is never doubted though often tested?  In this book, loyalty is defined like never before.  Bring your tissues, it’s a tear-jerker.

 SENIORS, We will look at a tranlated version of the tale of Beowulf.  This story is the father of epic journeys and epic heros.  The way we define a hero today has changed little from the images that Beowulf gave us centuries ago.

 SENIORS, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales will make you think, will make you laugh, will make you wonder … what more could you ask for?