Classroom Novels | Imamother

PinkFridge

Tue, Jul 17 2018, 11:59 am

amother wrote:

My daughter read The Giver on her own when she was about 11 or 12 and liked it so much that she read the rest of the quartet.

I would also recommend Wonder by RJ Palacio. Besides being a great read, it qualifies as a classic in that a beloved pet dies.

No more dead dogs!!!

bigsis144

Tue, Jul 17 2018, 12:04 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

No more dead dogs!!!

"...Perhaps you have had other kinds of books recommended to you. Perhaps, even, you have been given books by friends, parents, or teachers, then told that these books are the type you “have to read.” Those books are invariably described as “important” – which, in my experience, pretty much means that they’re boring. (Words like meaningful and thoughtful are other good clues.) If there is a boy in these kinds of books, he will not go on an adventure to fight against Librarians, paper monsters, and one-eyed Dark Oculators.

In fact, the lad will not go on an adventure or fight against anything at all. Instead, his dog will die. Or, in some cases, his mother will die. If it’s a really meaningful book, both his dog and his mother will die. (Apparently, most writers have something against dogs and mothers.)”
― Brandon Sanderson, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

(I personally didn't click with this particular series, even though I ADORE nearly everything else Brandon Sanderson has written. I'm fine with fourth-wall breaking, but the narrative voice in these just didn't work for me, even if he has some hilarious things to say - see quote above - about The Book Industry and Being a Writer.)

PinkFridge

Tue, Jul 17 2018, 12:38 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

Sounds cute.
You know what I was referring to though, right?

PinkFridge

Tue, Jul 17 2018, 2:17 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

No, I hadn’t heard of a book by that title until you mentioned it. I’ll have to check it out 👍

It was a great read. Just not for a school to recommend. A parent who gives it to a mature older middle school child+ is not necessarily being neglectful.

susanstohelit

Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:27 am

keym wrote:

One of my kids read Number the Stars in maybe 4th or 5th.
Frindle in 3rd.
Charlottes Web in 3rd.
Way back in upper elementary we read historical fiction. Roll of Thunder, Cross Five Aprils, Animal Farm.

Frindle is an absolutely fantastic book. Third grade sounds about right for it, but it's pretty timeless in general (I was going through old books in my parents' house recently and reread it and still loved it!).

Ad hayom hazeh I have not met a single frum girl who did NOT read Number the Stars in her Bais Yaakov elementary school (and for good reason, it's excellent).

I also remember fondly Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The Westing Game, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, and The Egypt Game.