I’m back for another semester of Children’s Literature. This is what my students will be reading:

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. I teach this every semester. It is a great book.

Choice books. My students will read one from each genre:

Historical Fiction

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell: In the early 1800s a Native American girl and her brother struggle to survive when left behind on an island off the coast of California.

Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan: Two children living on the prairie in nineteenth century America anticipate a new mother when their father begins corresponding with a woman from Maine.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse: A collection of free-verse poems describe a young girl during the Great Depression struggling with poverty, dust, guilt and loss.

Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen: A boy, the lone survivor of a plane crash, struggles to survive in the Canadian wilderness.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George: A boy leaves his over-crowded New York apartment to spend a winter, alone, in the Catskill Mountains.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary: With creativity and humor, Ramona deals with a babysitter, a bully, and a dad who is going back to school.

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson: After reading a poem and thinking about hope, a sixth-grade girl examines anew the world around her: her brother’s deafness, her mother’s fears, her friends’ faith, as well as a school bully and his victim.

Fantasy

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner: In an imaginary medieval land, a thief is released from prison on the condition that he find, for the king, a legendary jewel hidden in a maze beneath a river.

The Ear, the Eye, the Arm by Nancy Farmer: In 2213 Mozambique, three siblings leave their protected home, are kidnapped, and have a series of dangerous adventures.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper: On his eleventh birthday, Will learns he is an immortal Old One, and the only one who can find the six signs that will turn back the rising of the dark forces in the world.

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White: The classic story of friendship between a pig and a spider.

Mixed Genre

Holes by Louis Sachar: In the past, a man is cursed and a teacher becomes an outlaw. In the present, a boy struggles to survive a juvenile detention center in the desert.

Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbitt: In a medieval-like land, a boy visits his relatives in a town that is famous for the monster than lives on its mountain.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo: A girl, whose mother left her and her father, moves and makes friends with the help of a dog.

They’ll read two other choice books, based on an author and a theme. It is my first time using some of the books listed above. I’m excited for discussions, activities, and to see what my students think of the different books. We’re off to another great semester!