Book Recommendations Assignment - fiction
Task: Read a book from our collection. The book has to be over 100 pages (because if it is under 100, it is not a book, it’s a novella, or short-story). After you read the complete the book recommendation form which includes the following:
· Citation of the book
· Main character with descriptions
· Setting of the story
· Theme of the book
· A quote from the book that you like
· Book summary
· Your personal response.
This will be no more than 1 page typed; hint: keep the summary short.
Sample
Kidd, Sue Monk. The secret life of bees. New York: Penguin, 2001.
Characters: 14 year old, White Lily; Lily’s caregiver, Black Rosaleen; beekeeper/matriarch, Black August and her sisters May and June; Lily’s Daddy T. Ray; 16 year old Black Zach (Lily’s boyfriend)
Setting: 1964 rural and small town (Tiburon) South Carolina
Theme: family/human relationships; racism and prejudice; social responsibility; Sisterhood
Golden quote: “Whatever it is that keeps widening your heart, that’s Mary, too, not only the power inside you but the love…. Not just to love—but to persist in love.”
Summary: Lily’s mother dies from an accidental gunshot, and Lily’s life is never the same. Lily’s father demeans her, and she finally runs away when her caregiver Rosaleen is jailed and beaten for trying to register to vote. They end up at a large pink house, home to a beekeeper and her sisters. There Lily learns about her mother and herself, and is redeemed by the Daughters of Mary. She also confronts Southern racism, and feels more aligned with Blacks than with Whites.
Audience: older HS (and adult) females
Personal response: This book would be a model read for older girls in terms of dealing with family relationships and personal dignity. The writing is very lucid, the plot is rich and tight, and the overall story is very personal and compelling. I particularly liked the character May who took the sufferings of others upon herself; she built a Wailing Wall, and stuffed prayers for others there.