APPROVED ENGLISH 70 BOOK LIST as of March 8, 2012 (Print Version)
The following is the list of approved books for English 70. We have tried to provide notes to aid in your choice of book as well as your teaching of it. We have included what we are calling a “Readability Scale” so that you can know the reading level of the different novels. The following are descriptions of each level:
High: This would be also called “Instructional Level” readings. These readings are challenging for the students and require significant scaffolding and activities to help the students understand the text.
Medium: These are texts that are by and large easily understood but which also have some passages or concepts that are difficult for the students and require in-class attention by the instructor.
Low: Also called “independent Reading” level, this would be a book that an English 70-level student could pick up on his or her own and understand the basics such as plot, characters, etc. While there may be more complex concepts and connections that could be developed by the instructor, the text writing level is simple for the students.
English 070 Approved Novel List
English 070 Approved List (as of 3/08/12-prnt ver)Page 1 of 11
APPROVED ENGLISH 70 BOOK LIST as of March 8, 2012 (Print Version)
- Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Sherman Alexie
- Cooked, Henderson, Jeff
- Cut, McCormick, Patricia
- Farewell to Manzanar, Houston, Jeanne
- Fire and Fog, Day, Dianne
- The Giver, Lowry, Lois
- The God Box, Sanchez, Alex
- Hunger Games, Collins, Suzanne
- Maus I, Spiegelman
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee, Harper
- Night , Wiesel, Elie
- Parrot in the Oven, Martinez, Victor
- Rubyfruit Jungle, Brown, Rita Mae
- SeedFolks, Fleischman, Paul
- Warriors Don’t Cry, Beals, Melba
- A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin, Ursula
English 070 Approved List (as of 3/08/12-prnt ver)Page 1 of 11
APPROVED ENGLISH 70 BOOK LIST as of March 8, 2012 (Print Version)
English 070 Approved Textbook List
- An Easy Guide to Writing, Dykstra, Pamela
- At a Glance: Essays, Lee, Brandon
- Basic Grammar & Usage 8th ed, Choy & Clark
- Connections: Writing, Reading, Critical Thinking, Montgomery, Tammy
- English Simplified, Ellsworth & Higgins
- Sentence Combining Workbook , Altman, Pam
English 070 Approved List (as of 3/08/12-prnt ver)Page 1 of 11
APPROVED ENGLISH 70 BOOK LIST as of March 8, 2012 (Print Version)
Books / Teaching NotesAbsolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Sherman Alexie
READABILITY: Medium
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books; Reprint ed (April 1, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9780316013697 / I took a look at this novel after teaching The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, also by Sherman Alexie, with mixed results. Lone Ranger is a collection of short stories and my students had a lot of trouble with the shifting, though recognizable male narrator of each, though they loved Alexie's humor and remarkable writing about the contradictions of love, family and tradition.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian has all the wonderfulness of Alexie with none of the tricky fictional conceits of Lone Ranger. I begin teaching this novel by showing my students some YouTube videos of Alexie being his hilarious, insightful, heart-breaking self. This allows students to literally hear Alexie's voice first, so they can then hear it as they read. Students respond instantly, I find, to the humor and the simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring story of a young man breaking away from his culture and family while still loving and honoring them, doing things differently and achieving success when none of his friends or family has ever been able to do so (a theme almost every community college student, in my experience, can identify with). The book is peppered with the narrator's cartoons of his family and friends, which I find helps a student body more accustomed to visual narrative in the form of movies, TV or video games, bridge the gap between visual narrative and text. Furthermore, beginning the semester with this book allows us to establish early a language for analyzing pictures as text, which will carry over to Maus later in the semester, and which I find lays the important groundwork of making students more critical comsumers media (text and images both). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian has everything, I think, we want in a 70 book: an engaging multicultural narrative, a compelling coming of age/"American Dream Achievement" story, a heart-breaking and warm family story, an endearing, funny, relateable narrator and meaty discussion themes that range from dual cultural identity to escaping the cycle of poverty to personal achievement/coming of age, and the paradoxical nature of them all. I highly recommend teaching this book! In three years I have never had a 70 student who didn't like it or didn't finish it (and many -- I'm talking almost than half the class -- finishes it BEFORE they have to. Really. The same is true of Maus.)
Cooked, Henderson, Jeff
Readability: Low
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (February 26, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0061153907 / Chronicles the life of a “gangsta” crack dealer, who gets busted and spends time in federal prison. It is here, in prison, that he begins to critically examine his life and to make more conscious decisions, ultimately allowing him to follow his dream of becoming a world renowned chef. Redemption, inner-strength and tenacity are core themes.
Cut, McCormick, Patricia
Readability: Low
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Push; Reprint edition (May 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0545290791
4-5 weeks for students to read / The novel “Cut “by Patricia McCormick is partly a psychological mystery story and partly adolescent drama. The main character Callie cuts herself never too deep but enough to feel pain, enough to feel scream inside. She is placed into the residential treatment facility filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. At first Callie doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. She won’t even speak. But her silence lasts only for a certain time. The events in the book make her finally speak. The students easily relate to the story because the main character is a teenager. Some of the students learn about self-injuries for the first time, some of them come up with interesting situations from real life. Most of the students agree that the book is easy to read and follow. At the same time it catches students’ attention immediately and makes them want to read the book to the end.
Farewell to Manzanar, Houston, Jeanne
Readability: Medium
Paperback: 146 pages
Publisher: Bantam Books (March 1, 1983)
ISBN-13: 978-0553272581
It takes about 4 weeks to read the entire book if you assign 6-7 chapters/week. Could be taught more slowly depending on activities assigned related to text.) / A memoir by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston in which she recounts her experiences being interned during WWII with other Japanese-Americans. The reading level is not difficult, but can be paired with other readings on civil rights, prejudice, or institutional racism. Themes around civil rights, oppression and its effect on the family and/or masculinity, propaganda, racial profiling.
See Katalina Wethington for more details.
Fire and Fog, Day, Dianne
READABILITY: Low
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Crimeline (March 3, 1997)
ISBN 13: 9780553569223 / Fremont Jones is “the epitome of the strong-minded, independent, ahead-of-her-time woman.” She becomes an amateur sleuth in this mystery, which begins (literally) with the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. The mystery involves Fremont and other interesting characters as they navigate the aftermath of the earthquake and devastating fire. The vocabulary can be challenging for some students, but overall the plot is easy to follow and the characters are engaging. This book can easily connect to SF history, (earthquake and fire), SF culture (Chinatown), and women’s suffrage.
The Giver, Lowry, Lois
Readability: Low
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins; New ed (Jul 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0440237686
(It takes about four weeks to read if you assign six chapters/week.) / This is a novel about a dystopia, akin to Fahrenheit 451. A young boy, Jonas, is given a special assignment in his community: to “receive” the memories of the entire history of his community so that no one else has to be burdened by them. As he learns more about the choices his community lacks, he makes the choice to leave his community, effectively destroying the existing social structure. The reading itself is not difficult, but the way that details are revealed requires students to put the pieces together. A great novel for teaching inference and questioning as well as making text-to-world connections. Themes around individualism, governmental control and choice vs. order. See Katalina Wethington for more details.
The God Box, Sanchez, Alex
Readability: Low
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 5, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-1416908999
The God Box cont…
Three weeks is plenty of time to get through this quick and easy read aimed at teen/young adult readers. / High school senior Paul has dated Angie since middle school, and they're good together. They have a lot of the same interests, like singing in their church choir and being active in Bible club. Living in such a small town and going to a small school, everyone knows the new kids. This year's new kid, Manuel, is weird. Everyone talks about him, especially when he joins Paul and his friends at their lunch table. Manuel proceeds to tell them that he is both gay and Christian, two things that don't mix well. The girls love Manuel, but the boys want to stay far away from him – except for Paul. Manuel is trying to be Paul's friend and all the guys start talking about the both of them. As Paul and Manuel hang out, a friendship is formed and Paul challenges Manuel about God, the Bible, and being gay. Every answer Manuel gives makes Paul think differently about his religion and what it says. Is being gay okay, and can you still go to Heaven? While examining his feelings, Paul wonders about his own sexuality and if his friendship for Manuel is just that – a friendship. When a series of events happens, Paul finds his true feelings, his true identity, and, most importantly, true love. This novel explores the terrain of teenage sexuality in a way that is honest, convincing and deeply respectful of religious beliefs, without delving into the steamier details that are so often central in tales of coming into one's sexuality. In the end, it leaves students with the feeling that religion can be a source of liberation rather than an oppressive force.
Hunger Games,Collins, Suzanne
Readability: Medium
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press; Reprint (July 3, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0439023481 / Hunger Games is a dystopian story, the first in a trilogy. The protagonist is a young, 16 year-old girl, loyal to family and friends, whose ability to hunt and feed her family equips her to fight in the Hunger Games. The games, held yearly in the Capitol, require that contestants fight to death, the prize being a year of food for the home district and life-long riches for the winner .We teach the novel over a three-week period at the beginning of the semester as it’s an easy read with the purpose of creating good-will by providing such a great read in an English class. We then focus on the hero’s journey as a framework for discussion, using literature circles, and writing an essay. The second essay of the course, it introduces students to simple synthesis whereby they must integrate ideas from an article about the hero’s journey with the plot of the story. The format of the essay also provides opportunities for students to write clear introductions, thesis statements, topic sentences, summaries, and quotations.
The students love the book as we often hear comments such as. This is the first book I’ve ever read, or I was so surprised that an English teacher would assign such a good book! ~JoAnn Hobbs and Karen Nakaji
Maus I, Spiegelman
READABILITY: Medium
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (August 12, 1986)
ISBN-13: 978-0394747231 / This is a well structured account of a holocaust survivor’s experience during the war as he retells his story to his son. It easily blends several storylines connected by common themes and relationships. It’s useful in teaching figurative language, imagery, summary and thematic analysis. I found it helpful to pair reading this type of novel with other short stories/articles that are also related by themes of oppression, survival, otherness, family conflict and love. The graphic aspect makes teaching imagery a lot easier because the development of the story relies on the images presented. Some assignments that go along with this are: summary paragraphs, compare/contrast essay (examining Maus and other readings) and image analysis paragraphs. You can get more sophisticated in how you use graphic novels depending on your comfort level. I like to use it as a tool for comparison and to scaffold critical thinking since it breaks down a complex story by presenting both words and images to tell it. See Ana Gutierrez or Cora Stryker for more details.
Night , Wiesel, Elie
READABILITY: High ( Pilot book –FA11)
Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Hill and Wang; Revised edition (January 16, 2006)
ISBN-13: 978-0374500016 / This is a gripping and horrifying account of Elie Wiesel’s experience in Nazi concentration camps. I have not taught it in class, but students have chosen it for independent reading in English 70, so I read it. I think it would be a good choice to teach in English 70. Might be interesting to pair with The Boy in Striped Pajamas. See Nancy Ybarra for more details. This true account of life and survival in Auschvitz concentration camp is the seminal book of Holocaust studies. Written in straightforward, nonemotional language, its understatement creates its intense impact. Reading this book, teaching this book, has changed lives, as many of my students have told me.Laura Bernell (Laura thinks this book may be a bit advanced for English 70.)
Parrot in the Oven, Martinez, Victor
Readability: Low
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Rayo (December 28, 2004)
ISBN-13: 978-0064471862 / Parrot in the Oven, by Victor Martinez, a Mexican-American and California author, is set in California and and provides a portrait of the Hernandez family. The book is just over 200 pages long and made up of 11 chapters, and can easily be read in 5-7 weeks, at the pace of two chapters a week. The novel is narrated by 14-year-old Manuel (Manny) Hernandez. Manny struggles to cope with an unemployed, alcoholic father, his older sister's miscarriage, bullies and gangs, shyness around girls, and his own desire to be accepted and fit in. The novel lacks the clear throughline of, say, Warriors Don't Cry, with crystal clear obstacles and objectives. Rather, the throughline of this somewhat episodic taleis more subtle, dealing with Manny's desire to achieve a sense of home and harmony. That sense of peace, along with clear signs of how Manny has grown and changed, and what he has learned, emerges clearly in the novel's final two pages. Relevant themes include race relations, discrimination and stereotyping, self-acceptance and acceptance by others, personal growth and lessons learned. This is my first semester using this book, but my sense is that students are enjoying it and finding the material easy to relate to.
Rubyfruit Jungle, Brown, Rita Mae
READABILITY: Medium
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Bantam (April 1, 1983)
ISBN-13: 978-0553278866
I spent four weeks (at a leisurely pace) working with this novel, which included one week for the first drafting of the essay. / Rubyfruit Jungle is about growing up a lesbian in America – and living happily ever after. Born a bastard, Molly Bolt is adopted by a dirt-poor southern couple who want something better for their daughter. Molly plays doctor with the boys, beats up Leroy and loses her virginity to her girlfriend in the 6th grade. Molly decides not to apologize for that, but the world is not so tolerant. Booted out of college for moral turpitude, an unrepentant, penniless Molly takes New York by storm, sending not a few female hearts aflutter with her startling beauty, crackling wit and fierce determination to persue her filmmaking dreams.
Students enthusiastically respond to this novel's feisty and inspiring heroine. As funny as the novel is, it also has some relevant insights on a number of issues: mother-daughter relationships, anti-gay prejudice, sexism in academia, and socioeconomic barriers. Yet the book is written in a simple style, which makes the novel very accessable to students; in fact, that simplicity is the essence of the book; more complicated wording would not embody the character of Molly nearly as well. Molly, who is sassy and a shamelessly cut-and-dry lesbian, does not think that things should be overanalyzed and obsessed over. She sees everything as obvious and blatant. Hence the simple language.