Book Club Syllabus

Mrs. JW Bennett
jbennett@houstonisd.org
Welcome to Book Club! In this class we will explore a variety of novels and writings within
various themes. You will help create the syllabus with your opinions and input on interesting
novels. In this class you can expect to do a lot of enjoyable reading and also engage in thoughtprovoking discussions regarding the literature. We will find connections among books and look
into authors motivations and inspirations for writing these wonderful young adult novels. You will
give book talks to your peers and also listen to recommendations from your classmates. We will
be creating a network of life-long readers. We will also do some research on various book award
lists and internet book clubs. This is your class, and you will be key in creating a syllabus that is
rigorous and enjoyable. Your grades will come from a combination of participation, journal
response, book talks, book reviews, daily work, and tests.
Below I have listed a few of the themes on which we can focus. Along with those themes are
suggested titles. These are only suggestions, your class and small groups will decide which books
we will read over the course of the semester. My library, combined with the school library will
have several sets of books to offer. However, depending on your choice of novel, you may need
to go to the public library or the book store to pick up your copy of the chosen novel. I hope to
incorporate 5 to 7 novels over the duration of this class. There will be negotiations regarding rereading of novels you may have enjoyed previously. As your choice of books changes, so will your
small group. You will be expected to come prepared every day with your supplies and your
reading for the discussion. This class should be a great deal of fun, so lets get started!
Classics
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Of Mice and Men or The Pearl by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Fantasy/Science Fiction
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Magyk by Angie Sage and Mark Zug
Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Inkeart by Cornelia Funke
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordin

Award Winners

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Newberry)

Day of Tears (Coretta Scott King)
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Printz)
Deathwatch (Edgar)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway (Pulitzer)
A Day No Pigs Would Die (ALA)
Realistic Fiction
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Buried Onions by Gary Soto
Whirligig by Paul Fleishman
Dogsong by Gary Paulson
Hatchet by Gary Paulson
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Historical Fiction
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Assassin by Anna Myers
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Mystery
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Spirit Seeker by Joan Lowry Nixon
Four Blind Mice by James Patterson
What Janie Found by Caroline B. Cooney
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Accident by Todd Strasser
African-American Authors
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
There Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston
Roots by Alex Haley
The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Author Study
Todd Strasser
Lois Lowry
Sharon Draper
Joan Lowry Nixon
Anthony Horowitz
Meg Cabot