Last week at the dinner table, my two kids, ages thirteen and fifteen, started talking about my daughter’s English Language Arts (ELA) class. She’s in ninth grade and in a different school building from her seventh-grade brother for the first time in ten years, and my middle schooler is curious about his sister’s high school classes. As an English teacher, I was of course quite interested in the conversation about ELA, and we meandered into the territory of favorite books read in school. Both kids thought back on their previous reading experiences and chose two favorite books each. I thought other teachers might be interested in hearing from two students about their favorite books and why they loved reading them in school.
My Daughter’s Picks
The Giver, by Lois Lowry Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993
When She Read It: Sixth grade
Synopsis: The Giver is a young adult dystopian novel that features a twelve-year-old protagonist named Jonas who lives in a seeming utopia with family and friends in which emotion—and memory of emotion—has been eliminated for the sake of comfort and “sameness.” Only one in the community can remember the time before sameness: the Receiver of Memory. At the annual Ceremony of Twelve, in which lifelong career assignments are distributed to children turning twelve, Jonas learns that he has been chosen as the community’s next Receiver of Memory. As Jonas witnesses joy and pain, war and peace, and death for the first time, he must decide whether to keep these memories to himself or release them back to the community.
Why She Loved It: There was one standout activity that made this text especially memorable for my daughter. Her teacher replicated the Ceremony of Twelve in the classroom, and each student was called to the front of the room and assigned a job. Students could either accept their fates or write and deliver a speech in which they argued for a different career. My daughter was assigned to clean up trash in the community, and she decided to deliver a speech about why she should instead be a teacher.
What She Learned: When asked what she learned, she said two things: “I learned that not everyone can always choose what they want in life, but sometimes we have a chance to try for something different. I felt discouraged when I didn’t get the job I wanted, so I knew I had to write a really good speech and be convincing.” She also said reading The Giver gave her class an interesting way to think about how knowing pain brings an appreciation for joy.
The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Drainen
Ember, 2011
When She Read It: Sixth grade, though it’s
appropriate for older readers as well
Synopsis: Jessica, a high school track star, tragically loses her leg in a car accident. Gone are her dreams of high school track and her identity as an elite runner. The novel features Jessica’s internal and external struggles and triumphs as she learns to make peace with her new body and run again—this time on a prosthetic limb specially gifted by her teammates and a community that loves her.
Why She Loved It: “I love to run and to read books about runners. I read this book as an independent reading book for the Paper Bag Project, which was really fun. Everyone read a different book and presented a book report using a paper bag. You put 5–6 items in the bag and share them to talk about your book.”
What She Learned: “I learned how to think about what different symbols would represent different parts of the book. So I made a tiny track and put it in the bag to talk about setting, and I found a keychain with a shoe on it to talk about running, and I put a medal in the bag to talk about how hard it would be to go from winning to never winning again in the same way.”
Teachers can use the Paper Bag Project with whole-class or independent novels to ask students to think about particular aspects of a book (one object each to represent setting, theme, character, foreshadowing, etc.), to look for connections across two or more texts (bring in four items that connect the texts together), or as a way to keep reminders about a series of texts over a semester or year.
My Son’s Picks
Wonder, by R. J. Palacio Knopf, 2012
When He Read It: Fifth grade, as a teacher read-aloud
Synopsis: Auggie has lived with a facial difference that kept him homeschooled for years. When he starts school in fifth grade, he faces bullying, fear, and misunderstanding. Over time, Auggie learns resilience while making new friends and finding new independence.
Why He Loved It: My son’s teacher read this book to the class during their daily “snack and read,” a twenty-minute snack time before afternoon recess. When he mentioned “snack and read,” my daughter also chimed in and said she loved that time during fifth grade as well. My son was captivated by the story, and I remember him telling us about the book when he was in fifth grade. A key aspect of this reading experience was the lack of assessment: He said he could just “relax and enjoy the story and talk about it with friends without doing homework or taking a test.”
What He Learned: “I learned to look for people who need a friend and to stand up to bullying. I learned that it’s more fun to read a book for fun than to be worried about a test.” This is an abridged version of this article. To read more, subscribe to Christian Educators Journal.
Kristin VanEyk is Professor of English Education at Hope College, though she did not always fly the orange and blue. A graduate of Calvin University (2006), Kristin taught English at Grand Rapids Christian High for ten years before completing her education at the University of Michigan in 2021.
