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Every year my Novels students and I embark on a journey of literary analysis and enjoyment! We read many classics every year, but I also want to expose them to more recent works of literary merit. Unfortunately, there is almost never money in our school budget for new books. Even though the overall cost is modest, it is still well beyond my annual $150 supply budget which I use to buy Post-It notes, pens, staples, markers, etc. This year my students have asked to read both The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, and I would love to give them this opportunity. I have plenty of copies of the "classics," but I want to give my students the opportunity to read more contemporary literary selections. In doing so, I hope I can instill not only an appreciation for literature but also a LOVE for literature. Outstanding literature is being written every year, and allowing them to experience contemporary classic by authors who are still alive would provide a powerful example of that. While reading The Road, we can examine McCarthy's unique use (or lack thereof) of punctuation and explore a sobering post-apocalyptic world. Mark Zusak's The Book Thief offers a highly unusual narrative voice as well as a microscopic look into life inside Nazi Germany. Both of these novels have a powerful emotional impact, and I look forward to experiencing that with my students.
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