[LM_NET] TARGET: Honors English Themes in YA Lit

[Jana Dixon <janad@CMS.DSC.K12.AR.US>]

Hi,

I have a colleague who has come to me (a first), and I really would like to give 
her some good advice.  So, I'm asking you to help me PLEASE :)  

She is teaching an Honors English class for the first time, and would like to find 
some YA lit to correspond to classic themes in literature as companions/comparisons 
to the classics.

Here are the themed units:
1.  Who am I?  The Search for Identity 
     Classic list includes: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Oedipus Rex; A Doll's 
House by Ibsen, The Odyssey
2.  What is Truth?  Narrative Tradditions; Illusion vs. Reality
     Classic list includes: "Politics and the English Language" by Orwell; The 
Glass Menagerie, Romeo and Juliet,   Death of a Salesman, Hamlet, Taming of the 
Shrew
3.  How do we make moral choices?  The Nature of Good and Evil
     Classic List includes Antigone, Lord of the Flies, The Inferno, All Quiet on 
the Western Front, Dr. Fautus
4.  What is the nature of a good life?  Finding Purpose
     Classic list includes Of Mice and Men, A Tale of Two Cities, and Siddhartha

Can you help me brainstorm a list for her that would correspond to these themes? 
Some of these titles could probably fit more than one category.  

Here's what I have so far:
1.  Who am I?  The Search for Identity
Counterfeit Son by Alphin
Amazing Grace by Megan Shull
Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci
Crispin: the cross of lead by Avi
Criss Cross by Lynne Perkins
What's in a name?  Ellen Wittlinger
Fake ID by Walter Sorrells
The Naming by Alison Croggin
The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
The Princess & the Pauper by Kate Brian
Secrets of my Hollywood life by Jen Calonita
Maximum Ride by James Patterson
Double Identity by Margaret Haddix

2.  What is Truth?
Scribbler of Dreams by Mary Pearson
The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
Heir Apparent by Vivian Van Velde
Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt
The gospel according to Larry by JanetTashjian
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

3.  How do we make moral choices?
Cheat by Amy Koss
Cheating Lessons by Nan Cappo
Fade to Black by Alex Flinn
Breaking Point by Alex Flinn
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
Code Orange by Caroline Cooney
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Shattering Glass by Gail Giles
Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates
Shooter by Walter Dean Myers
Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser
Shadow Club & Shadow Club Rising by Neal Shusterman
What Mr. Mattero Did by Priscilla Cummings


4.  Finding purpose?
Airborn & Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
Car Trouble by Jeanne DuPrau
ZigZag by Ellen Wittlinger
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
Fault Line by Janet Tashijan
Can't Get There From Here by Todd Strasser

Thanks,

Jana Dixon







Jana Dixon, NBCT
Library Media Specialist
Cutter Morning Star HS
2801 Spring Street
Hot Springs, AR  71901
janad@cms.dsc.k12.ar.us
501-262-1220, ext. 3

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