Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions!
My original post:
My principal has told me that next year, she wants to buy sets of books
for students to read daily for a short time in English class; one title
for each grade. She wants them to be high-interest, easy reads that will
get our reluctant readers hooked and wanting to find out what happens
next.
She has asked me to suggest titles. I've come up with a few, but I'd
love some outside input. My school is an urban alternative middle/high
school serving grades 6 through 12. The majority of our students are
African-American. These students are here because they did something to
be suspended or expelled from a school in the district (everything from
being tardy too many times to fighting to bringing a weapon or drugs to
school to threatening a teacher). Many of them have repeated grades
several times and most are struggling readers, if only because of
limited vocabulary, so low-reading level titles will be a plus. They
seem most drawn to mysteries, "scary books," and books that talk about
the realistic things they have to deal with in their lives.
These are the titles I am considering right now:
6th grade
* Shooter by Walter Dean Myers
* Money Hungry Sharon Flake
7th grade
* Emako Blue by Brenda Woods
* The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin
8th grade
* Romiette & Julio by Sharon Draper
* The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
9th grade
* Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
* Played by Dana Davidson
10th grade
* Tyrell by Coe Booth
11th grade
* Keesha's House by Helen Frost
12th grade
* Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry
Thanks in advance for your expertise and input!
Responses:
Try the Bluford High series by Schraff & Langdon. They are easy reads and the kids
will love them. The kids here & the adults also really like the Diary of A Wimpy
Kid & Roderick Rules by Jeff Kinney. They have great illustrations, too! By the
way, there is a sequel to Money Hungry--Begging for Change! You might also want to
try anything by Jacqueline Woodson.
______________________________________________________________________
Check on the Bluford High series from Townsend Press. You can go to their website
http://townsendpress.com/ and order the books for $1.00 each. They do take purchase
orders (I checked). The series - 13 books in all - feature African American high
school students and are fairly easy to read; the middle school girls here love them
and I can't keep them on the shelves.
There's another place that offers leveled reading for reluctant readers: Scobre
Press http://scobre.com/ . I haven't ordered from them, but I liked the program the
sales rep spoke of. These books are high-interest, low-ability, and even come in
two levels of ability. He left me a couple of books, which I've looked at and like.
The books feature sports, which most kids always like.
______________________________________________________________________
Have you tried the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan? The
hero is ADD and dyslexic--it is kind of a Harry Potter with Greek mythology. Three
books are out, and one is due this summer. I keep recommending these to everyone
5th grade and up because the kids just love them! The first is called The
Lightning Thief.
______________________________________________________________________
The Bluford high searies is a hit here. The reading level according to what Follett
uses is 4.8.
They are by Paul Langdon and Ann Schraff
______________________________________________________________________
I think Imani All Mine is a great book for reluctant readers - particularly girls.
It's written in slang, so it's easy for kids to understand.
______________________________________________________________________
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes is my all-time favorite. A culturally diverse
classroom gets to know and care about each other through writing poetry. Students
love it.
______________________________________________________________________
Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon
Snitch by Alison van Diepen
Street Pharm by van Diepen
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Black and White by Paul Volponi
Rooftop by Volponi
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
That was Then, this is now by Hinton
Holes by Louis Sachar
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Homeboyz by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
anything by Sharon Draper and Walter Dean Myers
______________________________________________________________________
Be sure to check out Allison Van Diepen's 2 books: Street Pharm and Snitch. They
are both on the ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list and appeal to kids like
yours. Definitely HS subject matter, but great books. I couldn't keep them on the
shelf when I bought them for my Juvenile Correctional Facility guys. (I'm not in
that position anymore!)
______________________________________________________________________
How about 4 kids in 5-E and 1 Crazy Year?
______________________________________________________________________
Sarah don't know how this would go over with your student [population but many
years ago I worked in a title one classroom with a mixed population. The teacher
read aloud. The first day the kids groaned and made faces but by the end of the
week they were begging for just a few more pages. The first book she read was "A
Stranger is Watching" by Mary Higgins Clark. Lots of suspense, short, short
chapters. The point of view is alternating between the kidnapper and the victims
family so you are always a half step ahead or behind what is going to happen. Great
suspense but not a really short book . You might look at some of the Orca Soundings
titles. They are very much geared to your readers. I've had kids read one ( or
check out one) cause they "hafta" and then come back and tell me with a smile they
had never read a whole book before and did I have anymore like it. They would
pretty much take any title from the series and be back for more
Sarah Loch
Librarian
Valley Park Alternative School
4510 Bawell Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
225-926-9765 x. 229
SLoch@ebrpss.k12.la.us
Currently reading "Pagan's Crusade" by Catherine Jinks and "Witness in Death" by
J.D. Robb
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