Struggling+Readers

**Description:**
This is a great novel for young adults. It is told in the first-person from the viewpoint of Native American teenager and budding cartoonist Arnold Spirit, Jr. (better known by the nickname "Junior"). Detailing Arnold's life on the Spokane Indian Reservation and his decision, upon encouragement from a reservation high school teacher, to go to an all-white high school in the off-reservation town of Reardan, Washinton, the novel deals with issues such as racism, poverty, and the following of tradition.

Rationale:
A relatable story that incorporates the people and history of the Pacific Northwest. This book provides students with the opportunity to identify with the character of Arnold, and his feelings of isolation and anger regarding his choice to leave the reservation school system. It tells a story of persistence in overcoming many obstacles. This coming of age story provides an alternative to the all-too-common stories of privileged youth, and faces the problems of racism, poverty and alcoholism.

Text Complexity: 230 pages, cartoon drawings interspersed, first-person narrative
Layout: Simple (enhanced with many cartoon illustrations) Purpose and Meaning: Somewhat Complex Structure: Somewhat Complex Language Features: Simple (written from a teenage perspective in first-person narrative) Knowledge Demands Fiction: Somewhat Complex

Media Resources:
Sherman Alexie's Website

Sherman Alexie Talk

Sherman Alexie Speaks
[] On this ten minute video Alexie reads sections of this text.

Sherman Alexie | CONVERSATIONS AT KCTS 9
[] A 26 minute interview with Alexie.

Description:
Steve Harmon, 16, is accused of serving as a lookout for a robbery of a Harlem drugstore. The owner was shot and killed, and now Steve is in prison awaiting trial for murder. From there, he tells about his case and his incarceration. Many elements of this story are familiar, but Myers keeps it fresh and alive by telling it from an unusual perspective. Steve, an amateur filmmaker, recounts his experiences in the form of a movie screenplay. His striking scene-by-scene narrative of how his life has dramatically changed is riveting. Interspersed within the script are diary entries in which the teen vividly describes the nightmarish conditions of his confinement. Myers expertly presents the many facets of his protagonist's character and readers will find themselves feeling both sympathy and repugnance for him. Steve searches deep within his soul to prove to himself that he is not the "monster" the prosecutor presented him as to the jury. Ultimately, he reconnects with his humanity and regains a moral awareness that he had lost. Christopher Myers's superfluous black-and-white drawings are less successful. Their grainy, unfocused look complements the cinematic quality of the text, but they do little to enhance the story. Monster will challenge readers with difficult questions, to which there are no definitive answers. Monster lends itself well to classroom or group discussion. It's an emotionally charged story that readers will find compelling and disturbing. (amazon.com)

Themes:
Humanity, Introspection, Peer pressure.

Rationale:
This book reaches out to high-risk students or students who have experiences juvenile detention. The author leaves Steve's involvement in the robbery in question throughout the book, leaving students to grapple with their personal opinions of social justice are.

Text Complexity:
The only somewhat complex element of this novel is the layout as Myers switches between 1st person narrative and a screenplay format. Otherwise, vocabulary is simple, and only one level is meaning is presented. 281 pages.

Lexile:
670

Media Resources:
(article about juveniles detention centers)

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914837,00.html
(how to write a screenplay) [] = Walter Dean Myers at Who Will Speak for the Child? = [] Shares the problems that he sees during his visits to juvenile justice facilities across the country in 2009. (2009 PEN event)

Author: Janet Tashjian
= Genre: Fiction = 

Description:
==== After becoming what he so clearly and strongly resisted—a consumer—Josh Swensen finds himself in a paranoid state of no return. That is, until he’s kidnapped and coaxed into resurfacing as Larry, his old activist persona. Before long, Larry is back on the scene with much more on his mind than anti-consumerism—this time, he wants to affect change in government. And Larry isn’t taking a conventional path or starting small in local government. He just doesn’t do things halfway. But can he really become an eighteen-year-old president of the United States? Even if he can, is he sure he really wants to? ====

Rationale and connections:
==== //Vote for Larry// is a crash course in the rough and tumble world of national politics and teen readers will get a taste of just what it takes in idealism and courage to achieve such goals. It's a great Primer for struggling readers to learn about activism and politics. In this very smart, very witty novel, Janet Tashjian brings the political world to the forefront and explores it from many different points of view. ==== = Lexile Level: 810 = = =

Author Biography:
http://us.macmillan.com/author/janettashjian

**Title: //The House on Mango Street//**

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, coming-of-age story
Photo courtesty of: [|www.ollusa.edu]

Description:
//The House on Mango Street// is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero. Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers. - [|www.Barnesandnoble.com]

Text Complexity:
This novel is 110 pages, so it is not difficult in terms of length. The language is pretty simple.

Rationale:
This novel is a coming-of-age story, so it is relatable to young high school students who are going through a similar experience. One of the main themes, autonomy, is something that students will most likely be thinking about, which makes this text useful for them.

Additional Resources:
[] []- Approximately two minutes. This slide show gives a brief overview of her life and work.
 * Sandra Cisneros Biography **

** Sandra Cisneros **
[] Her website provides pictures, publications, events and current news.

=Title:The Call of the Wild= =Author: Jack London= =Genre: Fiction, Adventure=

Description:
Buck is a powerful dog living a lazy existence in California. Without warning he is stolen, beaten, and thrust into the bitter cold life of an Alaskan sled dog. Buck endures much pain at the hands of his temporary (and often violent) masters, until eventually he is found by someone who respects him. When his benevolent master is eventually killed, Buck casts aside any shred of civilization left inside him, and becomes truly wild. His strength and toughness soon make him the leader of a wolf pack, and his many exploits are regarded as legendary by local Indian tribes.

Rationale:
This book should be read because London arguably invented terse, "american writing. " Many people believe that Hemingway invented the short, declarative sentence. Those people have not read The Call of the Wild.

Text Complexity:
This book is 128 pages long. Not only are the sentence structure and vocabulary relatively simple, but the subject-matter is especially engaging for young men who feel constrained in their lives. Just as important as this simplicity, though, are the complex themes which make a struggling reader feel they are still grappling with worthwhile issues. 1010L
 * Lexile:**

[] (Author Biography) [] (A modern look at gold mining in Alaska-movie) [] (A reading of a Jack London short story)

= = =Title//: The Pearl//= =Author: John Steinbeck= =Genre: Fiction, Novella=



=Description:= The Pearl has a strong moral that people should be content with one's life, as demonstrated in the book when many unfortunate events happen to Kino, his wife Juana, and their baby boy Coyotito, after the discovery of the pearl later in the book. The novella presents this view through the character of the privileged town’s people, among them the pearl traders, who participate in continuing the oppression of the indigenous people (Kino's race) by offering Kino an unfair and low price for his pearl. The book also describes the messages of oppression and racism in a way that shows they are negative elements in life, and it shows this when the doctor refers to Kino's race as animals. -Wikipedia

Rationale:
The powerful themes of the perils of oppression and racism are important for young readers to explore. The story is written simply and is a short and easy read for a ninth or tenth grade level reader.

Resources:
[] [] [] []

= Title: Stitches: A Memoir =

Genre: Autobiography, graphic memoir


= Description: = David Small uses physically and emotionally detailed drawings to tell the story of his childhood in a family of silent, angry adults, and his coming of age and claiming of self. At the age of 14, Small undergoes throat surgery for cancer, which he is not told he has, and he is left with only one vocal cord, and thus without a voice. ** Themes: family dysfunction, child abuse/neglect, coming of age, power relations ** As a graphic memoir the baseline decoding of this book will be accessible to all but the most struggling readers. However, that being said, this book is not an “easy read” emotionally. The depicted relationships are cruel, particularly in their lack of passion. __ Stitches __ could be used in the classroom purely as a more accessible graphic piece for struggling readers; as an example of “memoir,” or as an example of illustrated writing.
 * Text complexity: **
 * Rationale and connections: **

Lexile Score: Not available
NYTimes article/interview with David Small []
 * Additional Resources: **

YouTube montage of 6 scenes from __Stitches__ []

David Small discussing the process of writing/drawing “Stitches” []