Off of the entire Young Adult Books of All Time I have only read five: The Giver, Speak, The outsiders, Holes, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
It is hard to say if I agree with their list because I have only read 5 out of 22 listed. The ones I have read I truly agree with. They are truly brilliant books. All of them deal with issues that teens deal with on a day to day basis: fitting in with peers, adolescents being cruel, problems within the home, etc. In my 8th grade classroom we read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton every year. Our community is very depressed and we have huge population of low income families. I believe a lot of these students can relate to the home lives of the Curtis family. My students also deal with a lot of pressures that these teens deal with: clothes, social groups, poor home lives, drinking, etc. Even though this book was set and written in a different time, it really is timeless. Each year these kids really soak up the book. Many can't even put the book down! It is phenomenal what happens. And, I completely believe it is due to the fact that they can relate their own lives with the book.
After reading the list, I am very intrigued to read more of the books on the list. And, maybe, by the end of the summer I could complete the list! :)
Text Set: Literacy & Math
13 years ago
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After reading what you have to say about "The Outsiders", I think I'll have to give it a try when I have the chance. :)
ReplyDeleteI had the same issue with judging the list... I was in the dark about most of the books!