Course |
Title |
Author |
Publisher and Year |
Comments |
BE 121 |
The House on Mango Street |
S. Cisneros |
Vintage Contemporaries, 1984
|
My students seem to like this novel the best, but the other two are also good for developing the skills my students need. |
Of Mice and Men |
Steinbeck |
Penguin Group, 1994 |
|
| The Best Christmas Pageant Ever |
Barbara Robinson |
Harper Collins, 1972 |
|
BE 122 |
American 24KT Short Stories |
Y.C. Sisko,
Ed. |
Pearson Longman |
|
| Raisin In The Sun (drama) |
L. Hansberry |
Vintage Books |
Thematically relevant and quite effective with native speaker sections; while it focuses on the African-American dream, Hansberry’s play transcends the issue of race and speaks to all
|
| The Secret Life of Bees |
|
|
My students enjoyed it! |
BE 225 |
Seedfolks |
Fleischman &
Pedersen |
Joanna Colter Books |
Simple language; very short. Each chapter is an excellent character study of people of diverse background. There’s much in this small volume that can involve students in the reading. |
| Tuesdays with Morrie |
Mitch Albom |
Random House, 1997 |
A wonderful novel. Students love it. |
Greatest Stories of Suspense & Adventure |
B. Johnson & B. Solof, Ed. |
Townsend Press |
|
| The Color of Water |
McBride |
Riverhead Books |
|
BE 226 |
The Color of Water |
McBride |
The Berkley Publishing
Group/Penguin |
Students had some difficulty with this book because they lacked the background knowledge about the history of American race relations that the author assumes readers will have. Overall, students enjoyed the book, however. The mother’s life story particularly engaged them. |
| Life of Pi |
Yann Martel |
Harcourt |
|
The Alchemist |
Paulo Coelho |
Harper Collins |
Very popular novel (an “adult fable) that has been translated into many languages, so some students may have already read it in their native language. Simple sentence structure and easy-to-follow plot line with spiritual content that is conducive to discussion and reflection. |
