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Summary/ Overview: First and foremost, this was a great book. Looking for Alaska is written from the perspective of Miles Halter who attends boarding school at Culver Creek in Alabama, not Alaska (I know, that's what I thought too when first reading the title). Alaska is a girl Miles, or Pudge as his new friends name him, meets at school. She is very pretty, smart, and a little vague and moody at times. Pudge goes to school, picks up smoking and drinking, focuses greatly on school, loves his religions class taught by a man on the verge of dying, and plans pranks with his friends. They are a tight knit group and then the before section of the book begins and everything changes, and for once I will not spoil this one.
Personal thoughts and opinions: I absolutely loved this book, I think some day this book will become a classic just like The Catcher in the Rye in which it reminds me of. This book is for both adults and young adults and both boys and girls.
Would I would teach this book: I would not hesitate to use this book in the classroom. This would be a great whole class read because there are so many things to consider when reading this book. Literary components that could be examined are voice, climax, and relating to characters and their experiences. Symbolism may be another one, and just the overall plot and theme to the novel will factor well into a classroom. There are some graphic moments that may be of concern so it should be used for high school juniors or seniors.
Quote: "After all this time, it still seems to me like ’straight and fast’ is the only way out. But I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it." - The Colonel
Summary/Overview: This book is very much fantastical. The Tucks are a family who stumbled across a spring on their journey to find a place to settle down. They all drank from the spring, including their hose, and eventually they realize they are not aging. Winnie's family owns the land that the spring is located on and finds Jesse Tuck sitting by the tree and drinking from the spring. Jesse is very concerned that Winnie saw him drinking from the spring because she wants to drink from it now. The Tucks take Winnie home with them to explain about the spring, and now Winnie is torn between protecting them and their secret or allowing the man in the yellow suit to exploit them.
Personal thoughts and opinions: I really liked this book a lot. I thought it was very well written and I liked the mythical aspect of it. I was anxious to see if Winnie would eventually drink from the spring. I instantly related it to the Twilight series because the themes of immortality within each of them.
Would I teach this novel: I would definitely use this as a class read. It deals with morals because of the immortality aspect, whether to choose an endless life or not. The characters would be easy to relate to, and I just think it would be a fun book to teach because most students would not mind reading it.
Lesson Plan Link: http://sps.k12.mo.us/sms/awicklund/WebQuest/tuck/webquest/home_aw.html
Summary/Overview: Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final book to the Twilight Series. This book has a lot going on within it. Bella and Edward finally get married and go off on their honeymoon. Once their honeymoon is almost over there is something wrong with Bella, she is pregnant, and getting more pregnant at a fast rate. In the end she gives birth to Renesme who is half human and half vampire, and the only way to save her from dying during giving birth is by transforming her into the vampire she has always wanted to become. The Volturi hear of Renesme thinking she is a forbidden vampire child whom cannot be tamed and come to destroy the Cullen family. In the end the Volturi realize Renesme is not a threat to their kind and leave the Cullen alone after some convincing.
Personal thoughts and opinion: I liked this book the best out of the four. The reason why I liked it so much is because that it had everything in it that I was anticipating and more of course. This books was filled with a lot of action I guess you could say. Once Bella is part of the Cullen family the book takes on a whole new perspective.
Would I teach this novel: I do not think i would use this book in a classroom either because it deals with sex and more intimate issues that are not appropriate in a school setting. But I would definitely recommend this whole series to any student who is open to reading it.
Lesson Plan Link: http://teachingtwilight.wordpress.com/about/
Quote: "I promise to love you forever—every single day of forever."
Summary/Overview: This is the third book in the Twilight series. Bella and Edward are finally back together in this book and now Bella is torn between her best friend Jacob and her true love Edward who don't exactly like each other. Jacob is a werewolf and Edward is a vampire, and are intended to be enemies. The other dilemma is that there is a newborn army of vampires set out to destroy Bella, led by a vampire named Victoria who holds a grudge against Edward and plans to kill of Bella for payback. In the end the werewolves and vampires come together to fight this army of newborn vampires to protect Bella and succeed. Personal thoughts and opinion: At first I refused to read this series because I never thought I could get into a book involving vampires. But surprise, surprise, I couldn't put the book down. I actually enjoyed the romance aspect of the novel the most. It was one of those books I had a hard time putting down because each chapter always left you hanging.Would I teach this novel: I probably would not teach this novel in a classroom but I would definitely recommend it to certain students who may enjoy it.The first book to this series may be more appropriate for a classroom, but none of these books could really contribute to to any literature components.
Lesson Plan Link: http://teachingtwilight.wordpress.com/about/
Quote: "I'll be back so soon you won't have time to miss me. Look after my heart - I left it with you."
Summary/ Overview: First and foremost, this was a great book. Looking for Alaska is written from the perspective of Miles Halter who attends boarding school at Culver Creek in Alabama, not Alaska (I know, that's what I thought too when first reading the title). Alaska is a girl Miles, or Pudge as his new friends name him, meets at school. She is very pretty, smart, and a little vague and moody at times. Pudge goes to school, picks up smoking and drinking, focuses greatly on school, loves his religions class taught by a man on the verge of dying, and plans pranks with his friends. They are a tight knit group and then the before section of the book begins and everything changes, and for once I will not spoil this one.
