I need suggestions for Novellas......

[Upthevibe]

Last edited Sun Aug 27, 2023, 10:59 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm very excited that I'll have a long-term teaching assignment (one month) for 11th graders starting in October!

I'm a permanent substitute teacher (as of 2019 when I left the career college arena) for an amazing high school! It's probably one of the most progressive schools in the entire state of California, and I just love it there.

The 11th grade English Literature teacher is going on paternity leave when his wife has their baby (due 10/6/23). He and I had a wonderful discussion yesterday and we really want the books to be engaging for the students. He's 0 for 2 in terms of the books he's chosen the past two years (Farenheit 451 and 1984- the kids just weren't into them).

We're going to have several selections so they can choose which book interests them. We'll probably have around six groups of five per group (he has four classes with around 30 students per class).

We definitely want books that are only around 100-150 pages. The theme is resilience. We're also going to require them to have several real-world comparison texts/articles that are in alignment with what they're reading.

I apologize that my post is so long but I just wanted to explain the situation.

Soooooooooooo................... I'd love to hear any of your suggestions!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I wish I could think of something to suggest.

I do happen to be a science fiction person myself. Alas, there are not very many novellas published these days It's almost all VERY long novels or series.

I can think of any number of s-f novels published in the 1950s that would be short enough, but they might not appeal to kids today. A personal favorite is "The End of Eternity" by Isaac Asimov. I recently reread it and loved it once again. But I had also first read it not long after it came out.

Two novels by James Van Pelt come to mind: "Summer of the Apocalypse" and "Pandora's Gun". Check them out. They're considered YA and so would read quickly. Jim taught high school English for a very long time, and is only recently retired. So he's very understanding of h.s. age kids. He's mostly a short story writer, and many of his stories take place at school.

I will tell you this: s-f writers are incredibly approachable. I attend various cons each year (and as I type this I'm in Albuquerque for Bubonicon (https://www.bubonicon.com/activities/participants/) and over the years I've gotten to know any number of wonderful writers.

[Upthevibe]

4. PoindexterOglethorpe..........

Thank you!

[Tetrachloride]

2. The Girl With The White Flag -- nonfiction

[Upthevibe]

5. Tetrachloride...

Thank you!

[Tetrachloride]

7. yw. one of the few books that i never lend out

[TeamProg]

3. Resilience. Hmmm

Lao Tsu: Tao Te Ching.

A timeless book of poetry and stories on morality, thought,
struggle, growth, beauty and soul.

Or short stories by Hemingway or Emerson or Thoreau.

All good stuff!

[Upthevibe]

6. TeamProg.....

Thank you!

[TeamProg]

8. Or an early readers basic: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Adventure, sacrifice, sex, thought, simplicity, respecting nature, finding peace.

[japple]

9. Steve Martin's, Shopgirl and

The Pleasure of My Company,Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. I think these are considered to be novellas, but not sure.

[Upthevibe]

11. japple ........

Thank you!

[japple]

16. I am re-reading The Pleasure of My Company and not sure if it's

appropriate reading for 11th grade. My parents (back in the 1960s) never questioned, censored, what I checked out of the library as they were quite progressive. They were just happy that I was reading.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

10. Hm....

I'm having a hard time telling if you meant 50-100 pages, or 100-150 pages. Well, either way, here are some suggestions that aren't the same old-same old:

Foster, by Claire Keegan. Set in Ireland. Hope that's "English" enough. Anything by Ms Keegan is worth reading.

The End We Start From, by Megan Hunter

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, by Max Porter

Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson

The Vet's Daughter, by Barbara Comyns

Reunion, by Fred Uhlman

A Month in the Country, by JL Carr

The 39 Steps, by John Buchan

-----

If I think of any others, I'll add them later.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. I want to add this about Farenheit 451.

It is NOT about burning books. It's really about the persecution and killing of Jews in WWII. I finally got around to reading it a couple of years ago, and was completely gobsmacked that no one else ever seems to have seen that.

[Upthevibe]

13. PoindexterOglethorpe,,,,,,,,,

It's been a long time since I've read Farenheit 451...

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

14. Yeah, it was about burning books

As both an example and as a metaphor for government overreach. Bradbury himself stated repeatedly that it was the theme of the book, written in response to these four key incidents:

1, of course: The Nazi book burnings.

2: Stalin's repression of the arts.

3. A bad encounter Bradbury had with a police officer in the late 40s.

4: The rise of McCarthyism and its attended Red Scare against writers, especially.

But what would the author know about what he wrote, huh?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. No. It is not about burning books.

It's about killing Jews in WWII. The last part of it is clearly referencing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Honestly, reread it.

I don't care what Bradbury himself might have said. If he didn't get the obvious WWII connection, that's too bad. But he was probably deliberately oblivious to what he was really saying. That's not uncommon. Many authors don't fully get what they are really talking about. I actually met Bradbury in 1994, although I had not yet read "Fahrenheit 451" at that time. Even if I had, I probably would not have had the nerve to question him about it, sadly. At this point in my life, if I could go back in time and meet with him, I'd have no problem questioning him on this.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

17. So Ray Bradbury doesn't know what he wrote about?

He only said what it was about, which was indeed book burning and authoritarianism in general.

But, sure, argue with the writer who came up with it.