To be honest, I’ve never loved the idea of teaching a “Literature” class. I’ve done it as a brick-and-mortar school teacher, since it was required of me, but I always felt a bit as if I was killing the story for everyone by asking them to analyze every aspect of every chapter as they went. There’s definitely a place for literary analysis, but I don’t think it should hinder that first-read-through enjoyment.
Up until this year in our homeschool, I haven’t had any required reading. I’ve wanted my kids to read for enjoyment and to grow naturally as readers–and subsequently, as writers and thinkers, since reading teaches you to write and expands your world. There were long stretches of time when one or another of my kids didn’t do much reading at all. Though if I’m being fair, that’s not strictly true: they simply weren’t reading formally. They’d obsess over video game Wiki pages, write notes to their siblings and read the responses, browse magazines I’d left open on the counter, reminisce by reading through a long-loved picture book, or giggle up a storm at one of the cartoon anthologies my husband and I have from days of yore. So they were reading, but I bit my fingernails wondering if they were doing enough. You know how that goes?
At this point, my twelve-year-old is re-reading the Septimus Heap series at top speed, having recently read through every Rick Riordan book ever written. My eleven-year-old has transitioned from a Rick Riordan obsession to a memoir/biography obsession. My nine-year-old is still in the eclectic reading phase: he’ll pore over military encyclopedias, read Calvin & Hobbes until he’s practically got the anthology memorized, devour elementary nonfiction on topics that fascinate him, and make his way through picture books of the long-and-difficult variety. Most importantly to me, all three of my kids see reading as something they enjoy and pursue of their own volition.
This past year, however, I decided it was time to help them stretch beyond the bounds of their natural inclinations. There are SO MANY good books out there that my kids weren’t reading: either the cover art wasn’t exciting, the genre didn’t appeal, or the text looked too intimidating. Thus, the Family Book Club was born. Okay, okay, so ‘Love isn’t participating since we meet while he’s working, but hey, ⅘ isn’t bad, right?
When I began thinking about what I wanted to require my kids to read, I decided to choose
- Books that they would be unlikely to read of their own volition,
- Books that would present new and diverse perspectives, and
- Books that all three kids (3rd, 5th, and 6th grades, age-wise) could handle thematically.
Since we were studying U.S. history this year, I stuck with books set in the United States. I tried to get a bit of variety as to the time period, but much of what we read was modern/recent. There were many more books I put on the “someday” list, but I didn’t think my third grader was quite ready for them yet. There were also more that I would have added if I hadn’t read them aloud recently (and many amazing books that I probably completely missed). Here’s what we did read:
One Good Thing About America by Ruth Freeman is a modern story written in the form of letters from Anais to her grandmother in Congo. Anais, her mother, and her younger brother have fled the recent (ongoing) conflict at home and moved to America, leaving her father, her older brother, and her grandmother behind. Her letters–written authentically with a child’s mistakes in spelling and usage, since her grandmother insists that she practice English even when writing–reveal the struggle to understand the ins and outs of English, which she had studied at home but feels overwhelmed by when in a class with all native speakers. They give a glimpse into her homesickness, her worry for the safety of the family she left behind, and her struggle to find her place in this new land, all the while hinting at her mother’s struggle to secure employment, housing, and visas for the remainder of the family. This was a short book that was a good introduction to a perspective completely different from our own. It held the kids attention and they enjoyed it; only my oldest put it near the top of his list, though.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell is a classic from my own childhood that I had remembered with fondness. It’s the fictionalized tale of a real person, a young woman who jumped off a boat evacuating the native people from a small California coastal island in the early 1800s and was not rescued until she had lived alone for about thirty years. In the book, O’Dell imagines what her reasons might have been for jumping off that boat, what it might have been like to live all alone for so long, and what tasks she would have undertaken to survive daily life. It’s a survival story, but it also hints at what life in America might have been like before Europeans arrived. This one got the kids–especially my nonfiction-loving youngest–a little more excited, since they find survival books intriguing.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio tells the story of August Pullman, a modern fictional boy with a real and severe facial deformity. Though he has been homeschooled thus far due to his many surgeries and health concerns–as well as concern for how his peers would react to his appearance–Auggie’s parents have decided to enroll him in a private school now that he’s starting 5th grade, the first year of middle school in his area of New York. This book allows readers to live life through the eyes of someone people judge for his unusual appearance and to ponder social dynamics. Though much of the book is from Auggie’s perspective, we also get glimpses of the story from the perspective of his older sister, her friends, and a few of his peers. This was a book that everyone really enjoyed. Goober said she had a hard time restraining herself from reading ahead, but I had threatened pain and misery if anyone ruined the story for everyone else, so she held back.
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is another classic story of a boy living in 1970s Appalachia. His family of five lives in a small, two-bedroom home and scrapes by on his dad’s mailman’s salary, so there’s no extra money for pets. When he discovers a wandering young hound dog that a neighbor has been mistreating, he desperately wants to rescue it, but his parents say that it belongs to the neighbor and there’s no money to care for it anyhow. I’d actually read this aloud several years ago because it was highly recommended for early elementary, but I felt like the kids were too young to understand the moral complexity; they couldn’t get past the idea that someone would hurt a dog on purpose. My 9-year-old adored this book; the other two thought it was fine but not a favorite.
Front Desk by Kelly Yang is based on the author’s experiences as a Chinese immigrant in the 1990s. The heroine, Mia, and her parents work as managers of a small California hotel, but the hotel’s owner, an earlier Chinese immigrant, is tight-fisted and makes it difficult for them to earn any money. As readers get to know the hotel’s long-term residents and Mia’s new best friend, Lupe, and hear the stories of other Chinese immigrants who stay at the hotel on their way from one job to another, they learn the many faces that prejudice and mistreatment can take and how impossible the American Dream can be. At the same time, Mia shows readers that kids can make a difference if they take action to try to right the wrongs that they see. This was another book that everyone really enjoyed. The kids found it especially exciting to learn that some of the things that Mia did in the book to help others were things that the author had actually done as a child. The kids insisted that I read them the sequel as a read-aloud, and they were so inspired by it that they contributed money to buy small toys to create welcome bags for immigrant/refugee kids at a local shelter.
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is a Newbery winner from my childhood that still has a message worth reading. Jeffrey Magee’s parents die in a tragic accident when he is three years old, leaving him with an aunt and uncle who can’t stand each other. After five years of miserable existence as a go-between, Jeffrey Magee runs away. Known as the running Maniac Magee, he hot-foots his way into a new town, where he struggles to find his place in the world. This book addresses the concept of family and the issues of homelessness and racism. It led to some great discussions about how you have to piece together clues to understand why people are acting the way they are. The kids found this one to be a little sad and at parts confusing, though they all enjoyed it. (It was one of Pookie’s top favorites.)
Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac is (surprise!) the story of a Navajo code talker. The book gives a glimpse into Navajo culture and the cruel nature of the historic, Anglo-run boarding schools as it tells about the experience of Ned Begay, a fictionalized character who incorporates stories and experiences from a number of actual Navajo code talkers. Ned is determined to show his worth by entering into military service, so he convinces his parents to lie about his age. After completing basic training, he and his fellow Navajo (Dine) learn and expand the secret Navajo military code before being sent off to the Pacific theater. Ned participates in several historic battles–along with a white buddy designated to keep him from being mistaken for Japanese and killed by his fellow Americans. The subject matter of this book was pretty heavy, but it was handled in an age-appropriate way. (Though if my youngest were sensitive, I wouldn’t have chosen this one.) All three kids were spellbound by this one.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper is the story of Melody, whose severe cerebral palsy prevents her from controlling her movements. She can’t walk, feed herself, or even talk. But Melody’s mind is completely fine, and she has so many things to say. When she gets a special computer that can speak for her, the world opens up and she is suddenly able to share everything she’s been thinking for so long. But many people continue to look only at the limitations of her body. The kids found this book to be rather mind-blowing, since Melody is so very smart and so very physically limited.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a collection of free verse poems that together tell the author’s story of growing up during the Civil Rights era. The kids really struggled to read the first week’s assignment, as the poetry format was something they hadn’t encountered before. By the end of the next week, however, they had gotten used to it. This book led to some interesting discussions of non-traditional families (Jacqueline’s mom leaves her dad when she’s a baby and she and her siblings live with her grandparents for several years while her mom gets established in New York; she has a younger half-brother whose father is never mentioned), Civil Rights and Jim Crow (and how the Black experience varied depending where you lived), religion (Woodson was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness–though her mother didn’t attend church–and her uncle becomes a Muslim while in prison), family relationships, and the concept of home and identity. Goober really enjoyed the book, and the boys didn’t complain.
In case you’re still reading and are wondering how this worked for us, it was magical! Each week I assigned them to read 40-80 pages (depending on our schedule for the week and on font size/formatting–Brown Girl Dreaming had so much white space that it was a breeze to get through). I only bought one copy of each book for the family, but everyone managed to find plenty of time to read. We used those little Post-It flags as bookmarks, since they were easy to differentiate (each child had their own color), didn’t fall out of the book easily, and weren’t frustrating to read around.
Our Family Book Club took an honored place as the first element of our Fun Fridays this year. We always have some sort of special snack (extra large or extra sugary or just unusual), and we sit around the table munching and discussing. Our meetings are very informal–I rarely have anything specific I want to highlight–but they’re intended to get the kids in the habit of thinking about what they read, giving an opinion that they back up with examples, asking questions about parts that they don’t understand, comparing authors, etc.
I recently announced that we had finished my Family Book Club book list for this year, and my announcement was met with universal woe! Fortunately, my list for next year (world history overview) is a mile long, so I was easily able to meet the kids’ request that we continue Book Club year-round! I consider this an epic win!
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