End of Year Book Club: Traditional vs. Contemporary Classics Books List

Traditional vs. Contemporary Classic Texts

We began our journey this year by contemplating and creating the ideal bookshelf. We explored banned books in book clubs. Now we are finishing with Romeo and Juliet, a challenging text by William Shakespeare. For our last unit, you will work in clubs to read and contemplate the meaning of a “classic text”; you will compare and contrast a traditional and contemporary classic text.

Choose 2 texts to read: a traditional and contemporary classic. See lists provided. Create book clubs - 2-5 students.

Traditional text:
Have book by Tues May 14
Read and annotate by Tuesday 5/28

Contemporary classic:
Have book by Wed 5/29
Read and annotate by Thursday 6/13

Challenging Books List (Read at least 1 this marking period)
Classic plays:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
As You Like It by William Shakespeare - 2 comedies about romance and relationships
The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Based on historical people and real events, Arthur Miller's play uses the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence unleashed by the rumors of witchcraft as a powerful parable about McCarthyism.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith - a person play about the Crown Heights race riots

Classic Novels:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Scout and Jem’s experiences in the segregated South and the trial of a black man named Tom Robinson.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: classic sci-fi about a society that burns books
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adulteress Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet A to mark her shame. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, remains unidentified and is wracked with guilt, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, seeks revenge.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Although the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester is not usually considered star-crossed, the couple must overcome incredible obstacles in their desire to be together. Ultimately, their shared happiness seems almost fated. Of course, their love (which seems to be a union of equals) is not without consequences.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If Beale Street Could Talk or The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - a coming of age story of Francie Nolan growing up in Williamsburg in the 1910’s and 20’s.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Nick Carraway narrates the story about the mysterious, great Jay Gatsby; takes place during the Jazz Age
Of Mice and Men or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Animal Farm or 1984 by George Orwell
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Memoirs and essays:
Night by Elie Wiesel is a memoir of the Holocaust.
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah about the author’s experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone
Sister Outsiders: essays by Audre Lorde
Educated by Tara Westover
March 1-3 by John Lewis
Persepolis 1-2 by Marjane Satrapi
Maus 1-2 by Art Spiegelman

Poetry: Read any collection of poetry by:
Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Audre Lorde, Mary Oliver
Naomi Shihab Nye, Gary Soto, Willie Perdomo, Billy Collins, Tracy K. Smith, Terrance Hayes

Suggested Contemporary Classics

Pride by Ibi Zoboi - a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice that takes place in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - historical fiction story about a 15-year old girl, Lina, and her family who are forced to leave their home in Lithuania and placed in a work camp in Siberia.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - story about a young girl, Liesel, growing up in Germany during WWII.
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater - a true story about a girl on a bus who gets set on fire.
Solo by Kwame Alexander - story of seventeen-year-old Blade Morrison, whose life is bombarded with scathing tabloid covers and a constant reminder that his famous father is struggling with just about every addiction under the sun—including a desperate desire to make a rock-n-roll comeback.
New Kid by Jerry Craft - a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real
Dear Martin by Nic Stone - tells the story of an Ivy League-bound African-American student named Justyce who becomes a victim of racial profiling.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo - A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother's religion and her own relationship to the world.
Pride by Ibi Zoboi - love story that takes place in Bushwick and is inspired by the classic text Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - story about a teenage girl who grapples with racism, police brutality, and activism after witnessing her black friend murdered by the police.
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly - funny and poignant neighborhood story about unexpected friendships.
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson - A timely and powerful story about a teen girl from a poor neighborhood striving for success
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds -  is focused on a moment of decision. It happens in an elevator — teenaged Will is on his way to take revenge for the murder of his brother, but his plan is interrupted by a few visitors on the way down to the ground floor.
The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata - There is bad luck, good luck, and making your own luck—which is exactly what Summer must do to save her family
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander -  It's about a boy and his brother who play basketball. But it's a much deeper, more complex novel about the challenges that exceptionally “average” characters can have.

More suggested books:
https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/227573069/5782a9b4c4bf7652223f9282f6d53f23/Suggested_Book_Shelf_for_Contempory_Classics_PDF.pdf
https://www.getunderlined.com/read/books-that-will-inspire-the-activist-in-you/