Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
This was one of my suggestions! Along with The Secret Garden and A Little Princess (haven't heard a response)
Pride and Prejudice
They read it in 11th grade. My wife hates teaching, though, and the 7th grade teacher loves it, so maybe it could be negotiated.
Emma
Love it. Only Austen I actually don't despise. Don't know if 7th graders would get it quite as well, but worth suggesting.
My Antonia
My Antonia might be a good choice...
Picture of Dorian Gray combined with Turn of the Screw
They do Dorian Gray in eleventh grade along with Jekyll and Hyde (summer reading, so fast reads are good) which is an awesomely perfect pairing. I don't know Turn of the Screw, but I'll suggest it.
I don't actually know if she's looking for 20th century or American specifically. They do US history in 7th grade, so tie-ins can be nice, but I don't think its a necessity.
Peter S. Beagle's
A Fine and Private Place,
or
The Last Unicorn?
Hah, my first thought was also "Roll of Thunder"! Is
"Circle be unbroken" a sequel to that or something else? I don't think I've re-read them since middle school. Hmm. Westing Game? Might be too young.
Does
True Grit
have enough "literary heft"?
True Grit
I don't know, I've never read it! But I'll suggest it. Along with the Beagles.
I think Let the Cicle Be Unbroken is a sequel to Roll of Thunder, yes.
Good choice. Not that I've read it myself. Saw both versions, though.
Gris, is this independent reading?
For 7th grade, guided, I would do Merchant of Venice (and have!) Or the Crucible.
For book they read mostly independently, I'd suggest
I Capture the Castle
Peace Like A River
Shabanu
Little Women
Black Ships Before Troy
Life of Frederick Douglass
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Number Devil
If you are going to be implementing the Common Core, then I'd suggest they look for what the CCSS has in their curriculum maps. i only have the maps 9-12.
How about When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. I taught that to low 10th graders.
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian?
Emma
Could include two days devoted to a movie version. Clueless as a demonstration that those old books are relevant to people today?
I don't remember reading any novels in 7th grade English. The Red Pony was 8th grade, although I remember it as a collection of loosely related novelettes and novellas.
What time of year would this be taught? If second quarter, one of Dickens's Christmas works (A Christmas Carol isn't the only one) might be an option.
It's been a while since I've read any of the shorter Trollopes. Some of them do have female protagonists, but I'm not sure they're the type of women that today's 7th grader would like to identify with. (Still re-reading The Prime Minister, and Emily Wharton-Ferdinand Lopez story standing on its own might work if it didn't involve abridging. And the theme -- the dangers of getting involved with Mr. Wrong -- could be a useful hook for adolescent girls. In a way that won't make parents squirm -- unlike Dangerous Liaisons.)
