Crap, I'd better get back on reading Poisonwood! I won't be able to really start reading again until after school is out, alas.

that's interesting because I love Time Traveller's Wife so very much. The only thing I don't like about it is the choices one character makes but I still respect those choices. I didn't think Niffenegger hit me over the head with it as hard as Kingsolver did. Maybe I need to read TTW a third time.

I also am not liking any of the characters in Poisonwood yet. Well I like the parrot.

edit: I wonder if I'd be more forgiving of Poisonwood if it was set in Chicago instead of Africa.

TTW is probably my favorite Chicago novel.

Oh, and in Harry Potter news, JKR has written a 800-word prequel story for a fundraiser!

Seeking help!

I'm developing my booklist for the 12th grade class (the actual books we read over the year, not the summer reading I'd listed earlier). As I mentioned earlier, this is a class of reluctant readers/writers--but keep in mind that they are going to a pretty challenging private school, so they are not remedial. I have complete freedom and am going to focus on the concept of identity and definition of self in the face of cultural/social obstacles. Here's my current list:

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Angels in America, Tony Kushner
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Hamlet, William Shakespeare

(Hamlet is not a done deal, but I've taught it a lot and feel I can make it interesting and accessible to them.)

So...first, for those who have read both, is In the Time of Butterflies a better choice than How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents? I want to include some Latino/a literature given that we live in LA and have a substantial hispanic population, but I'm not sure about the best choice. Or maybe should I do Marquez ( A Hundred Years of Solitude or Love in the Time of Cholera )? I'm concerned his brand of magical realism might be too difficult, but so is Isabel Allende, who I also love. I'd love to teach The House of the Spirits, but is that the best choice?

Help me, Buffistas! It's been too long since I've read most of these to judge them against each other!

I don't think Marquez is tough to read and (IMO) he's a way better writer than Allende.

You just have to keep a chart out to keep track of all the Buendias with the same name.

See, I think 100 Years of Solitude is confusing, and I'm their teacher. I don't want my students to get confused and shut down, so I'm reluctant to pick that one (though I agree it's genius).

...I like the Alvarez, but I might be influenced by the fact that I just read some nonfiction by her ("Once Upon a Quinceañera") and the fact that I had to read the Marquez in Spanish, so I found it *especially* confusing. It might've been better in English. :)

PixKristin - I would highly recommend GGM's Strange Pilgrims [link] - I know it's a collection of short stories, but they all focus on the dislocation felt when in a different land and the struggle to stay centered within that feeling. I love it.

Wow, my head is spinning! Thanks, everyone. I did some more research after getting a suggestion from an LJ friend, and I think I've settled on Across A Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande.

So...I think this is my final list after some tweaking. I'm still going to show them a movie version of Hamlet and plan to show them the whole darned series of Slings & Arrows over the course of the year, so they won't be Shakespeare-deprived.

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Angels in America, Tony Kushner
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Across A Hundred Mountains, Reyna Grande
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, Susan Gilman

That gives them a mix of novels, plays, fiction, and non-fiction and yet all connects to identity in America. (The course's title is technically "The Fractured American Dream," so this still works.) I like!

Forgive the pedantry, but that should be "Garcia Marquez". You file his work under the Gs. And why not go with Love In The Time of Cholera if you're worried about One Hundred Years of Solitude?

Also recommended on your theme: The Yellow Wallpaper, Bartleby The Scrivener (both for your students with shorter attention spans, I suppose), The Awakening, Invisible Man, The Moviegoer, Housekeeping, Never Let Me Go, Jim Crace's The Gift Of Stones, or (and I'm sorta kidding with this) Lolita.

Edit - whoops! Late days and short dollars.