Wuthering Heights x 4

Picture from http://goo.gl/BdoK

However any of us may feel about the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer--which I admit, I have read--it is interesting to see how the release of the novel has an effect on what teens are reading. According to an article in the Telegraph (it's been in my inbox for a week and I've just now had time to get to it), sales for Wuthering Heights has quadrupled over the past year because Edward and Bella refer to it in Twilight. These teens are beginning to do what I do, as an avid reader: go read whatever it is characters are referencing so they have a working knowledge of the references. This is the first step to understanding allusions.

Publishers are taking flak for changing the cover of Wuthering Heights to this, which appeals to the vampire romance-loving teens. According to the Albuquerque Examiner article from April 11, 2010, the covers of Romeo & Juliet and Pride and Prejudice have also received a Twilight make-over.
Rachel Harcourt, a buyer at Tesco, which seems to be the Wal-mart or SuperTarget of the UK, says,

The new sleek black gothic-style covers of Wuthering Heights clearly appeal to lovers of vampire romance stories and are helping them to try out a different read. Anything that encourages teenagers to read good books is welcome as there are so many distractions which prevent today’s youngsters from developing reading as a hobby.

I'm inclined to agree. Anything that encourages teens to read at all is fantastic in my book, whether it be the newspaper, or graphic novels, the Twilight Saga, or captions on the television.

Current Popular Reads

For a group of self-proclaimed non-readers, my classes are pretty amazing this semester. They've effectively created a community of readers, where they can share their reading without the worry of ridicule by their classmates--they're all in the same boat together.

I allow students to check out books from my personal library, especially if that book is either not a title in or school library, or it is checked out of our school library. Some of the most popular titles that are being passed around readers in my classes (we have a wiki that includes a wait-list for books students are interested in reading) are...

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod (Series) by Heather Brewer

I blame this series on one of my first period students, JJ. He wanted a book about vampires, but he didn't want to read Twilight, because he thought it was geared toward girls. The only other vampire book I had, Thirsty by M.T. Anderson, was already checked out by another student. So on one of my many excursions to Barnes & Noble, where I frequently make use of my educator discount, I picked up the first in the series, Eighth Grade Bites. Within a few days, he'd finished this book, come back to class raving about it, and already asking for the next one. This is the same kid whose papers I get with the symbols from this book on it. So he's been through the first and second, another student in the class has read the first and is on the wait list for the second (he got distracted by Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar). This book is already on its third reader, and we're a week into the second grading period.

The Hazelwood High Trilogy (Tears of a Tiger, Forged by Fire and Darkness before Dawn) by Sharon Draper

Tears of a Tiger I bought on recommendation from my mother years ago when I taught ninth grade. This is how I hooked a couple of boys who pretty much refused to do their independent reading. I'm currently on my fourth copy of this novel as my students tend to walk off with it. This is also on its third reader. I had one student come in on Wednesday--she was given Forged by Fire on Tuesday--and say she finished the novel. Then, she was upset because my copy and the library copy of Darkness before Dawn were both checked out. Two of the girls (interestingly enough) that are reading through this series were mad at me at the end of Tears of a Tiger because of what happened... mainly because they got into the novel, started to feel for the characters, and then a big event occurs and they couldn't believe it. Have I mentioned that I really like my job?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I present this novel by saying, "This is one of the best books I read in 2009. It makes my All-Time Top 5 list." That right there is enough to get my students interested. There was so much interest in this novel that I went out and bought a second copy. Both copies from my library are checked out, and both copies from our school library are checked out. Many of the boys who come talk to me about what they should read next ask for books with adventure. The Hunger Games is the first novel I think of, followed quickly by the next series, and the book after that. And the kids are going through them like crazy. This one, and its follow-up Catching Fire are page-turners. Both students who have my copies checked out come to class with their questions and their thoughts on what "crazy" thing happened in their reading since I last saw them. A must read.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Series) by Rick Riordan

What's funny about this series is that I didn't recommend it because the movie was recently released. A boy asked for adventure, my copy and the library copy of the next book were checked out, and I thought, "What else do I have or know of that contains adventure?" And I had to think for a second. But let me tell you, they're flying through these, too. The Lightning Thief is on its third reader, having been turned in on Friday. The student who started this viral read is now waiting on the third book, The Titan's Curse, which I need to remember to take to school on Monday. This is another one they come in talking about. And what's great, is that it's a simple introduction into Greek mythology, something the 8th graders learn toward the end of the year. It's  usually a fun unit, and creates background knowledge for the students when they have to tackle The Odyssey as 9th graders.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

One of the things I love about collaborating with people all over the country, whether it be via the Edmodo Classroom Connect project that Chad Sansing and I participate in, or via one of many PLNs (Professional Learning Networks) that I'm a member of, is that through that collaboration, I get to find out what other reading teachers and other students are reading all over the place. I bought The Maze Runner because some of Chad's students were reading it, which I found out when our students were talking about their reads one Friday. This book is also on its third reader: two on my recommendation, and the third on recommendation from a classmate. When I talked to the student who checked it out on Friday, I asked him if he wanted to wait until Tuesday to get it. His initial response was yes. About 10 minutes later he comes to me and says, "If I check it out today, can I take it home over the weekend?" Yes. Please do. Wow.

A couple of other books that are very close to this status are No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney. These kids, these so-called non-readers are amazing me right now. I ask that they read three novels over the course of a semester. The idea is that they get through three and it'll be more than they've read, for the most part. I have students who have already read three, and keep coming back for more. It's a heady thing for a reading teacher. And it makes my job (harder) a whole lot of fun.

"Miss, I finished my book. What should I read next?" Because they want my help, and that makes me happy.
"Really? Already? Man, you're making me work."

End of the Twilight

I am finally done with the Twilight Saga, having finished the fourth installment, Breaking Dawn, this morning. This one I received as a Christmas present from my mother, who made me wait the two days until Christmas (I was with her on the 23rd when she bought it) to read it.

After having talked to my students at the end of the semester about this novel (I had two reading it at the time), and the fact that my cousin, the original Book Buddy, told me how it ended, I thought I knew what to expect.

I was wrong.

Sure, Bella turns into a vampire. I think everyone saw that coming. But don't things like that usually wait until the end of novels? Point for you, Stephanie Meyer for not being quite that trite.

One of my criticisms of the novel at the beginning was that I felt like the mirroring of the stories with canonical literature was more overt than necessary. Take the Romeo & Juliet plotline from New Moon. Romeo is exiled from Verona = Edward goes into self-imposed exile in Italy. Romeo gets the message wrong and things Juliet is dead = Alice only se

es part of the story when Bella jumps off a cliff and Edward thinks Bella is dead.

I could go on.

But... and there must be a "but"... But from what I here, there are more teenagers (because the Twilight Saga isn't just for girls) reading the classical literature now, or at least enough that a re-release of many of the classics with more attractive covers (not the boring Signet Classics covers) was deemed necessary, as was the inclusion of these titles in the Young Adult section of the bookstore. Please note that I'm not complaining. This is merely an observation.

But back to Twilight. I'm going to admit that the catalyst for reading the novels was the trip to the movies with my boy-cousins, only one of whom--the aforementioned book buddy--is an avid reader. That particular book buddy was disappointed with the end of this series. Much like he was disappointed with the end of Harry Potter. I'm not sure any end of a series is ever particularly satisfactory. Not once you've been up close and personal with a character. I, however, was satisfied with the resolution and can now effectively put this series behind me.

I will admit that it has made me curious about vampire and werewolf lore, especially with the talk of the difference between Jacob's pack of shape-shifters and the Children of the Moon that scared Caius so much.

It really is unfortunate that many of my students are daunted by the size of a novel and are so easily bored if it isn't constant action. I think there are many who would enjoy and relate to the Twilight Saga. And yes, though I was opposed to it in the beginning, I did enjoy the story.

So there.

I can't believe I'm actually reading this but...

Over Thanksgiving, I took four of my boy-cousins, ranging from 10 to 18, to see New Moon. On Saturday, when I got back to the great NM from Indy, my niece and I watched the first Twilight movie. After New Moon, my oldest boy-cousin and I decided that we actually have to read the novel (much to my chagrin, even though I'd resigned myself to it before). Two of my students, who are both currently working on Eclipse, giggled at me when I said I was going to start the series. Giggled like "ha, ha, we won!" type giggling.

Thing is, I don't know where I'm going to read it and not get made fun of. I'm sure that my nieces, even thought they've seen the movies, will make fun of me for reading it. Ah, well. I must find my Twilight confidence. Thing is, one of my book buddies already told me how it ends.