Helen Sykes and Deb McPherson present regularly at conferences and are the authors of the popular book Choices for English: books, films and other texts that work (Cengage, 2009). An English teacher friend attended their presentation last November at the English Teachers Association of NSW Conference. They provided an excellent list of books for high school English classes – including plays, narrative apps, Shakespeare, picture books, graphic novels, poetry, historical fiction, alternative futures, thriller and fantasy, cross-curricular perspectives and stories of WW1.
Friend’s recommendations:
Man made boy by Jon Skovron – inventive and original offbeat romance and coming-of-age story about Boy, the child of Frankenstein’s Monster and the Bride, who lives with his parents in a secret enclave in New York populated by other well-known monsters and freaks who perform for the public. Boy is also a hacker extraordinaire who lets loose his own monster. Exciting and humorous with many intertextual references. This book has great reviews – I want to read it!
We were liars by E. Lockhart – Yr 10+; unreliable teenage narrator; set in the wealthy US summer playground of Martha’s Vineyard. High interest for Yrs 9-10 with a clever plot and shock ending.
Shellshock by Justin Fleming – a play involving a turtle smuggled from Gallipoli that lives for 100 years. Good for Yrs 7-10.
Patient 12 by Kevin Summers – comatose WW1 patient; a powerful examination of war and its effects on people (only 36 p.)
Book by John Agard – the history of written communications in autobiographical form, told by a book. Good as a Biography/Autobiography text.
Recommended class sets
The First Voyage by Allan Baillie. Penguin, 2014.
Joyous and Moonbeam by Richard Yaxley. Omnibus Books, 2013.
Loyal Creatures by Morris Gleitzman. Viking, 2014.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Headline, 2014. (I really enjoyed this; great for Year 9+).
Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier. Allen & Unwin, 2014.
Refuge by Jackie French. HarperCollins, 2013.
The Ship Kings series by Andrew McGahan. Allen & Unwin.
The Wall: A Modern Fable by William Sutcliffe. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Allen & Unwin, 2014.
Wildlife by Fiona Wood. Pan Macmillan, 2013.
All the recommendations with detailed reviews:
Choices for English – Part 1:
http://helensykesreader.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/choices-for-english-etansw-conference.html
Choices for English – Part 2:
http://helensykesreader.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/choices-for-english-etansw-conference_9.html
NSW HSC Area of Study: Discovery – some related texts:
http://helensykesreader.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/nsw-hsc-area-of-study-discovery-some.html