Last year I started an Adolescent Literature Seminar. My main reason was to give Farmerteen a “class” of kids to discuss literature with . . . so I roped in a bunch of homeschoolers and former homeschoolers to give it a try.
This was no slouch of a seminar. I put the kids through the paces.
Last “semester” we read a novel every two weeks. We read Lord of the Flies, The Chocolate War, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath.
12 weeks.
6 novels.
11-14 year olds.
At the end, they told me they hated all the books we read.
Then they asked when we were starting up again (this was early Dec. 2009).
When I told them February of 2010, they looked at me in despair.
What? We have to wait until February?
I told them I was confused . . . I thought they just told me that they hated everything we read.
We did. They told me confidently. But we can’t wait to start discussing more books we hate.
I didn’t figure I’d actually like working with this age group.
I can’t tell you how proud I am of them, and how much I’m loving it.
Next up:
The Lottery
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Catcher in the Rye
Persepolis
The Body (Stephen King novella)
The Giver
Animal Farm
Fahrenheit 451
And for the summer? Shakespeare!