# Teaching > General Teaching >  YA Fiction Suggestions

## Dark Lady

I've just started my PGDE (Post-Graduate Diploma in Education) for becoming a secondary school English teacher in Scotland. As well as the reading lists we have been provided with, one of my tutors has recommended that we start reading YA fiction to give us an idea of what the age group we will end up teaching (for those outside Scotland the age-group is 11-18) are reading and to help us think about texts we could teach.

I'm really sorry if this question has been asked many times before but obviously new novels come out all the time and I would like to keep up to date.

So, can people give me suggestions? I'm looking for both popular and more acedemic Young Adult fiction from any time period written in English. I would be even more grateful for a couple of Scottish suggestions as there is a real emphasis on Scottish cultural identity in the syllabus here (and I'm not Scottish!).

I have already read the _Twilight_ books, the _Harry Potter_ books and _His Dark Materials_ so no need to suggest those.

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## Scheherazade

These threads might be useful:

http://www.online-literature.com/for...ht=young+adult

http://www.online-literature.com/for...ighlight=holes

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## Lynne50

Just read a review for a new graphic novel coming out this month called _Stitches_ by David Hall. It's a memoir, about a boy growing up in an unloving family. The reviews I've seen have been extremely favorable, esp. the reviews on Amazon. I'm hoping our library buys it. Since it's so new, you may not be able to use it right away, *Dark Lady*, but you may want to keep it in mind in the future. 

I would be interested to hear a review from anyone who reads it when it comes out. I haven't read any graphic novels, but this one sounds like it's a good one to get your 'feet wet' in the genre.

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## Dark Lady

Thank you both for your quick replies!

Scheherazade, I read through the first link and found the discussion very interesting. Had a quick glance through the second but I need to leave for a lecture in a minute so I'll have to have a more detailed read through later.

Lynne50, I have never read a graphic novel either. The tutor who recommended we read YA fiction also mentioned graphic novels and I'd be very keen to try a few.

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## myrna22

> I've just started my PGDE (Post-Graduate Diploma in Education) for becoming a secondary school English teacher in Scotland. As well as the reading lists we have been provided with, one of my tutors has recommended that we start reading YA fiction to give us an idea of what the age group we will end up teaching (for those outside Scotland the age-group is 11-18) are reading and to help us think about texts we could teach.
> 
> I'm really sorry if this question has been asked many times before but obviously new novels come out all the time and I would like to keep up to date.
> 
> So, can people give me suggestions? I'm looking for both popular and more acedemic Young Adult fiction from any time period written in English. I would be even more grateful for a couple of Scottish suggestions as there is a real emphasis on Scottish cultural identity in the syllabus here (and I'm not Scottish!).
> 
> I have already read the _Twilight_ books, the _Harry Potter_ books and _His Dark Materials_ so no need to suggest those.


I would not teach young adult fiction in the classroom. Is your tutor actually suggesting you teach young adult fiction in class? Wow. I would not have a problem including some superior young adult fiction titles in a list of books suggested for outside reading, but I never teach anything other than literature in the classroom. Not always classics, modern and contemporay things as well. But teaching books written specifically for any audience? Never.

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## mtpspur

The Iron Brand by Jan Adkins, Volume 1 of the Young Zorro series might have a certain appeal.

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## Dinkleberry2010

xxxxx

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## Lynne50

> As far as fiction goes, you need to introduce the classics from the past before you introduce more modern literature.


Jermac, I have to disagree with you. Kids do things so quickly these days, I think pursuing the classics first would definitely turn them off. They text all the time, listen to music while they study, etc. I'm afraid they would be put off by a classic that they have to slow down and think about., too deeply. . However, if you start with a book that they can relate to and then show correlations with a classic, they would see where contemporary writers get their subject matter.
I just read a commentary in the Philadelphia Inquirer on this very topic. An English teacher first has her students read Love Story by Eric Segal. Most people would agree that it's not great literature, but it does have many of the situations that kids can relate to... forbidden love, cold, rigid parents,etc. Then she has them read Hamlet. Now they have a more relatable stepping stoneto be able to read and interpret and enjoy Hamlet.

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## myrna22

> Jermac, I have to disagree with you. Kids do things so quickly these days, I think pursuing the classics first would definitely turn them off. They text all the time, listen to music while they study, etc. I'm afraid they would be put off by a classic that they have to slow down and think about., too deeply. . However, if you start with a book that they can relate to and then show correlations with a classic, they would see where contemporary writers get their subject matter.
> I just read a commentary in the Philadelphia Inquirer on this very topic. An English teacher first has her students read Love Story by Eric Segal. Most people would agree that it's not great literature, but it does have many of the situations that kids can relate to... forbidden love, cold, rigid parents,etc. Then she has them read Hamlet. Now they have a more relatable stepping stoneto be able to read and interpret and enjoy Hamlet.


Or, she could have them read Hamlet in a way that helps them to connect it to their own reality. It isn't that the work is a classic, except old fashioned language, that is the problem, it is the way a teacher teaches a work. I don't usually teach 8th grade, but a couple of years ago, I did. We read Romeo and Juliet. By the time we were half way through it, my kids kept unintentionally slipping into Shakespearean English (lots of thee's and thou's) when we were discussing the play. They became comfortable with the language and the content. One example is they worked in groups to put the balcony scene into modern day English in a modern setting of their choice. I had kids doing the balcony scene in places like the subway or the mall, with Juliet standing on a desk and Romeo calling out, "Yo, Julie!" It was great. I would much rather spend the time concentrating on R & J to better effect than waste a few weeks reading something like Love Story. What a waste.

Hamlet is easy to teach to teenagers: he's a teenager himself and full of angst. What could be a more perfect fit? 

For any teacher teaching Shakespeare to high school students, I recommend a series of books called SHAKESPEARE SET FREE by Folger Library. Great stuff.




> As far as fiction goes, you need to introduce the classics from the past before you introduce more modern literature.


I also disagree with this. However, I don't mean one should teach young adult literature, but modern literature that is not directed at a specific audience. For example, teaching the Color Purple is something I'd do with the right age group. It's essentially a modern classic and, as well as other literary elements you can deal with, it teaches them about the epistolary novel. Reading only old and well established classics is very limiting.

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## Dinkleberry2010

xxxxx

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## myrna22

> So let me get this straight: 11-year-olds should be introduced to The Color Purple before they are introduced to, let's say, Treasure Island or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?


I didn't say anything about 11 year old's reading The Color Purple. The OP said 11 to 18 years old. What are you suggesting? Are students supposed to read nothing but 'classics' until they have read them all, then you deem them ready for something more modern? How old will they be when they get all the classics read? 40, 50? 

My suggestion is that we combine modern classics with older classics. I don't think we should be teaching only books written 50 or 100 or more years ago. There is modern literature that is accessible for most ages, literature that is not necessarily written only for children. The Color Purple, as far as I know, as I've researched reading lists from schools all over the country, is taught as low as 7th grade. The reading level, reading skill level for The Color Purple is grade 7, but I think the content is suitable for students a bit older.

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## Dinkleberry2010

xxxxxx

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## taralyn

> I've just started my PGDE (Post-Graduate Diploma in Education) for becoming a secondary school English teacher in Scotland. As well as the reading lists we have been provided with, one of my tutors has recommended that we start reading YA fiction to give us an idea of what the age group we will end up teaching (for those outside Scotland the age-group is 11-18) are reading and to help us think about texts we could teach.
> 
> I'm really sorry if this question has been asked many times before but obviously new novels come out all the time and I would like to keep up to date.
> 
> So, can people give me suggestions? I'm looking for both popular and more acedemic Young Adult fiction from any time period written in English. I would be even more grateful for a couple of Scottish suggestions as there is a real emphasis on Scottish cultural identity in the syllabus here (and I'm not Scottish!).
> 
> I have already read the _Twilight_ books, the _Harry Potter_ books and _His Dark Materials_ so no need to suggest those.


Try the book Ink heart.

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## myrna22

> I'm not suggesting anything of the kind that students are not supposed to read anything but classics till they've read them all, and you know it, so why did you add that remark?


Actually, it certainly seemed like you did suggest it. At the same time, I NEVER said or suggested that 11 year olds read The Color Purple, yet you accused me of doing so.

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