Book choices for a literature circle unit.

1. Book Group Reading Options:

2. Chance Taylor lives on a sailboat at
the marina. The boat is not seaworthy
and represents the life Chance and his
father share—rocking back and forth
and going nowhere. Chance sits in the
back of every classroom, making
himself invisible. Mr. Taylor drinks,
has trouble holding down a job and
struggles to pay the bills. So, Chance
agrees to be a runner, picking up
mysterious parcels on his daily
running route and passing them on to
the fat man from the marina,
knowing that it's probably wrong and
likely dangerous, but it pays for the
groceries.

3. Seth McCoy likes to
party. He’s a bass guitar
player in a teen rock band,
and the book talks about his
music, but also how he’s
dealing with his best
friend's death, his own
drinking problem, and on
top of all that, too much
attention from the wrong
girl, and none from the right
one. If you like stories about
relationships, this might be
a good choice for you.

4.  In 2002, Pat Tillman
walked away from his $3.6
million NFL contract to
enlist in the Army. He was
deeply troubled by 9/11
and felt a moral obligation
to join the fight against the
Taliban. Two years later he
was killed by “friendly fire”
on a hillside in
Afghanistan. To this day
his family believes that his
death was not an accident.
This is Pat’s story.

5.  This story is told in flashback. S.
has just given birth to a baby
boy whom she refuses to nurse.
The other women in the hospital
are shocked by this, but they do
not know what has happened to
S. or how this baby was
conceived. S. was a prisoner of
war during the Bosnian war. The
story recounts the horrors S. and
other women lived through at
the hands of soldiers while
under captivity.

6.  This is the true story of
Ishmael Beah. At twelve
years of age he was
“recruited” into the
Sierra Leone national
army, taught to kill, and
kept that way through
addiction to cocaine. The
course of his life changes
when the UN pulls him
out of the army and
forces him into
rehabilitation.

7.  This is a retelling of the
children’s story by the
same time. This time
Hansel and Gretel are two
Jewish children hiding in
the forests of Poland from
the German soldiers. They
are taken in by Magda, the
village witch, who risks her
life to hide them. The story
alternates between the
children’s experiences and
their parents’ struggle for
survival against the Nazi
forces.

8.  The author of this story fought in
Vietnam. The main character’s
name is Tim and he’s a soldier in
Vietnam. Sometimes Tim’s
experiences mirror O’Brien’s,
sometimes they don’t.
Throughout the story, O’Brien
challenges his reader to question
what’s “truth.” If the story he tells
about Tim helps the reader
understand the experience of
soldier in Vietnam, does it matter
if it’s not entirely accurate? This
book is brilliant, but challenging.

9. Clay Jenkins receives a box
in the mail containing thirteen
cassette tapes recorded by his
classmate Hannah, who
committed suicide. Each tape
is dedicated to a person who
contributed to her decision. He
spends a bewildering and
heartbreaking night
crisscrossing their town,
listening to Hannah's voice
recounting the events leading
up to her death.

10. Martin Stokes has been
imprisoned on Rikers Island
for five months, awaiting
trial for telling an
undercover cop where to
buy drugs. He’s become an
observer of the prison life,
good at keeping his head
down and steering clear of
gangs, extortion schemes,
brutal correction officers,
and other hazards. This
story is based upon real
experiences.

11. In a future world where
abortion has been outlawed
those between the ages of
thirteen and eighteen can be
forced to have their lives
"unwound" and their body
parts harvested for use by
others. In this story, three
teens destined for unwinding
go to extreme lengths to
uphold their beliefs--and,
perhaps, save their own lives.