9th Grade Required Reading List

Required reading is something that I'm really not to good at, especially during the school year. Since I'm in Honors English, I've had the same teacher -who is fantastic- my freshman, sophomore and will have her this year for my junior year. She's is, like, the smartest teacher at our school. Anyways, I want to share with you guys what we read my freshman year in her class (and maybe I'll post my sophomore reading list).

Every time we got a book, my teacher would give us a sheet for what page number or chapter she wanted us to be on the next day and there is something about having to read it on a schedule that makes it horrible for me to read. I don't know if that is the real reason, but I hardly kept up with my reading. Also, after we finished we always had a huge test over the book/unit....And often times a couple tests during.

Okay, on to the books and my opinions and such.

FRESHMAN YEAR

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

This was the very first book I read for high school. Also, one of the few that I actually finished on time! It was really good and is one of those books where you just have to read once in your life!

At the end of the unit, we were assigned to write a future!fic about To Kill A Mockingbird. I was really proud of mine, but the others including my English teacher were worried about me. Apparently, it was too dark and depressing. I'll share it along with some of my other writings on here one day. If anyones interested.

Guy de Maupassant

After reading TKAMB, we moved onto short stories. I ADORE short stories and often times I found myself reading them just for fun.

The Top Number One Thing About Short Stories:

They are simple, yet so complex, and they almost always have a really awesome twist-filled ending!

We read around 20 short stories, my favorite being The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. Although it is a favorite for many, my least favorite was The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Maybe it was because this was the only one we listened to on audio but it put me to sleep.

The test for this unit was part memorization (all the authors names for each story) and questions on the stories and poetry in general. Easiest test all year.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 

My teacher was gone for most of December and we had a substitute teacher come in. Now, Shakespeare is hard to teach for most subs (along for many regular teachers) but luckily this sub was, like, a drama teacher/actor and a puppeteer. I love Shakespeare and like this unit.

Since our teachers made puppets for a living she had us make characters from Romeo & Juliet. Fun.

The Odyssey by Homer

Um.  I'm just going to come out and say it. I can't remember a damn thing about this book. I mean, I had English 9 Honors 7th hour - the last class of the day. In the winter my insomnia is just at its worse (something to do with the light or whatever) and so, I fell asleep a lot during this. This was actually a book that we read most of it in class. The abridged version and it was still as long....I do remember there being a question on the test about Cyclops and doing miserably on it, though.

Maybe one day I'll check it out again and read it. It is a classic after all.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

It was mid February when we received this book. Also, this was the time when we had a student teacher come in (who is the most beautiful teacher to ever grace our school and he has since become the regular 10th grade english teacher this year. Too bad I don't have his class!) and teach us.

A week before we actually got the book we had a little history lesson on Stalin and saw a documentary. This book is definitely different from other books I have read. I can't remember reading a book where there are animals that are telling the story (besides children's picture books) and a satire. Overall, I did like it.

Poetry Unit

This was a pretty fun and great unit. I love poems! My teacher had each of us read 1-2 poems that she had assigned to read to the class. We had to find out information about the author and such. I chose to read Casey at the Bat, which is a favorite of mine. The major test for this unit was we had to write down the authors name for each of the poems (I love memorization!) and she had several other things on it.

Also, we all had to write 20 or so poems that fit Mrs. C's criteria. I'll share some of mine, on here one day. For the theme poems, I wrote about sports and I'm very fond of those.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Let me just tell you, I DON'T LIKE SCI-FI (except for the Back to the Future movies!). I don't read a lot of it at all so it was definitely a change for me. I would probably give this book a 3/5 for enjoyment. The story and writing were good but it really wasn't for me.

However, Ender's Game features one of my favorite scenes EVER from a book. There's a part in the beginning where Ender's brother, Peter (who is so viciously mean and vindictive) tells Valentine, their sister, that he will harm Ender one day she isn't around to protect him.

But there'll come a day when you aren't there with him, when you forget. And suddenly you'll remember, and you'll rush to him, and there he'll be, perfectly all right. And the next time you won't worry so much, and you won't come so fast. And every time, he'll be all right. And you'll think that I forgot. Even though you'll remember that I said this, you'll think that I forgot. And years will pass. And then there'll be a terrible accident, and I'll find his body, and I'll cry and cry over him, and you'll remember this conversation. Vally, but you'll be ashamed of yourself for remembering because you'll know that I changed, that it really was an accident, that it's cruel of you even to remember what I said in a childhood quarrel. Except that it'll be true. 

0.o Holy! This absolutely blew my mind when I read it! Then again, I read and watch many documentaries about past serial killers and other insane people. (Okay. That sounds weird. I'll shut up.)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 

Last but not least, we read this. I'll admit, when we first were handed this book, I couldn't believe how many pages there were. And that's reading the abridged version.

I didn't finish this one in time before the test (I blame those long and far away soccer games!) but it's one of those book where I asked my teacher if I could keep it until I finished it because it really is very intriguing and so good!

Edmond Dantes is a character that you don't want to mess with!!

OVERALL GRADE: B+ Darn! I should've finished some of those books. Also, we did a couple weeks of grammar, but thats every English class.

Well, high school was certainly a change for me. The only book I remember having to read in middle school on our own was Lord of the Flies by William Golding and I hated it. So boring. ZZZZZZZ