World War Z

The whole zombie trend started in my last year or so of high school. Personally, I've never understood the appeal. Why would people be attracted to the idea of slow-moving dead people wanting to eat brains? For some I think they like it just because it's a trend. After reading World War Z however, I now can see the themes behind the gruesome vision that makes the "zombie apocalypse" idea so interesting. Brooks has many themes that translate to real world issues in this novel. He also conveys a lot of his opinions about the government through how the government reacts to the outbreak of the infection in the book.
It is obvious that Brooks believes the only way the US solves problems is with the military. Whenever the US verbalizes a solution to the outbreak, it always has to do with the military attacking another area. They have heavy artillery to accommodate for the fear of the unknown. For example the US has "lobos" that are designed specifically for close-up head shots. Instead of working on alternative methods of dealing with the outbreak, the US continues to spend money and time on the military. This is not far off from how many people think the US currently spends money.
There are so many different angles this book could be taught through for this class. Although I find the political aspect appealing, I would like to do a lesson on the survivalism theme in the novel. There is a quiz online that tells you how long you would survive in the zombie apocalypse. I would have students take that quiz and then have them write a reflection about the questions and how the do/do not agree with aspects in the novel. I also would ask them to write an argument about whether or not they agree with the amount of time they were given to survive.
Link to the quiz:
http://gamquistu.com/quizzes/zombie_apocalypse

Maus I and II

I read Maus I for English 110 and I remember not really liking the idea of a graphic novel, but I did like the cleverness in the choices of animals as characters. After re-reading the book and reading the second, I decided they were the only graphic novels I have ever read that I can say I somewhat enjoyed. I've always been interested in WWII and I think these are authentic yet creative and appropriate for younger audiences. These stories are both factual and emotional. Most WWII literature is emotional by default because whether you're reading a textbook or a novel you are still reading about people being killed for who they are, which is an emotional subject. Some novels, however, may not seem as factual because they are fictional stories about survivors or are "based on true stories" about WWII. Art Spiegelman does a great job of including enough facts about the war and showing us how the war not only affected the survivors, but also their families who weren't even around at the time (such as Art).
I would love to have both of these in my classroom library. I think kids who enjoy graphic novels could really learn something from these. If I were to teach a unit on WWII literature I would probably use this as a small group novel. Students would be engaged by the cleverness of the animals and also by the reality and truth of the story. Some might think it is a bit inappropriate to make a graphic novel about the Holocaust, but I think these are also tasteful novels. Spiegelman uses black and white instead of color which I think depicts the dark emotions in the novel. Although all the characters are animals, he keeps it consistent. No race is represented by a person, every race is a different animal. I think this is significant and I would consider asking students to write about why Spiegelman chose the animals he did for the different races and how the book would have been different if he had used people.

Hitler Youth

I normally wouldn't read historical nonfiction for fun. This book was interesting because I did learn things about WWII that I didn't know before. This was kind of surprising because I feel like I learned about WWII every year from 7th to 12th grade and throughout college. Classes have touched on the Hitler Youth group but never in great detail. I was unaware of the extent to which Hitler brainwashed youth. He established trust early on long before the war was in full force. It was interesting to read this after reading Night because it starts so much earlier. The reader gets a historical set-up of what was happening long before the camps and persecution.
I would not choose to use this novel in an English class. I think if a history class wanted to supplement a textbook with a novel this would be a good choice, but I don't think it's fitting for an English class. I want to use books with characters and people that my students can analyze. Though this novel contains stories of real people, there is more history in the novel than in-depth characters. We learn what the youths were thinking about the war and how they reacted to different elements of the war such as the concentration camps, but I think the fact that it is narrated by a 3rd party and contains so much historical nonfiction it would not be a novel I would choose to teach in a class. If it was between this novel and Night, I would definitely choose Night for a WWII unit. Hitler Youth could be used as a supplement for extra information, but not as a novel the class would read.

Night

I read Night in high school but it was nice to go back and re-read it. I would describe this story as cold and hard. Wiesel gives the reader the facts about what happened to the Jews in the concentration camps, but he does not ask the readers for pity. Eliezer experiences situations we could never imagine, such as running for 42 miles, removing dead bodies from trains, and watching his father die, and yet he never says "poor me." It is not lost that he does lose his faith, as I am sure many Jews did during this persecution, but he never pities himself. He is upset about the situation and that is how he explains it. He is angry with humanity and with his faith for allowing people to be treated this way.
I would definitely choose this book as a class novel. Many novels are difficult to use for the entire class but this is both educational historically but also for literature purposes. The writing is descriptive and true. There is no need to embellish his stories which gives them such a real feeling, and I always say that students appreciate the truth. I would be interested to see the student reactions to Eliezer's loss of faith and his "selfish" thoughts when his father contracts dysentery. These are two ways we see how the camps have changed Eliezer. I would like to see how students think people would change in the camps physically and mentally.

Warriors Don't Cry

I enjoyed Warriors Don't Cry and I think high school students would like it better than Kindred because it is about high school students. When I was reading it I kept thinking about how people are comparing integration then to how we react to homosexuality now. It will be so interesting to see if there is literature written about homosexual students in high school that will be implemented in schools in the future. I know there is some now, but it is more taboo than talking about integration. 

Like most people in the class when I read these novels I think about how I would teach them in a classroom of high school students. One of the issues would like to talk about in class is how to approach this book in different demographics. Would it be different to teach this in a classroom of all white children versus a diverse classroom? What about a mostly African-American classroom? Lessons need to be tailored to every classroom so I am just trying to decide how the approach would change. 

The great thing about this book is that it does not sugar coat how the little rock nine students were treated. I think high school students especially appreciate honesty so they will appreciate the honesty in this novel. It is okay to say that Melba was attacked by a mob every day because that's the truth. I  think they will also appreciate the fact that not EVERY white character in the book is bad. Link and Melba have a friendship despite their skin colors which is a great example of accepting people. Sometimes high school students need to be reminded that everyone needs to feel accepted. Not every student will be friends with every other student, but acceptance is something everyone can always improve. 

Kindred

I thought Kindred was an interesting concept. I haven't read a book about history with such futuristic elements. The idea of Dana time traveling from the 70's to 1815 is futuristic, but it is an element almost lost through the rich history of the novel. The theme of slavery is obvious. Dana is appalled yet she begins to realize people (like Weylin) are acting according to the norm for the time. This is true but the way people break norms are to act differently, which is how slavery was abolished. I understand how Dana would think this way despite the mindset she was in from her own time.
The relationship I would have students examine is the one between Dana and Rufus. I would ask students why they think Dana continues to forgive Rufus and save his life even though she has seen him do unspeakable things like raping Alice. Of course these topics and questions are for an upper level class. This book could be taught with a small group of AP English students. I would like to know what books are like this that could be taught along with it. If anyone knows any let me know!