Suggestions for first year Junior Cert English please

miralheti

Hi there,
Any ideas for good novels for first year girls. Something maybe that will entertain them would be great.

Denerick

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry would be a good start. Its about a black family in 1930s Southern America. The protagonist is a young girl who faces and combats racial prejudice along the way. Not too heavy and not too frivolous either. A nice balance. Intended for teenagers as well, I think.

SillyMangoX

I remember doing Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry and Goodnight Mr Tom for my junior cert english class and I found them very good, I still like to re read them! But we didn't start them untill second year. For first year we read a book called Tuck Everlasting, I can't fully remember what it was about, but I think it was a girl who made friends with a boy who turned out to be immortal because his family drank water from a special fountain or something like that. As far as I can remember it was an easy read and we got plenty of homework exercises out of it such as doing a chapter summary at the end of each chapter, designing our own bookcover and chapter art in every chapter, and writing our own 'missing chapter' at a part where some time is skipped.

Mardy Bum

Little Women by Louise Alcott is a classic and very relevant at the minute I believe and will appeal to girls much more than say Treasure Island.

Denerick

Well if Roll of Thunder is slightly too advanced then I'd really recommend 'I am David' by Anne Holm. I read it when I was 10 or so and it had a lasting effect on me. Have been meaning to re-read it actually, it played a big influence on my childhood. Its about a child who escapes from a concentration camp in Bulgaria and slowly makes his way back to his mother in Denmark.

hatful

The curious incident of the dog in the night time - Mark Haddon
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Animal farm- George Orwell (although a bit of a tear jerker)

I agree with 'I am David' a very good read.

vepyewwo

I would recommend Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster or Homecoming by Cynthia Voight.
I agree with suggestions of I am David and Roll of Thunder, hear my cry, both excellent reads!

squeakyduck

Love the I am David suggestion! - It made me cry when I read it last year! Poor King!

To kill a mockingbird
pride and prejudice
wuthering heights (might be a bit long)
I read the Endless Steppe in my first year of school - I remember it taking ages to read in class but well worth it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Endless_Steppe

Niles

Silas Marner, feel good story, fairytale elements without being a fairytale.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

We only covered short stories in first year and began a novel in second year. 'Goodnight Mr Tom' seems like a good choice however.

Asphyxia

In first year I read The Cay by Theodore Taylor, lovely novel I really enjoyed reading it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cay

In second year I read To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee and again another book that's worth a read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird

bigsmokewriting

Meg Rosoff - How I Live Now
Madeleine L'Engle - A Wrinkle In Time
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief

All these are published as YA novels (L'Engle's is at the younger end of the spectrum - MC is 12 - but still more teen than kids fiction), depending on the group you get (and parents!) some of the content might be a bit objectionable, but they're all good books - and less off-putting than the 'classics' can be.

ganlan

yeah ,I think so!

damselnat

Agree with a lot of the ones above, and I'd throw in You Don't Know Me by David Klass; I think I read it around that age and thought it was excellent

Tiffy6666

DON'T do 'To kill a mockingbird' I remember doing that in 2nd year and hating my teacher for making me read it. I would recommend 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' as I did this in first year and found it exteremley moving and enjoyable.

Tiffy6666

Oh and I attend an all-girl school

damselnat

Tiffy6666 wrote: »

DON'T do 'To kill a mockingbird' I remember doing that in 2nd year and hating my teacher for making me read it. I would recommend 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' as I did this in first year and found it exteremley moving and enjoyable.

We did TKAM for the junior cert as well, it's one of the ones on the course anyway. I remember I read it when I was about 11 or 12 and *hated* doing it again in school, but the alternative was Let The Circle Be Unbroken and I'd read that too, the theme seems to be racism, they get old though, good as they are...