Developing a middle school mod lit class... NEED HELP!!!

Hello all. I'm a middle school teacher and I have been charged with creating a "modern" literature elective class for above average 8th graders. I am envisioning assigning 3 books (preferably thematically liked) each trimester. I read quite a bit, but honestly I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around this... Any thoughts?
Obviously, books have to be appropriate, but some language and adult situations are fine. I am not too picky about genre (actually a mix might be nice), but I will have to cater to both boys and girls.
I currently have book clubs here at school that use some books I would like to consider Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, House of the Scorpion, Good Night, Mr. Tom, Monster, Petey, to name a few. These are the sorts of books I am looking for. I would not be adverse to using some appropriate adult titles either, but I appreciate any suggestions.

Have you checked out all the other recent Printz winners and nominees? You have a couple on your list. IMO, unlike the Newbery award, the Printz committee manages to award books that are excellent and topical, but also compulsively readable, as opposed to boring stuff that no kid actually wants to read (I'm still bitter after a childhood experience with Island of the Blue Dolphins).

^Still bitter about my entire 6th grade reading/english class, which included that book.

How 'modern' are talking? Last 5, 10, 50 years?

Well, one of my faves from middle school is running out of time by haddix. I always liked s e hinton books too. Oh, and ender's game, of course :D

Recent kid-ish/friendly books I liked little brother, obernewtyn, the haunting of alaizabel cray, curious incident of the dog in the night-time

A little older, but maybe harper hall trilogy part of the pern series

Hope that helps!

#3 I'm still bitter about most of my school reading, to be honest. Starting in elementary school, the only assigned books that I recall enjoying were Bridge to Terebithia, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and then several years later Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Darkness at Noon. I only love reading so much because my parents let me read whatever I wanted on my own time.

I am sad that Island of the Blue Dolphins made you bitter. I loved it.

Oh, I'm sad about Island of the Blue Dolphins making you bitter too, although I think 6th grade might be too old for it to be required reading. We read it in 4th grade.

#5 Well I'm glad that somebody liked it! I think for me the issue is that I just never cared for that kind of story--when I was a kid I never voluntarily read stories about nature, survival, animals, etc (in fact, I still don't often read those stories--I found Robinson Crusoe totally tedious, for instance). And heaven forbid anybody made me read something tragic or depressing. I preferred books set in my own time period, in which the primary conflicts derived from social interactions--more gossipy and fun kinds of stories like Babysitters Club.

Ack, I've now hijacked the thread. Back to the topic at hand! Many apologies W84Godot.

It's quite OK SaraHope. I have been getting a good chuckle seeing the thread have the same problem sticking to this as I am having with my coworkers. :)

I think Speak is well worth considering, and I second someone else's suggestion of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I also second Ender's Game, which has plenty in it that can be talked about.

What counts as "modern" literature?

I read The Chosen at that age, and it was a life-shaping book for me. But since I'm 55, that automatically makes it not a very recent book. Still, it's one that I'd like to make mandatory reading for intelligent teenagers.

If your above average students can handle a longer book, you might consider Dune.

If you wanted something to thematically link with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian you might think about The Education of Little Tree.

Almost forgot to mention Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. It reads like it is written for younger folks, which makes it an easy read. It is similar in feel to The Phantom Tollbooth. But it is Rushdie's answer to the question "What's the use of stories if they aren't even true?" which IMHO makes it a useful book to talk about.

An idea that might appeal to the students - compare a classic work of literature with a modern extension of that work. There are two way sit could play out:

- Compare something like Pride and Prejudice with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Here, the modern work takes most of the story or even the text itself and modifies it. There are enough of these sorts of books out there that some choice can be made.

- Compare a classic with a modern work using the same characters, or a subset of the characters in a new way. I'm thinking Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff: The Return to Wuthering Heights.

The discussion could cover a lot of ground with questions like "what makes a classic a classic" and "are extensions or reworkings of a classic better or worse, or simply different than the original work", or "why would an author write something like these new works".

Or, you could read two titles on a subject - one a classic, one modern, and compare language, how the subject is handled, etc..

On slavery and race: Uncle Tom's Cabin vs The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation

For example.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers might be worth looking at.

Working from 10 and 11 -- I always liked when we compared what we were reading to movies. There are the straight adaptations, like To Kill a Mockingbird. Or there are the reworks like The Odyssey to O Brother Where Art Thou

I've been thinking about this a bit more. I wonder, would you be interested in some non-fiction as well as fiction? I think there could be some pretty interesting discussions about books like Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air or Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, or other really powerful memoirs. Into Thin Air, for instance, raises a lot of questions about taking risks, what is ethical behavior under life-threatening circumstances, about how a memoirist deals with potentially unreliable memories, and even just the economics of the industry and the potential exploitation of poorer countries that have increasingly become tourist hot spots (and how we as Westerners can act more responsibly in those places).

If you're making a class book list and all the students will have to read the same books, make sure any "classics" or recent best-sellers you pick are good. As a voracious reader most of the books I was assigned with a class or reading group I had read already. So, this is a personal thing, but I would not have wanted to reread something like Island of the Blue Dolphins (fifth grade reading group), but I would have been happy to reread Ender's Game (didn't actually read that until high school) or The Ear the Eye and the Arm (same author as House of the Scorpion). But I guess the kids who will have read the works on the list don't need you to get them reading and they'll be OK in any case.

And The Phantom Tollbooth or anything like it is not appropriate for eighth grade class reading but it might be appropriate for weaker students.

Thank you for the ideas so far. I maybe should have qualified a little bit more in my original posting... did want to be too wordy. I am an English teacher and next year will be my thirteenth in the classroom. I am acutely aware of the pitfalls of choosing boring books. I, at best, read one tenth of the "assigned" books when I was in school.
It was mentioned that I should be more clear on "modern." I was hoping for titles within the last 20 years. I certainly have nothing against "classics." They simply don't fit into this course.
I like the idea of some non-fiction titles. Well, back to class. Just wanted to make sure I thanked everyone for posting, and to let you know I welcome anymore thoughts you might have.

The Book Thief would be an excellent title, and you could link it with the research that went into the novel. Zusak had to research the apple types and seasonal availability, the weather, popular titles, and much more to create a completely real and fairly accurate setting. Additionally, as this focuses more on the German experience, it would provide an interesting counter to Anne Frank.

I would think some of the Cormac McCarthy might be appealing, specifically the Border Trilogy which raises questions about identity and choices that seem age appropriate to 8th grade.

I understand your dilemma... I would recommend getting the book {The Book Whisperer} by {{Donalyn Miller}}. She has some good suggestions and anecdotal information that supports letting middle schoolers select their own books to read. I am going to attempt to incorporate some of her ideas into my 7th Grade Literature Class this year. Frankly, the assessment piece is still unclear to me, but I am thinking through that. I am breaking new ground here as well, but look forward to helping kids develop a love for reading rather than tolerating boring assignments from the teacher.

I have many 7th grade boys who enjoyed The Book Thief". It kept their interest AND taught about the Holocaust.

I second The Book Thief. I would also strongly recommend The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Not sure if it is meant for younger kids, but it is a fantastic book.