ENG 1DI:
INTRO
TO BOOK CLUB
Unit 3: Literature Circles
How does Book Club aka. Literature
Circles work?
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After a book talk, you will select 1 of 5 novels to
read and discuss in groups of 5-6 people.
Different roles will be assigned to members each
week to help the group function more productively
and remain focused on studying the book.
Each week there will be an assigned discussion day
as well and this is when the role worksheets will be
due.
Why do we read in literature circles?
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In literature circles, group members use their
personal experiences to create meaning, make
connections, and have lively discussions about the
book.
The emphasis is on the sharing of thoughtful
dialogue in order to come to a deeper
understanding of the chosen novel.
What are the novel options for
literature circles?
1) It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (2006)
2) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)
3) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)
4) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)
5) Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2013)
Extra options if you are interested:
6) The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (2006)
7) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
Let’s look closer at each story. Take notes on each option
to ensure you make the most appropriate choice.
You may want to consider:
 Subjects/ topics of interest
 Level of difficulty
 Personal connections
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (2006)
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Genre: Comedy-drama
Subjects: Mental illness, academic
and peer pressure, teen romance,
eating disorders, drug use, and
art.
Protagonist: 15 year old male
Craig Gilner
Ned Vizzini was inspired to write
the story after a 5 day stay in a
psychiatric hospital, yet the story
is fictional.
Pages: 444
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (2006)
Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner
is determined to succeed at life - which means
getting into the right high school to get into the
right job. But once Craig aces his way into
Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High
School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He
stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he
nearly kills himself.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/248704.It_
s_Kind_of_a_Funny_Story)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)
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Genre: Cyber-fiction
Subjects: technology, loss of
privacy, terrorism, violence,
security, friendship and
paranoia
Protagonist: 17 year old male
Marcus Yallow
There is no film of this novel yet
Setting is the ‘near future’
Has a sequel novel called
‘Homeland’ (2013)
Pages: 380 yet includes
technical jargon throughout
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)
Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures
he already knows how the system works–and how to work the
system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he
has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy
surveillance systems.
But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves
caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco.
In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are
apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked
away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for
days.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/954674.Little_Brother?fro
m_search=true&search_version=service)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
(2012)
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Genre: Drama/ realistic fiction
Protagonist: 16 year old
female Hazel Grace Lancaster
Subjects: terminal illness,
dreams/ aspirations, romance/
relationships, literature and
family bonds
Green was inspired to write
this novel after working at a
children’s hospital and meeting
a young girl dying from
thyroid cancer
Pages: 313
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
(2012)
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has
bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything
but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.
But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters
suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's
story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars
is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and
heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny,
thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-thefault-in-ourstars?from_search=true&search_version=service)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
(2005)
Genre: Drama/ historical fiction
 Protagonist: Liesel Meminger
 Subjects: World War II, Nazi
Germany, literature, air raids,
friendship, family, maturity,
survival, acts of violence and
death
 Pages: 552
*This book is written in figurative
language and would be
considered more challenging.
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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
(2005)
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some
words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter,
and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking
new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of
Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing
when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of
her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her
stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with
the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to
Dachau.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the
soul.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19063.The_Book_Thief?from
_search=true&search_version=service)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
(2013)
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Genre: romance/ drama/
comedy
Protagonist: 16 year olds
Eleanor and Park
Subjects: romance, high school,
conformity, peer pressure,
bullying, comic books, domestic
abuse, body image
Pages: 328
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
(2013)
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until
he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making
everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good
enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her.
He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line.
There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes
her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two
star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that
first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough
to try.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745753eleanor-park?from_search=true&search_version=service)
The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John
Boyne (2006)
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Genre: Historical fiction
Subjects: WW2 and the
Holocaust, family, friendship,
Auschwitz (concentration/ death
camp), discrimination, innocence
Protagonist: 9 year old Bruno
and 9 year old Schmuel
Boyne apparently wrote the
entire book in 2.5 days
Pages: 216- very short
The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John
Boyne (2006)
Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one
day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed
in crates. His father has received a promotion and the
family must move to a new house far, far away, where
there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall
fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off
from the strange people in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there
must be more to this desolate new place than meets the
eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets
another boy whose life and circumstances are very
different from his own, and their meeting results in a
friendship that has devastating consequences.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39999.The_Bo
y_in_the_Striped_Pajamas)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
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Genre: Science fiction/ dystopian
fiction
Book 1 of 3 in the Hunger Games
trilogy
Subjects: Poverty, family, survival, love
triangle, social hierarchy, death and
entertainment
Protagonist: 16 year old female
Katniss Everdeen
Collins was inspired by Greek
mythology, reality TV and Roman
gladiator games when writing this
story
Pages: 374
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as
District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take
her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted
against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom
have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a
death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before.
For her, survival is second nature.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767052-thehunger-games?from_search=true&search_version=service)