English 90 Approved Books List
Updated: Fall 2013
The following is the list of approved books for English 90. Please see the notes to help you choose
your books and learn more about how it might be used in the class. Also, note the following
Readability Levels for the various books:
High: Instructional Level readings: These are challenging books for students and require significant
scaffolding and activities to help the students understand the text.
Medium: These readings are, by and large, easily understood but also have some passages or
concepts that are difficult for students and require in-class attention by the instructor.
Low: Independent Reading: These are books that students can pick up on their own and understand
the basics such as plot, characters, etc. While there may be more complex concepts and connections
that could be developed by the instructor, the text writing level is simple for the students.
Non-Fiction
Church and State, Kathlyn Gay
I am a Stranger Here Myself, Bill Bryson
I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb (listed as a Contributor)
I Will Teach You to be Rich, Ramit Sethi
Lakota Woman, Mary Bird Crow Dog
Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris
Never in My Wildest Dreams, Belva Davis & Vicki Haddock
On Writing, Stephen King
Rumors of Peace, Ella Leffland
This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff
Fiction
The Assistant, Bernand Malamud
Bless me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon
Handmaid’s Tale, Margret Atwood
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
Shoeless Joe, W.P Kinsella
Sprout, Dale Peck
Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
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Textbooks
Between Worlds, Bachmann and Barth
Contemporary Reader, Goshgarian
English 90 Sentence Skills Workbook by Altman/SF State (Customized by JoAnn through Cengage)
A Sequence for Academic Writing by Behrens and Rosen (Customized by Karen through Pearson)
Texts and Contexts, 7th edition by Robinson & Tucker
The Writer’s Response, McDonald & Salomone
Handbooks
The Little English Handbook; Corbett and Finkle
Rules for Writers, Diana Hacker
A Troubleshooting Guide for Writers, 7th edition; Barbara Fine Clouse
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NON-FICTION
Church and State, Kathlyn Gay
Readability: Medium, 116 pages, nonfiction/history/politics
Note: This book (originally published in 1992 by The Millbrook Press; Brookfield, CT.) is out-of-print,
but the Department (via Jeff Mitchell) has written permission from the author to copy and distribute
it to students, either printed or as a .pdf file. This short nonfiction book, written for grades 8 -12,
discusses the division between government and religion in the United States and examines relevant
contemporary issues such as prayer in public schools, public displays of religious symbols, the Pledge
of Allegiance, conscientious objectors, church tax exemptions, faith-healing, euthanasia, and
abortion. Gay emphasizes the fact that the fundamental American doctrine of Church-State
separation is continually evolving and that it is clarified, modified, or altered by constitutional
interpretation. Gay effectively uses historical as well as recent quotes, and cites frequent illustrative
cases to clarify further the pros and cons of past court decisions. The final chapter reviews the
process for challenging laws or government actions and reminds readers why and how we respect
religious diversity in America. -- Jeff Mitchell; 11/2013
I Am a Stranger Here Myself, Bill Bryson
Readability: Medium; Paperback, 304 pages
Publisher: Broadway; June 6, 2000)
ISBN: 978-0767903820
Stranger follows Bill Bryson’s thoughts as he reacquaints himself with America after having lived for
20 years in the UK. In short chapters originally written for a weekly magazine, he tackles both trivial
and important issues with humor and irony, and every one of my students has found something to
relate to in this book. Because it was originally written for a British audience and published in a
weekly magazine (an issue Bryson addresses in his introduction to the US publication), Stranger makes
it easy to discuss audience awareness, writer’s intent, and numerous other issues having to do with
adapting work intended to be marked in one place and then marketed in another (or, for our
students, the difference between writing for one discipline versus another). It also brings up
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important political issues and sparks dialogue on immigration and cultural differences, something that
nearly all of our students can relate to since many of them are themselves immigrants or first or
second generation. I usually teach this book in conjunction with readings by other immigrants or firstand second-generation Americans, and my students respond very favorably to the themes raised. -Dabney Lyons; 11/2013
I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb (listed as a Contributor)
Readability: Medium
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company (October 8, 2013)
ISBN: 978-0316322409
At age 15, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for fighting for equal education for
girls. A year later she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A native of Pakistan’s Swat Valley (on
the border with Afganistan), Malala’s story shows what happens when radicalism takes root. In this
case, girls are forced out of public life and schools. For this reason, this book is ideal for themes
relating to patriarchy or sexism. And because of Malala’s fight against this oppression, this book also
works with themes of activism. It’s important for young people, like college students, to understand
that they can make a difference in the world around them. And Malala is as good of an example as
I’ve ever seen of this. For instructors (like me) who enjoy interweaving supplemental bits of history,
there is a lot that can be done here. Malala covers a fair bit of history in order to put what’s
happening in Swat now in context. And it is well explained. But there is still room to flesh it out more
if you desire. For instance, Malala covers the creation of Pakistan and its separation from India. The
aftermath of this arbitrarily drawn line on a map has resulted in much strife over the years. And it
was the result of decisions made in Europe and not in India or Pakistan. The aftermath of Colonialism
is often like this. It could be interesting to relate to other such examples. Malala is a media darling,
having appeared on the Daily Show, among many others. So there’s no shortage of relevant
supplemental materials to draw from. Works for themes involving: equal rights, sexism, social justice,
self-reliance, dreams, patriarchy, control, and loss of innocence. -- Richard Cartwright; 3/2014
I Will Teach You to be Rich, Sethi, Ramit
Readability: Medium, nonfiction/business, Paperback: 266 pages
Publisher: Workman; (March 23, 2009)
ISBN: 978-0761147480
I Will Teach You to be Rich is written for young adults in their twenties and thirties to learn about and
gain responsibility for money decisions. It is written in a humorous, breezy style that belies it's very
serious purpose. It covers budgeting, investing as a young person, saving, and also student loans,
buying a house, a car and whether or not to have an expensive wedding. Although the approach is
fairly light hearted, the concepts are not always easy to understand and on the Bloomberg Taxonomy
most discussions are quite analytical. I begin with the chapter on budgeting and have the students
read, comprehend and write a letter to a 5th grade explaining how to do simple budgeting. By the
end of the six weeks (at the end of the semester), students are looking at cultural differences in
spending and saving, race and poverty levels and the American Dream. This book works well as a
stepping off place for many economic and racial themes. Students are able to analyze complex charts
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and data points and synthesize them in their compare/contrast and persuasive essays. -- Barbara
Austin; 11/2013
Lakota Woman, Mary Bird Crow Dog
Readability: Medium. Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (March 28, 1991)
ISBN: 978-0802145420
Lakota Woman is a nonfiction text narrated by Mary Crow Dog, a Native American woman who
recounts her fight against oppression from the American government and struggle to resist
assimilation in favor of embracing her ancestral traditions. The book is fairly easy to comprehend at
an English 90 level, but can go off on tangents, which some of the students like and others find
repetitive. The book focuses on themes such as oppression, social justice, tradition, spirituality and
family. I’ve used the book twice and both times received favorable reviews from most of the
students. -- Sara Toruno-Conley; 11/2013
Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris
Readability: Medium. Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Vintage (January 8, 2008)
ISBN: 0307278778
Three weeks is plenty of time to get through this little book. Its petite nature makes it very nonthreatening to students. This brief volume waste no time in getting to the point: Christianity either is
what it claims to be, or it isn't. There is no middle ground in this debate. (And by extension, Harris'
arguments are applicable to all religions.) While fundamentalist believers are convinced that their
faith is true, valid, and without error, Harris brings up many inconsistencies from both the Old and
New Testaments that point to a man-made origin for Christianity, rather than the divine beginning
students have often been taught. His arguments are pointed and, most importantly for our students
who are just beginning to learn how to think critically, impeccably logical. Students often have a
healthy emotional response to Harris' ideas since he doesn't present the conventional view of
Christianity. Instead, Harris uses the Bible's own words in much of his reasoning, while in other places,
he uses simple logic that students easily “get”. Interestingly, I have never had a student view this book
as an as an assault on religion. I remind students that their religion (if they have one) ought to be
strong enough to stand up to a little criticism and scrutiny, and that if their faith is so fragile that it
crumbles under Harris' thrust, then it wasn't very robust to begin with. Ultimately, Harris provides an
an excellent context for believers to examine their beliefs and gain some perspective regarding their
religion. --Jeff Mitchell; 11/2013
Never in My Wildest Dreams, Belva Davis & Vicki Haddock
Readability: High; Paperback: 272 pages. (Approximately 230 pages if the index is excluded)
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (February 6, 2012)
ISBN: 978-1609944667
20 Chapters + a brief Foreword by Bill Cosby. One chapter at a time would be best in most cases, given
the distinctive themes found in each chapter. The nature of the material lends itself easily to
supplementation.) This memoir covers Belva Davis’s life from her poor black 1930’s Louisiana roots, to
her trailblazing rise in the 1960’s as the first African American woman television anchor “west of the
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Mississippi,” and finally to her current role as an elder stateswoman of Bay Area journalism and
longtime host of “This Week in Northern California” on KQED. Her story is very much the story of the
Bay Area over the past 70 years. In particular, it’s the story of Bay Area Civil Rights. This memoir
covers meetings and interviews with such notables as Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay), Lenny
Bruce, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, Diane Feinstein, Willie Brown, Alex Haley, The
Jackson 5, Malcom X, Fidel Castro, etc. Important events/issues covered include The Black Panthers,
the Zebra Murders, AIDS, the assassinations of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk, Jonestown,
Apartheid in South Africa, People’s Park, etc. Mostly though, this is a book about Davis’s lifelong
struggle to break down barriers for herself and for others. This book would be an excellent pairing for
Warriors Don’t Cry, and would be best as the 2nd book read for the course, as where Melba leaves off
Belva picks up with the career in journalism. It’s also a more complex read. NOTE: There’s a lot of
local history in here, and not all of it comes with sufficient background for students. Instructors
should be prepared to supplement the reading and provide context. The good news is there’s no
shortage of applicable video on youtube. Works for themes involving racism, sexism, social justice,
self-reliance, dreams, and loss of innocence. -- Richard Cartwright; 11/2013
On Writing, Stephen King
Readability: Low; Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Scribner; (July 6, 2010)
ISBN: 978-14391-5681-0
King starts off with a wide range of very unusual childhood experiences that taught him everything he
needed to know to be a successful writer. These include writing lessons that King intended for fiction
writers but can easily be applied to our nonfiction writing by asking students to use their critical
thinking skills. However, the most memorable lessons King's presents-and the ones with which
students identify the most-are the life lessons we all must learn. Even students who have never read
King's books or seen his movies appreciate the hard work and effort he put in and the obstacles he
had to overcome-including substance abuse-to become successful. Class discussions using this book
are lively, and the resulting essays cover a variety of themes and messages. -- Lisa Duran; 11/2013
Rumors of Peace, Ella Leffland
Readability: Medium; Paperback: 389 pages.
Publisher: Harper Perennial (2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-201528-0
This semi-autobiographical novel takes place in Mendoza, California, during World War II. Mendoza is
described as being located geographically where the Carquinez Straits and Suisun Bay meet. It’s also
directly across the water from Benicia. In essence, it’s Martinez, California, where the author grew
up. Suse Hansen is 10 years old when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Suddenly her hometown,
Mendoza California, a refinery town, is swept up in the war effort. And Suse is swept up in the same
fervor as many of the kids and adults surrounding her to “hate” the enemy. Over 4 years, Suse
gradually learns to “unpack” her bigotry, examine it, and understand it for what it is… a crutch…
“sloppy thinking” as her genius friend, Helen Maria, tells her. From 1941 to 1945, she matures from a
tomboy with green hair (from the chlorine) into an intellectual and independent young woman.
Newspaper headlines (often racially insensitive) are cleverly used to advance the reader through the
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war years along with Suse and to its end. The culmination of Suse’s full circle journey is the dropping
of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. She is left wondering who the real enemy is. Using the
“child’s” perspective for narration is not new, but it is often powerful. Rumors of Peace, for this
reason, has similar themes to To Kill a Mockingbird. It also has a similar effect. A child can ask
questions the adult cannot or would not. And a child can remain a sympathetic figure when falling
victim to the trap of bigotry, just so long as she fights her way clear of the “sloppy thinking.” As with
Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, Suse as narrator is able to walk the reader through a complex issue and
make us understand the right and the wrong of it all. Also, the language is beautiful. NOTE: 64
Chapters (Chapters generally run 4-6 pages. The nature of the material lends itself easily to
supplementation.) There’s a lot of local history in here, and not all of it comes with sufficient
background for students. Instructors should be prepared to supplement the reading and provide
context. The good news is there’s no shortage of applicable video on youtube. Works for themes
involving racism, sexism, social justice, self-reliance, dreams, and loss of innocence. -- Richard
Cartwright; 11/2013
This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff
Readability: Medium; Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Grove Press; 1st (March 2000)
ISBN: 978-0802136688
In this installment of his series of memoirs covering the mid 1950’s to early 1960’s, Tobias Wolff tells
of his early childhood without a father-figure and his teenage years with one (his stepfather). This is
also about Wolff’s relationship with his mother (a single woman) throughout these years. The
dynamic of the absent father and brother, the present but abusive stepfather, and the present but not
always involved mother are themes that many college students can identify with. This Boy’s Life is
readable, being rich in story details. It’s also rich in emotion. The author’s introspection and honesty
can be used as opportunities to draw similar introspection from students when it comes to reading
journals and the like. However, please note that this memoir has been “paper-milled”, so you need be
creative with essay prompts, possibly using it as part of a synthesis assignment and otherwise working
closely with students on all phases of the writing process in order to minimize opportunities for
plagiarism.– Richard Cartwright; 11/2013
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FICTION
The Assistant, Bernard Malamud
Readability: High, Paperback, 264 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; (July 7, 2003)
ISBN: 978-0374504847
This book recounts the story of a poor Jewish immigrant and his family in the 1950's. They own a
small grocery store, which in a sense becomes their prison. Their college-age daughter has a dream:
To attend college, to be the first in her family to do so. But she must work to help support her family.
The store is robbed by a couple of "thugs," one of whom becomes the grocer's assistant, who tries
through the rest of the story to repent for his crime against the kind grocer, who takes him in and
teaches him. It is a Jewish story, but it is Every Immigrant's story, as well. This book won the National
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Book Award. It is written in clear and uncomplicated linear narrative. However, there are Jewish terms
and practices, which are quite easy (for me) to explain along the way. I have taught this book many
times, and students have been very positive about the story, as well as about the themes of
forgiveness and repentance. I spend a good chunk of time on the book -- at least two weeks to read it,
with lots of in-class reading. Another week or so discussing issues that arise from the book. I also refer
back to it throughout the semester, as we study various elements of paragraphing, sentences, and use
of detail. -- Laura Bernell; 11/2013
Bless me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya
Readability: Medium, paperback, 262 pages, coming of age fiction
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 1994)
ISBN: 978-0446675369
This is a wonderful novel full of many themes. You could use it to teach the fundamentals of fiction,
or as a jumping off place for discussions regarding family, peer pressure, education and language,
culture and religion. There is also room for argument if you want to look for evidence in the text as to
whether Ultima is a bruja or not. Filled with mysticism, the novel is a rites of passage story that
includes themes of life and death, good and evil, survival, madness, and innocence. There are several
sections in which Anaya uses Spanish, but this is not a hindrance because he usually follows them
with contextual clues as to their meaning. Since Tony is a Spanish speaker in an English speaking
school, these phrases offer an opportunity to discuss what Tony will decide to be when he grows up, a
good way to get students into the text. – Laura King, Yvonne Schwartz; 11/2013
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
Readability: Medium, Hardcover: 391 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press (2009)
ISBN: 978-0-439-12349-8
This is a good text to use at the beginning of English 90, since it is high interest and requires a
moderate reading level. The book length does require that students read almost 100 pages per week
for a 4-week unit. This novel fits thematically with the topic of rebellion. We have paired this novel
with New York Times articles about recent events in the world where people oppose oppressive
governments such as the Arab spring uprisings and the shooting of Malala Yousufzai a young Pakistani
school girl who was recently shot by the Taliban for advocating for girls' education. In addition to the
themes in the book, Collins' style is great for teaching imagery and sentence variety. -- JoAnn Hobbs
and Karen Nakaji; 11/2013
A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon
Readability:Low. Paperback: 226 pages
Publisher: Vintage (May 18, 2004)
ISBN: 978-1400032716
The narrator (a 15 year old young man with a form of autism) sets out to solve the mystery of who
killed a neighbor's poodle, Wellington, with a pitchfork. It is an engaging story, has a narrator that will
drive the reader crazy at times, but provides a chance to talk about issues of ability, normalcy and
tolerance. Students will need some instruction about Autism to help understand that the narrator
tells the story as he sees it, and it may not always be easy to understand. He is brilliant in certain
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ways and yet is challenged by basic life skills. The "mystery" leads him to discover more about himself
as well as his family. Ultimately an uplifting and memorable book. -- JoAnn Hobbs; 11/2013
Handmaid’s Tale, Margret Atwood
Readability: High, Dystopian Fiction, Paperback, 311 pages
Publisher: Anchor; (March 16, 1998)
ISBN: 038549081X
The Handmaid’s Tale is challenging for students, but once they get past the idea that the story isn’t
told in chronological order and that the plot isn’t revealed to them all at once, they start looking at it
as a mystery to be solved. At this point, students really start to get invested and will even read ahead
to find out what happens next! This dystopian novel presents readers with a “new and improved”
version of society that has pulled many of its rules and structures from the past, but just as many of
its issues are quite current (though it was written more than a decade ago). Discussions and essay
topics range from the historical to the political, with something for everyone. -- Lisa Duran; 11/2013
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Readability: Medium, paperback, 287 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press; (February 1, 2004)
ISBN: 978-0807083697
Kindred is the tale of Dana, a black woman in 1976 who time travels back to antebellum Maryland (a
Northern slave state) in the early 19th century, where she meets two of her ancestors: a slave and a
white slave owner. The novel is about heavy issues, but it’s also suspenseful and fun to read, and the
prose is accessible for 90 students. I’ve found this to be an ideal novel for 90. -- Alex Sterling; 11/2013
Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Readability: Medium
Publisher: Algonquin Books (April 17, 2012)
ISBN: 978-1616202415
Chimanda Ngozi Adichie’s first novel is set in Nigeria, where Adichie is from. It focuses on the
relationship between Kambili, a fifteen-year-old child of wealth, and her family: her abusive father
(Papa), her abused mother, and her defiant brother (Jaja). It also catalogs her awkward and painful
relationship with society at large, which her father curtails as much as possible. There is a constant
battle between Papa’s fanatical Catholicism and his own father’s traditional religion, which Papa views
as pagan. As a result, Kambili and Jaja are barely able to know their grandfather. This book is ideal for
themes that involve outsiders. Kambili is an outsider with her own extended family and with society
itself. And because of the way her immediate family is structured, this novel is also ideal for themes
involving abuse and/or control. My own words can’t do justice to the beauty of Adichie’s writing
style. The words are lush. And for instructors who enjoy discussing symbolism, Adichie does not
disappoint. The novel’s title, for instance, is a key symbol throughout the book. Adichie’s star is
currently on the rise. She’s done two TED Talks, one about racism and one about sexism. Both are
amazing. Of current relevance, one of these TED Talks is heavily sampled in Beyonce’s current hit,
“Flawless”. So, there’s a lot of good stuff out there on the internet to supplement with. Works for
themes involving: racism, sexism, social justice, self-reliance, dreams, abuse, control, and loss of
innocence. -- Richard Cartwright; 3/2014
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Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
Readability: Medium, 326 pages, Novel/Dystopian, Paperback
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group (2010)
ISBN: 78-0-316-08168-9
This dystopian hero's journey is about Nailer, a 15 year shipbreaker, who is small enough to crawl
inside huge freighters' ducts and scavenge for copper. Set in the a future when the Gulf Coast has
become waterlogged because of monthly level 6 hurricanes (Katrina level), Nailer works out of
Orleans where many freighters and cruise ships are beached. Due to global warming and depletion of
oil and gas, only clipper ships, bicycles and rickshaws are used for transportation. Desperately poor,
Nailer and his crew of Pima, Tool and Sadna embark on a journey of hope and despair as they try to
save Nita, a rich daughter of a clipper ship magnate, from those who wish to kidnap her for a ransom.
I chose this book after using The Hunger Games books in 90 because I wanted a more challenging
dystopian novel that was still compelling, readable and yet had vocabulary, metaphor, inferential
quotes and scenes that had to analyzed to be understand. ShipBreaker is exactly such a book. It
allows for text to text, text to self (using The Hero's Journey) and text to world with accompanying
essays on real shipbreaking in Mumbai, extreme poverty and scavenging in India and countries that
have third world economies, ethical choices (for Nailer it is choosing individuality or the group) and
the vast divide between the rich and poor. -- Barbara Austin; 11/2013
Shoeless Joe, W.P. Kinsella
Readability: Medium; Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books; 1st Mariner Books Ed edition (April 28, 1999)
ISBN: 978-0395957738
It is the novel that the movie "Field of Dreams" was based on, but better. It includes themes of family,
economic hardship, dreams and letdowns, history, and the idea of taking a chance and trusting your
instincts. All good stuff. The sports theme is a little strong, but all of the people all of the time, yes? - Yvonne Schwartz; 11/2013
Sprout, David Peck
Readability: Medium; Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (June 1, 2009)
ISBN: 978-0747577621
How many secrets can you hide in plain sight? Sprout Bradford has a secret. It’s not what you think.
He’ll tell you he’s gay. He’ll tell you about his dad’s drinking and his mother’s death. The green
fingerprints everywhere tell you when he last dyed his hair. But neither the reader nor Sprout are
prepared for what happens when Sprout suddenly finds he’s had a more profound effect on the lives
around him than he ever thought possible. Sprout is both hilarious and gripping; a story of one boy at
odds with the expected. Sprout is a young adult gay novel by American author Dale Peck first
published in May 2009. The novel depicts an openly gay teenage boy who moves to Kansas after his
mother dies from cancer. While he struggles with harassment at school and two potential boyfriends,
he has to decide if he will hide his sexual orientation in order to win a statewide essay-writing contest.
An act of betrayal leads to the book's climax. The book won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT
Children's/Young Adult literature, and was a finalist for the Stonewall Book Award in the Children's
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and Young Adult Literature category. Booklist added the novel to its Rainbow List 2010, a bibliography
of young adult books which include significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning
content. -- Jeff Mitchell; 11/2013
Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Readability: Medium; Paperback: 246 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books (October 13, 2009)
ISBN: 0618706410
This is a novel drawing heavily on Tim O'Brien's experience as a foot-soldier in the Vietnam War. The
writing is gripping, lyrical, gruesome and accessible. I find that 90 students are quickly drawn into
O'Brien's psychological and natural landscapes. Furthermore, the book opens the door to some
meaty discussions such as the morality of war, irony, subtext and paradox while always grounding the
stories in direct, clean, accessible prose. Many LMC students are enrolled in a branch of the military
or have family members who are, and we are all living in a nation at war, making the book instantly
relevant. I find that this book is perfect for the 90 level: a strong, engaging narrative that opens the
door to some of the tricky and interesting social issues students will be expected to write about at the
college level (as well as opening the door to developing those analysis skills in 90) though it does
require significant scaffolding to achieve. -- Cora Styker; 11/2013
Tortilla Curtain; T.C. Boyle
Readability: Medium; Paperback: 355 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN: 978-0140238280
This novel is perfect for the ENG 90 course because both the content and characters allow for rich
discussions into issues such as identity, race, class, and immigration. Boyle’s writing style and
advanced vocabulary will be a stretch for some students and will require scaffolding for students. As
part of a unit on identity and immigration, this text is extremely successful; enriching content and
character development allows for essay-writing on a multitude of topics. -- Stacey Miller; 11/2013
Water for Elephants, Gruen, Sara
Readability: Low; Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books (April 9, 2007)
ISBN: 978-1565125605
This novel keeps the students’ attention. The movie version should be out on DVD by 2012 to use
also. It is the story of a young man who begins college to become a veterinarian in his dad’s veterinary
business, but on the day of his graduating exams, his parents are killed in an automobile accident.
There is no money to be inherited, so the young man has nothing. And this is during the Great
Depression. He walks away from his exams, does not graduate, instead hopping a train away from his
previous life. The train turns out to be a circus train, and adventures and romance ensue. An excellent
novel for teaching the basics of fiction, but also a good read with many possible themes such as love
and kindness, animal rights, class and status systems, poverty, history, courage, aging, treatment of
women, discrimination, and justice. Gruen’s research in itself is a good lesson builder, using the
authentic photographs which she begins each chapter with. Also some editions have group discussion
questions at the end of the novel. -- Yvonne Schwartz; 11/2013
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TEXTBOOKS
Between Worlds; Bachmann and Barth
Publisher: Longman; (October 9, 2011)
ISBN: 978-0205251261
This text contains numerous essays and articles that fall under several different themes: issues of
gender, race, class, culture, age, disability, technology, and so on. In addition to the essays, this book
also contains a rhetoric that helps explain the different modes of writing, as well as providing models
and examples for students to practice with. The readings are listed in the index by theme, author, and
title, so it's easy for students and instructors to find them. And the models and examples provided in
the rhetoric are easy to use in the classroom, either as-is or modified to fit in with your own lessons.
I've been using this reader in English 90 for several years now, and it's stood the test of time well. -Sara Toruno-Conley; 11/2013
Contemporary Reader; Goshgarian
Publisher: Longman
ISBN: 78-0205568222
With a wide-ranging collection of over 90 contemporary readings–50 of them new to this edition, and
90 percent of them written within the last five years–this best-selling anthology is an unbeatable
resource for learning how to understand today’s issues and arguments and how to write effectively in
the college classroom and beyond. – Yvonne Schwartz; 11/2013
English 90 Sentence Skills Workbook (Customized by JoAnn through Cengage)
This book is a customized version from Cengage that combines some of Sentence Combining book
from SF State and the editing/proof reading exercises from Text and Contexts, also from SF State.
This book has gone over well in my English 90 classes, so I think it should go on the list. Unfortunately,
this customized version is expensive for students, a relatively small book with high cost (around $47.)
-- Yvonne Schwartz, Karen Nakaji, JoAnn Hobbs; 11/2013
A Sequence for Academic Writing: Behrens and Rosen (Customized by Karen through Pearson)
With regard to Eng 90 SLOs # 1 and #2, I need a cogent and clear text that provides a logical
scaffolding of skills, beginning with summarizing, quoting, and ending with synthesizing. I feel that I
do a good job of teaching critical reading: annotating, vocabulary development, main and minor
ideas, chunking, talking to the text, making inferences, finding thesis statements or ideas. To this end,
most textbooks give students so many directions about reading rather than showing them how to
proceed. Thus, can cover these critical skills by showing my students, guiding them with real readings.
However, once I try to teach summarizing, quoting, and synthesizing, I find that I need some more
expert assistance with an authoritative text and models. Thus, I would like to customize a Pearson's
textbook, A Sequence for Academic Writing by Behrens and Rosen, only Chapter One, "Summary,
Paraphrase, and Quotation" and Chapter Three, "Explanatory Synthesis." These two chapters will cost
$6.50 each to customize. Consequently, I will continue to order my own Supplemental Handouts,
printed from the college, and an inexpensive e-text from Cengage that includes tutoring, Turnitin, and
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a terrific, online grading program. If anyone needs any more information, I will be happy to provide
and explain. -- Karen Nakaji; 11/2013
Texts and Contexts, 7th edition by Robinson & Tucker
Publisher: Wadsworth/Cengage 2009
Price: $40.00 (used) to $120.00 (new)
ISBN: 978-1-4130-3345-8
Texts and Contexts is the classic Basic Writing Text from Bill Robinsion at SFSU. (I used a variation of
this book during my first couple of years teaching when it when it was still typewritten and copied in
house!) It's been on and off LMC's list for years, so I just want to put it back on as I intend to use it
again. The text uses Robinson & Tucker's "problem-solving" approach to essay writing (based on Mike
Rose's basic writing curriculum) and comes with everything you need to teach the course: pre-reading
activities, readings, post-reading activities, writing assignments, and writer's checklists. Another great
feature is that each chapter includes sentence-combining exercises that reinforce the critical thinking
skills being taught in that chapter. The text also includes and excellent proofreading and usage skills
workbook. An Instructor's Manual is available which includes abundant theoretical background for
the approaches taken in the text, as well as detail guidelines for teaching the writing topics. -- Jeffrey
Mitchell Matthews; 3/2014
The Writer’s Response—A Reading –Based Approach to College Writing; McDonald & Salomone
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; (January 13, 2011)
ISBN: 978-0495906261
This book is very useful, with four sections: "The Reading-Writing Conversation," "Writing about
Reading," "Editing Skills," and "Additional Readings for Writing." Within each chapter of sections 1 &
2, there are three parts - a writing topic (example: "Writing with a Central Idea"), readings that
revolve around said writing topic, and a section on sentence combining (my favorite!). Section three
is subdivided into chapters that focus on specific grammar points, and there are plenty of exercises to
reinforce each point. Section four is full of theme-based readings which my students have found very
interesting. -- Laura King; 11/2013.
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HANDBOOKS
The Little English Handbook; Corbett and Finkle
Publisher: Longman
ISBN: 0-321-01584-3
This is an easy to use handbook that provides MLA instruction, rhetoric, and grammar usage. The
rhetoric section is sparse, but this book is perfect for those instructors who just want a book that
students can refer to for MLA format and grammar related issues. The inside cover provides an
alphabetical list of correction symbols that instructors can use to mark up rough drafts. The book is
very concise, with a lack of clutter (unlike A Writer’s Reference or Rules for Writers) making it a more
attractive option for students. -- Sara Toruno-Conley; 11/2013.
Rules for Writers; Hacker
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Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's; Seventh Edition (September 16, 2011)
ISBN: 978-0910305068
Hacker passed away around the time the new MLA came out (2009?), so Sommers was brought on
board. No telling how long Bedford will keep the title, but it has long been used as an all around
handbook for students to use in successive courses. The index can be frustrating, but mostly because
Hacker has put everything here; navigating the pages pays off with a treasure chest of rules, how to’s,
and examples for every occasion. Begin with freewriting, clustering and paragraphing in English 90
and continue on to a section on writing research essays for English 100. There are the usual sections
on both MLA and APA, and model student essays. She also has wonderful quick-boxes highlighting
everything from a list of prepositions to when to use the s or es form of a present tense verb, to say
nothing of the very handy mini-indexes for the formatting sections. There are also sections on
reading strategies, writing arguments, using appropriate language and addressing ESL challenges. In
addition, exercises are often provided for the students to do. Whether you want to know how to
tighten wordy sentences, how to evaluate sources or how to design a document, it is in this
wonderful bedroom slippers of all handbooks. Yvonne Schwartz; 11/2013
A Troubleshooting Guide for Writers, Barbara Fine Clouse
Publisher: McGraw Hill
ISBN: 978-007-340591-9
This handbook is structured to directly address specific student questions about writing. The book is
divided into four main sections: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and research. Within each
section are chapters focused around student questions. The first chapter in the prewriting section, for
example, is titled, “I Don’t Know What to Write” and focuses on various methods of brainstorming
and prewriting techniques. The handbook is written in a conversational style and provides students
with a variety of ways to approach their writing tasks. -- Stacey Miller; 11/2013
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