Lesson 2
Create Your Own Canon by Emily
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What are your top five most important books? (Consider different genres, books you
read for different purposes, and different authors.)
My top 5 most important books would be Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K.
Rowling, the Circle Trilogy, by Ted Dekker, the Bible (which is by a lot of authors but
God spoke through all of them), Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, and The Complete
Works of Emily Dickinson, by, of course, Emily Dickinson.
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Is there a classic or a book that you heard was a “must read,” have read, and were not
impressed by?
I started reading War and Peace a bit ago, and first off the number of pages threw me a
bit. I like books with lots of pages but…anyway, I started reading it. I’m sure it’s a good
story, but to me it was a bit boring and kind of hard to get into. I don’t believe I ever
finished it.
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What book is next on your list to read? Why are you looking forward to reading it?
The next book I plan to read is Saint, by Ted Dekker. I’ve been wanting to read it for a
while, ever since I read both the prequel and sequel series without realizing it was in the
middle. Anything by Ted Dekker is always a good read, because he just writes so well.
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What book do you think all parents should share with their children?
The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. It’s a great book about giving everything you have
for someone.
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What five criteria do you think are important when developing a canon?
Five criteria that are important when developing a canon are interest, lessons learned
from the book, age of the kids reading the book, content, and vocabulary. For instance,
you wouldn’t give second graders The Great Gatsby as part of their curriculum, but it
would do in a high school classroom.
The Reader’s Journey, Volume 1
© 2010 Duke University Talent Identification Program
Page 1 of 4
Lesson 2
Create Your Own Canon by Emily
Create your own canon for students your age. Select at least 10-15 works to include. Below,
please list the title, author, and a 50 to 100-word justification for why you selected each work.
The justification might include:
o
o
o
o
o
Details about the genre
Details about character, plot, setting, theme, or style
Details about how the work meets your specific criteria
Known authorities who endorse the book
Other justifications you feel are important
TITLE
To Kill a Mockingbird
AUTHOR
Harper Lee
JUSTIFICATION____
This is a very good book which I have
just read. It tells about a young girl’s coming of age in
a small, racially prejudiced Alabama town and shows
racism in the simplest of ways—that of a child. There
is also remarkable symbolism in this work, something
people should be able to recognize.
Uglies
Scott Westerfeld
This book is a work of science fiction. It is set in the
future. It tells the story of Tally Youngblood. She lives
in a society where when you turn 16, you get an
operation that turns you into a “pretty.” Then Tally
meets a new friend named Shay. Shay doesn’t want to
have the operation. The book discusses the issue of
true beauty, something a lot of teenagers these days
struggle with.
Selected Poems
Emily Dickinson
This book has many poems in it, all of which have
incredible symbolism. They also stress important
points, like the true meaning of success, or look at
things in a different way than we are used to, such as
the slant of light coming through a window. People
need to learn to think outside the box, and that is
where these poems would come in handy.
The Age of Fable
Thomas Bulfinch
This book provides Thomas Bulfinch’s versions of
multiple Greek and Roman myths, and details the
accounts of the heroes and monsters as well. I got my
copy a while ago and loved it. I am sure readers today
would also enjoy it if they sat down and read it. It is
important for students to learn about ancient
civilizations.
The Reader’s Journey, Volume 1
© 2010 Duke University Talent Identification Program
Page 2 of 4
Lesson 2
Create Your Own Canon by Emily
TITLE
A Christmas Carol
Macbeth
AUTHOR
This book is, of course, a classic. It tells the story of a
man who is very greedy and selfish, and on
Christmas Eve he is visited by three spirits. They tell
him what will happen to him if he continues to act
the way he is, and he changes his ways, becomes a
better person because of it, and learns the true
meaning of Christmas.
William Shakespeare
This is a play by Shakespeare. It tells the story of a
man who is told by three witches that he will become
king. So, he kills the current king in order to gain his
position on the throne, but he eventually goes crazy
and ends up dying. Therefore, this book shows you
that no matter how hard you try to hide, the bad
things you’ve done will come back to get you.
The Face on the Milk Carton
Caroline B. Cooney
H.I.V.E.
Black
JUSTIFICATION____
Charles Dickens
Mark Walden
Ted Dekker
The Reader’s Journey, Volume 1
© 2010 Duke University Talent Identification Program
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The Face on the Milk Carton is a very good book
about a girl named Jane. One day she is eating
lunch and sees a picture of a missing girl on the
back of her milk carton, and the girl looks a lot like
her and is wearing a dress she remembers seeing in
her attic. She begins to wonder if the little girl might
be her. This novel explores a teenage girl’s attempts
to find her true identity, and how she grows up along
the way.
H.I.V.E is a novel which talks about a boy who is a
genius. He is taken to a school where he is being
taught how to become a supervillain. He doesn’t
want to be a supervillain, though, so he and his
friends plan an escape. This has never been done
before. It will take all their skills to escape the
supercomputer that runs the school.
This book takes place partly in an alternate reality
and partly on Earth. A man named Thomas Hunter
must discover how to save Earth from a virus that
will sweep the world. He goes into the alternate
reality when he falls asleep on Earth, and when he
falls asleep in the alternate reality he goes to Earth.
Black will stimulate the minds of teenagers as they
attempt to figure out how all this is happening.
Lesson 2
Create Your Own Canon by Emily
TITLE
AUTHOR
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Outsiders
A Tale of Time City
The Kindling
Warriors Don’t Cry
S. E. Hinton
Diana Wynne Jones
Jennifer Armstrong
Melba Patillo Beals
The Reader’s Journey, Volume 1
© 2010 Duke University Talent Identification Program
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JUSTIFICATION____
The Hound of the Baskervilles is, basically, a murder
mystery and a ghost story put into one. A man gets
killed, and people blame a curse that was put upon
his family many years ago. But Sherlock Holmes is
there to solve the case and make sure the only
remaining heir stays out of harm’s way. This book
will help students to enhance their cognitive abilities
and learn to notice things they have never seen
before.
The Outsiders tells the story of two groups of people
who are from different sides of the tracks. You have
the Greasers, who are from the rundown side of
town, and the Socs (short for Socials) who live in the
nicer houses on the nice side of town. These groups
argue a lot, and get into fights. But then, Ponyboy
Curtis meets some of the Socs, and they aren’t half
bad. This book teaches that two groups of
completely different people can learn to peacefully
coexist.
A Tale of Time City is about two boys who live in a
world that is cut off from time. They accidentally
bring into their world a girl off the 1939 train taking
London schoolchildren into the English countryside.
But soon they discover that the space-time
continuum is being interrupted by someone who is
going around pulling out the lines that anchor Time
City into existence, and everyone tells them they
can’t possibly fix it because they are simply
juveniles. This book shows that no matter your age,
you can accomplish any task if you set your mind to
it.
The Kindling is the first book in the Fire-us trilogy. All
the adults have been killed off by a deadly virus, and
there is only a small group of children 14 and under
left to inhabit the world, scavenging for food and
trying to stay alive. They discover that there may be
more that are still alive, so they set out on a journey
to find them. This book discusses the importance of
family.
Warriors Don’t Cry is a memoir of the integration of
Little Rock High School. It discusses the issues of
racism and how hateful people can be to those who
are different. It was an immensely interesting read.
Mrs. Beals does a wonderful job of describing the
circumstances and settings. It is a book we all
should read.