Interdisciplinary Global Studies and English 9
Social hierarchy
Additional titles:
BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver
For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—
"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses
and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social
pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.
However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the
last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even
the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever
imagined.
Named to numerous state reading lists, this novel was also recognized
as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily
Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly. (Amazon)
BURNED ALIVE by Souad
When Souad was seventeen she fell in love. In her village, as in so
many others, sex before marriage was considered a grave dishonour
to one's family and was punishable by death. This was her crime. Her
brother-in-law was given the task of arranging her punishment. One
morning while Souad was washing the family's clothes, he crept up on
her, poured petrol over her and set her alight.
In the eyes of their community he was a hero. An execution for a
'crime of honour' was a respectable duty unlikely to bring about
condemnation from others. It certainly would not have provoked calls
for his prosecution. More than five thousand cases of such honour
killings are reported around the world each year and many more take
place that we hear nothing about.
Miraculously, Souad survived rescued by the women of her village,
who put out the flames and took her to a local hospital. Horrifically
burned, and abandoned by her family and community, it was only the
intervention of a European aid worker that enabled Souad to receive
the care and sanctuary she so desperately needed and to start her life
again. She has now decided to tell her story and uncover the barbarity
of honour killings, a practice which continues to this day.
Burned Alive is a shocking testimony, a true story of almost
unbelievable cruelty. It speaks of amazing courage and fortitude and
of one woman's determination to survive. It is also a call to break the
taboo of silence that surrounds this most brutal of practices and
which ignores the plight of so many other women who are also
victims of traditional violence. (Goodreads)
COPPER SUN by Sharon M. Draper
Stolen from her village, sold to the highest bidder,
fifteen-year-old Amari has only one thing left of her own: hope.
Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her
tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could
not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an
instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder
her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship
headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner
and given to his son as a birthday present.
Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of
unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and
with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose,
Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the elusive
dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey,
fraught with hardship and danger? (GoodReads)
HOMEROOM DIARIES by James Patterson
In James Patterson's first highly illustrated "diary fiction" story for
teens, the mega-bestselling author's most endearing and original
teen heroine ever proves that everyone can use a helping hand once
in a while.
Margaret "Cuckoo" Clarke recently had a brief stay in a mental
institution following an emotional breakdown, but she's turning over a
new leaf with her "Operation Happiness". She's determined to beat
down the bad vibes of the Haters, the Terror Teachers, and all of the
trials and tribulations of high school by writing and drawing in her
diary. And when life gets really tough, she works through her own
moments of uncertainty through imaginary conversations with her
favorite literary characters.
Cuckoo's also got a nearly impossible mission: she, along with her
misfit band of self-deprecating friends (who call themselves "the
Freakshow") decide to bridge the gap between warring cliques and
"bring the Nations together". Not everyone is so willing to join hands
and get along, but Cuckoo never stops smiling... until one of her
closest friends, pushed to desperation by a Hater prank, decides that
enough is enough. (Goodreads)
HOUSE OF THE SCORPION by Nancy Farmer
Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El
Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to
guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he
ever be free? (Goodreads)
THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian
An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price
that's paid for them.
It happens every year before homecoming -- the list is posted all over
school. Two girls are picked from each grade. One is named the
prettiest, one the ugliest. The girls who aren't picked are quickly
forgotten. The girls who are become the center of attention, and each
reacts differently to the experience.
With THE LIST, Siobhan Vivian deftly takes you into the lives of eight
very different girls struggling with issues of identity, self-esteem, and
the judgments of their peers. Prettiest or ugliest, once you're on the
list, you'll never be the same. (Amazon)
My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A
Young Woman's Story by Latifa, Shekeba Hachemi, Linda
Coverdale
Born into a middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980, Latifa had a
conventional childhood. Then, Taliban soldiers seized power in
Kabul. And from that moment, Latifa, just sixteen, became a prisoner
in her own home. The simplest and most basic freedoms were
forbidden. She was forced to put on a chadri, the state-mandated
uniform that covered her entire body. Disbelief at having to hide
herself was soon replaced by fear, the fear of being whipped or stoned
like women she'd seen. My Forbidden Face provides a moving and
highly personal account of life under the Taliban regime. With painful
honesty and clarity, Latifa describes her ordered world falling apart,
in the name of a fanaticism that she could not comprehend, and
replaced by a world where terror and oppression reign. (Goodreads)
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Sixteen-year-old Mackie Doyle knows that he replaced a human child
when he was just an infant, and when a friend's sister disappears he
goes against his family's and town's deliberate denial of the problem to
confront the beings that dwell under the town, tampering with human
lives. (Follett)
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass
by Meg Medina
In Meg Medina’s compelling new novel, a Latina teen is targeted by a
bully at her new school — and must discover resources she never
knew she had.
One morning before school, some girl tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui
Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn’t even know
who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to piss her off. Word is that
Yaqui thinks Piddy is stuck-up, shakes her stuff when she walks, and
isn’t Latin enough with her white skin, good grades, and no accent.
And Yaqui isn’t kidding around, so Piddy better watch her back. At
first Piddy is more concerned with trying to find out more about the
father she’s never met and how to balance honors courses with her
weekend job at the neighborhood hair salon. But as the harassment
escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life.
Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or
running away? In an all-too-realistic novel, Meg Medina portrays a
sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is.