PRINCE OF WALES LIBRARY: ENGLISH

© 1996 -
Update:
2 April 2012

Authors Drama

Independent Reading

Stellar Awards

Literature Poetry Professional Reference Writing Student Assignments

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AUTHORS AND POETS

GENERAL SITES

SPECIFIC AUTHORS

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INDEPENDENT READING PROGRAMME

 

Independent Reading book list

Why should I read books outside of school?

Reading outside of the classroom is a fantastic way to strengthen your reading ability, boost your vocabulary and improve your writing. Many schools have a school-wide independent reading programme, and this year the teachers in PW’s English Department have decided to start a school-wide programme to encourage PW students to read more books outside of school.

How will I be marked for just reading?

Each term, 10% of your term mark will come from independent reading. There are two parts to the evaluation, and you must do both parts to receive credit. You will be tested on each novel only for comprehension and each test takes no more than 15 minutes to complete. You must score a minimum of 15/20 on the test to receive credit for the book. If you do not score the minimum, you may take an alternate test; if you are still unsuccessful then you will have to choose another book to read. The tests are not difficult, but are designed to ensure that you have actually read the book and are not just guessing.

Each book you read will be worth a certain number of points. Easy novel are worth 1 point, moderate novels are worth 2 points and challenging ones are worth 3 points. You may read more than one novel, but you cannot receive more than 10% of your term marks for the assignment. In first term, you are expected to read 3 points’ worth of books, so that means either you read 3 easy ones, 1 moderate and 1 easy book, or 1 challenging book.

Your English teacher will tell you when you may write your test for each book. Your mark will be based on completion of the required points.

What books can I choose?

You are encouraged to read as many novels from the approved list as you like for the term. There are many from which to choose and the list will be continually updated. The list will be available online, in the library, and, if you ask very nicely from your English teacher (who will let you look at a class copy). The list indicates whether the book is easy, moderate or challenging so that you can plan your reading programme.

Please note that you may read any book from the list, regardless of your grade. Since your reading interests and abilities do not necessarily correspond to your grade level, you can choose what suits you best.

Where will I find these books? Do I have to buy them?

You should not need to buy any books. The PW library has many of these books in its collection, and multiple copies in some case. Otherwise, check out the Vancouver Public Library or share with friends. Talking about books is a great way to find out about books you and your friends have in common.

Can I take the test for a book that I read over the summer?

No! The tests are challenging enough that you need to have read the book quite recently or you may not pass. Also, the idea is to get you read more on an ongoing basis. So pick something new and see how you like it?

What if I have seen the movie of this book? Will that do instead?

Absolutely not! The idea is to read, not watch movies! Besides, books are often very different from movie versions and the tests are designed to test your understanding of the book, not the movie. You may embarrass yourself if you try to take the test and can’t answer any of the questions correctly.

How will I keep track of which books I have read?

Your English teacher will keep a tracking sheet that records the title and you score on the test? Your will have to choose your book early each term. This tracking sheet will be used by your English teachers throughout your years at PW and helps to ensure that you don’t simply re-read the same books year after year.

But I don’t have time to read! I have too much homework to do and I’m on a sports team!

Everyday at PW we have 20 minutes built into the schedule for Independent Reading (USR). Use USR wisely, and you shouldn’t have any difficulty in keeping up with your reading. Also take your book with you when you’re on the bus, or waiting for your orthodontist appointment. Learn to build some reading time into each day and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to fit it in.

List of Books for the Independent Reading Programme

Key: C = Challenging M = Moderate E = Easy

Author Title (click to check number of copies and status)
Level
Allende, Isabel Daughter of Fortune
C
Alvarez, Julia How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
M
Alvarez, Julia In the Time of the Butterflies
M
Angelou, Maya I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
M
Atwood, Margaret The Handmaid's Tale
C
Boukreev, Anatoli The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest
M
Carroll, Lewis Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
E
Chang, Jung Wild Swans: Three daughters of China
C
Coelho, Paulo The Alchemist
E
Coelho, Paulo The Valkyries
E
Coelho, Paulo Veronika Decides to Die
E
Culleton, Beatrice In Search of April Raintree
E
Davis, Kenneth C. Don't Know Much About Geography
M
available from other schools
Dumas, Alexandre The Count of Monte Cristo
C
Fielding, Helen Bridget Jones's Diary
M
Fitch, Janet White Oleander
C
Flagg, Fannie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café
M
Frank, Anne Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
M
Garcia, Christina Dreaming in Cuban
M
Gibbons, Kaye Ellen Foster
E
Golden, Arthur Memoirs of a Geisha
C
Greene, Bette The Summer of my German Soldier
E
Grisham, John The Brethren
M
Guevara, Ernesto "Che" The Motorcycle Diaries
M
Haley, Alex Roots
C
Hinton, S.E. Rumblefish
E
Huxley, Aldous A Brave New World
C
Irving, John A Widow for One Year
C
Irving, John The World According to Garp
C
Jones, Lloyd Mister Pip
C
Kidd, Sue Monk The Secret Life of Bees
M
King, Stephen Different Seasons (Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption)
E
Kingsolver, Barbara The Poisonwood Bible
C
Kingsolver, Barbara Prodigal Summer
C
Kinsella, W.P. Shoeless Joe
M
Kogawa, Joy Obasan
C
Krakauer, Jon Into Thin Air
M
Laird, Elzabeth Kiss the Dust
E
Laurence, Margaret The Stone Angel
C
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
C
L'Engle, Madeleine The Moon by Night
M
Lipsyte, Robert The Contender
E
Mandela, Nelson A Long Walk to Freedom
C
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia Love in the Time of the Cholera
C
McCourt, Frank Angela's Ashes
C
McMillan, Terry How Stella Got Her Groove Back
M
Miklowitz, Gloria.D War Between the Classes
E
Mitchell, W.O. Who Has Seen the Wind
C
Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables
E
Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Avonlea
E
Pearson, Kit Awake and Dreaming
E
Piccoult, Jodi My Sister's Keeper
M
Redfield, James Celestine Prophecy
M
available from other schools
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
E
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallow
E
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
E
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
E
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone
E
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
E
Rozan, S.J. China Trade
M
available from other schools
Saramago, Jose Blindness
M
Saul, John The God Project
M
Saul, John The Presence
M
Schlink, Bernhard The Reader
M
Shipley, Jocelyn Seraphina's Circle
E
Slipperjack, Ruby Honour the Sun
C
Sleator, William Singularity
E
Slovo, Gillian Every Secret Thing, My family, My Country
C
Sparks, Nicholas A Walk to Remember
E
Steinbeck, John East of Eden
C
Steinbeck, John The Grapes of Wrath
C
Steinbeck, John The Pearl
E
Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club
M
Ten Boom, Corrie The Hiding Place
M
Verne, Jules Journey to the Centre of the Earth
M
Walker, Alice The Color Purple
M

Stellar Award Reading List

You also may use the Web Cat and search for Stellar Award winners

Author

Title (click to check number of copies and status)

Aker, Dan

One on One (available from other schools)

Aker, Dan

The Space Between

Beam, Matt

Can You Spell Revolution?

Bennett, Holly

The Bonemender's Oath

Bennett, Holly

The Warrior's Daughter

Boraks-Nemetz, Lillian & Irene N. Watts

Tapestry of Hope

Bradford, Karleen

Angeline

Bradford, Karleen

The Scarlett Cross

Brooks, Martha

Mistik Lake

Buffie, Margaret

Out of Focus

Burtinshaw, Julie

The Freedom of Jenny

Chalifour, Francis

After

Chan, Gillian

The Turning

Choyce, Lesley

Smoke and Mirrors

Choyce, Lesley

The End of the World as We know It

Collins, Sandy & Yvonne Rideout

The Black Sheep

Collins, Sandy & Yvonne Rideout

The New and Improved Vivien Leigh Reid: Diva in Control

Cooper, John

Season of Rage: Hugh Burnett and the Struggle for Civil Rights.

Cowan, Shannon

Tin Angel

Donato, Rick & Andy Broadhead

Little Book of Canadian Political Wisdom, The

Dunnion, Kristyn

Mosh Pit

Ellis, Deborah

Three Wishes: Palestinian & Israeli Children Speak

Foon, Dennis

The Dirt Eaters

Friesenm, Gayle

The Isabel Factor

Fullerton, Alma

In the Garage

Goobie, Beth

Something Girl

Granfield, Linda

I Remember Korea: Veterans Tell their Stories of the Korean War, 1950-53

Grant, Vicki

I.D.

Graydon, Shari

In Your Face:The Culture of Beauty and You

Graydon, Shari

Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know

Haworth-Attard, Barbara

A is for Angst

Haworth-Attard, Barbara

Forget-Me-Not

Haworth-Attard, Barbara

Theories of Relativity

Hull, Maureen

The View from a Kite

Jackson-Davis, Greg

Digging for Philip

Jacobs, Deborah Lynn

Choices

Jessica, Hein

Girl Spoken from Pen, Brush and Tonque

Johnson, Julie

A Very Fine Line

Juby, Susan

Alice Macleod, Realist at Last

Juby, Susan

Another Kind of Cowboy

Juby, Susan

Miss Smithers

Korman, Gordon

Jake, Reinvented

Korman, Gordon

Son of the Mob 2

Luiken, Nicole

Frost

Lunn, John

The Aquanauts

Mac, Carrie

Beckoners, The

Mac, Carrie

The Droughtlanders

Major, Kevin

Ann and Seamus

Matas, Carol

Past Crimes

Matas, Carol

The Whirlwind

Matas, Carol

Visions

Mc Bay, Bruce & James Heneghan

Waiting for Sarah

McClintock, Norah

Tell

McKay, Sharon

Esther

McNaughton, Janet

An Earthly Knight

McNaughton, Janet

The Raintree Rebellion

McNicoll, Sylvia

Beauty Returns

Olsen, Sylvia

Just Ask Us: a conversation with First Nations teenage moms.

Olsen, Sylvia

The Girl with a Baby

Olsen, Sylvia

White Girl

Oppel, Kenneth

Airborn

Paperny, Myra

The Greenies

Peters, Kimberly Joy

Painting Caitlyn

Poulsen, David

Last Sam's Cage

Rae Baxter, Jean

The Way Lies North

Rivers, Karen

The Cure for Crushes

Ryan, Darlene

Rules for Life

Scandiffio, Laura

Evil Masters: the Frightening world of Tyrants.

Scarsbrook, Richard

Cheeseburger Subversive

Scarsbrook, Richard

Featherless Bipeds

Schwartz, Virginia F.

Initiation

Sherrard, Valerie

Chasing Shadows

Shipley, Jocelyn

Seraphina's Circle

Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk

Nobody's Child

Stratton, Allan

Chanda's Secrets

Tanner, Mike

Resurrection Blues

Taylor, Drew Hayden

The Night Wanderer

Toten, Teresa

Me and the Blondes

Trembath, Don

Rooster

Trottier, Maxine

Sister to the Wolf

Tullson, Diane

Blue Highway

Tullson, Diane

Red Sea

Tullson, Diane

Zero

Ulrich, Maureen

Power Plays

Waldorf, Heather

Fighting the Current

Waldorf, Heather

Grist

Walters, Eric

Sketches

Wilson, John

And in the Morning

Wilson, John

Flames of the Tiger

Wilson, John

Four Steps to Death

Wiseman, Eva

Kanada

Wood, Maggie L.

The Princess Pawn

Ye, Ting-Xing with William Bell

Throwaway Daughter

Yee, Paul

The Bone Collector's Son

 

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STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS

Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Literature 12

Grade 8 Assignments


EN 8

Closed ACTS of EXCLUSION

American Civil Rights Movement

Apartheid

Chinese Head Tax

See Also:VPL Research Guide. This guide has a wealth of information on Chinese Canadian history.

First Nations Reserves and Residential Schools

See: I Heard the Owl Call My Name for links.
See: First Nations on the Social Studies page.
See: Residential Schools on the Western Civilization 12 page

Holocaust

See Also:VPL Research Guide. This guide has a wealth of information on the Holocaust.

Komagata Maru

Vancouver City Archives
Vancouver Maritime Museum
Canadian Encyclopedia

Rwanda

Access news sources from the News Page

Slavery and Abolition in America

Former Yugoslavia: Ethnic Cleansing

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EN 8

Owl I HEARD the OWL CALL MY NAME

EN 8


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EN 8

POETRY PROJECT

Assginment Sheet

See links under

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EN 8

Totem Pole POTLATCH and TOTEM POLES

Grade 9 Assignments

EN 9

The BEAT GENERATION: Poetry


See also:Poetry on this page and Decades Study on the Social Studies Page

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EN 9

Yes, I know that it is not a poodle! It is night-time. The CURIOUS INCIDENT of the DOG in the NIGHT-TIME: Autism

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EN 9

IN the HEAT of the NIGHT

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EN 9

MYTHS, LEGENDS, FAIRY TALES, and FOLK TALES


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EN 9

Bad Wolf WOLVES: Lupine Project

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EN 9

TWENTIETH CENTURY POETRY

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Grade 10 Assignments


EN 10

ANIMAL FARM

Use the VSB Digital Library resources such as Ebsco, Biography in Context etc.

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EN 10 Trek

EN 10

FREEDOM to READ


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MiEn 10

HUMAN RIGHTS

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EN 10

POET BIOGRAPHIES

General sites for poets (John Ashbery, Ted Berrigan, Robert Blaser, Hilda Doolittle, Robert Duncan, T.S. Eliot, Denise Levetov, Jack Spicer)

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Grade 11 Assignments

    Use the World War I and 20th Century Encyclopedias and Books. The library has a large collection of WWI books.
    Search Hint: "trench warfare" If you are searching for a phrase use "quotation marks".
    See aslo: Social Studies 11: Canada: WWI

EN 11


EN 11

JAMES JOYCE: The Dubliners


MIEN 11

LORD of the FLIES


EN 11

OF MICE and MENMouse

. 2. Migrant Workers

. 3. Mental Retardation

. 4. Book Review

. 5. Cast the Roles

EN 11

THE SIXTIES

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Grade 12


EN 12

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

The following is a list of metapages - pages that provide navigation to other sites.

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EN 12

EXISTENIALISM

.


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EN 12

Assignment sheet

The American Dream

The Jazz Age

  • Music of the 1920s has a few links on music in 1920s near the bottom of the page (this site also has many links to the 1920’s era—be aware that some of the links are old; this site also recommends some books on the 1920s)
  • Videos of Jazz in 1920s links to videos
  • 1920s Jazz Age more links to different jazz sites

Fashion in the 1920’s

Black Monday/Great Depression

Bloody Sunday/Organized Crime

European vs. American Society/Politics

Wealthy Influential Families

Prohibition

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda


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EN 12

The WATCH that Ends the NIGHT

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DRAMA

PW Library Drama Resources PW Library Shakespeare Resources

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LITERATURE

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POETRY

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PROFESSIONAL

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REFERENCE

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WRITING

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