I love to read, and chances are that you do too.
As educators, we often read children’s literature to stay in-the-know and professional books to improve our practices. But how often do we read fictional novels that can teach us just as much as a teacher textbook?
Years ago, when I was in college, my mom (Hi, mom!) handed me a book and said, “If you’re going to be a teacher, you need to read this.”
That book was Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. She told me it was about a school shooting. I refused for a long time, because I felt the content was too “heavy.” But, mama knows best, and she kept insisting. Now, I’m hoping you will read it too.
Nineteen Minutes tells the story of a school shooting, including multiple perspectives leading up to, during, and after the nineteen-minute event. It’s eye-opening, thought-provoking, and absolutely heartbreaking. It’s changed me as a person, and it’s my favorite book of all time. I fell in love with Jodi Picoult’s craft and research-based fictional style, so I asked my mom for more.
Next she handed me House Rules, also by Picoult. House Rules is about the family of a boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome. When a murder happens nearby, he is assumed guilty by law enforcement due to his knowledge of historical murders, fixation on crime scenes, and lack of “normal” social habits. It’s insightful, informative, and tugs a little too hard on your heart strings.
Those two books by Picoult, recommended by the amazing educator that is my mother, absolutely changed my mindset and helped me grow as a person and as a teacher.
I realize that there are areas in which I need to continue to grow, and with all that is going on in our country right now, I started seeking out novels to help me do it.
I don’t think I have the words to review this book well enough to do it justice. I cried, I giggled, and I couldn’t put it down. I learned a lot. The author says it well in her acknowledgment: “Your voices matter, your dreams matter, your lives matter. Be roses that grow in the concrete.”
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| image from http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/12/12/robin-benway-far-from-the-tree |
Far From the Tree was recommended to me by a friend, and I certainly didn’t expect to learn as much from it as I did. GoodReads describes this YA novel as “a contemporary novel about three adopted siblings who find each other at just the right moment.” It was so interesting – and eye-opening, and thought-provoking – to go through the story from the perspective of three siblings with different life experiences. As teachers, we often have students in our classroom who are either adopted or fostered. Even if students are happy in an amazing adoptive or foster family, they still have experiences and emotions that we could never imagine. That insight was gained through reading this book, making me a better and more empathetic educator.
Buy them. Read them. Educate yourself. Have empathy.
All of the books mentioned in this blog post are linked on my Amazon page. (Look for the list titled “Novels for Educators.”) Know that when you buy something through my Amazon influencer page, I receive a small portion as commission. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but the extra funds help me keep this blog up and running!
Do you have any titles to add to this list? Let me know in a comment below.
