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ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions 1 Revised September 2014
ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions
Each High School English course requires the study of ONE novel to be chosen from the list of novels
authorized by Alberta Education.
English 10-1 ADLC – Print and Online Course
A. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a world-famous novel written in 1960. The narrator and main
character remembers her experiences as a young girl growing up in a small town in the Southern United
States. She and her brother have several adventures when they try to learn more about the mysterious
man who lives next door. They discover the real nature of their town when their lawyer father defends a
local man. The story is about innocence, loss, and learning to see the world for what it really is. It is
about issues of understanding and accepting differences.
B. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a mature novel about a grade nine student who is attempting to deal
with the trauma of rape. Melinda Sordino is the main character who is struggling with depression and
fitting into high school. Confronting her fears allows Melinda to stand up for the injustice she has
experienced. The journey that the narrator takes us on is a difficult, but inspirational one.
C. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is the story of Lily Owens who lives on a farm in South
Carolina. The death of her mother, when Lily was four, has devastated and forever shaped her life. Her
housekeeper, Rosaleen, cares for Lily, but the setting of the novel during 1964 (Civil Rights era) reveals
the racial violence that explodes during that period. Rosaleen is a victim of this violence, causing the two
to leave town in search of information about Lily’s mother. The story reveals their search for identity and
a sense of belonging during this difficult time.
D. Waiting for the Rain by Sheila Gordon, published in 1987, is set in South Africa during the apartheid era.
The main character is a black boy whose best friend is white. The black boy wants to learn and attend
school; the white boy wants to live on the farm. The black boy is denied the rights of his white friend
because of colour. As time passes, injustice in society becomes more important in the lives of these two
boys. The simple story questions accepted ways of their society and looks for new answers. The novel is
part of the protest literature of that era, but it is also about innocence and awareness as well as issues of
understanding and accepting differences.
English 10-2 ADLC – Print and Online Course
A. Deathwatch by Robb White is a fast-paced story. It has as a central issue of a life and death struggle
between two men – the hunter and the hunted – set in the burning heat of the desert. The characters are
believable and interesting and their struggle proves even more exciting as the two main characters not
only must compete against one another, they must also survive the dangers of the desert.
B. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a mature novel about a grade nine student who is attempting to deal
with the trauma of rape. Melinda Sordino is the main character who is struggling with depression and
fitting into high school. Confronting her fears allows Melinda to stand up for the injustice she has
experienced. The journey that the narrator takes us on is a difficult, but inspirational, one.
ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions 2 Revised September 2014
C. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is the story of Lily Owens who lives on a farm in South
Carolina. The death of her mother, when Lily was four, has devastated and forever shaped her life. Her
housekeeper, Rosaleen, cares for Lily, but the setting of the novel during 1964 (Civil Rights era) reveals
the racial violence that explodes during that period. Rosaleen is a victim of this violence, causing the two
to leave town in search of information about Lily’s mother. The story reveals their search for identity and
a sense of belonging during this difficult time.
D. Waiting for the Rain by Sheila Gordon, published in 1987, is set in South Africa during the apartheid era.
The main character is a black boy whose best friend is white. The black boy wants to learn and attend
school; the white boy wants to live on the farm. The black boy is denied the rights of his white friend
because of colour. As time passes, injustice in society becomes more important in the lives of these two
boys. The simple story questions accepted ways of their society and looks for new answers. The novel is
part of the protest literature of that era, but it is also about innocence and awareness as well as issues of
understanding and accepting differences.
English 20-1 ADLC – Print and Online Course
A. Bleachers by John Grisham: The protagonist of this story, Neely Crenshaw, was probably the best
quarterback ever to play for the Messina Spartans. Now, fifteen years have passed and Neely returns
home to bury the revered and loathed Coach Eddie Rake, whose influence holds a lasting impact on both
players and the community. Through the use of flashbacks, the boys recall and replay the glory days and
their often tumultuous relationship with their coach. Neely must deal with his need to forgive both the
players, himself, and his coach, as the feelings of love and hate for the coach fight for supremacy within
him.
B. Lord of the Flies by William Golding: A group of English school boys are being evacuated during a
nuclear war when their airplane crashes, and they are stranded on a deserted island. William Golding, the
author, describes the change in character from innocent choir boys to savages as they endeavour to
survive on the island. Irrational fears and irresponsible behaviour hasten the boys’ descent into savagery
where murder, the darkest form of evil, is finally unleashed. Through his novel, Golding intends to trace
the defects of society back to basic defects in human nature.
C. Obasan by Joy Kogawa depicts the evacuation, internment, and dispersal of British Columbia’s Japanese
Canadians during World War II. Naomi and her brother are separated from their mother and father and
others of their extended family, and are raised, during the war years, by their aunt (Obasan) and uncle.
The novel presents contrasts between hope and despair, anger and resignation, beauty and ugliness, and
pleasure and pain which are presented through calm documentation. One of the strengths of the novel is
its poetic and lyrical style, which should inspire personal response.
D. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: Junior, the main character of the
novel, is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Medical problems threaten
to shorten his life and are the cause of ridicule by of his peers. Luckily, his best friend defends him at
every turn. Junior is determined to receive a good education, so he decides to attend an all-white school in
the neighbouring community where he is the only native Indian. An outcast both at home and at school,
Junior experiences several great family tragedies, and attacks life with wit and humour, discovering a
strength inside of himself that he never knew existed. The cartoon illustrations within the novel enhance
the sensitivity, humour, and the pain Junior experiences.
ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions 3 Revised September 2014
E. The Help by Kathryn Stockett takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Told from the perspective of
three characters: Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny, the novel explores the tensions between the white and the
black people in the small community. Skeeter, a white socialite has just returned from college and begins
a writing project which stirs the emotions of whites and blacks alike. These three very different women
collaborate on the project which ultimately has the potential to alter the life of their small town.
F. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan traces the stories of four mothers and their daughters. Tan shares the
mothers’ experiences in leaving China for a better life in America. Their hopes for their children are not
fully realized when their daughters grow up in this new country. Each character contributes her own story
to the novel, from her own perspective. The result is a beautiful weaving of sixteen stories that will call
the reader to join in their perilous and moving quests.
English 20-2 ADLC – Print and Online Courses
A. Forbidden City by William Bell involves a teenager, Alex, accompanying his father, a CBC news
cameraman, on a trip to China for what he thought would be a vacation. He is in Tiananmen Square on
June 4, 1989, the date the world watched the government of China suppress a protest led by students.
Alex sees the brutality of oppressive government control, but he also witnesses the compassion and
friendliness of the common people. The first-person point of view is engaging, although the Chinese
names may be difficult for some readers.
B. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck involves two agricultural labourers during the 1930s moving from
job to job. George understands Lennie despite his limitations. Like most people, they have dreams, but
fears and circumstances prevent fulfillment of their dreams. Steinbeck comments upon a society in
which those who could have accepted others’ differences are unchanged and those who are different
remain unappreciated. Steinbeck uses the level of language common to uneducated drifters and
labourers, but such language may be offensive to some readers because of coarseness and blasphemy.
C. Hate List by Jennifer Brown involves a teenage girl, Valerie, who is dealing with the aftermath of a
horrific school shooting implicating her boyfriend, and to a much lesser extent, herself. This is a first
person story that describes the guilt and struggle the character experiences by not understanding or
knowing what compelled her boyfriend’s terrible crime, as well as coping with a traumatic injury. The
plot describes the experiences and feelings of returning to her school to face her peers, the repairing of
relationships with friends and family needed, and the struggle to heal and move forward in her life. This
is a provocative and fast-paced novel containing some violence, difficult situations, and some coarse
language.
D. Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos is an autobiographical novel about a teenager on the verge of being an
adult in 1971, thinking about his future and how to get there. In one quick and ill-thought-out decision,
he decides to try to earn a large sum of money for secondary school through an opportunity to smuggle
and then traffic a shipment of illegal drugs to the USA. He is arrested for this terrible decision, and is
sentenced to 6 years in prison at the age of 18. The novel is a reflection of his experiences within the
legal system, and a re-telling of the events that landed him in jail. The protagonist reflects on his
choices, and on the time spent incarcerated, and about how to move forward from this terrible mistake
with some clarity to reclaim his life. This novel contains some violence, difficult situations, some drug
references and coarse language.
ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions 4 Revised September 2014
The Graphic Novels for the English 20-2 Print and Online Course
E. Essex County: Book Two Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire centers on Lou, an old man who was once a
Canadian semi-professional hockey player. He and his younger brother, Vince, are from Essex County,
Ontario. Lou is facing the challenges of aging, and uses his time to recollect growing up with his
younger brother and the love for hockey they shared. At one point, both brothers had nearly made the
big leagues, but for a terrible event occurring at the peak of their hockey careers, threatening the
relationship of the brothers for many years after. Now, in his old age as he remembers his youth, Lou’s
kind nurse tries desperately to keep him out of trouble and cared for on his isolated farm, where he lives,
regretful and sometimes sad, but also mindful of the smaller beauties in life. This graphic novel contains
some mildly coarse language, some adult situations, and one mildly suggestive scene.
F. How I Made it to Eighteen by Tracy White. This plainly drawn graphic novel centers around the story of
a girl named Stacey who has ended up at a youth psychiatric wing for a 24 week stay after suffering a
mental breakdown and injuring herself. Through Stacey’s perspective and the accompanying
perspectives of her friends, Stacey’s story about attempting to discover the roots of her personal
problems and destructive behaviours is explored. Through group therapy sessions, she makes some
unsuspecting friendships, re-evaluates what a healthy relationship is, and learns some eye-opening truths
about herself on her path to healing and finding answers. This graphic novel contains references to
illegal substances, suicide and addictions, some coarse language and some adult situations.
G. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. This colourful graphic novel tells the story of Jin Wang, a
Chinese-American boy who grows up in a primarily Caucasian neighborhood and school. Jin struggles
with bullying and racism alongside all the normal issues of being a teenager, especially attempting to
define who he is as a person and who he would like to be. A story that runs parallel to Jin’s is the story
of the Monkey King, a magical, god-like Monkey that faces oppression from other Gods in the world
because they do not view him as an equal. The Monkey King battles many foes, but also battles with
himself about who he is, much like Jin does every day in school as he tries to win the affection of a girl
in his class, and live what he feels is a normal, teenaged life. Both the Monkey King and Jin realize,
however, that not being true to oneself can have a terrible price. This novel contains some mature topics
centering on racism, explicit racial stereotypes, and some coarse language.
English 30-1 ADLC – Print and Online Course
A. 1984 by George Orwell was published in 1949 and is the gripping story of a dystopian future set in the province of Airstrip One in the country of Oceania. The Inner Party, led by Big Brother, makes up an elite group that rules its citizens with such tyranny that even an individual’s thoughts are policed. In Oceania, every aspect of life is under surveillance and control, from the words that people speak to the country’s own history. While this truly is a cautionary tale about a frightening future, it is also the story of what happens when one man quietly dares to question, dares to think, and dares to love.
B. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is the story of Liesel Meminger, who is nine years old when her life changes forever. It is 1939; Germany is on the brink of World War II, and this is the year that marks more than one heart-breaking tragedy for Liesel. There is more tragedy to come, but there is time enough in between those tragedies for Liesel to fall in love with an accordian player, a dusty track star, a sharp-tongued foster mother, and a broken Jewish man living in her basement. She also falls in love with stealing, and it all begins with a rectangular black book partially hidden in the snow.
ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions 5 Revised September 2014
C. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway deals with the war in Sarajevo. Arrow hides amongst the debris of a burned-out office tower and aims her rifle at the unsuspecting soldiers. She is certain they deserve to die. She is certain of a great many things, but this will change when her life intersects with the cellist. On an average day in Sarajevo, if any day during war can be average, the cellist sits at his window playing “Albinoni’s Adagio,” a moving and beautiful song of hope. It is at this very window that he witnesses the death of 22 people standing in line to buy bread. So shattered by this tragic moment, the cellist vows to play the beautiful “Adagio” for 22 days, one for each victim, on the hour of their death. This powerful tribute will serve as one man’s way of enduring the unthinkable. Arrow has her own way, as do the other characters in this haunting elegiac novel.
D. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paul Coelho is a story involving some significant questions. Are human beings, at their core, good or evil? This is the question posed by the stranger who quietly arrives in the remote village of Viscos carrying eleven gold bars. Giving the townspeople a seemingly simple proposition--do one evil deed and be handsomely rewarded--the stranger injects powerful temptation into their lives. This moral dilemma shakes the little mountain town to its core, and causes both the characters and the reader to question what Paul Coelho’s parable might teach us about the nature of humankind.
E. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of Amir. The year is 2001, and Amir is a man living a comfortable existence with his family in San Francisco, but a phone call from his uncle in Pakistan, and one brief sentence, transports Amir back to the year 1975 when he betrayed his best friend and altered the course of both their lives. “There is a way to be good again,” Amir’s uncle had said, but Amir is not so sure. The Kite Runner is the story of Amir and Hassan, their richly-textured childhood in Afghanistan and their powerful friendship, but it is also the story of betrayal and redemption. Can we ever escape the ghosts of our past? Is forgiveness always possible? Can a person atone for any sin, no matter how great? These are the questions that drive this beautifully-woven tale. Note: this novel contains scenes of a sexual and violent nature, and reader discretion is advised.
F. Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso and David Arnason is set in the pioneer district of northern Manitoba
where pioneer farmers have reason to admire their accomplishments in wresting a living from the
forested land. Current in exploring the struggle for independence and the assertion of one’s own will in
a male-dominated society, students are often surprised by the date of this novel. The development of
several characters makes this a strong study in the response to difficult circumstances. The wild geese
that begin and end the story frame spring and autumn and connect the plot and characters to the
natural world. The description of fragile wood lilies growing next to a fire-blackened stump becomes
strongly symbolic.
English 30-2 DLRB (with ADLC assignment booklets) – Print Course
A. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury presents a futuristic state that attempts to control all thinking. Books
are “bad” and are burned because they present controversial ideas. The punishment for reading and
owning books is severe – possibly death. This novel is a social satire concerned with the control of
information and ideas. The author equates freedom with the expansion of ideas through reading, writing,
and conversation; he would certainly oppose any censorship by modern technology.
ADLC Senior High English Novel Descriptions 6 Revised September 2014
B. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers is a powerful novel marked by blasphemy, prejudice,
discrimination, sexism, despair, and violent reactions of the male characters set in the Viet Nam war.
Harsh language realistically reflects the violence and killing that is constantly questioned in this war
story that deals with ethnic differences, political biases, religious beliefs, interpersonal relationships, and
racial hatreds.
C. Medicine River by Thomas King is a humorous account of the citizens and social structure of a small
Blackfoot town in southern Alberta. Will returns to his hometown to sort the affairs of his mother who
recently died, and in the process must confront various experiences and issues from his youth. In the
process, he must confirm his values. Often funny and sometimes painful, events with Harlen Bigbear
bring Will to understand his own identity and commitments. King’s refreshing humour and optimism,
despite some painful encounters, leave the reader with significant understanding of and compassion for
the characters in Blackfoot culture.
D. Night by Elie Wiesel is Wiesel’s terrifying account of his experiences as a Jewish teenager in Nazi
concentration camps in 1944 and 1945. Wiesel struggled with his religious beliefs after witnessing many
horrors, including the death of his family, the execution of a young child, and individuals abandoning
family members in attempts to survive. The message in the novel is that such horror should never be
allowed to happen again.
English 30-2 ADLC – Online Course
A. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury presents a futuristic state that attempts to control all thinking. Books
are “bad” and are burned because they present controversial ideas. The punishment for reading and
owning books is severe – possibly death. This novel is a social satire concerned with the control of
information and ideas. The author equates freedom with the expansion of ideas through reading, writing,
and conversation; he would certainly oppose any censorship by modern technology.
B. Night by Elie Wiesel is Wiesel’s terrifying account of his experiences as a Jewish teenager in Nazi
concentration camps in 1944 and 1945. Wiesel struggled with his religious beliefs after witnessing many
horrors, including the death of his family, the execution of a young child, and individuals abandoning
family members in attempts to survive. The message in the novel is that such horror should never be
allowed to happen again.