Novel List for Module Four

Because many of these novels contain mature subject matter, contact your teacher for help in choosing the novel.

Bleachers (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 himself and his coach, as the feelings of love and hate for the coach fight for supremacy within him.

Lord of the Flies (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 traces the defects of society back to basic defects in human nature.

Obasan (Joy Kogawa) Obasan 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 and provide a model for student writing.

The Help (Kathryn Stockett) 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.

The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan) The Joy Luck Club 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.