"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

TTT: Back-to-school books

Top Ten Tuesday: Novels which contain memorable scenes in a school.

This will be my first time in 55 years in which I will not be going back-to-school as either a student or a teacher.  I know I will miss it. Today I am highlighting books that contain at least one memorable scene in a classroom or somewhere on the school grounds.


1. Simon v the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Simon is "outed" at school because he inadvertently left his email open on a school computer and another student found his email which left no doubt to his sexuality. Luckily he has friends at school who accept him for who he is. (c. 2015)

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Scout is eager to attend school but on the very first day she annoys the teacher because she already knows how to read. Then the teacher goes on to shame a boy who doesn't have any lunch or money for food. One of the magical things about this classic book is how the author captures the world as viewed through the eyes of a child. (c. 1960)

3. Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung
Lucy is Asian-Australian. Her parents work hard but don't have enough money to pay for the elite girl's school they want her to attend. Lucy is offered a scholarship to attend the school but is often treated as the "scholarship girl" or a second-class student, or worse, as the representative of all Asian people. (c. 2014)

4. Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston
Hermione Winters is the captain of the cheer squad at school. During camp the summer before her senior year, she is raped. The whole school finds about it and her year doesn't turn out the way she wants or expected but throughout the ordeal she is never abandoned by her best friend. (c. 2016)

5. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
The story begins in the school's bell tower where two students coincidentally have gone to kill themselves, instead they save each other. They then go on to form a relationship because of a class project to explore something special about the state of Indiana. (c. 2015)

6. Looking for Alaska by John Green
Miles is a new student in the Culver Creek Boarding School where he makes friends with a fun bunch of students who love to play pranks. Among the friends he meets Alaska Young who steals his heart. (c. 2006)

7. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor and Park begin a friendship by sitting next to each other on the school bus. In the beginning they mainly just share music, but soon a relationship blooms out of the friendship of these two misfits. (c. 2013)

8. The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer
Ethan and his friends attend an arts academy which has been hijacked by a reality TV show. In an effort to get their school back, the students start publishing an underground newspaper which contains a long poem to protest the TV show. (c. 2014)

9. And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard
In a memorable and horrifying scene Emily's boyfriend kills himself in the school library. Guilt-ridden, Emily is finally sent to attend school in Amherst, Massachusetts at a boarding school near where Emily Dickinson lived. Here she gets help from a few quirky new friends and the famous poet herself. (c. 2014)

10. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Early in the book, Amy, the youngest of the four sisters, goes to school and gets in trouble over a situation with limes. Marmie gets so angry over the way the teacher handles it that she pulls Amy out of school to home-school her. (c. 1868)

11. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Many of the scenes in this marvelous series take place in the small school which Anne attends. She meets most of her friends at school. (c. 1908)

12. The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
The students are naughty until the teacher from the black lagoon substitutes for their teacher. When the real teacher returns the students are well-mannered. Illustrated children's book. (c. 1989)

Can you think of any books which contain memorable scenes that take place in a school?


14 comments:

  1. I loved Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, it was an adorable story. I'm really keen to try Exit, Pursued by a Bear. It looks really original.

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    1. I liked it, especially as I thought about it compared to the Winter's Tale.

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  2. Great idea for a list! I have one more personal favorite: Sideways Stories at Wayside School.

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    1. Great idea. I read those to my kids when they were little.

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  3. How about the Hate List by Larbelestier. Post school shooting and the whole thing is memorable.

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    1. I haven't read that book, but I own it. I really should.

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  4. I love most of these books- and the ones that I don't, I just haven't read yet!

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  5. I love Anne of Green Gables. I also just picked up Simon vs. and loved it. Great list!

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  6. Eleanor & Park is one I'd really like to read. And The Teacher From the Black Lagoon- love that title!!

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  7. The only one of these I've read is To Kill A Mockingbird, I liked it but it's not one of my favourites.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/top-ten-tuesday-121/

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  8. I will miss it too. Right now I'm feeling a distinct lack of stress, but I know that I will feel weird during the first few weeks of school.

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  9. I'm glad to see Simon at the top of your list. Great picks, Anne! :)

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  10. Most of these came out after I was out of school, but I would have loved to have had to read many of these if they had been. I bet you've seen quite a few changes over the years in reading--from being a student and into your years teaching. I've actually only read two of the books on your list. To Kill a Mockingbird and Eleanor and Park. I loved both.

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  11. Omg I LOVE Simon Vs and All The Bright Places. <3 And 55 years of school is a very very long time so just all the congrats for surviving.😂

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