Re Guevara: There's The Motorcycle Diaries about his motorcycle trip around various countries in South America during the 1950s. He wrote it before he became the icon "Che." Similarly, Guevara's compadre Alberto Granado wrote about the same trip (Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary) which I think is even better and is certainly enlightening about Guevara's youthful character.

I'm not sure what you mean by "literature," but I can't think of any novels about Guevara, although I'm pretty sure there are some. Jon Lee Anderson's biography, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life is generally well thought of, though hardly unbiased -- I know I found it riveting. Of course any reader should balance the admiring accounts of Guevara's life with some debunking of the myths and legends that have built up around him. He was a fascinating man, whether you think he was noble or a thug.

Hmm.., if the subject matter is Modern World History, 1300 - 1800, I guess I would eliminate Homer (8th or 7th century BCE) and Virgil (70 to 19 BCE) from the reading list. They both are wonderful to read, but very long and not written within the range of years given to study. Not that they didn't influence the thinking of the times, but if you want to narrow the list down, I guess I would start by eliminating those.
A Tale of Two Cities is not terribly long and would have plenty to say about the history of the times, as would The Scarlet Pimpernel.
A possible suggestion for another book about life in the time period would be Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott.

Remember too, that these might not be the teacher's choices; they might be directives from the department head or the curriculum director.

I wonder about Homer and Virgil as well - not only don't they fit into the time period, but they really aren't readable for many 9th graders. Otherwise I think those look pretty good. And since he only has to read one a semester (talk about easy), choosing the Dumas seems appropriate for age and time period.

>The final project was designing a book cover with minimal analysis.

What an odd project for a 500 page book. I don't remember the actual book being that long - was it? (just googled; its 372 pages, which is more like it)

As far as Things Fall Apart and One Hundred Years of Solitude, I can't imagine a 9th grader reading those. Both have a great deal of magic realism and I am not sure they'd get it at that age (I could be wrong).

Thanks for your responses, folks. I'm trying to lean non-American, and towards the era that is post-Napoleonic (since they just finished that unit) and before WW I.

Freidag, I think the teacher wants us to stay fiction/historical fiction, but we are free to choose pure history or even biographical. I threw out Che Guevara as an interesting and charismatic persona; he doesn't fit the
times.

I'll look at Ivanhoe.

cindydavid, yup, a very odd project. I'm already on the warpath with another mom about this teacher. The kids did hand drawn flashcards of the Greek gods and heroes earlier this year. No computer images, everything had to be done by hand. People, this is 9th grade, and SATs are coming up! I know, I'm preaching to the choir.

Here are some ideas I tossed out. I love these all but they are too long. Normally this kid could read long books but I can't tell you how busy he is and he became overwhelmed by the abridged Monte Cristo (original is 1,500 pages) in length and verbage! He loves politics - he is in the Model UN, and asked us to subscribe to Time magazine, so he isn't fazed by encounters with tough concepts.

OK have at this list. Please come up with something shorter, along these lines!

Far Pavilions, Taipan, Trinity, Heart of Darkness (now THAT I consider very inaccessible!), a book based on the real Breaker Morant, any author along the lines of Bernard Cornwell but moved up in history (his stuff is earlier). A biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton, the explorer, because he read a science fiction series based on him. Kipling's Kim? Too easy?

I know I'm posting 'epics' that tend to be lengthy.

Another book that might be an option is "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White. It was written in 1958, is about King Arthur's growing up years, but was intended to be a commentary on World War II, I believe. Also, it is written in a semi-fantasy style - it has Merlin in it, of course - but it is a wonderful book.

Another choice for Shakespeare might be King Henry V - the advantage here being that he could watch a video of the play as well as reading it; that is also true of "Much Ado About Nothing", but Henry V is a history play and "Much Ado" is a comedy.

This is the strangest list. I don't really see what ties any of them together. Hand illustrated cards! Sounds like the Day of the Dead project my grandson just had to complete for "Language Arts." Seemed more like a project for social studies or art. My grandson needs someone to make him read something with depth and then write something critical about it. NOT making a box with marigolds and sugar skulls! Projects like that are great alternatives for the "transitional" student but to waste time on this stuff for kids who need challenges doesn't make sense.

So much for my venting. I don't really have any concrete suggestions. But Dickens is good for everyone and The Once and Future King was a favorite of mine in high school. They love the Narnia books.

jessy, reading your original request and the information you provided has me at a total loss. I though English schools were bad enough at teaching irrelevant courses and subject matter (although they are belatedly trying to tidy up their acts) but the above is just so strange.
I asked my DH (a long-time teacher) what age Grade 9'ers were and told him what was expected of your son. He said it sounded typical of a 'modern' university course, where 'studying' is left to the student, everything is wishy-washy and very little basic information is either taught or learnt.
As some other RP'ers have said I would be interested if this course has been decided by the history/English teacher, the Head of the Dept or a School board. (here in England by the time pupils reach 14+ years it is the Examination boards that set the curriculum)
As it stands, although your son might get something from the reading matter as works of literature I honestly don't think he will learn any history except maybe a little from The Scarlet Pimpernel.
How, for eg can he learn any historical facts from the stories of King Arthur? It's as daft as asking a child of the future what he learnt about our generation from reading The Lord of the Rings.
I'd love to hear the teacher's explanation of Patterns of Interaction and what it actually means or be a fly on the wall during his lessons.
This woolly concept seems way too long (the history alone would occupy a UK kid the whole of his senior school days) and bound to lead to terminal boredom.

As far as the book-cover thing goes. What I seriously would suggest, if they have to produce some sort of 'Art Work' is that between them, the class produces an illustrated 'time-line' as a frieze round the room, starting with the first Unit 1300 > > > adding the main historical events and fitting the book titles into the appropriate places. This way not only will they notice how far away Homer is from the 'modern world' but they might learn the sequence of history, a concept of which many children (and adults) have little understanding.

Jessy this is most interesting . . . because it seems so CAZY. :-) . . . btw, keep off Richard Burton imo. He had serious problems of a sexual nature (his wife burnt all his letters and papers) so not really suitable for school!

Hmmm... you mention Gabriel Garcia Marquez above. I think his book, The General in His Labyrinth might be interesting to your son, and it isn't all that long. It's about the last days of Simon Bolivar.

Far Pavillions is one of my all time favorite books, but it really has more romance than I think a 9th grader could handle (I could be wrong, he sounds like a pretty together and mature kid). Tho Kaye does an incredible job of relaying that time period in India, the history, the culture, the society.

Given that, Id choose Kim. I read it in 9th grade, and while some of the concepts escaped me at the time, I was rivited. I reread it several times in HS and each time learned more. I reread it last summer for a book group and was astounded how much I missed, yet amazed by how much I enjoyed it anyway. Id vote for this one easily

Trinity is quite good. And Cornwell does have some later books than the Sharpe series (I love this writer). Once and Future King is another long time favorite, another good choice

If the class is a language arts class, I can see them doing a project about Day of the Dead - there is much you can do with that to expand knowledge of social studies and culture while providing some good reading material (My choice would be Hummingbirds Daughter or Don Quixote) But I do know what you mean - too often teachers think that intergrating the curriculum (eg teaching several subjects within one class) means dumbing down everything. That isn't what its supposed to be - it means using different areas of learning to teach one concept. I use it in my class all of the time, but never lose sight of what I am supposd to be focusing on. Yeah, I'd have a long talk with that tchr about the art project. Geesh, they can do better than that.

Just a few suggestions:

All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque, 304 pages
A Bell for Adano, Hersey, 288 pages
Dr. Zhivago, Pasternak, 592 pages
The Prince, Machiavelli, 146 pages
A World Lit only by Fire, Manchester, 366 pages
Sophie's World, Gaarder, 544 pages

Is this the only subject this boy is taking!?
Kids today have so much homework, starting with grade 1......I am sitting here absolutely amazed that any teacher would expect a 15 year old to have the time and motivation to read such novels.....along with all the other schoolwork he must have.
This might be an Advanced Placement course......or an Enriched course?.....but having them do a grade school variety final project about the book is confusing.
It does not fit the gravitas of the book choices!

EGADS.

Yvonne ( retired teacher)