I love history and find that reading about it can be be (almost) as exciting as a trip in a time machine would be. Each week, learners will come to class having read the book for that weeks discussion. (Thats 46 books in a year!) We will take a look at the author, the time period it was written (if different from the setting), and learn about what the characters and setting tell us about that moment in history. Learners will be given the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions about the story and historical context. The first part of class will consist of a short lecture about the historical context, author, and any relevant information about the book. The second half of the class will be open discussion. Class is kept at a small size to ensure every learner will have an opportunity to share. (If your learner does not like public speaking, they are always able to share through the chat box.) 

Please see the Parental Guidance statement below. This is an ongoing - week by week class, so learners are able to jump in any time or skip any books that they (or parents) do not wish to read. This class will be from an historical context, not a literary one. 


Come and join us as we take the challenge to read a different book each week! 


Week of…
September 2 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
September 9 The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys
September  16 The Downstairs Girl - Stacey Lee
September 23 NO CLASS 
September 30 Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys
October 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
October 14 The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar
October 21 A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
October 28 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
November 4 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 
November 11 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
November 18 All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
November 25 NO CLASS 
December 2 Kent State - Deborah Wiles
December 9 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
December 16 The Nutcracker and the Mouse King - E.T.A. Hoffman
December 23-January 5 NO CLASS 

2025
Inventing Victoria - Tonya Bolden
Slaugherhouse-Five - Kurt Vonegut
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Beloved Wild - Melissa Ostrom
Outrun the Moon - Stacey Lee
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner 
Chains: The Seeds of American Trilogy, Book 1 - Laurie Halse Anderson
Native Son - Richard Wright
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Refugees - Alan Gratz
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
A Long Walk to Water - Linda Sue Park
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Indivisible - Daniel Aleman
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith