So April and I decided to hold a book club. She chose a book and I chose one. The two books that we read were: Slaughterhouse 5 and Dark Life. There was unfortunately some confusion (because of me). April had to read 3 books due to me giving her the wrong book title.
So Dark Life is about the world having little land left and some people decide to "homestead" under the ocean. The kids who live down below develop dark gifts and have abilities that vary. It was pretty cool because the adults who find out about these gifts (the kids parents) embrace their children and their uniqueness. We both decided that this would be a cool book that could be used both in English and science or biology. With global warming that happens today it would be interesting to see how students would react to this book. This could also be used in a middle school setting as an example of a utopian/dystopian society, depending upon how you look at it.
Slaughterhouse 5 was difficult for both of us to read. However April made some very great points. I had a hard time getting over how the story really has no conclusion. April pointed out that when it comes to war there really is not a satisfying conclusion ever. She also pointed out, because again I was struggling with the book, that war affects everybody very differently. Billy (the main character) time travels and is taken from Earth by aliens. This is how he copes with what happened to him during the war. Again this book can be used as an example of a censorship, utopian/dystopian society. Censorship is something that affects us in one way or another. This book could be used with something like Divergent and the effects of what censorship can do to a society.
These books were so different from one another but surprisingly good reads. Well I still am having a hard time wrapping my head around Slaughterhouse 5. The aliens really threw me off balance. Neither April nor I have been in a book club and we have had fun doing this. It is something that (April's idea) we would like to incorporate into our classrooms.