I know Charlene already recommended this book in an earlier post but I REALLY DO HAVE TO RECOMMEND IT MYSELF! Actually I would recommend the entire series if curriculum/time permits because IT IS REALLY THE BEST. Alright alright, enough of my obsessive enthusiasm.
On a serious note though, I thought The Sorcerer's Stone will make an excellent first-literary-book for secondary one students because 1) its language is easy enough to be accessible to all; 2) its plot is captivating so students are motivated to read; 3) it contains many symbols and motifs for the teacher to teach literary devices to students at an elementary level. In addition, its values--love, friendship, courage, good > evil--are complementary to MOE's vision for education. I thought that the accessibility and ability to interest students are especially important for a first literary book, because it then dispels the notion that literature is 'scary' and 'difficult'. Perhaps in that way, more students will find interest in studying literature.
2) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Although I've discussed my bias against (modern) bildungsroman novels, admittedly Chbosky's book is wildly successful at engaging teenagers because of how much readers reportedly related with the protagonist. The story emotively and sympathetically describe the feelings of growing up, which I believe will interest secondary school students. It is useful to use this book to introduce the reader response criticism approach to them, and subsequently new criticism--analysing the language closely to understand how it evokes such emotional responses in readers. In addition, it has been made into a film so it is helpful for teachers who would like to incorporate films into their literature syllabus.
3) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The last text I picked is the most difficult in terms of accessibility. However if students have read Wallflower they could possibly do a comparison with Catcher, since they are both bildungsroman novels. It would be interesting to do a comparative study between the two, to see what are the similar and different issues young people of different eras struggled with--and why. This can also be an exposure to classic texts: to familiarise students with non-modern language, in order to prepare them for more difficult texts as they (hopefully) further pursue literature.
Hi Xiaoxi, having students do a comparison is a good idea. Perhaps they can have a set of recommended books, and can compare their set text with one of their own readings. A comparison is more difficult than a book summary and requires students to have read both texts well to do the comparison.
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