PhyreBards

Students are required to read and interpret literary texts within the English classroom and the goal of any teacher approaching literature is to appeal to the interest of their students. The modern classroom is a diverse learning environment that is not composed of students that represent only the Euro-American viewpoint; therefore, neither should the literature. The push for English teachers to break through the classical literary cannon is stronger now than ever before because of the wide variety of cultures represented in today’s classroom. Emerging young adult literature that appeals to these diverse audience are every bit as relevant to the development of literary skills as the classical pieces. Not that all of the classical cannon should be avoided, because continuing in higher education means being familiar with these staple English classroom texts, but choosing literature that appeals to students in order to encourage a love of reading should be a major goal of English teachers.

Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Bees is slowly emerging as one of the forefront modern texts to be incorporated into the high school English classroom. The novel has been a bestseller since its publication in 2002 and has remained a favorite in book clubs across the country. Lily, the protagonist, is a 14 year old white girl whose mother died when she was only four years old in an accident involving a gun. The memory of this tragic event haunts Lily throughout her childhood and creates uncertainty in an already abusive household. Lily’s only real family and friend is Rosaleen, a black housekeeper that her abusive father hired to take care of Lily following her mother’s death. The story is set on an isolated peach farm in South Carolina in 1964 during the heart of the civil rights movement. Lily dreams of escaping the racist town that she hates in search of a better life and in hopes of finding a link to her mother.

Rosaleen is a proud and outspoken black woman and when she is awarded her right to vote, she marches down to the center of town with Lily on her birthday. She is attacked by three racist men on her way to the courthouse and is thrown in jail. Lilly is determined to break her out and after the ladies escape, they go searching for a new beginning in Tiburon, South Carolina. The pair know nothing about the town except that in a box of Lily’s mother’s belongings there is a picture of a black Virgin Marry with the words, “Tiburon, South Carolina” written on the back. After a long and painful journey, Lilly and Rosaleen reach the town and are taken in by three black bee keepers, August, May, and June Boatwright that worship the Black Madonna. While living with these three powerful women, Lilly learns the importance of hard work, friendship, honesty, love, and faith. She learns to trust these women as she uncovers the secrets to her mother’s past and gains closure through the everlasting relationships with the bees and her new ‘mothers.’

The novel is categorized as young adult fiction, but readers of all ages have enjoyed Lilly’s coming of age story in which she finds closure through love and trust. The setting of the novel, during the heart of the civil rights movement, is a time when many older readers can recall the harsh laws and regulations that segregated citizens of the south. Lilly is white teenager that refuses to practice the unjustly regulated path of her community and continues practicing her beliefs despite the criticisms of those surrounding her. Anyone who has ever stood up for what they believe in or felt alone in the only home they have known will be able to relate to the protagonists’ struggle. The novel is quickly gaining popularity within the high school classroom because of its reader level, intense thematic elements, and ability to appeal to readers of different cultures. The historical setting of the novel, during the civil rights movement, is also a great basis for content and theory incorporation into discussion. Students are usually able to connect and relate to the protagonist because she is a high school student facing issues of race, equality, and adolescents.

Success with this novel in the high school classroom is an extremely rewarding experience for both students and teachers. My co-teacher (Ms. Rogers) and I are currently teaching this novel to our ninth grade CP class and the students have instantly connected with the work. This is the first semester that Ms. Rogers has incorporated this novel into her literary choices and the students’ involvement have been more than either of us could have hoped. Most of the students (8 out of 13) are repeaters of English and have likely not read any novels that English teachers have assigned. We read a chapter as a class each day and students cannot wait to get out their books and begin. When it is time to stop and complete review questions, the students beg to keep reading. They are emotionally attached to the book and have great comments and questions about the plot line and characters. Reading Monk’s novel has also sparked an interest in the students concerning the civil rights movement.

Students had to research the historical events and then draw the connections to the effects the movement has on the characters of the novel. The entire unit has been a success thus far and as we move deeper into the heart of the novel, I suspect student interest and involvement will continue to flourish.

Julie of the Wolves is a young adult novel about a thirteen year old girl, Julie Edwards Miyax Kapugen. Her Eskimo name is Miyax Kapugen, but her English name is Julie Edwards. She is an Eskimo girl who grows up in a traditional Eskimo village until she is married off to her father’s friend’s son, who is also thirteen. After her husband attacks her, she runs away from her new home and attempts to make her way through the Alaskan wilderness to reach her pen pal in San Francisco. After getting lost and not having the North Star to guide her, Miyax founds a pack of wolves that she attempts to befriend in order to benefit from their hunting abilities. She names each of them based on their characteristics and closely observes their behaviors in order to mimic their signals for different emotions. Using this strategy, she becomes accepted by the wolves and throughout the novel, the pack and Miyax protect and encourage each other. When the Alaskan summer ends and Miyax finds her way to a nearby village, she struggles with whether she should go on and re-enter the world of humans or if she should remain an Eskimo, depending on the land for survival. When she hears word that her long lost father, who taught her almost everything that she used to survive, was in the village, she enters to find herself torn one more between the world of Julie Edwards and that of Miyax Kapugen.
There is ample symbolism within this novel that would not be difficult for students to identify without being so obvious that the symbols lose their value and impact. The line between man and animal is shockingly blurred and the point could easily be made that, in many ways, the animals within this story are more humane and compassionate than many humans.
There are so many themes and issues that need discussing out of this novel. The struggle of man vs. nature and the idea that there should not be a struggle at all is one that resonates very strongly in light of the current environmental crisis that our planet is facing. The ideas of richness, beauty, and friendships are all called into questions and these ideas and themes are redefined many times throughout this book. This is one of those books that needs to be discussed and the elements of human nature that are presented should be analyzed and evaluated. Some of the lessons that the book teaches are difficult lessons to learn and they would be hard for some students to handle, but they are worth exploring in any capacity that is appropriate for the individual classroom. If anyone has not read this book, it is a good one to be familiar with and it is one that definitely lingers after the reading is finished.