fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #5590 ]

[ SECRET POST #5590 ]

⌈ Secret Post #5590 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[The Mystic Nine]

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[League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Halo, Devil May Cry]

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[The Lost Tomb]

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[A Heist With Markiplier]

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I've got a character in a fic I'm writing who is about eleven years old and they've just moved to the United States with their family; my question is what sort of books would they have been expected to read in school if they'd been raised American, and now need to catch up on? I get that the books American school kids have to read include Charlotte's Web, My Side of the Mountain, Tuck Everlasting, but are there any others they'd need to catch up on as part of the US school curriculum? If anyone can help with this background stuff, you'd be utter superstars. Thank you.

I don't know if it's accurate to say that one would need to read them to catch up. Books like those are very widely read by kids, yes, but it's not like kids have to read them, I've never read Tuck Everlasting myself.

You should tho. It's a pretty good book.

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

(Anonymous) - 2022-04-27 01:28 (UTC) - Expand

I don't know for sure, but I think the Giver, the Phantom Tollbooth, Bridge to Terabithia, Number the Stars, the Secret Garden, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Anne Frank are all books that would be read by that point.

I'm just here to say I hated bridge to Terebithia and child me wasn't mad when they did away with the girl.

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

(Anonymous) - 2022-04-27 00:16 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

philstar22 - 2022-04-27 00:17 (UTC) - Expand

I remember reading all these when I was in sixth grade, but none of them were required reading except Anne Frank's diary and I'm pretty sure we read a play instead of the actual diary.

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

philstar22 - 2022-04-27 00:20 (UTC) - Expand

Phantom Tollbooth was a book I loved as a kid.

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

philstar22 - 2022-04-27 01:46 (UTC) - Expand

It probably depends on the region, but I grew up in the Midwest near one of the places the Ingalls settled, and the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder was a must-read by that age. Everybody knew of and had read those books. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls was also big (which is funny because now that I think of it, I never read Old Yeller).

we read Old Yeller in school

I feel like this is definitely school specific? I can't remember ever having required reading before reaching HS (where we had to read Brave New World (blech) and Catcher in the Rye (ughhhh) and some Shakespeare).

I liked Catcher in the Rye but I do realize a lot of people really dislike Holden

I think you might get a variety of answers 'cause as far as I know, there isn't a standardized list of books that all school children in the US need to read. Tuck Everlasting was required reading when I was an eleven year old, but we never read Charlotte's Web or My Side of the Mountain in my class. We read Farewell to Manzanar and Ella Enchanted, plus a whole bunch of poetry (though Maya Angelou's the only one I remember). My best friend was in another class in the same school and she read Farewell to Manzanar, but her class never read Ella Enchanted (I don't remember what book her class read).

If they are starting at the beginning of the school year, they would not be expected to read or know books from previous years. An 11yo would be in the 6th grade. They MIGHT have had some book that was required reading over the summer but schools are moving away from that.

If they start in the middle of the school year, they might need to catch up on whatever book the class is currently reading.

See the link below for some common books read in 6th grade classes.

https://k-12readinglist.com/reading-lists-for-elementary-school-children/reading-list-6th-grade-children-age-11-12/

Edited 2022-04-27 00:24 (UTC)

What year is this taking place? If it's contemporary, then there's a toon of new books entering the reading list. A few classics on this list (i.e. books before let's say 2007?)

Holes
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Walk Two Moons
My side of the mountain
Bud, Not Buddy
Fever
Phantom of the Tollbooth
A Wrinkle in Time
Babysitter's Club (as a series)

https://k-12readinglist.com/reading-lists-for-elementary-school-children/reading-list-6th-grade-children-age-11-12/

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/book-lists/best-books-for-middle-grade-readers.html

You're taking me back! I'm pretty sure I read StarGirl and Downsiders in 6th grade as well (but that was out of my own volition -- avid reader).

SA

Esperanza Rising
Becoming Naomi León
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

https://www.americanfork.gov/DocumentCenter/View/499/6th-Grade-Master-List-PDF

This one is from around 2015
http://princeave.org/uploads/main/Middle_School_Reading_List_without_Assignments.pdf

There's definitely a lot of names that look familiar. Looking back, it's a lot of stories that introduce you to a kid around your age going through whatever is happening culturally/historically in that moment and how they're dealing with it/they're growing. And stories to inspire the imagination.

I’d ask on Reddit or Facebook groups for teachers but doubt you’ll get any consensus. I’m old so thing change but I moved every two years or so and no two elementary schools had the same books on their reading lists. It wasn’t until 7th grade when I was 12 that specific books were required (Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, etc. all through the rest of school). Before that reading requirements were just that you had to read a book, usually one you selected from a provided list.

Just a few off the top of my head:

Island of the Blue Dolphins
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM
Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Maniac Magee
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Jacob Have I Loved

Edited 2022-04-27 00:46 (UTC)

Island Of the Blue Dolphins and Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret! Such good books!

There was no 'have to read' books for me at that age, or for my daughter 30 years later. Most book lists are for older kids, in Jr & High School. At 11 (which is...6th grade), they'll do like a reading challenge where you have to read so many books in a quarter or something, but specific titles - no.

Reading this thread is interesting because like, 90% of these books I've never even heard of, and while I'm Canadian not USian, I'm surprised at how much variance there is between peoples' lists lol!

I don't recall having required books in elementary school, just that you HAD to read, but considering I was the kid who maxed out the local library's '25 book max' limit on a weekly basis that was never a problem. xD

I’m an anon upthread and I’ve never heard of a bunch of them, either! I’ve heard of Bridge to Terabithia but only recently and when I looked it up it was frequently a banned book until around 2000.

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

pantswarrior - 2022-04-27 04:31 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

(Anonymous) - 2022-04-27 19:45 (UTC) - Expand

Does this take place in the present? If not, check when a book was published so you don't name anything that didn't exist yet!

Up through sixth grade, I don't think there were any specific books we were supposed to read, just a recommended reading list. Basically, you were supposed to read a certain number and could do more for extra credit. I read a bunch of Roald Dahl at that age, some Judy Blume, some Lois Duncan, and I think I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Black Stallion, The Secret Garden, The Westing Game, and From the Mixed Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler around then. I think I read The Borrowers and started the Anne of Green Gables the year before and Beverly Cleary books maybe a little before. Seventh grade, I remember Call of the Wild and Anne Frank, and The Outsiders in eighth grade.

Honestly, it can be really different what's required depending on the state or even the school district.

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

greghousesgf - 2022-04-27 03:49 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Yet another fic research question. Books.

(Anonymous) - 2022-04-27 13:03 (UTC) - Expand

This thread is fascinating to read through because everyone’s experiences are so different and I love seeing what books everyone read/had to read at that age. We definitely had required reading books when I was in sixth grade, but the only one I remember is Island of the Blue Dolphins. We spent a quarter on it reading the whole thing and everyone wrote an essay at the end of the quarter.

Every school in every school district in every state is different. I went to 12 American schools in my K-12 education and there really is no "set" reading list. Sometimes schools will do a recommended reading list over the summer but that's usually by high school. If schools are going to talk about a work specifically in class it'll probably be by reading a short story together. Books might be assigned for book reports, reading circles or home reading but teachers have gotten better about letting kids read what they want to encourage a love of reading.

And there's VERY little emphasis put on "catching up" with anything in elementary school. In my (20 year old) experience they just drop you into class. Examples: at my first school for 4th grade we started American Geography in New England, in my second school for 4th grade they started with the West Coast. My first day at my new school I cried in the hallway because I took a test on the state capitols of everything west of the Mississippi and I didn't know *any* of the answers except states I'd lived in. It was rough. On the otherhand I got assigned to read "The Outsiders" twice which was fun.

A new student might get placed in remedial reading or math but if their test scores are solid/they do ok-enough in class it's up to the family.