미국 중학교 영어 수업에서는 어떤 책들을 읽을까?

 

이렇다할 준비 없이 캐나다에 뚝 하고 떨어진 저는 고등학교 시절은 영어때문에 엄청 고생한 기억밖에 없습니다. T_T

 

내신으로 대학에 가는 캐나다의 교육 시스템에 따라 점수를 잘 따야하는데 영어라는 큰 걸림돌이 있으니 고등학교 생활을 즐긴다는 것은 제게 사치였던 것 같습니다.

 

시간이 지나고 나서야 지금에서야 그때 시간들을 되돌아보면 아쉬운 점들이 제법 많이 둥실둥실 떠오르지만 그때의 영어 실력으로 그때로 다시 돌아가라고 하면 쉽게 예쓰!라고 하지는 못할 것 같아요.

 

 

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미국, 캐나다의 중고등학교에서는 영어 시간에 교과서 전문 교육회사가 발행하는 책을 사용하긴 하지만, 그와 별개로 따로 책을 구입하여 읽도록 합니다. 한국의 국어시간에서 배우는 모든 글들은 국어 교과서 안에 포함된 것과 다른 모습이지요.

 

고등학교에 들어가기 전, 중학교에서는 본격적으로 서서히 호흡이 긴 글들을 통해 독해, 이해, 그리고 생각하는 능력을 기르고 비판적인 사고가 필수적 요소인 글(에세이)을 잘 쓰는 연습을 한다고 해요. 그렇기에 미국의 중학교 영어시간에 쓰이는 책들을 보면 일반 소설보다는 비교적 쉽게 읽히는 글들일 지언정, 절대 내용은 가볍지 않은 것들이 많은 듯 해요. 

 

영어시간에 어떤 책들을 읽느냐에 관한 것은, 지역마다 학교마다 그리고 교사들의 개개인의 선택마다 차이가 있긴 합니다. 인터넷을 찾아보면 교사들끼리 서로 책을 추천하는 이야기를 나누는 공간도 있더라구요. 

 

중학교 영어시간에 쓰이기도 하고 또 자주 추천되는 책들을 모아 보았습니다. 

저희 어머니께서 영어 공부를 하실 때에도 참고하셨던 리스트라, 독해와 쓰기를 위한 영어 공부에도 큰 도움이 될 수 있을 것 같습니다. 

 

(+) 책 아래 간단한 영문 소개글은 굿리즈, 아마존, 구글북스 등에서 가져왔습니다. 

 

 

 

 

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Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

 

In Palmer LaRue's hometown of Waymer, turning ten is the biggest event of a boy's life. But for Palmer, his tenth birthday is not something to look forward to, but something to dread. 

Wringer is a powerful tour de force from Newbery Medal winner Jerry Spinelli.

 

 

 

 

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The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

 

 

Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus: eight arms to do eight things at once. Incredible camouflage ability and steady, unblinking vision.

 

NPR Best Book of 2018, Bank Street List for Best Children's Books of 2019

 

 

 

 

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Monster by Walter Dean Myers

 

 

Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one single decision can change our whole lives.

 

It was nominated for the 1999 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2000.

 

 

 

 

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Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

 

Friendships, race, privilege, identity—this compelling and thoughtful story explores the issues young women face.

 

NPR’s Best Books of 2017, A 2017 New York Public Library Best Teen Book of the Year

 

 

 

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Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

 

 

After Tyler’s father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented?

 

Winner of the Pura Belpré Award, Winner of the Américas Award
An NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

 

 

 

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The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

 

 

 

If it weren’t for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. 

 

Stonewall Book Award Winner―Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist

 

 

 

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A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parker

 

 

 

This book blends the true story of Salva Dut whose story is based in 1985, a part of the Dinka tribe and a Sudanese Lost Boy, and the fictional story of Nya whose story is based in 2008, a young village girl that was a part of the Nuer tribe. 

 

 

 

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Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

 

 

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, haunted by his secret knowledge of his mother’s infidelity, is traveling by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the sole survivor is Brian. He is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present.

 

Hatchet has been nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

 

 

 

 

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 

 

 

 

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. She learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

 

 

 

 

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The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

 

 

In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year in Long Island, New York.

 

 

 

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Ghost by Jason Reynolds

 

 

 

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of a brand-new series from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award-winning author Jason Reynolds.

 

A National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature.
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

 

 

 

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

 

 

Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

 

 

 

 

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Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

 

What is the meaning of this strange message left on the doorstep? Only Sal knows, and on a road trip with her grandparents, she tells the bizarre tale of Phoebe Winterbottom, Phoebe's disappearing mother and the lunatic. But who can help Sal make sense of the mystery that surrounds her own story . . . and her own missing mother?

 

Winner of the Newbery Medal and the Children's Book Award

 

 

 

 

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The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

 

Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.

 

Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning middle-grade bestseller.

 

 

 

 

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Refugee by Alan Gratz

 

 

 

Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE.

All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.

 

 

 

 

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Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

 

 

 

A Mexican "Grapes of Wrath," based on a family story, from the award-winning author of Riding Freedom.

 

Esperanza thought she'd always live a privileged life on her family's ranch in Mexico. She'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and Mama, Papa, and Abuelita to care for her. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. 

 

 

 

 

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Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson

This Newbery Medal-winning novel by bestselling author Katherine Paterson is a modern classic of friendship and loss.

 

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

 

 

 

 

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The Pearl by John Steinbeck

 

A story of classic simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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관련포스팅:

 

2021.03.15 - 미국/캐나다 고등학생들이 읽는 필수 서양 고전 문학들

미국/캐나다 고등학생들이 읽는 필수 서양 고전 문학들