AP English Reading List Resources

You can find a ton of information out there if you Google "AP English Reading Lists". Beware! If you search for this you are going to find the lists overwhelming! No test covers all of these books. What you really want to be able to do is read well, understand, and analyze. You can do this!!! And if you don't ace an AP test, you will still be fine, that's what college is for after all.

In my search I came across a book I bought last year that I would LOVE to do discussions on called How to Read Literature Like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines. I have only read part of the book, but even as an English major I had many "aha" moments while reading this. Take a look at this link and let me know what you think. The link is actually a teacher's page with assignments, but it could be a starting point.

How to Read Literature...

Here's a list of the most often referred to titles on the test.

Titles From Free Response Questions

We could go more into this if there is an interest. Keep me posted on what you are reading. I am just about done with my class and am looking forward to reading for fun - bring on the summer reads!

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I had never read anything by Sylvia Plath before, and to tell you the truth I was a bit nervous. I heard rumors that The Bell Jar was loosely based on her life, so I was a bit hesitant to just dive into the book. The book is set in the late 50's. At the beginning of the novel, we meet Esther Greenwood. Esther has won a scholarship to New York to meet and work with all the best and brightest socialites of the city. She makes a friend, Doreen, and they go out on the town nearly every night. But Esther doesn't get the same enjoyment out of NYC as Doreen seems to.

One of Plath's interesting writing techniques in this story is that she jumps back and forth between the past and present. Plath then jumps into Esther's past relationship with Buddy Willard, a smart but hypocritical college bum. Esther desperately wishes she could like Buddy, but she'd much prefer to be independent. After Esther's internship ends, she goes back home to visit her mother. This is about the time when I started realizing Esther was losing her mind. Esther didn't plan on spending the entire summer with her mother, because she had applied for a summer writing course at a university. Unfortunately, Esther didn't make the course, so now she's stuck back in her hometown with her mother.

Esther then decides she's going to spend her summer writing a novel, but realizes she doesn't have any experience. She has been wearing the same outfit since she's been home, and hasn't washed her hair in three weeks. Esther starts realizing she can't get any sleep, so she starts taking sleeping pills. Eventually she starts asking for even more sleeping pills, so Esther gets referred to a psychiatrist. Doctor Gordon, the psychiatrist, decides to start giving Esther shock treatments. Esther starts pondering different ways to commit suicide as well. She goes and hides in her basement and takes her entire bottle of sleeping pills. Esther then wakes up in a hospital, and eventually she gets put in an asylum. This is where all the fun starts.

I think this book is too enjoyable to give away the entire story, so I will stop here. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something a little unnerving. I praise Plath for her style of writing. Throughout the entire novel, I found myself thinking "Esther's point of view seems completely rational! I've had these same thoughts myself!" I believe that's the beauty of the book. Maybe we all have a little Esther Greenwood running through our veins.

-Molly Palzkill

Teen Book Club

Hey! This is the place to post about anything you've read or want to read. You can also get creative, but let's keep it book focused! Have fun, share your thoughts, and REMEMBER, Mrs. McCoy gets final approval of what gets on and stays on here.

This is an example of something I found on YouTube and how you can add it to the blog. Please give credit to other people's work when you can. Thanks!!!

Middle School Battle of the Books

Enjoy these books over the summer and come to school ready to prepare for the 

BATTLE!

Al Capone Does My Shirts  Gennifer Choldenko

The Angel Experiment James Patterson

Beyond the Deepwoods Paul Stewart

Bone:  The Great Cow Race Jeff Smith

Crash Jerry Spinelli

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney

The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman

Fire from the Rock Sharon Draper

Road to Paris Nikki Grimes

Harris and Me Gary Paulsen

A Long Way from Chicago Richard Peck

Petey Ben Mikaelsen

Red Kayak Patricia Cummings

The Robe of Skulls Vivian French

The Ruins of Gorlan John Flanagan

Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton

The Titan's Curse Rick Riordan

Toad Rage Morris Gleitzman

Twilight Stephanie Meyer

Wednesday Wars Gary Schmidt

Did You Know?

I was at a conference this week on the rapidly changing digital world in which we live.  The following video was created last year.  Imagine what the data would be now.

Wow!  

Look this year for more opportunities in the library to create, express, inform, post, etc.  Please join me in my quest to become more tech savvy.  What can we do to better be able to share the good books we read, information sites we find, learn about new gadgets, and participate in the global conversation?   Any tips, suggestions, and great ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome!

Welcome to Mrs. McCoy's Musings where I hope to keep you up to date on all that is happening in the Mineral Point School libraries.  Here you will also find interesting tidbits about books, reading, technology, and other things that strike my fancy! 

We have a great cooperative activity, Mineral

 Point Teen Book Club, going on with the Mineral Point Public Library this summer.  We will be meeting in Library Park on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each summer month at 7:00 P.M.  Diane Palzkill is co-advising the summer

 book club and is opening the library for our use during this time.  All teens between the ages of 14 and 21 are welcome to attend.  The first book is My Sister's Keeper and will be discussed on June 23rd.  Please join us so we can talk about the book before attending the sure-to-be a tear jerker movie which is being released June 26th.  This is also your chance to weigh in on which book to read for the July meetings.

Did you know the Mineral Point's public library is also hosting some  Teen Gaming Nights?  This will be a fun opportunity to gather some friends and play video games on a large screen.  Traditional board games will also be available to enjoy.  I can't wait to hear how this goes over.  I hope it's a huge success!

Enjoy your summer!