Of dogs, death and mice

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The story is told from the point-of-view of Christopher Boone, who is suffering from Asperger's syndrome. While the premise of the plot is Boone's decision to solve the mystery of who killed the dog, at the heart of the novel is the way Boone has to learn to navigate the world and cope with the many things that frustrate and confuse him. As things unfold, the matter is complicated when the reader realizes that there are more layers of mystery surrounding the death of his neighbour's dog, and Boone is forced to make decisions and adapt to things as they come his way. 

There are many reasons why I would definitely recommend this book as a literary text, but the most important reason being that it would really allow students to empathise with someone whom they might not usually meet, or with someone whom they might not know how to interact with. At the same time, the book explores the complexity of human relationships within the family, as well as within a small community, and often asks the reader to consider the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of the choices that each of the characters have made. And yet, the book manages to remain accessible to the youth because of the fact that is is packaged as a mystery novel, with clear reference to Sherlock Holmes. 

At the same time, this book will also be a good point of departure to discuss adaptations, because it has been recently adapted into a play that received rave reviews at West End. (The script of the play has been published, and this can possibly be compared to the text. And perhaps in time, they might release a digital recording of the actual play itself, which would most certainly help to engage students to further discussion!)

Maus by Art Speigelman

Maus is a graphic novel that tells the story of Spiegelman interviewing his father about the latter's experience of WWII. The subject matter is heavy, and as such the choice of the graphic novel might allow the story to be more accessible for students. 

Again, this is another work that would most certainly invite discussion and allow students to consider what it would be like to live in another time, and to live in someone else's shoes. A lot of what is recounted in this graphic novels are things that many of our generation can only imagine, but will never truly know nor experience. Even so, I believe it is important to challenge students to think about the world we live in, and how we are where we are today because of what has happened in the past. 

Because of the unique format of the story, there is also a lot to uncover in terms of how children relate to their parents and the silent wall that builds up through the years. 

This graphic novel will also allow for the discussion of things like symbolism, which is rife throughout the work. The reason for choosing this is also because it serves as a good work with which to compare and contrast against the next book that I have read.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Told from the perspective of a young boy who is too young to be aware of events taking place in his immediate surroundings, this book is highly thought-provoking for many reasons, not least because of the fact that it deals with WWII and the holocaust. 

I haven't actually watched the movie, so I can't quite say which was better (although general sentiment seems to agree that the movie was great!) but I really liked this text. Considering that it was a long time since I'd read a YA novel, the language felt extremely simple at the beginning, even though I knew that it's intentionally so. Although, I think this might actually make the text more accessible for students. But I quickly grew to like this book, especially because of the things that it never mentions. All the important words that have become laden with baggage are somewhat censored in the book, even though readers who know exactly what happened in WWII will make the immediate connection. But this censure is important, because it is precisely due to the fact that the protagonist is never told explicitly what is happening that the story is able to reach its conclusion. 

Elsewhere, the untold stories of so many of the other characters that are briefly mentioned create a lot of room for critical discussion in the classroom. For example, how would this story have been told from the Grandmother's perspective? What about if it were told from one of the servant's perspective? 

But also, I think this book has great value because it tells the story from a very different point-of-view. Firstly, it's from the standpoint of a German, albeit only a young boy. Too often have we heard the stories of those who were persecuted, and the persecutors have been greatly demonised, but we forget that they too are humans with their own stories to tell. Furthermore, the novel possess some very difficult questions out to the readers, because it is clear that while not everyone felt happy about what was happening in Germany, there were those who did. And even though Bruno's father was responsible for killing so many jews, does he deserve to have his son taken from him just like that? And as a reader, when we feel sorry for Bruno's father (assuming that the reader does!), what sort of implications does that have on our judgement towards his actions? There's really so much to uncover and think about in this short and highly accessible text! 

So yes, I would recommend all three of the books I read because like most good literary works, they broaden the worldview of their readers by immersing us in worlds that we can barely imagine, and may not even have thought to imagine before. Plus, the subject matter is accessible and relevant to the students (make links to what the kids will be learning in history), while still allowing for discussion about literary techniques.