When writing your letter, consider the following questions.
- Did the characters, conflict, or setting mirror your life in some way? If so, how?
- What strengths or flaws do you share with a character or characters in the book?
- What did the book show you about your world that you never noticed before?
- What surprised you about yourself while you were reading the book?
- Why was the work meaningful to you?
http://www.lettersaboutliterature.org/home
Fiction Book Suggestions:
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone
Center Field by Robert Lipsyte
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Cover Up by John Feinstein (or any other book by Feinstein)
Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Heat by Mike Lupica
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
March Toward the Thunder by Joseph Bruchac
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
The River by Gary Paulsen
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Seer of Shadows by Avi
Six Innings by James Preller
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (seventh grade only)
That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton
Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi
Travel Team by Mike Lupica (or any other book by Lupica)
Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Witch from Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
Nonfiction Book Suggestions:
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Bicycyle Diaries by David Byrne
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost
Maravich by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill
Assessment Checklist
Directions: Once you have written your letter, review each point below.
I. Content
• Purpose. Does the letter address the essay’s theme — describing how a work of literature
somehow changed the reader’s view of the world or self?
• Audience. Does the reader demonstrate a knowledge of his or her audience? In other words,
is the writer addressing the author and not the teacher?
• Supporting Details. Does the letter provide explanations or examples, anecdotes or other
specific details to support the reader’s point of view?
II. Reader Response/Originality and Expression
• Does the reader dialogue with the author rather than summarizing the book’s plot or analyzing
literary elements within the book?
• Does the reader relate the book to himself or herself rather than asking the author questions
about why he or she wrote the book?
• Does the reader correspond with the author rather than compliment?
• Is vocabulary smooth and natural rather than “tongue-tied” or showy?32
III. Organization and Grammatical Correctness
• Does the reader present ideas in a logical, organized manner without unnecessary repetition?
• What organizational strategy does the writer use?
a. chronological order if relating a story
b. cause-and-effect
c. compare/contrast
d. steps in a process
e. other:___________________________________________________________
• Does the essay have bookends — an introduction or lead paragraph that hooks the reader plus a
concluding paragraph that may or may not mirror the opening paragraph?
• Has the reader proofread the letter for errors of spelling and punctuation?