Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sirius black]

I have a couple fairly high level 12 year olds that I'm teaching. We have been reading discussing the plot, characters, etc. of books such as 'Hatchet', 'The River', 'Holes'.
I am seriously considering getting one of the Norton Anthology books since its a series of stories and I won't have to keep looking for books after a few weeks but don't know which edition would be their level. The childrens stories seem to easy for them and I'm considering the series on short fiction but don't know if its above their level. They speak well, understand well, one was actually born in America and left 3 years ago, the other is a very high achiever (wants to go to Oxford and my guess is he'll make it).

I tried reading some reviews of the books on the net but nothing concrete. Any ideas about which Norton's Anthology or possibly other ideas?

[bakather]

Any of the Norton Anthologies I have used I would think would be above their level and may bore them. They have a Norton Anthology of Children's Literature, but that may not be useful to you either. It contains a lot of stuff that would be below their level, some above, but not enough on their level. There may be other Norton's Anthologies out there that I'm not aware of, but the English lit, World lit, etc wouldn't work for that age IMO.

[Allthechildrenareinsane]

Both of the anthologies linked to below are for middle schoolers (grades 6-8 in the US & Canada) and focus on developing vocabulary, reading and critical thinking skills. They include short stories, poetry, and essays from a variety of authors in their selections:

http://www.perfectionlearning.com/many-voices-themes
http://www.perfectionlearning.com/many-voices-snapshots-and-lit

[faeriehazel]

Norton anthologies are mostly for university level study. Not for 12 year olds. In addition, they are super expensive and you need a magnifying glass to read the text.

I used to teach at that level (advanced 5-6th graders). Here are some books they enjoyed:

The Giver
Up From Jericho Tel
The Book of Lost Things
Al Capone Does My Shirts
The Black Cauldron
The Neverending Story
The Mouse and His Child
The Book Thief
Skellig
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
Schooled
A Monster Calls
The Green Glass Sea
Breadcrumbs
The Sea of Trolls
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Ender's Game
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry