Helllllllllllllllllp please!

["Trisha MacKenzie" <trisha.mackenzie@gmail.com>]

I'm having a crisis of confidence after 16 years.  I'm still standing, but I
have been pummeled the last two weeks regarding reading selections in my 8th
grade classes.  I'm new this year at a very high-achieving school.  Because
I'm new, I'm expected to hold the line a 30 year veteran established until
I've proven myself, I guess.  A parent, who by the way owns/owned a company
called Positive Books for Children, is unpleasantly challenging the
established curriculum -- she's angry that the tone of the books and short
stories so far are "violent" --

We're just coming out of a unit on Poe (Tell Tale Heart, Fall of the House
of Usher, The Black Cat, Annabel Lee, The Raven) -- prior to that Seedfolks
and a Depression era novel that I don't like called Nothing to Fear.  Prior
to that -- Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, Ransom of Red Chief, The Day I Got
Lost, and lots of poetry.

So.

Can I please tap into this group's broad experience, and ask for titles of
short stories and novels that YOU think have a positive, uplifting tone for
that woman -- and for me that have depth, analytical possibilities, and a
multitude of teaching opportunities.  I'm not asking for much, am I?

Oh . . . and we start Elie Wiesel's Night in early February.  That will
thrill her.

Thanking you in advance.

Trisha

.·´*