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Reading into it By Ryan Miller, Managing Editor Printed Sept. 16, 2005 in Crier This set of summer reading tests faced mixed opinions on whether or not the addition of Young Adult Literature (YAL) was worthy of the list. YAL books aim to entice adolescent readers with plots and main characters that relate to their interests. Department Chair Mr. Marc Lehnerer, English teacher, found students' reactions to the changes encouraging. "I think the overall response has been really positive," Mr. Lehnerer said. "I've had several students that said Secret Life of Bees is now their favorite book." Providing interesting books to students was the primary goal of the English Department teachers who read and nominated books to make the list. Students can recommend new books to an English teacher for consideration. "Lots of books were turned down because we thought they were not very engaging," Mr. Lehnerer said. However some students found the updated list limiting. Sarah Grabarczyk, senior, wanted to see more diversity in the genres of books offered. "I think the honors reading list could be more interesting," Sarah said. "I'd like to see more science fiction." The freshman and sophomore book selection remained separate from those available to juniors and seniors to ensure students are reading books of the appropriate difficultly level, according to Mr. Lehnerer. Not all students reacted positively to the separate levels. Neil Keshvani, sophomore, felt restricted due to the set of different lists. "I would have read Dress your Family in Corduroy if I could have read off the junior and senior list," Neil said. "My older sister said it was good." Students took 3,019 tests during a set of four selected dates over the summer. Reading tests account for 25 percent of the first six weeks' English grade when averaged. Testing of an optional fourth book that took the place of another books grade ended last week. Cheating was partially controlled by teachers revising tests and removing certain books from previous lists. |