Is anyone using or have used this particular novel?
I'm working with a teacher in a coaching capacity who wants to use this book with his 11th grade students but is concerned about the coarse language.
My initial reaction is that there is strong language in other novels that is much worse than this, but he's not tenured. This is a school board approved book, there are lots of resources online, specifically some from RandomHouse and Scholastic. Scholastic is specifically using it within their Accelerated Reader and Reading Counts programs, and an initial Google Search is showing it's usage in High School classrooms around the world.
I want to help this teacher make an informed decision about a book that I feel has a lot of potential for discussion about Asperger's Syndrome, narrative development around a character with autism, and multiple opportunities for critical lens analyses.
I wondered what others experiences have been with their students in the course of using this particular novel? Any insights, good or bad, would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Mike Fisher