teaching Wish

A friend of mine teaches in a program in Michigan that serves young men who have been suspended from high school.  She was determined to use Wish in her classroom, and today she sent me an update:

By the way, 15 “bad boys” are enthralled with A Wish After Midnight…We are currently reading it!  They keep saying…”Damn, are you sure she doesn’t live in Flint?”…THIS BOOK IS FABULOUS AND RIGHT ON TIME WITH HOOKING YOUNG PEOPLE INTO THE PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE….

I WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR BOOK WHEN I AM DONE TEACHING IT WITH A ROOM OF 15 YOUNG GANGSTERS….

I am going to start a journal tomorrow on Wish…
this journal will include chapter by chapter what young people in the community are saying about it….
Their thoughts…we just started it last week…we are on the part just after Genna goes to the library…where Judah works and she checks out the books for Tyjuan…then when Rico and his gangsters talk trash to Genna…man the boys loved that…like really…this author is going there?
Not just what i think…what the boys think….what they are saying…hooking into reading….

In history we are watching Ken Burns’ documentary on the Civil War….that’s how I am teaching it…these boys are with me all day…so literature and history flow together….

If you’re a teacher using Wish in the classroom, please feel free to send in your strategies for getting teens hooked on historical fiction!