Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen

Read for: Student teaching
Rating: 4

Gary Paulsen is such a diverse writer. Everything by him that I have read has been vastly different--different styles, story lines, characters, etc. Nightjohn is no exception. The story takes place during the height of slavery, right before the Civil War. Sarny, a slave on a southern plantation, is the narrator of the story. Nightjohn comes to the plantation and teaches Sarny how to read. Nightjohn's story is compelling: He escaped from slavery, but returned in order to teach other slaves how to read.

My cooperating teacher uses this story for two reasons: A) it coincides with the history teacher's unit on the Civil War, and B) she claims that it gets students talking about literacy and excited to be reading. I think that Nightjohn is the proof that a story can be written for young adults that is well written, has relateable characters, and can apply to the lives of young adults without being cliche or lacking in literary merit.