Book that has impacted you.

[bornn1977]

Has there ever been a book that a teacher has made you read and till this day you still remember the name of the teacher and book?

What is the name of the book? What was the teacher's name? How did it impact you?

Anne of Green Gables.
Ms. Farley (8th Grade)
I didn't have a good self image of myself like Anne did. Through the book I saw her overcome many things and become a woman that didn't settle for what society told her a woman should be.

[Michelle]

I've always read, so I don't have one book that triggered my desire to read, but I do have a few books that teacher's had me read that I still remember had an impact on me.

The Giver - Mrs. Hill in 6th grade
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Mrs. Wescott in 5th grade
Charlotte's Web - Mrs. Knapp in 2nd grade

[sagedautumn]

I was never one of those teacher's pets during school. You know, the kids who were dressed up all cutely and spoke so sweet you would think that if they opened their mouths any wider you would find that their teeth were composed of sugar cubes or something... I was the tall gawky girl who was basically ignored. In 5th grade, things got worse. My mom was in the hospital, she got burnt in an accidental fire. Me and my three siblings saw it happen. My 5th grade teacher, Miss. Miller, made me feel that I was important and that I was somebody. This was the first time I read The Great Gilly Hopkins. She would read a chapter a day to us after lunch. Eventually, I was so enthralled with the book, and able to relate so much of it too my own life, I borrowed it from the library and read it on my own. From then on, I've consistently read books...

[Isa]

That's a great story sage, thanks for sharing it with us

And great topic for a thread, bornn1977! I wish I had something to contribute but I didn't get to read a novel for school until I got to college. Crazy, I know! I think that's one of the biggest flaws of our education system...

[jobean]

It's not really a book, but I got taught "Measure For Measure" by Shakespeare so well in Ninth Grade by Ms. Metua. It made me enjoy Shakespeare so much - I hated it before!

[oureternity]

Well, I had this English teacher, Mrs. Ash, and she kind of guided me, she told me to read Anne of Green Gables, and at that time I became obsessed with the series, I read Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplats, and so on.

[Kristie]

Well, I wasn't required to read this or anything, but it's what sparked my interest in reading.

Mrs. Bernardo, my 3rd grade teacher, knew that I read sort of slow. Not at a lower level than a normal 3rd grader, but just slower. So, whenever she would read a book to the class, if I got it out of the library I was allowed to sit at my desk and follow along with her while she read. I remember Matilda by Roald Dahl was one of those books, and I still love it. She was a great teacher, and I loved her to death

[Dominique]

A Brave New World
Mr Ratcliffe, Year 11 (second last year of high school)

While I didn't think much of the teacher A Brave New World really appealed to me and opened me up to the realm of dystopian novels (since then I've also enjoyed A Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen-Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451). I felt I could really relate to Huxley's criticisims of religion, consumerism/mass production, technology's power to control and the dangers that can arise from political power - in this case a totalitarian state.

[Paige]

Bridge to Terabithia
Mrs. Crane--5th grade
It became one of my favorite books!

My 11th and 12th grade English teacher Mrs. Johnson also influenced my love of reading. She would always tell me about contests where you would read a book and then write an essay about it. She would work with me on my essays, and we'd discuss the books I read. It was really the first time I ever discussed books I read with someone, and I really enjoyed it. Plus since she had been teaching English for so many years, she could point out some neat things that I completely missed in books.

[bookaddict]

Matilda impacted me because it was such a good book it made me want to read more.

[brwneyedgal]

Bridge to Terabithia is one of mine too!
my teacher, Ms. Reymond, read it to the class when i was in 4th grade.

i had to go back and re-read it back when the movie came out. i thought they handled the movie pretty decently but the book will always be the best

[neh]

The Litte Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches
my Advanced English teacher, Mrs Ratcliffe

She knew what a book buff i was, and always saw me wandering about library, looking for something new to read, and so she recommended this obscure little French book, having given it to the library after ordering it especially so that SHE could read it. She told me i would find it "weird but worthwhile" and indeed i did! Thanks Mrs Rat!

[Dominique]

I had completely forgotten about this book when I wrote my first post but going to all the Hiroshima museums and memorials and the particular memorial for the girl from this book and other children reminded me of it. I can't remember the teacher or the grade but once when I was in primary school I had to read Sadako by Eleanor Coerr and Ed Young. It's the famous story of a real girl who developed Leukemia ten years after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which occured when she was just two years old, as a result of the radiation. Sadako folds a thousand paper cranes because a Japanese ledgend states that if you do this your wish will come true. She believes if she completes the cranes she will recover, but unfortunately she dies. I found this book really memorable and impressionable as a child. While I've always been a big reader there are few books from my childhood I vividly remember and this is one of them. In the Hiroshima Peace Park there's a monument for children who died from the bomb or its side affects and schools from all over the world place a thousand paper cranes at the memorial. Today when I visited I was lucky enough to see a school actually place their thousand cranes.

[Dominique]

It was a really moving place to visit. Yup I went to the museum - I spent like 3 hours there I think reading everything! It was so horrifying to learn about but really interesting at the same time.

[neh]

Gosh, i can remember reading that book in class and just trying to imagine the horror, and then the idea of all the papaer cranes commemorating the event... and you guys have seen it.