Tens of novels, from historical fiction to Shakespeare plays, are taught every year across the various grades and English classes in this school. Sidney Wollmuth, who is only entering her second year at this school, and Zachary Lowe, has been at this school for over a decade, both have favorite books to teach, as all English teachers do.

Many factors go into determining what book an English teacher will give to their students. “Will the book fit in with what I have been asked to teach you? Is the book available to teach? Is it accessible? Will it be an enticing challenge – a work that is accessible but still takes a little work to appreciate and understand? Will students be better readers and thinkers after reading it? Does the text offer a point of view about the human experience that we haven’t heard from yet this year?” English teacher Zachary Lowe said.

In her short time at this school thus far, one of AP Literature and 10th grade English teacher Sidney Wollmuth’s favorite books to teach is “Pride and Prejudice,” by Jane Austen. “‘Pride and Prejudice’ has always been a favorite of mine since I read it as a teen. So that one I was excited from the forefront to teach it because there are so many resources and things that other teachers have done that you can build activities and lesson plans from. I knew my enthusiasm would help make it more fun,” Wollmuth said. “I hosted a little tea party for my students and we had a ball. Once you really dig into the text, it’s just so hilarious. [Jane Austen’s] stuff is just timeless,” Wollmuth said.

Another one of Wollmuth’s favorite books to teach is “Romeo and Juliet.” “I didn’t like ‘Romeo and Juliet’ when I was in high school. But then I taught it last spring to ninth graders, ready to give it another try and open mind, especially since I was teaching students who were about the same age as Juliet, and I actually had a lot more fun with the humor and the kind of the outlandishness of the plot,” Wollmuth said.

English teacher Daniel Pecoraro found that the conversations he has with his students often influence what his favorite books to teach are. “Two books I love to teach are ‘The House on Mango St.’ and ‘The Metamorphosis.’ Between the connections students can make to the stories and the language available to analyze, each text works well in very different ways to provide interesting conversations that make learning fun,” Pecoraro said.

English teacher Zachary Lowe’s favorite book to teach recently is “A Tale for the Time Being,” by Ruth Ozeki in his AP Literature class. “It’s a novel that feels very now. It’s about alienation in the modern world, unforeseen disasters both man made and natural, the culture and effects of bullying, cycles of depression, the way the internet has changed our experience of time and memory, but it is also about the ways in which writing and reading along with communication and mindfulness can help us to reclaim ourselves, help us to nurture and cultivate peace of mind in the modern world,” Lowe said. “The book was published in 2013, but it doesn’t feel a day old. Sharing conversations with students about the novel and about these experiences in the world has been deeply satisfying.”

Wollmuth found that teaching helped shift her perspective on texts she previously did not like, such as “Romeo and Juliet,” which is now one of her favorite works of literature to teach. “I really tried my best to find interactive activities. I had a lot of fun planning these activities. I think the students had fun participating in them, so that made the experience so much better. That was one of the things that proved to me that teaching can make you like a text more,” Wollmuth said.

In his 18 years as an English teacher, Pecoraro found that some texts are more challenging than others to teach. “I’m always humbled when I teach ‘Hamlet’ or Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man.’ I could spend an entire year teaching those texts and I’d barely scratch the surface,” Pecoraro said.

Teachers at this school don’t always have the opportunity to solely teach their favorite novels. “Sometimes we teach a book because the majority of our colleagues teaching the same grade decided to teach it. These are the kinds of practicalities that face any adult in their career. I feel lucky that usually at least once a semester those practicalities sync up with something I genuinely love. I’m probably a more engaging teacher when I am teaching something I love. But I can be an effective teacher no matter what the text may be,” Lowe said.