If you are looking to freshen up your World Literature novel selection, I have 4 contemporary reads that I highly suggest! Some of these novels I have written about before in more detail, so be sure to check out those posts if you want an even more detailed look at any of these books and how they may work in your classroom.
Today’s list of contemporary World Lit novels is: The Girl and the Goddess, Pan’s Labyrinth, Cursed, and Sky in the Deep.
The Girl and the Goddess
The book The Girl and the Goddess will check every single box you can think of when it comes to teaching World Literature or a Mythology class. Part coming of age, part survival, and part religious study of some amazing Hindu goddesses.
In today’s post, I want to share with you the Hindu mythology that is covered in this unique book. If you are wanting to dive right into to teaching it, I have created some helpful resources to get you started! Find them here.
It is difficult to nail down a genre for this book. It’s kind of like if Magical Realism and free form poetry had a baby and that baby also decided to have a few of its own personality quirks. It takes you on a journey with the protagonist, Paro.
Paro is a young, Hindu girl from Kashmir when we first meet her and Partition quickly changes everything in her life. We follow her family to Deli. On top of the normal hardships they were facing, Paro is sexually assualted in a bizarre and never shares this with anyone.
Paro suffers in silence with what has happened and struggles to make friends in her new school. Fast forward a few years and she develops feelings for another Hindu girl. They have a brief moment of happiness together and then their world blows up. Due to the laws in India, this is an extremely serious issue and Paro is sent away to Kashmir to stay with her grandparents.
In this space she discovers that she and all the women in her family have a divine connection and deep intuition that they can use with Taro cards. It is also in this time that she is able to think about what she wants/needs in life.
Paro decides to move to England to attend a university for the arts and where she can be openly bi-sexual without fear of the law of social pressures. However, she does confront some racism. Despite this, she makes some deeply special friendships and healing.
Would you like a more detailed look at all the story and the 9 Hindu goddesses featured in the novel check out this blog post.
Pan’s Labyrinth
This is my second Magical Realism recommendation in this post. I love Magical Realism and I think it’s a great genre to explore metaphors, allegory, and symbolism with students. Plus, they are just fun!
I am a BIG fan of the movie Pan’s Labyrinth that came out several years ago. Just like the movie, it’s book adaptation has a dark fairytale feel to it.
Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War on the eve of WWII 13-year-old Ofelia and her pregnant mother, Carmen, have come to live with her mother’s new husband in a forest north of Spain. Ofelia is afraid of her new stepfather, whom she has nicknamed “The Wolf.” She worries that he will hurt her mother.
Ofelia soon encounters a fairy who alerts The Faun that they have found the long-lost princess. The Faun comes to visit Ofelia that evening. He tells her that she is the reincarnation of an Underworld princess but her memories were erased by the sun.
Ofelia’s true father, the king of the Underworld, has left portals open all over the word so she can return to him. It has been so long since she left, there is only one portal still open. Ofelia must pass a series of tests before she is allowed to return to the Underworld.
This opens the story up to a beautiful parallel plot of what is happening in the “real” world with the conflicts, brave revolutionaries, her mother’s pregnancy, and her step-father with the magical world filled with the trickster faun, child-eating monsters, and much more.
With this book, you can analyze so many things such as:
- parallel plot
- The Hero’s Journey
- author’s craft of blending real world events with fantastical elements for a deeper allegory analysis
- Mythology reflected in the story- such as the trickster god Pan and Faunus from Greek and Roman cultures
Sky in the Deep
There seems to be a train of thought that the World Lit classroom is where you learn all the “old classics” like Beowulf, King Arthur, Gilgamesh, etc. Or where you learn about the old gods through mythology.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE all of this and teach it in my classroom. (In fact, you can see my modern take on Beowulf here and King Arthur here!)
However, I also love to make modern connections with works as well. Sky in the Deep is a classroom favorite of both mine and my students!
Sky in the Deep is a YA book that focuses on a female Viking warrior (Eelyn) as the protagonist. She is fierce and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. She loves her family, friends, and the gods.
Her life changes in an instant on the battlefield and is captured by the enemy….and her thought-to-be-dead brother. There is tons of action, just enough romance to be natural but not icky, and all great things Viking.
This novel pairs really nicely with a Norse Mythology study. It also can be a wonderful contrast with Beowulf and considering what makes these Viking warriors so different.
My 10th grade students have LOVED this book the past few year! If you are interested in reading more about how I use this book and the PBL project my students BEGGED to do, click here!
Cursed
This book would be a fantastic addition to your King Arthur studies to see how the author has reimagined the King Arthur lore in such an intriguing way. I recently read this gem and really enjoyed it. Though, I committed the cardinal sin and watched the Netflix series first.
If you are in the same boat as having watch the show only at this point, let me put your mind at ease- there are no major sex scenes in the book for you to worry about with your students.
This book is a completely revamped way of looking at King Arthur through the feminist lens. I would leave this for end of a study on the legends for students to see how the author drew on these ancient legends and presented them in a new way.
For example, the protagonist is Nimue- a Fey girl with powerful magic that is more of a curse than anything else. And, in this story, she is Merlin’s daughter (a large part of why her magic is so strong). She and Arthur also fall for each other.
So, a complete reversal of the original tales that had Merlin and Nimue as lovers. However, it was done in such a smart way that I don’t mind this and the other major changes made.
There are so many complexities to this book that also touch on British history and a clear love of Arthurian lore. For more breakdowns as well as pros and cons for this book in your classroom, click here.
I would love to know your thoughts on these four. Connect with me on Instagram and let me know! There are several more that I am planning on reading this upcoming year, so be sure to stay tuned for upcoming additions to this list!
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