 He rubbed the butts of his palms into his eyes. After spending all night at the hospital by her side, all he wanted to do was get a few hours of rest. Unfortunately, he had a test in three short hours. For a moment he thought,“why even bother,” but he knew it would break her unsteady heart if he started failing school. So he opened up the heavy algebra book, poured himself his sixth cup of coffee, and tried not to let the fear, stress, and worry overcome him. He just needed to get through the next seven hours and pray that she would make it through the school day.

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 A collection of 8 short stories about Chinese mothers and daughters over a span of years.  Tan’s language is very easy to understand. She speaks in a clear, direct voice that makes her storytelling compelling.

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 SETTING (TIME) · The Alchemist is set in an indistinct time in the past. It is clearly a pre-modern time, before automobiles and most modern technology existed.  SETTING (PLACE) · The main plot of the alchemist takes place in the Spanish pastures, the Spanish town of Tarifa, the city of Tangier in North Africa, and the Sahara desert. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Alchemist.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC Web. 13 Aug

 Traces his journey to the Egyptian Pyramids  Eventually meets up with an Alchemist who teaches him a lot about communing with nature and his inner self (plus how to turn lead into gold)

 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini  The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan  Kindred by Octavia E. Butler  The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  Monster by Walter Meyers  You must decide which book you are going to select by tomorrow.  Only a certain number of students per class may select each book.  You may not select a book you’ve read before.