My students need 30 copies of the incredible book "Bodega Dreams", by Ernesto Quinonez.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Ungemah's classroom raised $538
This project is fully funded
I teach 11th grade special education and honors English. Our school is a multiethnic school of Title 1 students (more than 880% live below the poverty level). We are situated in Brooklyn, New York and the students love to read texts that take place in their city.
Our English curriculum lacks diversity, and "Bodega Dreams" tells the canonical story of "The Great Gatsby" but in the setting of Spanish Harlem with a Puerto Rican Gatsby. We have a lot of novels and plays by Black authors, but we're lacking in Hispanic authors. Forty percent of our students are Hispanic, and I think they need more textual representation.
"Bodega Dreams" is a text that the students love. We ordered a trial set of 30 a few years back, and students of all reading levels devoured it. They understood Willie Bodega's version of the American Dream, his illicit ways of trying to achieve it, and the repercussions that followed his choices. When I taught this book a few years ago we had the best class discussions and writings sparked by their love for the text. I KNOW they'll read this book; we don't have our 30 copies anymore because a lot of students permanently "borrowed" our copies! We now only have about 10 left :(
Since our last order, this book has been taken off the NY State approved books list (b/c it has some drug dealing and cursing in it--but the moral of the story is still good!). Since it has been removed, the school cannot purchase it with its monies allocated for books, but YOU can! I want to use this text as our whole class text for my special education class and as a supplemental text to "The Great Gatsby" for my honors class. The unit of study is Exploring the American Dream through the Eyes of the Immigrant. It's our third in semester-long unit of study that examines the concept of the American Dream from different perspectives. I feel this book could really solidify the entire semester's work. WE NEED IT! (And everyone reading this should read it; it's amazing.)
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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