AUTHOR:    Charles Dickens
AGES:    9th - 12th grades
REVIEW:    I was first introduced to this book when my daughter had to read it for high school about 10 years ago.   Great Expectations is about love, family and the pursuit of happiness.  The main character is a young man, Pip, whose life is traced as an orphanage from early childhood to adulthood.   The book is divided into three expectations of Pip’s life.  The first being how he grows up in a difficult situation being adopted by a blacksmith’s family.   The second will be how he meets an escaped convict and found happiness and the meaning of friendship that turned his life around to accomplish great expectations.  The third and the last stage would be my favorite, because it is about how Pip was introduced to moral, physical and financial challenges.   These are challenges that we all go through at some point in life.

The book is a lengthy, but very good life book, and I think every high school should have this book on the summer reading list.   The book is available for review at Barnes and Noble’s web site.  You can locate another review of the book from The Literature Network and from The Atlantic Online.

Guest Blogger:   Angelia E. is an admissions supervisor at a higher learning institution who is presently working on a second career.  She holds both a bachelors and a master’s degree in business which gives her the great passion to teach high school business courses.  She feels that she has some tips to offer high school aged kids before going to college or directly into the real world.  Young people should look ahead and make good decisions in life about attending college, career, credit, and accepting responsibility.   Everyone should evaluate their life choices and rethink them before making a big change or first move.   Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is her favorite high school age book; because she feels there are great expectations for everyone and the sooner one discovers it, the better it will be.  Angelia is a student in Dr. Grant's IDT 7061 class for the Spring 2008 term.