Book Review: The President’s Murderer (Jennifer Bassett)

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Published on Wednesday, 31 December 2014 09:25

Written by Isaac Lutze

During the two terms in which my classes have used The President’s Murderer, my students have called it the most interesting of the books they have used in class. I was initially reluctant to incorporate the book into my classes because of its political themes, which I worried might be off-putting for some students (the book criticizes the abuse of political power by an authoritarian regime). However, this concern seems to have been unfounded; none of my students so far have been offended. The book works well as literature and as linguistic input, and I have enjoyed it along with my students.

In this review, I will introduce some of the reasons that the book has worked well in my classes, and some possible difficulties that future teachers might consider if they decide to use it.

REASONS THE BOOK WORKED

The book appealed to my students because of its fast-moving, coherent plot and relatable characters. Many of the other graded readers I considered for the class had plots that were episodic and disjointed, and it was difficult to follow the development of relationships among the characters. By contrast, The President’s Murderer has a very clear plot line with sustained character development.

Students also appreciated the language in the book. Students reported that unlike other graded readers that they used, The President’s Murderer contained enough new words to help them build their vocabularies without being s overwhelming. Unlike other graded readers that I considered, the language in The President’s Murderer rarely feels contrived; the writing has a simple natural flow and rhythm. Although the students may not have paid much conscious attention to the style, I think that the exposure to naturalistic prose was very beneficial for them as they work to become familiar with living English.

The book’s six chapters are all of similar length, which helps to set a good pace for reading. My classes had discussions and chapter quizzes about every three days. (I am happy to provide these quizzes to interested teachers; please feel free to contact me about this.) Students assumed various roles in contributing to the discussions, which they mentioned as one of their favorite class activities. The themes in the book are universal enough for all of the students to relate to, and they were often able to relate personal experiences to the story.

POSSIBLE CONCERNS

Like many other graded readers on the market, the book is written in British English. Students who are still working on the punctuation, spelling and vocabulary of American English may find some features confusing. My students asked me about the single quotation marks in the dialogue, the spelling of words like colour, and about vocabulary items like lorry. I used this as an opportunity to talk with the students about their previous experiences with British and American English, and to find out and supplement what they already knew about the differences. (It turned out that many of my students had been taught British English in school, and it was helpful for them to compare it to American English.

Teachers will want to consider in advance how to approach the political themes in the book in a way that will be sensitive to the students’ political backgrounds. The book casts the police and the military in a negative role, which may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable for some students. I chose not to approach this directly, treating the situation in the book as purely hypothetical and leaving students to draw their own conclusions. The students did not talk directly about the political situations in their countries in our discussions, and I did not try to draw this out of them. Other teachers may wish to approach these issues more directly, depending on their students.

A final minor concern is that many of the characters have short names, like Alex, Felix and Adam, which can sound similar to students. One solution to this problem is for students to make a character chart that helps them to associate the characters with their professions and roles in the story.

CONCLUSION

The President’s Murderer is well-written and entertaining, and can provide valuable linguistic input for RW1 students. With careful attention and planning, many of the challenges that it presents can become opportunities for deepening and extending students’ reading experience. I recommend it.