Choose your own (literary) adventure!

We know that no two kids are the same. That’s why this class is based on a theme rather than a single mandatory book title. 

Every session of this class will encompass five options from our Arrow catalog of books. You and your student can choose one to study for this class.

This means you can choose to match your child’s reading level, favorite genre, and available time. Choose the book best suited to their interests and your educational goals.

Class Overview

Made With You in Mind

This is a writing class!

One of the reasons we read is to learn from the greats. We use reading to grow kids as writers.

We put strong writerly skills into your student’s toolbox to actually use. With our unique Brave Writer® approach, they will create original writing every week.

We take them from simply observing strong writing to producing strong writing.

Feedback from our writing coach is icing on the cake. Expect to see writing growth over these four weeks!

The themes we're digging into this winter/spring!


 "Heroes" (Jan 20 - Feb 14, 2025)

Choose a title:

"Secrets" (May 5 - May 30, 2025)

Choose a title:

Stay tuned! Every semester will feature a new theme and set of book selections. 

(That means this class is repeatable. A wonderful way to accomplish the literature part of your language arts program each year!)

Your student will follow this reading schedule:

  1. Read the first 1/3 of the book before starting on Week One assignments
  2. Read the second 1/3 of the book before starting on Week Two assignments
  3. Finish the book before starting on Week Three assignments

A sneak peek at fall 2025!

TBA in July

At Brave Writer®, we read a range of books that address a wide variety of perspectives and include time-bound references. Please be aware that you may experience strong reactions to what you read. By using literature as a teaching tool to foster understanding and growth, we have the opportunity to discuss these evolving ideologies.

We encourage you to pre-read books to determine their appropriateness for your family and to prepare to have discussions on these topics with your students as they participate in the class.

Discussion in this class includes use of a private Padlet board.

It doesn’t stop there!

The exercises from this class can be saved and re-used by you at home. You can work your way through other books on the list or use this as the structure for a book of your choice.

All our titles are also offerings in our Arrow store (older titles can be found in our Old Brave Writer® Favorites section). As an optional extension of learning, purchase the Arrow to explore grammar, punctuation, spelling, and more literary devices based on the book.

Week by Week

Week One

Students begin by evaluating how setting descriptions enhance the theme under study. Next, they investigate literary devices the author uses to convey setting and practice imitating those moves in original writing.  

Week Two

Students uncover methods the author uses to bring characters vividly to life. Students create a fictitious interview with one of the characters in the book to emulate strong techniques employed in the original text. 

Week Three

The structure of the overall story is the focus this week as well as elements that make for strong action storytelling. Students practice strong plot advancement skills by retelling a scene from a character's point of view. 

Week Four

Students bring together writing from previous weeks to create a complex examination of their book and theme in a final project. After a round of revision and final editing, students can celebrate some writing accomplished!

Registration Details

Join Us!

Tuition:
$199 per student
Recommended Ages:

9 - 14

Class Size:
25 students
Class Length:
4 weeks
Class Type:
  • Middle School
  • Upper Elementary

Select from the available class dates below to register for that session:

–
Regina Verow   Session Full
–
Joy Houck Bauer   Register

Word on the Street

I enjoyed diving deeper and looking into different themes. The writing moves were very enjoyable to add flavor to my writing.

Adnan, 13

[This class] not only helped me develop my writing and literary analysis skills, but it also was a lot of fun.

Ava, 12

I liked how you commented on our pieces and gave feedback. I was excited to see what you said after every assignment. I also liked how I was able to meet and interact with my classmates!

Kendall, 11

I would absolutely recommend this class to my friends. I started out not really wanting to take it, but I ended up having a great time.

Sophia, 13

More Information

Sample class login

Want to see how our classroom works? Test drive a sample class complete with real class readings, assignments, and instructor comments!

Follow these instructions:

  1. Navigate to class.bravewriter.com. If you are a current student, you’ll need to log out in the upper right corner before proceeding.
  2. Log in using these credentials:
    Username: [email protected]
    Password: Brave1
  3. Next, you will land on our Family Dashboard. You'll find a Parent icon and a Student icon to represent classes where the parent or the student is the primary participant. Click on Parent to view parent participation classes. To find classes with direct student-instructor interaction, click on Student.
  4. Click on the class name of interest and start reading posts!
How Our Classes Work Download a class summary
Recommended materials for this class
The Wild Robot Protects The Bad Beginning A Place to Hang the Moon Finding Langston Front Desk The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street Eagle Drums Wings of Fire Pax The Last Cuentista By the Great Horn Spoon Because of Winn Dixie The Wild Robot Where the Mountain Meets the Moon The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Echo Mountain Becoming Muhammad Ali The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Harriet the Spy The Boy Who Saved Baseball Mañanaland The Red Pencil The Last Mapmaker
Other options in Analyzing Lit
Other options in Middle School
Other options in Upper Elementary