Janet Somerville Janet Somerville

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Novel Study Guides

Over 20 years of teaching language arts and literature to students from Grades 4 through Grade 12, I developed the following support materials. You are welcome to use them. I will continue to add to the resources here as I revise the content. Click on the book title for each PDF.

  • Grades 4-5 The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson
  • Grades 6-8 Stephen Fairย by Tim Wynne-Jones
  • Grades 7-8 Forbidden City by William Bell
  • Grades 7-8 Shoeless Joeย by W.P. Kinsella
  • Grades 9-10 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • Grades 9-10 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Grades 9-10 Dead Cold by Louise Penny
  • Grades 9-10 Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
  • Grades 9-10 Paper Shadows by Wayson Choy (memoir)
  • Grades 11-12 Elizabeth Rex by Timothy Findley (drama)
  • Grades 11-12 The Song Beneath the Ice by Joe Fiorito
  • Grades 11-12 Seduction by Catherine Gildiner
  • Grades 11-12 In the Place of Last Things by Michael Helm
  • Grades 11-12 Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
  • Grades 11-12 Glenn by David Young (drama)

Plays by William Shakespeare

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • King Lear

About Janet

Janet Somerville Janet Somerville taught literature for twenty years in Toronto. She spent the past three years wholly immersed in Martha Gellhornโ€™s life and words. more

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HOW MIDSUMMER NIGHT (April '24) #Gellhorn book YOURS, FOR PROBABLY ALWAYS read by @EllenBarkin. Rep @philipsturner. Reviewer @torontostar book pages. She/her

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elliottblackwe3 Into The Forest Dark @elliottblackwe3 ·
June 25, 2026

The truth of this

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queenie4rmnola Dr. Allison Wiltz @queenie4rmnola ·
June 26, 2026

"Nobody's free until everybody's free"

โ€” Fannie Lou Hamer

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amberwoods100 Amber Woods @amberwoods100 ·
June 26, 2026

Good morning to everyone still calling for the full release of the Epstein Files. โœŠ๐Ÿผ

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sketchesbyboze Boze Herrington, Library Owl ๐Ÿ˜ด๐Ÿง™โ€โ™€๏ธ @sketchesbyboze ·
June 26, 2026

In 1947, a Fellow at Magdalen College wrote in a letter that he had recently attempted writing a story for children, but that it was so bad, he had destroyed it. Not long after, he began what would become The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. Never, ever give up.

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nathanfrancis__ Nathan Francis @nathanfrancis__ ·
June 26, 2026

"Backward I look upon my life,
And see one waste of storm and strife,
One wrack of sorrows, hopes, and pain,
Vanishing to arise again!"

โœ’ #BranwellBrontรซ, English painter and poet, was #BOTD 26 June 1817. #Art #Painting #Poetry

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cmdr_hadfield Chris Hadfield @cmdr_hadfield ·
June 26, 2026

Planet Venus, peeking from behind the Moon through the clouds.
Great shot by Debra Ceravolo last week in the South Okanagan, BC.
https://app.astrobin.com/u/debraceravolo

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sandibachom Sandi Bachom ๐Ÿ“น @sandibachom ·
June 25, 2026

Many donโ€™t know @KatiePhang is an accomplished lawyer in her own right.

Letโ€™s all cheer her on her case against Todd Blanche ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

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Ontario Arts CouncilProud Member of THE WRITERS UNION OF CANADA

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