The Case for Teaching Percival Everett’s Novel “James”
The audience should be teenagers in America’s public schools
I had the pleasure of teaching high school juniors Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for over a dozen years in American Literature in San Diego, California. I mention where I taught because it matters, and the fact that I was a veteran teacher before I embarked on that “adventure” also matters a great deal.
Now retired for a dozen years, I had the far greater pleasure of reading Percival Everett’s James. It is gathering glowing reviews. The question in my mind that stands out is why should the readership be limited to adults, like myself, whom some would call woke when I believe the audience who most needs to read this short novella is teenagers in America’s public schools.
A Preface: Why I taught Huck Finn
Before I make the case, let me comment on the controversy regarding the teaching of Huck Finn, a work that many scholars feel is the first great American novel. In 1997, I began teaching Huck Finn and no one told me that I shouldn’t. Yes, the n-word was an issue for some, but as I explained to my students who were a cross-section of ethnicities, Twain created the first African American hero because he was the father figure and moral…
