Main > Product Info > Core 300 > Reasons for the 2009 Changes

https://www.sonlight-forums.com/showthread.php?t=205380

Quote from Amy (who helped Sarita choose new books and update the Core 300 literature program):

I read FWtBT when I was 18 or 19. I LOVED it. I loved Hemingway's style; I loved the sad ending; I think I loved the plot. For a few weeks there, it was my favorite book.

But, as others have pointed out, this was a dark Core. And this book was a LOOOONG book. I think it took five weeks to read. I liked that it was about the Spanish Civil War, but I don't think I had a much better understanding of the issues after reading it. And we still have a Hemingway in the Core.

By removing three books (WtBT, Darkness at Noon, and my least favorite Sonlight book, Run, Baby, Run), we were able to add in eight new books. (With the switch from one Frost book to another, that makes nine new books.)

And, if The Wednesday Wars was just a book about typical 7th grade conflicts with his teacher, I agree with you. Who wants to hear about that? But this Newbery Honor book is OUTSTANDING, and now is in my top five, if not top three, best-loved books of all time. (Hope Was Here is also a Newbery Honor.)

I think the Core is, overall, less depressing, more interesting, more God-focused, more what I would have wanted as a Sonlighting teen.

From the burst:

Core 300 Literature -- Completely Upgraded

  • Core 300 History revised in 2008.
  • Amy and Sarita choose new books and updated the Core 300 literature program this year.
  • "Though we re-evaluated every title in the program, Amy and I decided to get rid of "only" three book titles - books that, between them, took nine weeks to read..... We were able to replace those three titles with nine wonderful - shorter and emotionally brighter - new ones. ...
  • ..."students will enjoy a better, broader mix of subject matter and a significantly brighter feel."
  • Besides the books themselves, Amy and I have also written new notes for all the new titles; rewritten many of the notes for the older books; thoroughly revamped the creative writing program; and provided sample/suggested answers to every question we ask about every book your children will read."
  • "...a very strong upgrade to the Core 300 program."

Add'l Details from Amy about changes:

I get excited just thinking about the new books. Koningsburg's My Father's Daughter is STUNNING, and the m'ssry biography There's a Sheep in My Bathtub is the only book I think I've read that had me both laughing so hard I had to hide my face in a pillow to keep from waking the boys (I was truly shrieking with laughter) AND sobbing so hard I was wailing. It is such a great story of God at work--even since 2000. (I like that it shows God at work since the students have been alive--not some long time ago thing!)

And I read Hope Was Here as a comfort book. And God Spoke Tibetan shows so clearly God's perfect timing, even when it doesn't look quite right to us.

My husband was able to read The Wednesday Wars last week and he really liked it. I realize this is not the best selling point for a young male, but there are about four parts that make me cry (in a good way, of course). Dh didn't cry, but he still acknowledged the depth of insight.