Over there (from here in England) at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library they work very energetically to encourage boys to read, and they are really, really enthusiastic about Rosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth

Wow.Wow …. Have you ever sat in a theatre after a movie was over, stunned and unable to get up because the movie was so great? Doesn’t happen often, does it? Well, books as great as The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff don’t come along that often either. And just like a great movie, this book left me sitting there going, “Wow.”The whole purpose of this blog is to tell you about terrific books, so I’m going to tell you guys right now that his is one terrific book!
Source: Boys Rule Boys Read!: The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutclliff.

And the in their view the book is excellent for group discussions: 

The Eagle of the Ninth would be great for book clubs. There’s a lot to talk about. You could go into the story but you could go even deeper. You could talk about friendship, like the one that develops between Marcus and Esca. Can two people from two such different cultures be friends? What could overcome those differences? You could even talk about how the wolf, Cub, symbolizes that friendship. (don’t know what I mean? Read the book and find out!) There’s also the whole conflict of Light vs. Darkness, as in the time when Esca and Marcus are in that cave!! Shiver!! It reminds me of the chapter in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in which the people are trapped on the island of darkness. Also, this could lead to all kinds of chances to investigate what life was like in Roman Britain. Any teachers out there paying attention? Or any homeschooling parents?

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