Amy Jurskis

A teacher’s guide to the classic coming of age novel, written in alignment with Common Core Standards.

For teachers: We know that the Common Core State Standards are encouraging you to reevaluate the books that you assign to your students. To help you decide which books are right for your classroom, each ebook in this series contains a Common Core-aligned teaching guide and a sample chapter.

This teaching guide for A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is designed to help you put the new Common Core State Standards into practice.

In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy''s mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn''t believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God''s instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary.

"Among the very best American novels of our time." —Charlotte Observer

"A remarkable novel . . . a rare creation." —Stephen King, The Washington Post