Hating Alison Ashley isn’t a particularly long novel.

The novel is really accessible - but has room for deeper exploration Is Erica fair to Lennie? Is Barry Hollis really misguided? What skills do you need to be a teacher at Erica’s school? 4. These characters elevate the story, allowing students more areas to explore and discuss. Then there’s Lennie - Erica’s mother’s boyfriend - who comes in to save the day at just the right time. The teachers are also a delight to read - feeling incredibly real as they take on super challenging tasks each day. Erica’s family includes her super embarrassing younger sister and strangely absent-but-there older brother who live in dream worlds as much as Erica does as well as Valjoy, who is just the right amount of terrifying. Hating Alison Ashley is filled with characters who feel real - from Alison Ashley who looks perfect but has a less than perfect family life to Barry Hollis who does all sorts of terrible things - but seems to be looking for read friendships as much as Erica is. She’s an incredibly memorable character, and it’s definitely worth the time exploring her closer. She narrates the story, so we see it from her point of view, but sometimes she gives us just enough information to wonder what the story would be like if someone else was telling it.Įrica in the book also makes me wonder what she would be like as a teenager or an adult. She’s funny and smart, but also super frustrating at times.

But maybe, just maybe, is there a possibility she isn’t quite as smart as she thinks she is?Įrica is a brutally real character. She knows she is the best thing her school has ever known. Hating Alison Ashley gives students a launching point to discuss some of these ideas and what they would do if they were in the positions that Erica and Alison find themselves in throughout the story. There’s an occasional reference which seems a bit out of place in Hating Alison Ashley, but it’s still tackling themes and ideas which feel relevant to students today - our position in our class or school, friendships or lack of them, embarrassing families, dealing with teachers and of course - school camp. Why should you teach Hating Alison Ashley in your classroom? 1. As the story progresses, and Erica gets more frustrated with Alison taking on her position of ‘best student’ we see that Alison’s life might not be as perfect as it seems - and Erica might have a real direction to take her big imagination. Hating Alison Ashley is the story of Erica Yurken - a Year 6 student with big dreams and bigger stories who finds her world turned upside down when the seemingly perfect Alison Ashley arrives at her disadvantaged school.

Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein