Everything you need to understand or teach Kind Hearts and Gentle Monsters by Laurence Yep.
Kind Hearts and Gentle Monsters is a sensitive psychological novel that explores themes of alienation, tolerance, and understanding in the relationship between two young characters who possess what at first seem to be irreconcilable differences. The novel is narrated by Charley Sabini, a logical, selfpossessed sophomore at a Catholic high school who discovers that he has earned a considerable amount of hostility from his old grammar school friends who have transferred to public school. Chris Pomeroy, the girl who instigates this hostility, has a reputation for being an oddball. Chris is emotional, candidly critical of others, sarcastic, and often deliberately shocking in her behavior. Chris and Charley meet as the result of a poison-pen chain letter started by Chris and directed at Charley. Charley, in confronting Chris about her accusations of arrogance and lack of sensitivity, finds himself entering a romance in which he and Chris learn lessons...