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Paired Texts > Dealer's Choice

by Joni Lenahan 2024

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

Cheboygan Day
Cheboygan Day
Brittany Allen

In "Cheboygan Day," two siblings are treated very differently by their peers when they arrive as new students in a small coastal town.

Pair “Cheboygan Day” with “Dealer’s Choice” and ask students to compare Jumi’s character in each text. Students should consider the social influences of peers in both texts, specifically how protagonists respond to peer pressure and are influenced by their surroundings.

9th Grade Short Story 860L
The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost

Published in 1916, this poem is one of the most frequently cited and most misunderstood of Frost's poems.

Pair “The Road Not Taken” with “Dealer’s Choice” to explore the factors that go into decision-making and possible outcomes of these decisions. Students should consider what influences the speaker in “The Road Not Taken” and how it compares to Jumi’s decision-making throughout “Dealer’s Choice.” How is each person influenced? What are the outcomes?

8th Grade Poem
How Do We Tell Right From Wrong?
How Do We Tell Right From Wrong?
Anne-Marie Reidy

In "How Do We Tell Right from Wrong?" Reidy explains Kohlberg's theory of moral development and the different levels of moral decision making.

Pair “How Do We Tell Right From Wrong?” with “Dealer’s Choice” and ask students to discuss the psychology behind making decisions and ethical thinking. How does Kohlberg’s research help to explain Jumi’s ultimate decision about “Operation Townie Vengeance”?

8th Grade Informational Text 1060L
Could AI Bots Replace Real-Life Friends?
Could AI Bots Replace Real-Life Friends?
Gina Rich

In "Could AI Bots Replace Real-Life Friends?," Gina Rich explores the influence of artificial intelligence on adolescent friendships and social-emotional development. Pair “Dealer’s Choice” with “Could AI Bots Replace Real-Life Friends?” and ask students to consider whether human friendships are always more trustworthy than the companionship that some adolescents find in AI bots. Describe the relationship between Nella and Jumi in “Dealer’s Choice.” Is their friendship a healthy one? Why? How might an AI “friend,” like the ones described in “Could AI Bots Replace Real-Life Friends?,” dominate the friendship, much like Nella dominates the friendship with Jumi, without the human friend realizing it? How might an unhealthy AI relationship be similar to a toxic human friendship? In your opinion, is an unhealthy AI relationship any different from a manipulative human friend? What is the power balance in an AI friendship? How might digital algorithms affect that balance?

8th Grade Informational Text 1040L