Coelho, P. & Clarke, A. (1993). The Alchemist. [San Francisco]: Harper San Francisco.

    

Reader Response: The reason why I chose this book is because of its mysticism and the writer's skill to invited the reader in as a part of the story. Coelho’s The Alchemist is a classic tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy who has a recurring dream about a treasure in Egypt near the Pyramids. He sets out of his journey to interpret his dream and also find his treasure. As he embarks upon his journey, Santiago learns that life is full of decisions that must be made in pursuit of one’s personal legend. On his journey, he encounters decisions about his beloved sheep, belief in the supernatural, trust of strangers, love, and knowledge of omens. These decisions lead him to the Alchemist, who serves both as guide and teacher. The beautiful part about this book is that Coelho only uses Santiago's name in the beginning  of the book and at the end. I believe that the author desires the reader to become "the boy" in the story and relate to him as he is on his journey. The story is inspirational, and is filled with so many lessons that it can not be read from beginning to end without a "selah".

Evaluator Response: If I were to evaluate this novel, I would say that it's strengths are the multiple yet consistent underlying themes that occur throughout the text. Santiago encounters many different struggles from love, family, and money to trust, faith, and hope. The book has a cross-cultural element as Santiago travels from one place to the next. The book does well to define the meaning of words and contextualizes the surroundings that the character finds himself in.

Teacher Response: This book offers a great opportunity for debate and socratic seminars. There are a number of thematic powerpoints that assist in pushing the students thinking on critical thinking and the analyze the decisions the character makes in the text.

Literacy Coach Response: I would recommend that students keep a travel log for Santiago as they read the text. They can chart where he goes, the people that he meets, the decisions that he makes and the outcome.