Betrayal is one of the themes that is quote broad.  That means that it is possible to build ladders in many different ways.  For instance, we could create a ladder about betrayal among friends or a betrayal of confidence or a betrayal of trust.  The betrayal could involve something more abstract.  Here are a few possible ladders that could grow from an exploration of this theme.  The list for Ladder #1 is geared toward intermediate and middle school readers.  Ladder #2's list of books  is aimed at high school readers.  Notice that from the same lists, we can create several different ladders.  The first variation for Ladder #1 contains titles from the fantasy genre.  Variation #2 is historical fiction and nonfiction.  So, genre provides one means for creating different ladders.  We could also create ladders using different types of betrayal.   Parents who betray their children are at the core of Willoughbys and Keeping the Night Watch.    Elders who betray the people they are leading is one theme emerging from Hunger Games, Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer.  Shorter ladders or stepstools could be built with these titles.  For the titles listed for Ladder #2, it is easy to create a ladder with references to classics as well as classic titles themselves.  Really, the possibilities are endless.

Ladder #1 Titles

30 days to getting over the dork you used to call your boyfriend

The boy who dared

Hunger Games

Knife of Never Letting Go

The Ask and the Answer

What If the Witness Lied

Elijah of Buxton

Keeping the Night Watch

The Magic Thief

A Thousand Never Evers

The Willoughbys

Hunchback Assignments

Season of Gifts

Wild Things

Eli the Good

Ladder #1 Variation: Fantasy 

The Ask and the Answer

Knife of Never Letting Go

Hunchback Assignments

Hunger Games

The Magic Thief

Ladder #1 Variation: Historical Fiction and Nonfiction

30 Days to Getting Over the Dork You Used to Call Your Boyfriend

The Boy WHo Dared

The Hunchback Assignments

Eli the Good

Season of Gifts

Elijah of Buxton

Ladder #2 Titles

Black Rabbit Summer

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks

Something Rotten

Something Wicked

Twisted

What I Saw and How I Lied

Eternal Smile

Going Bovine

Hamlet

Jumping off Swings

Last Night I Sang to the Monster

Marcelo in the Real World

Ladder #2 Variation:  Classics

                         Hamlet

                    Going Bovine

               Twisted

         Something Rotten

Something Wicked

Copyright 2010 Teri S. Lesesne