From a teaching perspective, the main themes in 'Ten Mile River' that can be applied easily within English Literature classes are:
friendships - the relationship between the main characters, Ray and Jose, and how this relationship helps them through tough times and difficult situations
resiliance - the ability to 'roll with the punches' on life's journey is a skill which is hard to teach but invauable to have. Both Jose and Ray show incredible resiliance and the ability to struggle through even when the situation seems hopeless. They are at times creative, inventive, thoughtful and insightful as they deal time and again with the problems thrown their way.
language - this is certainly a novel which has many opportunities to talk about language and how it develops over time and within social groups. The language of 'Ten Mile River' is hard to unpack, but worth the effort. In English literature, the novel can be used to demonstrate how language constructs exist for particular groups of people as a key feature of their personality, social situation and environment.
social problems - as a novel to study social problems, 'Ten Mile River' has more than its fair share of offerings. It touches on themes of poverty, hunger, theft to provide food for self, homelessness, drug use and beginning relationships.
education - as a minor theme within the novel, the theme of education as a means to gain regular employment, consistency in life and as a tool to provide for oneself can also be studied within English literature classes. Ray and Jose possess quite different literacy levels and educational ability, and this ultimately becomes one of the key differences between the possible pathways of the characters beyond the limits of the novel.
As a creative writing lesson plan, the following activities could be used with students:
Write dialogue for different types of characters, and compare and contrast the language used by each one.
Write a narrative which shows a friendship between two characters.
Imagine it is now five years since the events of the novel happened - have students write a letter from Ray to Jose and from Jose to Ray, describing where their lives are at now.
Write a diary for one of the minor characters in the novel describing a different perspective on some of the key events, such as the boys being caught stealing a car, or the boys coming back from juvenile detention.
Create a story board or cartoon which shows one of the action sequences in the novel, such as the car chase, the party, paddling the dead drug users across the frozen river, breaking into the house or the death of the doberman dog.