In this paper we draw on theories of teaching English as a second language (L2) to examine ways in which a teacher taught a novel to Grade 9 students whose home language is not English. How this second language English-speaker engaged with and spoke about her teaching highlighted her understanding of the challenges students seemed to experience with the text as related to her "kind-making" of them. We reflect on how viewing the students' lived experiences and language as impeding academic proficiency aligned them with "academic deficiency" as English speakers and informed the strategies that the teacher used to address this deficiency. Finally, drawing on Cummins (1988) and others, the paper outlines how a conversation with her seemed to have promoted her understanding of teaching that could enhance students' learning of L2 and, specifically the novel they were taught.