My Required Reading!
The end of summer is upon us, and you know what that means? Back to school! This week I am talking about those books I was made to read in high school. I actually read a LOT of books for school, and therefore, picked ones I actually remember liking. I think it's sort of sad that most of the books I read were NOT geared towards teens, and most didn't even feature teen protagonists. It is my hope that educators recognize how many amazing YA books are out there, and perhaps, select some of them for required reading.
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- 1984 by George Orwell (look, I liked Orwell)
- A Separate Peace byJohn Knowles
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- The Assistant by Bernard Malamud
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Were you made to read any of these books?
Let us know in the comments!
We read Shakespeare and Orwell. We also read a lot of Indian literature as well as African literature. That was awesome because it gave such different stories and different perspectives.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few other countries represented in my HS's curriculum, but it was dominated by American and English authors. I feel like it's probably changed a lot since then, though I was really disappointed in the lack of actual reading in my daughter's HS English classes. It's become all about teaching to the test, sadly
DeleteI liked Tom Sawyer a lot but I don't remember as much about Huck Finn, although I loved the concept- I mean a kid on a raft, right? What's not to like? Most of the rest of these I haven't read, although we did of course study Romeo and Juliet
ReplyDeleteI think I loved the adventure associated with both books.
DeleteTo Kill a Mockingbird was definitely one of my favorites from school. I also didn't mind Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't read enough romance in HS, so I wholly embraced that side of R&J
DeleteI was made to read To Kill A Mockingbird (which I liked) and Lord of The Flies (which I loathed) in school.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/top-ten-tuesday-174/
To Kill a Mockingbird was one of my faves, and probably, my number one favorite of HS. Kind of sad considering I read it as a freshmen
DeleteWe were forced to read Animal Farm two years in a row. I wasn't a great fan though it wasn't a terrible book or anything. Pygmalion, Death of a Salesman, Sons and Lovers, Animal Farm...I hated the books they made us read!
ReplyDeleteWhy two years in a row? Strange. I know I found a lot of the books hard to relate to, and my co-blogger said the same exact thing when I was talking to her the other day. I think teens can read about teens and still gains something from the book
DeleteI hope YA becomes more popular as required reading in HS. Most of the books I read back then I HATED. The Lord of the Flies I actually liked in a messed-up way. It was at least readable-- which is more than I can say for other books (cough, The Sun Also Rises, cough).
ReplyDeleteThere are so many incredible YA books out there, and they cover a wide array of social topics too.
DeleteYeah. It's nice when the books are sort of geared towards teens as well as literature. I didn't like Romeo and Juliet back when I read it in secondary school, but I need to reread it soon for uni and I hope I love it more (I love movie adaptions of it.) I have read and loved both 1984 and Animal Farm, which I also studied. I thought Lord of The Flies was okay...
ReplyDeleteMy recent post: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2018/08/all-the-books-all-of-the-time-book-haul/
I liked R&J mostly because it was a romance. I even liked the non war parts of A Farewell to Arms - always a romance reader. I guess I have to reddit my teacher with making Lord of the Flies seem great, because I was a fan
DeleteI really loved A Separate Peace. I didn't mind most required reading, except for the really old stuff in college. LOL Some of my favorites were/are Of Mice and Men, Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare play), The Importance of Being Earnest (play by Oscar Wilde - who I LOVE), etc.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I feel like A Separate Peace gets a bad rap. I never read any Wilde for school, but I read some on my own, because he was Morrissey's favorite 🤣
DeleteI read almost all of these in school, too. I hated the majority of my school reading. I understand why classics are important, but they definitely don’t inspire a love of reading.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
These are the highlights, more or less. Most of my favorites were from my American Lit class, where our theme was prejudice
DeleteSuperb selections. We were forced to read too much Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath, the Pearl,AND Of Mice and Men. Way too much!
ReplyDeleteLisa at https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/top-10-tuesday-back-to-school-or-learning-freebie/
I read The Pearl in 8th grade - not a fan.
DeleteAnimal Farm was on our list this week as well. It's a must-read!
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday.
I thought it was rather brilliant and think it's even more brilliant now that I'm older
DeleteI read most of those and can’t say I really liked any of them. I really hated The Scarlet Letter and Heart of Darkness. However, I did love Tale of Two Cities and The Count of Monte Cristo.
ReplyDeleteI did not read either of the books you liked for school, but I did like a Tale of Two Cities
DeleteTo Kill A Mockingbird is one of my all time favorite novels.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my TTT post for this week: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/08/top-ten-tuesday-back-to-schoollearning.html
Definitely one of the highlights of my HS reading
DeletePerhaps that's partly why I struggled to find a book I enjoyed in high school...and middle school for that matter! All the books I was forced to read were always so dull. Though I know some books did have characters of similar ages, it still wasn't an exciting enough read for me. Though I did eventually finally read one or two books that I really did enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
I wouldn't say they were all winners, but there were some good ones, and I appreciate that I read many classics, which have allowed me to connect to people. I know I would not have chosen any of these books on my own.
DeleteI really enjoyed Lord of the Flies in school, but I see a lot of people mention they hated that one. I'm still not over what happened to Piggy.
ReplyDeleteI really liked it, and I read it twice, because it was 10th grade reading and then my film class read it in 11th grade (and watched the movie, the old one). I got to see the play too, because my daughter did the costume design when she was an undergrad. I am a total fan, and yes, there should have been hell to pay for Piggy.
DeleteI actually liked Lord of the Flies. I never read Orwell in high school, but I picked up 1984 a year or two ago. I don't think I got it!
ReplyDeleteI read 1984 in 1986, so I thought it was really cool. I guess I benefited from classroom discussion with that one too. A teacher at the school I taught out had the kids paranoid. There were all these "Mr. V is watching you" signs all over school and he would sneak up on them. It was fabulous.
DeleteI think that some of the books that they make all the kids read turn many kids off of reading - often for the rest of their lives. There were a few books that I didn't hate but I don't really think that I enjoyed many of them. You are right in the fact that there are so many great books about teens that it would be great to see kids read in school.
ReplyDeleteWe talk about being able to see ourselves in books, but in HS I hardly read any books with teen protagonists. My daughter is Chinese, and read exactly ZERO books with Chinese characters. We live in a predominately Indian town, yet my daughter read ZERO books with Indian characters. I think they need to try harder when writing the curriculums for schools.
DeleteI think I had pretty much the same experience. Although I enjoyed my required readings, I remember very few that featured teens in them so it was always hard to really connect with the characters the way I like to.
ReplyDeleteI don't pick up literary fiction for myself these days, and I was not into it back then.
DeleteGirl, I think we went to the same school hahahha. I hated most of them, too. I liked A Separate Peace, actually. Okay to be fair, I think I maybe had to read half of these? Definitely Romeo & Juliet, A Separate Peace, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, Huckleberry Finn... And then, you know, a bunch of other crap I hated hah. Seriously though WHY can't schools teach more relevant stuff? I hope this changes.
ReplyDeleteYou are about a decade behind me, and if you grew up where you live now, not too far from me geographically. I have not idea why "the classics" dominate school curriculums. It's time to crown some "new classics" for our kids. Some of them contain timeless themes. For example, the theme for my American Lit class my year was prejudice. Every book had to do with some form of prejudice - sex, religion, race, so relevant, and Shakespeare was so ahead of his time, but my beef was always that there were no teens in the books (hardly), nor were teens the target audience.
DeleteI think Romeo and Juliet was the only one from your list that I had to read in school. I still haven't read Orwell - I seriously need to though! Great list!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would have picked up any of the these book had I not had to read them.
DeleteI couldn't get into 1984. I didn't even like the movie (the old one from the 70s, I didn't see the new one). I like the concept, I just couldn't get into it.
ReplyDeleteI did like Lord of the Flies and even though I barely remember To Kill a Mockingbird, I think I liked that one too.
I don't think I ever saw the film, but for some reason, Orwell worked for me. Mockingbird was probably my favorite, and the Gregory Peck film was amazing.
DeleteI had to read almost all of the books you listed! I loved Animal Farm and A Separate Peace! Happy Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteAt least there were a few good ones, right?
DeleteOh hell YES to educators realising how much goodness there is in YA. *fingers crossed*
ReplyDeleteI am crossing my fingers and toes with you
DeleteI was just talking to a friend recently about required reading in high school and that I never actually read a single book that I was supposed to read. To be such a follow the rules kind of kid, I was super stubborn about being forced to read anything and really dug my heels in when it came to required reading. I B.S.’d my way through them all. The only one I actually tried to read was 1984 and I think that was only because (don’t laugh) The Eurythmics did the soundtrack for the movie back at that time. LOL But I quickly grew bored and didn’t finish it. Tanya the teenage rebel. Ha!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I am trying not to laugh, but that's funny
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