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What Books should be on every high school reading list?

What Books should be on every high school reading list?

Nicole #questionnaire

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88 Answers

Kamil

Man’s Search For Meaning…

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Siri

If I were the literature teacher, here’s a few I’d choose for my list
❤️The Three Musketeers
❤️The Phantom Of The Opera
❤️The Prince & The Pauper
❤️Hamlet
❤️Uncle Tom’s Cabin
❤️Dracula
❤️White Fang
❤️Black Beauty
❤️Germinal
❤️The Sign Of Four
❤️Frankenstein

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NicoleQuestion author

Germinal? By what author

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Siri

@Nicole Émile Zola??

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Rao

Wow…your list is worth reading.

Hamlet might be bit too much at a young age. I read it when I was in like O Levels but didn’t get it. I’ll read it sometime again.

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Siri

@Rao Really? I loved it at 15–depends on the teacher?

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Rao

Wow…I read it on my own and without reading the summary but I had good idea about the story

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Rao

I did understand the story but I think I need to reread it to fully understand it.

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Lisa

Hamlet is generally high school Lit here where I am. My kids have also had to read Fahrenheit 451, Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Road, Night, Animal Farm, 1984, Lord of the Flies, East of Eden, Catcher in the Rye, & some others. Most of my kids came home with their reading lists, handed them to me & went, you have these already right? Can we borrow them for class? I’m like, you mark in them or highlight in them, you die a long slow painful death.

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Siri

@Lisa ???

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NicoleQuestion author

Thanks siri gurudev Singh

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Jessica

A Separate Peace, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Fahrenheit 451….

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Lisa

I found an antique copy of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn at a Goodwill for a dollar!

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NicoleQuestion author

Loved reading a separate peace and Fahrenheit 451

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M.A.

Brave New World, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Giver and Night.

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Stephanie

I read The Giver in elementary school lol

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M.A.

I don’t think the message can necessarily be gleaned by a primary student ?

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Stephanie

It actually can be.

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M.A.

FFS. I’m a teacher. There is a common practice of reading for meaning that is significantly different when you’re a bit older and more aware of certain devices. If you don’t agree with me, that’s fine. To the left.

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Stephanie

It’s sad you discredit the intelligence of younger students and the teachers who teach them that book.

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Alex

Flowers for Algernon. The Great Gatsby. Beloved.

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Jennifer

Book Theif

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Kelsey

The Outsiders
The Great Gatsby
The Hobbit
Edgar Allan Poe complete works

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Jennifer

Yes all this and book thief

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Kelsey

I hated the Book Thief when we had to read it junior year.

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Harriet

@Kelsey What could be controversial about “The Book Thief”? It was about someone rejecting Nazi interference in her life. How can you hate a book like that?

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Kelsey

It just wasn’t my cup of tea. We read so many WWI and WW2 books junior year. I loved Dalton Trumbo “Johnny Got His Gun” which was my personal book choice that year. We also read Night, Diary if Anne Frank, All is Quiet on the Western Front, and Slaughter House Five.

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Tiffany

Fahrenheit 451

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Jennifer

To Kill A Mockingbird

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Rao

It was in my 8th class in course ?

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Kelsey

I definitely think there needs to be books that grab boys attention. So many high schools just focus on classics which tend to be more romance based. While I love them I remember boys eyes glossing over in English class because they just weren’t interested. If we want teens to fall in love with reading we need to make sure we are picking books for everyone.

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Linda

Anything but Thomas Hardy! Put me off for life and was quite miserable having to wade through Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure.

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David

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Rao

Agreed

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David

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Rao

I’m looking forward to read it. Is it a classical.

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David

It is.its also a little sad.but its worth a read.

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Rao

Something optimistic and something that makes them look upon bright side of world and also enlightens them with big issue of world.

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Robert

A painted house

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I.E.

The PEARL by Steinbeck…every human should read it!

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Maartje

Next to all the classics:

The hate u give
John Green books
Wonder
The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime
Ready player one

Books which are fun to read and teach something

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Brendan

Slaughterhouse Five and/or Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

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NicoleQuestion author

The hunger games series
The maze runner series
Artemis Fowl series
Howl
Divergent series
The electric Kool-Aid acid test
Watership down
The outsiders
Ernest Hemingway books
The hobbit
Lord of the rings
Leaves of Grass
The red badge of courage
Romeo and Juliet
Adventures of Tom sawyer
Adventures of huckleberry Finn
Peter pan
The catcher in the rye
Robinson crusoe
Like water for chocolate

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Ann

To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Age of Innocence, The Awakening, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, Brave New World, the first in the Hunger Games series, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, The Joy Luck Club, A Christmas Carol, Crime and Punishment, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime…

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Tracey

I read all of these as did my 19 year old. My 16 read a few in hs, and just finished The Great Gatsby (and loved it).

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NicoleQuestion author

Beowulf
Harry potter series
Nicholas Sparks books
Dan Brown books
Eoin colfer books
Little men\little women
Eragon series
A wrinkle in time
Where the red ferns grows
The education of little tree
The picture of Dorian Gray
A Connecticut Yankee in king Arthur’s court
Twenty thousand leagues under the sea
The mysterious Benedict society series
Percy Jackson series
Alex rider series
Guardians of ga’hoole series
Michael Crichton books
The thief Lord
The perks of being a wallflower
Animal farm

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Tammy

Some of these are better suited for junior high or elementary school. (we read Where the Red Fern Grows in fourth grade… a month after Ol’ Yeller… that teacher was evil.)

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Rao

Best answer according to me ?

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Rao

Your reading list is absolutely amazing ?

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Rao

Though I’m not sure about The mysterious Benedict society series. Who’s its author? Is it crime fiction?

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NicoleQuestion author

The mysterious Benedict society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
No, it’s not a crime fiction
Young adult

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Bonnie

Lord of the flies,The Scarlet Letter,The Three Musketeers,Oliver Twist

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NicoleQuestion author

The alchemyst: the secrets of the immortal Nicholas flamel series
Life of pi
Into the wild
Brian Jacques books
The jungle
The 5th wave series
Agatha Christie books
Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda
October sky
The count of Monte cristo
A ring of endless light
Shoeless joe
13 reasons why
Moby dick
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Anne Frank the diary of a young girl
Roots
Sylvia plath books
Walter Dean Meyers books
Way of the peaceful warrior
The girl in white armor aka joan of arc

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Jessica

Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, East of Eden, 1984, American Gods, Needful Things, some Lovecraft, Vampire series by Anne Rice, and the Hitchhiker’s Guide

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NicoleQuestion author

Yes, vampire series by Anne rice

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Tracey

Anne Rice donated her books to our hs’s library!

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Steve

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

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JwSierra

Scarlett letter, the great gatsby, the crucible, lord of the rings, the death of a salesman, ethan frome, beowulf, lord of the flies, jane eyre, wuthering heights, pride and prejudice

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Matt

Razzle 🙂

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Deborah

The Glass Castle

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NicoleQuestion author

Aristotle and Dante Discover The secrets of the universe
The Five people you meet in heaven, Ceremony
All the pretty horses
The light in the forest
O pioneers
Out of the dust
Fences
Kindred
A raisin in the sun
The house on mango street
Ayn rand books
The color purple
The secret life of bees
Native son
Invisible man
My Antonia
I am malala
A prayer for Owen meany
The poisonwood bible
Uglies series
The brief wondrous life of Oscar wao, speak, half of a yellow sun, the host
Water for elephants, Eleanor & park, she’s come undone
Tuesday with Morrie, bless me Ultima

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Rita

To Kill A Mockingbird, 1984, Frankenstein, The Outsiders, The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm

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Vivian

First of all, 1984 (I read it when I was 17 and it totally screwed with my head!). Also: Shakespeare and Egdar Allan Poe. Maybe one book by the Brontë sisters (just one). Some Austen. Then we move into the 20th century and really let things go crazy. The Big Sleep. Some classic, B-quality sci-fi and fantasy followed by the Hitchhiker’s Guide series. and Gaiman! The Hunger Games.

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Paula

The outsiders,To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flys, Of mice and men all were there when I was at school and still are with The Hunger Games and a lot of new material.

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Alexandra

Little house on the prairie

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Stephanie

I read that in elementary school

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Alexandra

Don’t get good books like that in schools over here in uk

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Stephanie

I understand, Laura Ingalls is from my state so I was aware of her work very young. I started reading her books in first grade.

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Alexandra

I watched them but never read them. When u tried to read i was younger but will give another go

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Stephanie

Some of the suggestions I read in elementary school, at least four of them. Some of the suggestions I had to read for high school and hated so I never finished them.

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Sarah

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (it really gave me a lot of perspective on belief I felt)
1984
A Handmaid’s Tale
Frankenstien and Wicked (for the same reason, just because something looks a certain way doesn’t mean that it is or that it’s the only perspective)
To Kill a Mockingbird (commonly held belief aren’t always right and you can always fight)
Harry Potter

Non-fiction
Persepolis (a graphic novel)
A Love Greater than the Sea
Overcoming Speechlessness by Alice Walker
Maus by Art Spiegleman (sp?)

I’ll add more if I think of them.

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Walter

Short novels. If you force teenagers and young adults in to reading in between all the other schoolwork they need to do. And you force large and literature books on to them, you’ll push them away from reading. Speaking for myself, I did science in high school but for some reason that came with 4 languages. For the languages we had to read a total of 18 books a year. Has put me off from reading for years, wasn’t till my late twenties before I took it up.

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Alexandra

In secondary school I read treasure island oliver twist Christmas Carol and others that I can’t remember

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Kayla

The Hate List

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NicoleQuestion author

Candide
Troy & ithaka
Willow
God isn’t Done with me yet…
The death & life of Charlie St. Cloud
Soul Surfer
The chocolate war
The immortal life of Henrietta lacks
The freedom writers diary
The house of mirth
Dante’s inferno
The Canterbury tales
The Iliad & the odyssey
H.g. Wells books
The host
The shack
Peace like a River
The cherry orchard, a doll’s house
Pygmalion, our town
Anne of green gables
All the Bright places
A monster calls

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Holly

As a teen, I would suggest Harry Potter☺️Also Lord of the Rings,The Hobbit, Wonder, the Gone series, Rooftoppers, all of Morris Gleitzman’s books❤️

Teenagers don’t want to read things like Little House on the Prairie or Of Mice and Men; trust me, the moans that enveloped the classroom were enough to deafen the teacher?But if we engage teenagers and younger adults into reading books that aren’t of the syllabus but those that are for their age, they will read them. As they begin to read more of these age appropriate, and frankly better, books they may decide to branch out and read some classics (as I have done).

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Yamileth

As a current senior in hs I’ve definitely some on these comments.
1984
Beowulf
A Doll’s House
The Alchemist
How to Kill a Mockingbird
A Raisin in the Sun
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Romeo and Juliet
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Tuesdays With Morrie
Animal Farm
Bless Me Ultima
Personally some of these I had to read alone in my time and I hated it! It would take me so long to actually get into a story. The ones we would read in class and discuss I enjoyed a lot!
I would have loved to read more plays and poems!

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Brittany

March graphic novel series

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Leigh

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

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Pamela

Harry Potter. Not in one year obviously but over time. Or in one year I don’t care lol

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Kathy

An extensive banned book list, of which they make a certain number of choices. It would be a long list.

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Sierra

thorn of glass and court of thorn and roses

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Debra

The Richest Man in Babylon! It explains how to save money.

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Sean

I know many will probably disagree but I think 13 reasons why should be read. It brings to light the harsh truths at times of what teens go through

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Jake

But it’s not even a good book. Want a good book dealing with the theme of suicide: The Virgin Suicides. That book is amazing.

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Sean

13 reasons was okay

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Maartje

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe, I’ll give you the sun.

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Yannie

Sabriel by Garth Nix

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