literary books for high school

50 classics from (almost) everyone's high school reading list

Research shows that reading fiction encourages empathy . While more high school curriculums should include modern, diverse writers like Amy Tan and Malala Yousafzai, certain classics—like John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street"—endure. Some even make a comeback. George Orwell's "1984," a novel published in 1949 about a dystopian future where the government controls the truth, even surged to #6 on the bestseller list in January 2021, selling more than 24,000 copies following the insurrection in Washington D.C.

While books are ostensibly for anyone with a yearning to learn, sometimes parents, teachers, and school board officials disagree on what kids should or shouldn't read. The result of the push and pull between these groups then shapes the reading lists of millions across the country. According to Pen America , 1,648 different books were banned in schools across the United States between July 2021 and June 2022. These bans affected 138 school districts in 32 states, impacting the books an estimated 4 million students were allowed to read. The top three most frequently banned books were Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer: A Memoir," George M. Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue," and Ashley Hope Pérez's "Out of Darkness."

Certain books deserve a first, second, or maybe even a third read. Using data from Goodreads released in January 2023, Stacker compiled a list of 50 timeless books, plays, and epic poems commonly found on high school reading lists. A total of 1,194 voters picked the most essential reading required for students. The final ranking is based on Goodreads' score, which considers multiple factors, including total votes each book received and how highly voters ranked each book.

Read on to see which classics made the list.

#50. Their Eyes Were Watching God

- Author: Zora Neale Hurston - Score: 4,143 - Average rating: 3.97 (based on 316,337 ratings)

A coming-of-age story set in early 1900s Florida, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" tackles a multitude of issues: racism, sexism, segregation, poverty, and gender roles, among others. Initially overlooked upon its release, Zora Neale Hurston's best-known work is now considered a modern American masterpiece thanks to work done in Black studies programs in the 1970s.

#49. Mythology

- Author: Edith Hamilton - Score: 4,148 - Average rating: 4.02 (based on 52,213 ratings)

Edith Hamilton's " Mythology " has been a standard of both reference and pleasure reading since its publication in 1942. The book was commissioned by an editor at the publisher Little, Brown and Company in 1939 to replace the outdated 1855 collection on the subject, " Bulfinch's Mythology ," and it remains a popular choice for educating students on the subject today. At nearly 500 pages, this hefty tome covers all the classic Greek, Roman, and Norse myths in one place, from the journeys of Odysseus and the Trojan War to Cupid and Psyche.

#48. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)

- Author: Maya Angelou - Score: 4,153 - Average rating: 4.28 (based on 492,982 ratings)

In the first of her seven memoirs, " I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ," Maya Angelou speaks of her early life growing up in the South, including the abuse and racism she faced. Before this, Angelou was known as a poet but was encouraged to try her hand at long-form writing following a party she attended with the legendary James Baldwin. This book sold 1 million copies, was nominated for a National Book Award, and spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list.

#47. Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1)

- Author: Sophocles - Score: 4,211 - Average rating: 3.72 (based on 200,721 ratings)

The tragic Greek play " Oedipus Rex " tells the shocking tale of King Oedipus, who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. The work of Sophocles has inspired many others across disciplines, including Igor Stravinsky's 1920s opera of the same name. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic concept of the Oedipus complex , a theory that children are sexually attracted to their opposite-sex parent, also derived from this work.

#46. Moby-Dick or, the Whale

- Author: Herman Melville - Score: 4,240 - Average rating: 3.53 (based on 528,908 ratings)

Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick or, the Whale"—the lengthy tale of a sea captain on the hunt for this great beast—was inspired by a real-life sperm whale attack that sank the Essex in 1820. Although the book sold less than 3,000 copies during Melville's lifetime, it is now considered an American classic. In September 2022, one collector paid a whopping $327,600 to obtain an 1853 edition of the novel.

#45. The Pearl

- Author: John Steinbeck - Score: 4,421 - Average rating: 3.51 (based on 218,730 ratings)

John Steinbeck's "The Pearl" tells the story of Kino, a poor diver trying to support his family by gathering pearls from gulf beds. He is only barely scraping by until he happens upon a giant pearl. Kino thinks this discovery will finally provide him with the financial comfort and security he has been seeking, but it ultimately brings disaster. The story addresses the reader's relationship to nature, the human need for connection, and the consequences of resisting injustice.

#44. The Importance of Being Earnest

- Author: Oscar Wilde - Score: 4,540 - Average rating: 4.18 (based on 345,903 ratings)

This comedic play by Oscar Wilde takes a satiric look at Victorian social values while following two men—Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff—as they tell lies to bring some excitement to their lives. "The Importance of Being Earnest" was Wilde's final play , and some consider it his masterpiece .

#43. The Red Badge of Courage

- Author: Stephen Crane - Score: 4,752 - Average rating: 3.28 (based on 99,854 ratings)

In "The Red Badge of Courage," Henry Fleming enlists in the Union Army, enticed by visions of glory. When the reality of war and battle sets in, Fleming retreats in fear. In the end, he faces his cowardice and rises to leadership. This American war novel was published in 1895 and is so authentic that it's easy to believe the author—born after the Civil War ended—was himself a veteran.

#42. The Taming of the Shrew

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 4,822 - Average rating: 3.77 (based on 164,742 ratings)

This five-act comedy tells the story of the courtship of the headstrong Katherine and the money-grubbing Petruchio, who is determined to subdue Katherine and make her his wife. After the wedding, Petruchio drags his new wife through the mud to their new home in the country. He proceeds to starve and deprive her of sleep to make his new bride submissive. The play, one of Shakespeare's most popular, has been both criticized for its abusive and misogynistic attitude toward women and praised as a challenging view of how women are supposed to behave.

#41. Slaughterhouse-Five

- Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Score: 4,858 - Average rating: 4.09 (based on 1,284,145 ratings)

In "Slaughterhouse-Five," Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgrim—based on a real American soldier—who is "unstuck in time." He travels throughout the timeline of his life in a nonlinear fashion, forced to relive certain moments. He is first pulled out after he is drafted and captured in Germany during World War II. The book, which explores how humankind repeats history, has been banned or challenged in classrooms throughout the United States. It even landed in the Supreme Court in 1982 in Board of Education v. Pico , and the court held that banning the book violated the First Amendment.

#40. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

- Author: Mark Twain - Score: 5,170 - Average rating: 3.92 (based on 879,567 ratings)

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" takes place in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, during the 1840s. Tom Sawyer and his friend Huck Finn witness a murder by Joe. After the boys stay silent, the wrong man is accused of the crime. When they flee, the whole town presumes them dead, and the boys end up attending their own funerals. Mark Twain's portrayal of Sawyer and Finn challenges the idyllic American view of childhood, instead showing children as fallible human beings with imperfections like anyone else.

#39. Crime and Punishment

- Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky - Score: 5,537 - Average rating: 4.25 (based on 798,073 ratings)

This Russian classic, published in 1886, tells the story of a former student named Rodion Raskolnikov, who is now impoverished and on the verge of mental instability. To get money—and to demonstrate his exceptionalness—he comes up with a murderous plan to kill a pawnbroker. Considered one of the first psychological novels , "Crime and Punishment" is also quite political as it explores the character's pull toward liberal views and his rebellion against them.

#38. A Separate Peace

- Author: John Knowles - Score: 5,561 - Average rating: 3.59 (based on 209,325 ratings)

In "A Separate Peace," John Knowles explores the friendship of two young men—the quiet, intellectual Gene Forrester and his extroverted, athletic friend Finny. Gene lives vicariously through Finny, but his jealousy ultimately ends in tragedy after he commits a subtle act of violence . The book examines themes of envy and the need to achieve.

#37. Death of a Salesman

- Author: Arthur Miller - Score: 6,178 - Average rating: 3.56 (based on 217,183 ratings)

Arthur Miller introduces readers to an aging Willy Loman , a traveling salesman nearing the end of his career. Loman decides he's tired of driving for work and asks for an office job in New York City, believing he is vital to the company. His boss ends up firing him. Loman is also faced with the fact that his son, Biff, is not as successful in life as he had hoped.

Ultimately, Loman takes his own life so his son can have the insurance money to jump-start a better life. After his death, only Loman's family attends his funeral. "Death of a Salesman" won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

#36. The Little Prince

- Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - Score: 6,838 - Average rating: 4.32 (based on 1,871,036 ratings)

In "The Little Prince," a pilot whose plane has crashed in the Sahara desert meets a young boy from outer space. The boy is traveling from planet to planet in search of friendship. On the boy's home—an asteroid—he lived alone, accompanied only by a solitary rose. Once on Earth, the boy meets a wise fox who tells him he can only see clearly with his heart . The book's somber themes of imagination and adulthood have resonated with children and adults alike since it was published—it is now one of the most translated books of all time.

#35. The Old Man and the Sea

- Author: Ernest Hemingway - Score: 6,848 - Average rating: 3.80 (based on 1,036,482 ratings)

"The Old Man and the Sea" was Ernest Hemingway's final major work. The story follows an old man who catches a large fish, only to have it eaten by sharks before he can get it back to shore. Although many may see symbolism about life and aging in the book, Hemingway said there wasn't a deeper meaning in the prose.

#34. The Canterbury Tales

- Author: Geoffrey Chaucer - Score: 6,904 - Average rating: 3.52 (based on 211,378 ratings)

"The Canterbury Tales," written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, was one of the first major works of English literature. The story follows a group of pilgrims who tell tales during their journey from London to Canterbury Cathedral. The cast of characters—including a carpenter, cook, and knight, among others—paints a varied picture of 14th-century society. The stories  inspired the modern film "A Knight's Tale," starring Heath Ledger as a poor knight and Paul Bettany as Chaucer.

#33. Othello

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 6,966 - Average rating: 3.89 (based on 363,620 ratings)

Shakespeare wrote "Othello" in the early 17th century. The play tells the tragic story of Othello—a Moor and general in the Venetian army, and Iago—a traitorous low-ranking officer. Shakespeare tackles themes of racism, betrayal, and jealousy. While he refers to Othello as "Black," Shakespeare most likely meant he was darker-skinned than most Englishmen at the time and not necessarily of African descent.

#32. Flowers for Algernon

- Author: Daniel Keyes - Score: 7,235 - Average rating: 4.18 (based on 597,740 ratings)

The main character in "Flowers for Algernon" is Charlie Gordon, a man of low intelligence who becomes a genius after undergoing an experimental procedure. The experiment has already been performed on a lab mouse named Algernon. Gordon's intelligence opens his eyes to things he's never understood before, but he eventually loses his newly acquired knowledge. The mouse, who Gordon remembers fondly, dies. Daniel Keyes wrote the book after realizing his education was causing a rift between him and his loved ones, making him wonder what it would be like if someone's intelligence could be increased.

#31. Beowulf

- Author: Unknown - Score: 7,844 - Average rating: 3.47 (based on 283,839 ratings)

"Beowulf" is an epic poem —an original manuscript copy is housed in the British Library—of 3,000 lines. It was written in Old English somewhere between A.D. 700 and 1000 and tells the story of Beowulf, a nobleman and warrior in Sweden who is sent to Denmark to fight a swamp monster called Grendel.

#30. A Tale of Two Cities

- Author: Charles Dickens - Score: 8,085 - Average rating: 3.86 (based on 901,761 ratings)

"A Tale of Two Cities" famously starts: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…" Set in the late 1700s, Charles Dickens vividly writes about the time leading up to and during the French Revolution. The historical novel describes death and despair but also touches on themes of redemption.

#29. Wuthering Heights

- Author: Emily Brontë - Score: 8,214 - Average rating: 3.88 (based on 1,651,158 ratings)

"Wuthering Heights," published in 1847, was the first and only novel by Emily Brontë, who died a year later at 30. Brontë tells the tragic love story between Heathcliff, an orphan, and Catherine, his wealthy benefactor's daughter. Considered a classic in English literature, the novel shows readers how passionate and destructive love can be.

#28. The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0)

- Author: J.R.R. Tolkien - Score: 8,552 - Average rating: 4.28 (based on 3,583,681 ratings)

" The Hobbit " is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who sets off on a journey through the fictional world of Middle-earth in search of adventure and treasure. J.R.R. Tolkien originally wrote this book for his own kids, and it was an instant success in the children's book market. It also grew a keen following with older readers alongside the release of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy in the 1960s, when it offered a great reprieve from the tumult of the times, and the big screen adaptation in the early 2000s.

#27. A Midsummer Night's Dream

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 8,974 - Average rating: 3.95 (based on 507,482 ratings)

Like many of Shakespeare's plays, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" explores the theme of love. This comedy shows the events that surround the marriage of Theseus, the duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, a former Amazon queen. The play also shares the stories of several other lovers influenced by the fairies who live in the forest near the wedding. The play is a favorite for actors and audiences, even today.

#26. The Grapes of Wrath

- Author: John Steinbeck - Score: 9,047 - Average rating: 3.99 (based on 852,960 ratings)

"The Grapes of Wrath" is considered a great American novel partly because it brought to light the destruction and despair caused by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The story follows Tom Joad after he is released from prison to find his family's Oklahoma farmstead empty and destroyed. Joad and his family later set off for a new life in California, only to face struggles along the way. The book, which focuses on hard work, won a  Pulitzer Prize  in 1940.

#25. Great Expectations

- Author: Charles Dickens - Score: 9,647 - Average rating: 3.79 (based on 751,833 ratings)

This Charles Dickens classic tells the story of Pip, an orphan who gets a chance at a better life through an anonymous benefactor. The plot mostly centers around Pip's regular visits to Miss Havisham, a wealthy recluse, and his love for her adopted daughter Estella, who is cold toward Pip until years later. Many consider the novel a great masterpiece .

#24. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text

- Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Score: 10,277 - Average rating: 3.85 (based on 1,435,457 ratings)

At just 20 , Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley created what is often labeled as the first science fiction novel : "Frankenstein." While staying with a group of literary comrades, Lord Byron challenged his fellow writers to craft ghost stories. Shelley's story was sparked by a nightmare that ultimately became the classic novel about a mad scientist who created a monster from the body parts of corpses, then brought the creature to life.

#23. Julius Caesar

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 10,472 - Average rating: 3.70 (based on 191,622 ratings)

Shakespeare takes on history with "Julius Caesar," a tragic story of power and betrayal. Brutus, who worked closely with Caesar, joined his fellow conspirators to assassinate Caesar to save the republic from a tyrannical leader. The events had the opposite effect when, only two years later, Caesar's grandnephew was crowned the first emperor of Rome. The play marked a political shift in Shakespeare's writing.

#22. The Outsiders

- Author: S.E. Hinton - Score: 10,564 - Average rating: 4.12 (based on 1,193,939 ratings)

S.E. Hinton introduced readers to 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis in "The Outsiders," a novel she started to write when she was 16. The plot centers around two rival gangs: the lower-class Greasers and the well-off Socials. It touches on teen angst , including the frustrations young people have when they can't rely on adults to change things while also not knowing how to fix things themselves. Hinton's publishers encouraged her to publish under her initials because they didn't think the public would respect a book about teenage boys by someone with the feminine name of Susan Eloise Hinton.

#21. Brave New World

- Author: Aldous Huxley - Score: 10,853 - Average rating: 3.99 (based on 1,711,789 ratings)

In "Brave New World," published in 1932, Aldous Huxley paints a picture of a dystopian future where people consume pills called soma to get a sense of instant bliss without side effects. Emotions, individuality, and lasting relationships aren't allowed. A preordained class system is decided at the embryonic stage, with certain people getting hormones for peak mental and athletic fitness. Some historians believe the book's plot could represent the future in the next 100 years.

#20. Night (The Night Trilogy, #1)

- Author: Elie Wiesel - Score: 11,080 - Average rating: 4.36 (based on 1,150,070 ratings)

"Night," the first in a trilogy of books, is the most well-known of the more than 50 works Elie Wiesel produced in his lifetime. In just over 100 pages, Wiesel recounts his experiences at the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps during the Holocaust—a history he felt compelled to share, as he stated in his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech , "Because, if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices." The impact of this book has only grown since its publication in 1956, with educators teaching the book in schools for decades and book sales soaring alongside current events, including Wiesel's death in July 2016.

#19. The Crucible

- Author: Arthur Miller - Score: 11,619 - Average rating: 3.60 (based on 380,466 ratings)

This 1953 play is a dramatized version of the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s. In the novel, a group of young girls are dancing in the forest; when caught, they fake illness and shift blame to avoid punishment. Their lies set off witchcraft accusations throughout the town. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" to protest the actions of Sen. Joseph McCarthy , who set up a committee in the early 1950s to investigate and prosecute the Communists he thought had infiltrated the government. It won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play.

#18. The Giver (The Giver, #1)

- Author: Lois Lowry - Score: 11,635 - Average rating: 4.13 (based on 2,238,142 ratings)

" The Giver " is the dystopian tale of a boy chosen to hold one of the most difficult and important professions in his community—the keeper of all memories from the time before, including the pain and difficulties that have been erased from the seemingly utopian world around them. In 1994, Lois Lowry was awarded the Newbery Medal —a prestigious award for children's literature in the United States—for the first installation of her book quartet. The book's complicated themes of racism, religion, and politics lend themselves more to older readers, creating rich discussion in high school classrooms.

#17. Jane Eyre

- Author: Charlotte Brontë - Score: 11,990 - Average rating: 4.14 (based on 1,941,542 ratings)

Charlotte Brontë—sister to Emily—speaks directly to the reader in "Jane Eyre." The Victorian novel follows the headstrong Jane, an orphan who lives with her aunt and cousins, on her quest to find her identity and true love. The novel, marketed as an autobiography and published in 1847 under the pen name Currer Bell, is written in the first person and introduces " the concept of the self " in writing.

#16. Fahrenheit 451

- Author: Ray Bradbury - Score: 12,468 - Average rating: 3.97 (based on 2,162,063 ratings)

Ray Bradbury describes a futuristic world where books are banned and burned. Guy Montag, one firefighter tasked with extinguishing the books, questions the practice. When Bradbury wrote the classic in the 1950s, television sets were becoming ubiquitous in American households. The theme of the book was a warning about how mass media could interfere with people's ability or desire to think critically, a theme that many think resonates with the social media-obsessed world of today.

#15. Pride and Prejudice

- Author: Jane Austen - Score: 13,486 - Average rating: 4.28 (based on 3,854,915 ratings)

Published in 1813, "Pride and Prejudice" was Jane Austen's second novel. The story follows the will-they-won't-they relationship between the wealthy Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, who comes from meager means. Throughout the chapters, both change for the better as they fall in love. The book has inspired at least  a dozen or more  movie and television adaptations.

#14. The Odyssey

- Author: Homer - Score: 15,087 - Average rating: 3.79 (based on 1,001,633 ratings)

"The Odyssey," a Greek epic poem , follows Odysseus as he travels back to the island of Ithaca after fighting in the war at Troy—something addressed in Homer's poem "The Iliad." When he returns home, he and his son, Telemachus, kill all the men trying to marry Odysseus's wife, Penelope. In the end, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, victory, and war, intervenes. Like many Greek myths, it focuses on themes of love, courage, and revenge.

#13. The Diary of a Young Girl

- Author: Anne Frank - Score: 15,739 - Average rating: 4.18 (based on 3,425,782 ratings)

In 1944, a young Anne Frank recorded her thoughts and feelings as she and other Jewish citizens hid from the German Nazis during World War II. The coming-of-age diary, which chronicles Frank's time hiding in the Secret Annex while she became a young woman, has been translated into 70 languages. While she and most of her family were killed, her father survived and helped publish her work, making it possible for millions to learn her story.

#12. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

- Author: Mark Twain - Score: 16,638 - Average rating: 3.83 (based on 1,228,955 ratings)

Huckleberry Finn is the main character in this follow-up novel to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." The book explores themes of racism as Huck Finn floats down the Mississippi River with a man escaping slavery. Like Huck at the end of his tale, Twain changed his views on slavery and rejected it as an institution.

- Author: George Orwell - Score: 17,337 - Average rating: 4.19 (based on 4,095,733 ratings)

George Orwell describes a dystopian future rife with war and one where the government—led by Big Brother—controls the truth and snuffs out individual thought. The protagonist, Winston Smith, becomes disillusioned with the Party, and he rebels against it. Although it was published in 1949, the novel had a resurgence in 2017.

#10. The Scarlet Letter

- Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne - Score: 17,684 - Average rating: 3.43 (based on 814,235 ratings)

Nathaniel Hawthorne published "The Scarlet Letter" in 1850. In the novel, based on historical events , readers follow the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who is forced to wear a red "A" on her clothes after she conceives a child out of wedlock. She bears the punishment alone when she refuses to name the baby's father. Her character marked one of the first where a strong woman was the protagonist . Hawthorne's novel also touches on themes of hypocrisy, shame, guilt, and love.

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 19,419 - Average rating: 4.03 (based on 875,058 ratings)

Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, becomes vengeful after attending his father's funeral, only to find his mother has remarried Claudius, his uncle. The stepfather crowns himself king, a role that should have gone to Hamlet. The prince finds out his father was murdered, after which he kills the new king. Ambiguity runs through the play and the character of Hamlet, whose visions of ghosts are up for interpretation—are they real or a figment of the troubled man's imagination? The tragedy, which launched the famous line "To be, or not to be… " shines a light on some of the worst traits of humanity . Some consider the play Shakespeare's greatest work .

#8. The Catcher in the Rye

- Author: J.D. Salinger - Score: 19,450 - Average rating: 3.81 (based on 3,262,066 ratings)

J.D. Salinger aptly captures teen angst in "The Catcher in the Rye" when the reader gets a look at three days in the life of its narrator, the 16-year-old Holden Caulfield. The book was an instant success, but some schools have banned it from their libraries and reading lists, citing vulgarity and sexual content.

#7. Of Mice and Men

- Author: John Steinbeck - Score: 19,958 - Average rating: 3.88 (based on 2,350,603 ratings)

"Of Mice and Men" tells the story of George and his simple-minded friend Lennie. The two have to get new jobs on a ranch because of some trouble in Lennie's past. The novel, set during the Great Depression, tackles topics of poverty, sexism, and racism .

#6. Macbeth

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 21,256 - Average rating: 3.90 (based on 822,057 ratings)

Another Shakespeare classic, "Macbeth" portrays the weakness of humanity. The character of Macbeth receives a prophecy that he will one day become king of Scotland. His unchecked ambition ends in murder; Macbeth kills King Duncan to steal the throne for himself. It shows the destructive influence of political ambition and pursuing power for its own sake.

#5. Animal Farm

- Author: George Orwell - Score: 22,478 - Average rating: 3.98 (based on 3,491,043 ratings)

A group of farm animals organizes a revolt after they realize their master, Mr. Jones, is mistreating them and offering them nothing in return for their work. When they challenge the leadership, they are disciplined for speaking out. This classic isn't about animal rights. It is a larger critique of Soviet Communism . Orwell wrote it as an attack against Stalinism in Russia .

#4. Lord of the Flies

- Author: William Golding - Score: 24,079 - Average rating: 3.69 (based on 2,692,219 ratings)

"Lord of the Flies" tells the alarming story of a group of young boys who survive a plane crash, only to descend into tribalism on the island where they landed. Two of the boys—Ralph and Jack—clash in their pursuit of leadership. The novel, which has been challenged in schools , shows how struggles for power based on fear and division can result in a collapse of social order, themes that might seem relevant in the current fraught political climate.

#3. The Great Gatsby

- Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald - Score: 29,912 - Average rating: 3.93 (based on 4,737,607 ratings)

Nick Carraway, a Midwest transplant and Yale graduate, moves to West Egg, Long Island, and enters a world of extravagance when he becomes entangled with millionaire Jay Gatsby and socialite Daisy Buchanan. The novel is viewed as a cautionary tale about achieving the American dream of wealth and excess.

#2. Romeo and Juliet

- Author: William Shakespeare - Score: 34,901 - Average rating: 3.74 (based on 2,430,511 ratings)

Two star-crossed lovers meet and perish in this tragedy. Juliet, a Capulet, falls in love with Romeo, a Montague. Because their families are rivals, they are forbidden to marry. They secretly wed before misfortune leads to their deaths. Losing their children inspires peace among the families. Some critics claim the play's childish view of love hasn't stood the test of time, but others think the story is multilayered and deserves its classic status.

#1. To Kill a Mockingbird

- Author: Harper Lee - Score: 44,390 - Average rating: 4.27 (based on 5,584,470 ratings)

Harper Lee's first novel, published in 1960, tackles issues of racial and social injustice in the South. Set in Alabama, it introduces readers to Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends a Black man accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. The point-of-view comes from Atticus' daughter, Scout, while Boo Radley, their reclusive neighbor, adds another dimension to this classic story of racism and childhood. Lee's work won her a Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Because of some racial language, the book has been challenged in many schools throughout America.

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• Our Mission

25 Essential High School Reads From the Last Decade

We asked members of our community to share recently published novels they would love to have read in high school. Here are your top picks.

Way back in 2016, we asked our community to share what they would consider essential reads for high school students. The final list of 20 recommended books was dominated by what many would consider the classics: John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men , J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye , F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby , Shakespeare’s Macbeth .

For decades, these works have been required reading in classrooms across the country, but more recently educators like Lorena Germán and advocates for the #DisruptTexts movement —not to mention the millions of students who’ve come and gone during the era—have challenged the notion of a traditional canon, advocating for a more “inclusive, representative, and equitable language arts curriculum.”

“There are problems with teaching only classics—the stories are overwhelmingly told from a white and/or male perspective, and more needs to be done to diversify that,” writes eighth-grade English teacher Christina Torres . “In addition, there’s merit in introducing our students to more recent literature.”

This year, we circled back and asked our community a version of the same question—What novels do you wish you could’ve read in high school?—but this time we specified that titles must have been published within the last decade. Hundreds of responses flooded in, and the contrast to six years ago was stark. Nominations were diverse, representing a broad range of topics, themes, genres, and author identities, as well as a wide variety of characters and experiences—queer protagonists and protagonists of color, characters with differing abilities, and fictional roles representing a refreshing spectrum of body sizes and shapes.

The Hate U Give , by Angie Thomas, was a clear standout, earning the most votes and thus the number one spot on our list. Some authors were multiple winners: Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down and All American Boys made the cut, and Nic Stone’s Dear Martin and its sequel Dear Justyce were both favorites, but we selected only one for inclusion in the top 25. While fiction titles represent the lion’s share of the final list, a number of memoirs and autobiographies made the grade, including Malala Yousafzai’s I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban and the comedian and late-night host Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.

The Top 25 Indispensable High School Reads

1. The Hate U Give Angie Thomas’s emotionally wrenching debut novel finds Starr, an African American teen, torn between the affluent, predominantly white school she attends and the impoverished neighborhood where she lives. The fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by a police officer shatters her equilibrium, forcing her to choose where she stands. Primary themes of interest to high school students: identity, race and racial injustice, grief and loss, activism.

2. Educated: A Memoir Tara Westover’s story of growing up alongside—and eventually growing beyond—her decidedly iconoclastic family of Mormon survivalists in rural Idaho is an autobiographical paean to the transformative power of education. Primary themes of interest to high school students: autonomy, family dynamics, learning and education, loneliness and isolation.

3. Dear Martin Author Nic Stone drops readers deep into the life of her 17-year-old main character, Justyce, who suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of an unprovoked, racially charged encounter with a police officer. Primary themes of interest to high school students: privilege, friendship, race and racial injustice, discrimination, the criminal justice system.

4. The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo’s National Book Award–winning novel-in-verse tells the story of Xiomara Batista, a 15-year-old Dominican-American girl living in Harlem who discovers that slam poetry unlocks answers to questions about her religion, her mother, and her identity and greater purpose in life. Primary themes of interest to high school students: sexuality, self-acceptance, family dynamics.

5. Long Way Down Jason Reynolds, author of Ghost and Ain’t Burned All the Bright , thrusts readers inside an elevator alongside 15-year-old protagonist Will Hollomon, who has about 60 seconds to make one of the hardest decisions of his life. Primary themes of interest to high school students: justice, grief and loss, family dynamics.

6. Refugee Three refugee children—each living in separate parts of the world during different time periods, from Nazi Germany to Syria in 2015—fight to escape the violence of their home countries in Alan Gratz’s timely and moving work of historical fiction. Primary themes of interest to high school students: warfare, family dynamics, trauma, the experiences of refugees.

7. Homegoing The Ghanaian American novelist Yaa Gyasi traces the impact of the Gold Coast’s slave trade on the lives of two African stepsisters and several generations of their descendants. Primary themes of interest to high school students: slavery and human rights, identity, race and racial injustice, family dynamics, oppression, trauma.

8. Firekeeper’s Daughter Witnessing a murder launches Angeline Boulley’s protagonist Daunis—a Native teen torn between her white and Ojibwe culture—into an FBI investigation where she must go undercover in search of the truth. Primary themes of interest to high school students: family dynamics, addiction, risk-taking, authority.

9. All The Light We Cannot See Set during World War II, this is Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize–winning tale of two teenagers—a blind French girl on the run and a German boy forced to join the Nazi army—whose separate lives ultimately converge. Primary themes of interest to high school students: warfare, grief and loss, disability, power and conformity.

10. Beartown Author Fredrik Backman investigates the ripple effects of a sexual assault, committed by the star athlete, on a small hockey town in rural Sweden. Primary themes of interest to high school students: justice, trauma, power and conformity.

11. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter A tragic accident causes Erika Sánchez’s main character, Julia, to reflect on the perceived image of her “perfect” sister, Olga—as well as the secrets she may have been hiding. Primary themes of interest to high school students: grief and loss, perfectionism, mental health, sexuality, identity.

12. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Bryan Stevenson’s memoir details his work at the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization providing legal counsel to the wrongfully convicted, as well as those without the funds for effective representation. Primary themes of interest to high school students: the criminal justice system, race and racial injustice, poverty, trauma.

13. Patron Saints of Nothing In Randy Ribay’s National Book Award finalist, 17-year-old Jay Reguero leaves the University of Michigan and returns to his extended family in the Philippines when he learns that his cousin was recently murdered there—all the while secretly planning to investigate the crime. Primary themes of interest to high school students: grief and loss, culture and identity, the criminal justice system, truth and justice.

14. The Invention of Wings Set in the antebellum South, Sue Monk Kidd’s novel explores the meaning of freedom to two girls from vastly different backgrounds—Sarah, a white girl of means, and Handful, a slave gifted to Sarah on her birthday. Primary themes of interest to high school students: friendship, slavery and human rights, race, privilege.

15. The Midnight Library What if you could read your way into another story of your life? In Matt Haig’s charming fantasy novel, 35-year-old Nora Seed peruses the books in an infinite library and discovers that each magical volume gives her a glimpse into a life she might have led. Primary themes of interest to high school students: identity and purpose, mental health, fantasy.

16. The Nickel Boys In this Pulitzer Prize winner, Colson Whitehead’s main character, Elwood Curtis, experiences firsthand the horrors of a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy—based on the real-life Dozier School for Boys, a now-closed reform school in Florida with a 111-year history of abusing students. Primary themes of interest to high school students: activism, trauma, abuse, race and racial injustice.

17. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row Convicted of a crime he did not commit, Anthony Ray Hinton relates the story of his 30 years on death row. Cowritten with Lara Love Hardin, the memoir reveals not only how he managed to survive but also how he ultimately found his way to joy. Primary themes of interest to high school students: race and racial injustice, redemption, innocence and guilt, the criminal justice system.

18. The Tattooist of Auschwitz Inspired by true events, this is Heather Morris’s heart-wrenching World War II tale about Lale Sokolov, a Jewish man who—forced to work at Auschwitz as a serial number tattooist—falls in love with an imprisoned woman as she waits to be branded. Primary themes of interest to high school students: warfare, race and racial injustice, the power of love.

19. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood Comedian and political commentator Trevor Noah’s memoir mines his experiences as a mixed-race child in apartheid South Africa—a period during which the Immorality Act of 1927 outlawed interracial relationships, ostensibly making Noah’s very existence a crime. Primary themes of interest to high school students: identity and purpose, race and racial injustice, oppression.

20. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban Written by the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai’s memoir tells the story of her fight for the rights of young girls and women in Pakistan—despite an assassination attempt that gravely wounded her in 2012, when she was only 15 years old. Primary themes of interest to high school students: activism, women’s rights, learning and education.

21. The Marrow Thieves Cherie Dimaline’s book is a dystopian vision of a bleak, postapocalyptic world in which humans have lost the ability to dream—except for North America’s Indigenous population, who are hunted for their bone marrow, which holds the key to a cure. Primary themes of interest to high school students: trauma, the climate crisis, family dynamics, oppression.

22. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe In this novel set in 1987, author Benjamin Alire Sáenz traces the story of two Mexican American boys, Aristotle and Dante, who could not be more different but form a bond that makes them confidants—and gives them the courage to share life-changing secrets. Primary themes of interest to high school students: identity and purpose, sexuality, self-acceptance, trauma.

23. Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel Jesmyn Ward’s dark but lyrical tale follows a Mississippi family on a road trip haunted by ghosts of the past and present. Primary themes of interest to high school students: race and racial injustice, identity and belonging, mortality.

24. The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives In this journalistic piece of nonfiction, author Dashka Slater reveals the complexities of what transpired between two teenagers on a bus in Oakland, California—Sasha and Richard—and the aftermath that ultimately transformed two families. Primary themes of interest to high school students: gender and sexuality, race, discrimination, the criminal justice system.

25. The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet Adapted from his podcast of the same name, John Green’s humorous collection of 44 essays covers topics ranging from the computer-generated velociraptors in the movie Jurassic Park and sunsets to air conditioners and penguins—rating them all on a five-star scale. Primary themes of interest to high school students: the human condition, mental health, humor and absurdity, the climate crisis.

100 Best Books of All Time for High School Students

29 Mar, 2024 | Blog Articles , English Language Articles , Get the Edge , Humanities Articles , Writing Articles

Classic literature

Classic literature refers to any book whose place in the Canon is firmly cemented. These are books that have been handed down from one generation to the next – sometimes across hundreds of years. 

These books have been studied at universities and schools for as long as any of us can remember, and scholars are still finding new and exciting angles for text analysis to this day.

1. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871)

Considered to be one of the greatest novels of the Victorian era, Mary Ann Evans wrote Middlemarch under her pen name, George Eliot, to escape the stereotypes associated with female authorship during her lifetime. 

Set in the fictional town of Middlemarch, the novel delves into issues as diverse as marriage, religion, politics and education, and is as essential today as it was in the 19 th century.

2. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1856)

Madame Bovary is the most celebrated work by Gustave Flaubert, the French master of literary realism. In 1914, the book was dubbed a perfect work of fiction by author, Henry James:

‘ Madame Bovary has a perfection that not only stamps it, but that makes it stand almost alone: it holds itself with such a supreme unapproachable assurance as both excites and defies judgement.’

Its tale of a loveless marriage is as poignant today as it was when it was published.

3. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four has become so influential since its release, that even if you haven’t read it yourself, you’ll likely recognise much of the parlance he coined in the novel, like ‘big brother’, ‘doublethink’ and ‘thought police’. 

A chilling tale of the consequences of totalitarianism and mass surveillance, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a must-read for anyone interested in political history.

4. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1855)

One of the great realist writers of the Victorian period, Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels focus on the trials and tribulations of working-class life in the newly industrialised England. 

Her best known work, North and South , follows protagonist, Margaret Hale, as she moves from the south of England to the north, and witnesses the ruthless world of industrial northern England and its effects on cotton-mill workers.

5. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

Ralph Ellison’s vivid, ground-breaking novel, which explores the issues faced by Black Americans in the early 20 th century, has been called ‘a masterpiece’ by writer, Anthony Burgess. 

The book follows its narrator, invisible ‘simply because people refuse to see me’, from the American South to Harlem, New York. It’s as important in depicting the psychological and social effects of racism today as it was upon its release.

6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice explores love, class and family in a rich, warm satire that’s funny, charming and lucidly portrays the period in which it was written. 

As a historical document, it’s fascinating, but Austen’s writing has ensured that it remains timeless – evidenced by the dozens of adaptations that have been made in the past two centuries!

7. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is a sinister exploration of morality and desire. The novel follows Dorian, a hedonistic young man who no longer ages. Meanwhile, a portrait – painted by his friend, Basil Hallward, and hidden away in an attic – ages in Dorian’s place. 

Short and dramatic, Dorian Gray is the perfect novel to spend a quiet weekend engrossed in.

8. The Trial by Franz Kafka (1925)

Even if you’ve never read Kafka, you’ve likely heard something referred to as ‘Kafkaesque’. Kafka’s writing frequently explores bureaucracy, anxiety and alienation, and The Trial is no different. 

It tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested by an authority who won’t reveal to him (nor the reader) the nature of his crime. Maddening and existential, Kafka is a master of placing the reader into the minds of his characters, with all the anxiety and uncertainty that that entails.

9. Moby-Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville (1851)

Considered by many the great American novel, Moby-Dick tells the tale of the sailor, Captain Ahab, and his quest for vengeance against a giant whale who tore off his leg during a past voyage. 

A commercial failure upon its publication, it enjoyed a much-deserved reappraisal in the 20th-century, with writer, D.H. Lawrence, calling it:

‘One of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world.’

10. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

The debut novel by Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart explores pre-colonial Nigeria and the life of Okonkwo, a proud warrior. 

As Okonkwo’s world begins to unravel, readers are left to consider the broader impact of colonialism and cultural imperialism. Poignant and powerful, Things Fall Apart is essential reading for anyone passionate about literature and world history.

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Thanks for signing up, contemporary masterpieces.

Thousands and thousands of new books are published each year. Inevitably, some are better than others, but the joy of reading contemporary literature is trying to discern which ones will end up as classics themselves one day! 

Here are ten contemporary masterpieces that we think deserve their place amongst the greats of history.

11. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

British-Japanese author, Kazuo Ishiguro, has tried his hand at genres ranging from fantasy to science fiction, but his 1989 novel, The Remains of the Day, is one of his most highly regarded. 

A tender and heart-breaking story of an English butler who examines his painful past, Ishiguro expertly examines themes of national identity, memory and class.

12. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

Ian McEwan is one of the most celebrated writers of the past few decades, and Atonement is his most dazzling novel. 

A meditation on the power of love and art, the novel contains rich intertextual references to a number of other great novels, making it a treat for any student of literary history.

13. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (2019)

Bernardine Evaristo’s eighth novel won the coveted Booker Prize, and fans of the book include former United States President Barack Obama. 

Following the lives of twelve characters navigating Britain across time, Girl, Woman, Other explores themes from identity to love as Evaristo demonstrates the potent power of literary fiction.

14. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (1993)

Irish novelist, Roddy Doyle, tells the story of Paddy, a ten-year old boy in Dublin in the 1960s. 

Doyle writes in the tone of an Irish child, creating a lucid and unforgettable character who will stay with you long after you put the book down.

15. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, set in a near-future New England, is a frightening tale of political suppression and patriarchy. 

The book cemented Atwood’s place as one of the most important feminist writers of the twentieth century, with The Guardian calling it:

‘Fiercely political and bleak, yet witty and wise.’

16. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

Beloved is Toni Morrison’s powerful and fervent masterpiece. It tells the story of a dysfunctional family of formerly enslaved Americans, whose home is haunted by a vengeful spirit. 

The novel won a Pulitzer Prize upon its publication, and has since been voted the best work of contemporary American fiction by The New York Times .

17. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (1999)

Another Booker Prize winner, South African writer J.M. Coetzee’s story of shame, reputation and family is searing and deftly written. 

A favourite author of critics and academics, Coetzee is an expert at exploring broad and timeless themes in everyday, ordinary situations.

18. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (2014)

American poet, Claudia Rankine, released her book-length prose-poem, Citizen: An American Lyric, to acclaim in 2014. 

Exploring racism in contemporary America, the New Yorker called it:

‘An especially vital book for this moment in time.’

19. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

Alice Walker’s epistolary novel, The Color Purple, explores the experiences of Black American women in the early 20th century. 

A story of faith and self-empowerment, it’s undoubtedly a modern classic and has since been adapted for screen and stage.

20. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (1995)

In his novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Japanese author, Haruki Murakami, tells the story of Toru, a young man living in Tokyo whose daily routines are interrupted by a series of chaotic events. 

Generally considered his masterpiece, the novel explores Japanese cultural norms, free will and solitude.

Cultural epics

Beginning far back in ancient history, epics are some of the earliest examples of literature, often originating from oral storytelling of distant lands and bloody conquests. 

Many modern and contemporary authors still adapt and retell epic stories today, so here are some of our favourites from the past to the present.

2 1. The Odyssey by Homer (9 th Century BC)

The Odyssey , an ancient Greek epic poem, is one of the oldest works of literature in existence and is still widely read today. 

It follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca, on his journey home from the Trojan War. From James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece Ulysses to the American film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Odyssey has been adapted and reinterpreted for centuries.

22. Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667)

John Milton’s epic masterpiece, Paradise Lost, tells the biblical story of the fall of man, or the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan. 

According to historians, Milton was blind when he composed his epic, dictating the entire text to his daughter over the span of several years – a testament to the extraordinary power of his memory and imagination!

23. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1321)

Dante’s Divine Comedy takes readers on a journey through the realms of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, guided by the Roman poet, Virgil, and Dante’s idealised love, Beatrice. It explores morality, justice and the Christian afterlife. 

Literary historians suggest that Dante was the first writer to depict human beings as products of their particular time and place, rather than the mythic archetypes common to Greek epics.

24. The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser (1590)

The Faerie Queene provides a glimpse into the culture of the Renaissance period, exploring themes such as courtly love, chivalry and mythical quests. 

A master of allegory, each major character in Spenser’s epic represents a specific virtue or vice. For example, the villainous Duessa embodies Falsehood.

25. Metamorphoses by Ovid (8 th Century AD)

Ovid’s magnum opus, Metamorphoses , weaves together many different Greek and Roman myths to explore the themes of transformation and change. 

The epic has been a source of inspiration for countless artists and writers across the centuries, from Botticelli to Shakespeare .

26. The Iliad by Homer (8 th Century BC)

Another Homerian epic, this time concerning the events of the Trojan War itself and the wrath of the Greek warrior, Achilles. 

If you thought being obsessive about your favourite book was a modern phenomenon, you’d be wrong! It’s said that the ancient Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great, slept with a copy of The Iliad under his pillow each night.

27. Beowulf by Anonymous (Unknown)

Although its author and exact date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars, Beowulf is the oldest and one of the most important works of Old English literature. It tells the story of the titular warrior and his confrontation with monsters and dragons. 

The Lord of the Rings author, J.R.R. Tolkien was deeply influenced by Beowulf, giving many lectures on the text during his time as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford.

28. Song of Myself by Walt Whitman (1855)

Adapting the epic form in the 19th century, American poet, Walt Whitman, explores and celebrates both the individuality and the interconnectedness of all human beings in his scintillating vision of America. 

It’s worth considering how Whitman references, and deviates from, the epic form in Song of Myself .

29. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)

James Joyce’s magnificent, daring and strange modernist epic, Ulysses, reimagines Homer’s Odyssey in the context of a single day in Dublin. 

Although its connection to Homer isn’t always clear, neither is anything else in the novel! Its ground-breaking narrative, linguistic and formal techniques were unlike anything that came before it in the history of literature.

30. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1955)

A modern epic inspired by the epic greats that came before it, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy follows many of the same patterns as its predecessors: quests, fantastical creatures and allegory. 

Tolkien’s books revitalised the epic as a genre, inspiring a generation of fantasy writers from George R.R. Martin to Terry Pratchett.

Global perspectives

One of the great joys of literature is the glimpse it offers into countries and cultures that we might never otherwise visit or encounter. 

Here are ten important books from around the globe!

31. Petals of Blood by Ngūgī wa Thiong’o (1977)

Kenyan author, Ngūgī wa Thiong’o, explores the complex political landscape of postcolonial Kenya in this important novel. 

Thiong’o made significant contributions, not only to the global literary canon, but in his championing of indigenous languages in African literature, a commitment that led to his imprisonment in 1977.

32. Notebook of a Return to My Native Land by Aimè Césaire (1939)

Césaire’s masterpiece, a book-length prose-poem which explores colonial identity and the quest for cultural authenticity, is a must-read for any student interested in global literature. 

Born and writing in the Caribbean island of Martinique, Césaire’s influence can be keenly felt in the literature and activism that sprung from his vivid and breath-taking work.

33. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

British-Indian writer, Salman Rushdie, won a Booker prize for his novel, Midnight’s Children, which has sold over a million copies in the UK alone. 

It’s a magical realist story, serving as a loose allegory for the British partition of India in 1947.

34. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa (1987)

Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands is part poetry, part prose, part essay and part memoir. It explores the ethnic and social community of her youth on the border between Mexico and the United States. 

Borderlands reflects how she and her community have been shaped by borders, switching between English and Spanish, as well as North Mexican and Tex-Mex dialects, to create a new language: the language of the borderland.

35. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

Hosseini’s powerful and poignant novel explores friendship, betrayal and redemption against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s tumultuous history between 1963 and 2001. 

Hosseini, an Afghan-American novelist, draws on his own experiences, and the experiences of his family, to write this best-selling book.

36. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1878)

A classic of Russian literature, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina explores the intricacies of love, morality and societal norms in 19th-century Russia. 

The novel contains many now-ubiquitous lines, including “all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This line is so well-known that it even has a psychological principle named after it: the Anna Karenina Principle.

37. Mrs. Spring Fragrance by Sui Sin Far (1912)

The short story collection, Mrs. Spring Fragrance, is famous for being the earliest piece of fiction published by an author of mixed Chinese and White descent. 

It provides a glimpse into the lives of early Chinese immigrants in the United States, and explores identity and assimilation in the early 20th century.

38. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967)

Colombian author Márquez’s mesmerising tale, spanning seven generations of the Buendía family, blends fantasy with history, offering a rich exploration of Latin American culture and history. 

Márquez supposedly drew inspiration for the novel from the stories of his grandmother, lending the novel its gripping authenticity.

39. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844)

Dumas’ exhilarating adventure novel follows the story of Edmond Dantés on his journey of vengeance. 

Set against the backdrop of post-Napoleonic France, the novel holds a firm place in the canon of French and global literature.

40. Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (1966)

Sudanese author Salih’s postcolonial masterpiece explores European colonialism, power dynamics and cultural dislocation. 

Season of Migration to the North is one of the most celebrated texts written in Arabic, and has since been translated into more than 20 languages. Acclaimed academic, Edward Said, called it one of the six great works of Arabic literature.

Underrepresented voices

Great literature evocatively and skilfully brings us into the inner world of its characters, shining a spotlight on often marginalised voices.

Here are ten important books written by – or portraying – underrepresented voices.

41. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956)

After publishing his first novel about growing up in a Pentecostal family in Harlem, New York in the early 20th century, Baldwin seeks inspiration from his life as a gay man for his tender, affecting second novel, Giovanni’s Room . 

In 2019, BBC News listed the novel as one of the hundred most influential books of all time.

42. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943)

Betty Smith’s semi-autobiographical story recounts the experience of growing up in 1910’s Brooklyn, New York as a second-generation immigrant of Irish and Austrian ancestors. 

The protagonist, Francie, is vividly written and completely unforgettable, as is the novel itself.

43. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African by Olaudah Equiano (1789)

This captivating autobiography by a former slave is not only a gripping piece of writing but also a stunning historical document. 

Equiano tells the story of his enslavement in Africa and his eventual freedom, imploring 18th-century Britain to consider the abolition of slavery.

44. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997)

Arundhati Roy’s novel set in Kerala, India tells the story of fraternal twins Rahel and Estha. It explores the Indian caste system, colonialism and the repercussions of breaking societal boundaries. 

The God of Small Things is yet another Booker Prize winner, with Roy becoming the first Indian woman to receive the award.

45. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1977)

Ceremony is a compelling novel which follows Tayo, a Laguna Pueblo man and World War II veteran grappling with the psychological and spiritual aftermath of war. 

A novel very much worth reading for its rich portrayal of indigenous American culture, Tayo finds solace in Native American traditions and ceremonies.

46. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2003)

Persepolis deviates from our list so far – it’s actually a graphic novel. Although many don’t realise it, graphic novels are a form of writing (and art!) that are beginning to receive more and more attention in academia and literary study. Reading Persepolis , it’s easy to see why. 

This vivid story recounting the author’s childhood and early adulthood in Iran, during and after the Islamic Revolution, is a fascinating and fulfilling read.

47. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (1977)

This powerful novel depicts the life of a woman on death row in an Egyptian prison, revealing the injustices and hardships she has faced in a patriarchal society.

Its exploration of gender, oppression and resilience are profound and essential for the bookshelf of any student interested in feminist literature.

48. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)

Between the World and Me is a powerful letter from the author to his teenage son, exploring the complexities of being a Black American. 

Its lyrical and intimate exploration of race and systemic inequality won Coates a National Book Award for nonfiction in 2015.

49. My Left Foot by Christy Brown (1954)

The artist and writer Christy Brown’s compelling autobiography follows his experience of learning to write and paint using only his left foot, despite his cerebral palsy. 

My Left Foot is inspiring in its portrayal of determination and resilience, and was adapted into a film in 1989, winning Daniel Day-Lewis an Oscar for Best Actor.

50. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Allison Bechdel (2006)

Another graphic novel, Fun Home is a funny but heart-rending memoir from writer, artist and feminist activist, Allison Bechdel. 

The book explores familial relationships, sexuality and mortality, and is as fantastically written as it is gorgeously illustrated.

Genre fiction often has a reputation of being unliterary, but we’re here to bust that myth! 

Here are ten seminal works of genre fiction, from horror to sci-fi, that are literary masterpieces and intriguing page-turners.

51. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

Bram Stoker’s vampiric epic, Dracula, is as creepy and frightening today as it must have been over 200 years ago. 

The novel has been adapted for the screen over 30 times, and while Stoker’s characters – from Dracula to Van Helsing – are ubiquitous to popular culture, nothing quite beats the original.

52. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley (1818)

Mary Shelley’s ground-breaking Gothic horror explores ambition, responsibility and the consequences of playing god. 

An enduring, foundational piece of science-fiction and horror, Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was just 18 years old.

53. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1931)

Brave New World presents a dystopian vision of the future in which technology, conditioning and a caste system control every aspect of humanity. 

Huxley wrote a letter to George Orwell praising his novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, but suggesting that his own vision of the future might be more accurate in predicting the future – decide for yourself!

54. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Another dystopian classic, this time depicting a future in which books are banned and “firemen” burn any that are found. 

Bradbury’s novel is a chilling depiction of censorship, and the line ‘there must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing,’ is a defiant ode to the power of literature itself.

55. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)

Raymond Chandler is a master of detective fiction. His most celebrated novel , The Big Sleep , follows private investigator, Philip Marlow, as he becomes enveloped in a complex web of crime in the dark underbelly of Los Angeles. 

Chandler’s style has had a permanent impact on crime literature, as well as film.

56. The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick (1962)

Phillip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle is an essential novel in the genre of alternative history. 

Imagining a world in which the Axis powers have won World War II, and the United States is divided between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Dick’s novel is thought-provoking and imaginative.

57. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1968)

Le Guin’s fantasy novels have consistently challenged the conventions of the genre in exciting and profound ways. 

A Wizard of Earthsea was one of the first fantasy novels to feature a non-European setting, and has had a profound influence on subsequent works in the genre.

58. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel, Jane Eyre, is considered the high-watermark of romantic fiction. 

Following the passionate and tumultuous love story between a governess and her employer, the novel offers a rich and nuanced exploration of character, love and society.

59. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955)

Patricia Highsmith’s first novel in her series about the charming, psychopathic killer Tom Ripley is a classic slice of crime thriller. 

Set against a gorgeous backdrop of mid-century Europe, Highsmith examines the post-war American psyche with vigour.

60. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)

Another seminal work of horror fiction, Jackson’s novel expertly weaves psychological terror with paranormal investigation. 

At this point, the haunted house is a cliché in film and literary horror, but it all began in Shirley Jackson’s terrifying Hill House .

Philosophical writing

Great novelists are able to grapple with existential, philosophical themes as deftly as any celebrated philosopher. 

Here are ten of the best philosophical texts ever written – perfect for the bookshelf of any reflective student.

61. The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)

Meursault, the protagonist of The Stranger , navigates a detached and indifferent world, leading to a seemingly inexplicable crime. 

Camus’ portrayal of existentialism and absurdism in The Stranger helped gain him a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.

62. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (1927)

A monumental work by the master of memory, Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time is a powerful and profound examination of the human experience and time. Author, Edmund White, has called it:

‘The most respected novel of the 20th century.’

63. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (1943)

One of the most ground-breaking philosophers of the 20th-century, Sartre’s philosophical novel, Nausea, grapples with existential angst and absurdity. Written in 1938, it intelligently reflects the climate leading up to World War II.

64. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866)

Written following Dostoevsky’s ten-year exile in Siberia, Crime and Punishment explores morality, guilt and redemption in this novel informed by the author’s own punishment. 

This masterful novel also inspired an earlier entry in our list: Kafka’s The Trial.

65. Molloy by Samuel Beckett (1951)

Samuel Beckett is best known for his plays, including the existentialist masterpiece Waiting for Godot , but his novel, Molloy, is just as existential and absurd. 

Beckett originally wrote the novel in his second language (French) because he was less fluent in it, believing it gave his writing a more simplistic and direct style.

66. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (1924)

Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain provides a nuanced perspective on the prelude to the First World War, following protagonist, Hans Castorp, as he grapples with time, illness and the philosophical discussions of patients in a Swiss sanatorium.

67. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (2004)

Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a modern philosophical masterpiece. Exploring contemporary concerns about globalisation and technology, this dazzling novel weaves together six interconnected stories spanning time – and even genre!

68. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)

The Road follows a father and son navigating the desolate landscape of a post-apocalyptic world. Throughout the novel, McCarthy starkly portrays the human condition and muses ethical questions in the face of adversity.  

Before his death in 2023, McCarthy was considered one of the greatest living writers and will no doubt go down as a modern great.

69. White Noise by Don DeLillo (1985)

Exploring a fear of death in a newly technological society, White Noise is a classic of postmodern fiction. Its satirical take on consumer culture combines with a depiction of contemporary anxiety to capture the cultural atmosphere of the late 20th-century with aplomb.

70. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (1967)

Another philosophical novel, another Russian master – this time, from the 20th-century! 

Bulgakov’s novel tells the story of Satan visiting Moscow to challenge the moral and ideological foundations of society. Its rich blend of satire and fantasy offers a critique of Soviet society, but more profoundly, explores the basis of good and evil. As such, it was censored until its eventual publication in 1967 – 30 years after it was written.

Historical narratives

We can learn a lot about history by reading books from any given time period, but it can be just as fascinating to explore historical fiction, written by contemporary authors, drawing parallels between the modern day and the historical past. 

Here are ten of our favourite historical narratives from across time.   

7 1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)

Wolf Hall is Hilary Mantel’s masterpiece of political intrigue in the court of Tudor England. Told through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, the novel is a wonderful portrayal of power dynamics and moral complexities, earning her a Booker Prize in 2009.

72. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

Catch-22 is a smart and perceptive satire on the absurdity of war and bureaucracy, following the story of Captain John Yossarian through World War II. The novel coined the term “catch-22”, meaning a no-win situation.

73. The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis (2014)

Martin Amis’ chilling historical fiction, The Zone of Interest, portrays the inner lives of Nazi officials overseeing the Auschwitz death camp in Germany. The book has recently been turned into an acclaimed film by director, Jonathan Glazer.

74. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)

Although best known for his satirical and timeless satires of Victorian England, Dickens’ historical epic, A Tale of Two Cities, is one of his best-loved books. 

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, its portrayal of sacrifice, resurrection and justice is whip-smart and incredibly compelling.

75. American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997)

The first instalment of his loose ‘American trilogy’, Philip Roth’s American Pastoral is perhaps his most well-loved work. 

Exploring the disintegration of the American Dream in the 1960s during the Lyndon B. Johnson presidency, the sublime American Pastoral earned Roth the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1998.

76. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo (1831)

French author, Victor Hugo, transports readers to medieval Paris, and the life of the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo, in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame . 

The text’s rich historical and architectural detail has been celebrated not only as a prominent work of fiction, but for actually inspiring the preservation of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris!

77. The Scarlet Letter: A Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)

Hawthorne’s classic work of American literature, The Scarlet Letter , explores the consequences of societal expectations in Puritan New England, and is a fascinating insight into the beginning of European Settlement in America.

78. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon (1997)

A postmodernist master, Thomas Pynchon’s foray into historical fiction is as rich and complex as any of his other celebrated novels. 

Mason & Dixon tells the story of two famous 18th-century surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, and is an intricate exploration of both history and science.

79. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

It’s rare you’ll find a list of the most important novels of all time without seeing To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s story of racial injustice in the American South in the 1930s is a must-read for students of literature.

80. Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow (1975)

Doctorow vividly captures the spirit of early 20th-century America in Ragtime , a novel which weaves together the stories of several fictional and historical characters to innovatively blend fact with fiction. 

This radical and exciting novel has since been adapted for the stage as a musical.

Experimental literature

To read widely across different time periods is to observe how writing changes from one generation to the next, sometimes radically. 

This kind of evolution wouldn’t be possible without authors keen to experiment with the tools at their disposal, creating new methods of self-expression in the process!

81. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway is considered the high-point of modernist literature. Her revolutionary use of stream-of-consciousness prose – aimed at reflecting the inner monologue of her characters – helped change literature forever. 

Author, Michael Cunningham, has called Mrs Dalloway :

‘One of the most moving, revolutionary artworks of the 20th century.’

82. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

A classic of Harlem Renaissance literature, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel was initially poorly received. It has since become a coveted classic, with TIME naming it one of the hundred best novels of the past century. 

Her use of Black Southern vernacular is a daring and original way of developing character in her work, and has been emulated in many contemporary texts.

83. Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (1914)

Early American modernist, Gertrude Stein, was a friend of leading artistic figures in the early 20th century including Pablo Picasso and Ezra Pound. 

In her ground-breaking work of prose-poetry , Tender Buttons , she expertly demonstrates her fascination with the basic structures of language and sound.

84. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

Jack Kerouac was a leading light in the Beat Generation, an experimental literary group of American writers. In his strange and seminal novel, On the Road , Kerouac explores travel, jazz, poetry and subculture, which Thomas Pynchon describes as:

‘One of the great American novels.’

85. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino (1979)

A postmodern classic, Italian author Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler is a fascinating exploration of metafiction and the reading process. The first section of each chapter is addressed in second person to the reader, describing the process of reading itself.

86. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

Inspired by Vonnegut’s own trauma, the satirical anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse-Five , is his most celebrated work. 

Much like Calvino, Vonnegut’s writing utilises metafiction to examine the process of reading and writing. The first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five is written as an author’s preface, detailing Calvino’s experience of writing the novel. This unconventional narrative structure has continued to inspire generations of writers since its release.

87. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (2014)

Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation takes the well-worn science-fiction genre and gives it a new, experimental edge. The first in a trilogy, it tells the story of a mysterious area known as ‘Area X’, which fascinates and terrifies researchers in equal measure. 

An engrossing exploration of climate change and bureaucracy, Annihilation is experimental literature for the 21st century.

88. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot’s long, landmark modernist poem reflects the disillusionment of a society in the aftermath of World War One. 

Its fragmented structure and diverse allusions are haunting and complex, and to this day, academics are still trying to unravel its rich web of references.

89. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

Hunter S. Thompson invented a new genre of writing with his semi-autobiographical novels: gonzo journalism. 

A method of writing in which the author places themselves into strange and intriguing spaces, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is gonzo journalism’s high-water mark. The novel explores hedonism and 1960s counter-culture in an exciting, darkly hilarious way.

90. No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (2021)

Patricia Lockwood’s poignant and affecting novel, No One Is Talking About This, is truly literary experimentation for the 2020s. 

Mostly written on her iPhone, the novel’s exploration of social media and its troubling relationship to reality is funny and heart-breaking in equal measure. It’s essential for anyone interested in how authors are still experimenting with literature to this day. 

Multigenerational sagas

Novels hold a power that we don’t: they can traverse across time, exploring the inner lives of several generations at once. Multigenerational novels are powerful in both their personal examination of family and their unique historical perspectives.

9 1. Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979)

Octavia Butler’s gripping and affecting Afrofuturist adventure isn’t your typical science-fiction novel. It tells the story of a contemporary Black American, Dana, who begins travelling back in time by accident, her life intertwining with that of her ancestors. 

Kindred explores slavery, family ties and modern identity in a profound way.

92. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

Steinbeck’s epic, East of Eden, spans several generations of the Trask and Hamilton families, offering a modern retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel. 

Its exploration of good and evil and complex family relationships demonstrates why Steinbeck is still so passionately studied in schools to this day.

93. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

In Middlesex, we follow the Stephanides family over several decades, exploring identity, gender and the immigrant experience. Its searing social commentary won its author the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

94. Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley (1976)

Alex Haley’s semi-autobiographical novel was a cultural phenomenon upon its publication. It traces the Black American writer’s family across generations, from the capture of his ancestor, Kunta Kinte, in Africa to the struggle of his recent descendants in America.

95. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler (1903)

Initially censored due to its controversial content, Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh is now a celebrated piece of 20th-century literature. Its story spans several generations of the Pontifex family, providing a satirical critique of Victorian society.

96. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence (1913)

Modernist master, D.H. Lawrence, tells the story of the Morel family in Sons and Lovers . Its psychological depth, vivid characters and expertly written prose make it one of Lawrence’s very best pieces of work.

97. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929)

Faulkner’s staple of American literature, The Sound and the Fury , explores the history of the American South by way of the Compson family’s decline over several decades. 

Utilising Faulkner’s typical style of stream-of-consciousness and unconventional narrative structure, this profound novel is worthy of any bookshelf.

98. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (1982)

Allende’s magical realist story of the Trueba family in Chile explores not only the changes in familial relations over time, but in politics and society at large.

This novel began as a letter from Allende to her dying grandfather, which she began writing on 8th January, 1981. Following this novel, Allende began writing all her books on January 8th!

99. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017)

In Pachinko , Min Jin Lee traverses the lives of several generations of a Korean family living in Japan, exploring identity, discrimination and resilience. 

The New York Times named it one of the best books of 2017, and its stature is only likely to grow.

100. The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst (2017)

Alan Hollinghurst’s cross-generational saga deftly tracks the changing attitudes to homosexuality in Britain, from the Second World War to the present day. 

One of the Booker Prize winner’s most ambitious and affecting novels, The Sparsholt Affair will leave a lasting impact, offering readers a new perspective on British social history.

We hope this list serves as a guide to the rich and complex history of literature, and that it gives you a taste of the kind of texts you might encounter at university and beyond. 

Happy reading!

Sam is a recent English graduate from the University of Bristol whose interests include twentieth-century fiction, film, and cultural criticism.

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31 Student-Approved Books to Read for High School

September 21, 2020 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   3 Comments

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Are you looking for must-have books to read for high school students? Read on, teacher friend!

If you are like me, you know the value of independent reading in your high school English classroom. 

But if you are also like me, you may struggle at times to match reluctant readers to books they will enjoy. 

I’ve spent a lot of time reading young adult books, talking to the LRC ladies at my school, and browsing the interwebs in search of books to add to my mental list of book recommendations for students. 

In this post, I’ll share my favorite books to recommend to student readers that have “hooked” students in my own classroom or that I am eager to try next year.

Sci-Fi / Fantasy Book Recommendations

If it seems like a lot of YA books are sci fi and/or fantasy, you are right. There is a growing pool of great books that students love reading. And this is my personal favorite category, so it comes first!

Delirium is a part of a trilogy along with subsequent books Pandemonium and Requiem . Dystopia, forbidden love, resistance, rebellion. Teen readers eat these up!

Unwind Series

What if your parents could sign up to “unwind” you, a.k.a. human organ and tissue donation, without your consent? Follow the story of three teenagers who escape from their own unwinding and discover America’s dirty little secret while making the reader think about what it means to be human and philosophical questions of morality, power, and control.

Scythe Series

Fast forward into the future, where the world has managed to totally get rid of problems such as hunger and sickness. Sounds ideal, right? Well, not if scythes roam the world as a form of population control. Follow the story of two apprentice scythes who must be trained in the art of death. 

This book is engrossing as it explores the spread of false memory syndrome and its impact on the main characters and, possibly, time itself. 

If your high school students like this book, then there are two more to round out the triad. In this story, teens who come from different backgrounds are chosen to compete for the opportunity to travel through space to Nyxia. If chosen, they could make life better not only for themselves, but also for their loved ones back home, but will they have to sacrifice themselves in the process? 

What would you do for water? California’s drought is out of control, and the main character, after losing her parents, must protect her brother and make tough choices. This is a book I’ve added to my personal reading list so that I can recommend to students.

Graphic Memoir Recommendations

Graphic novels are quick and accessible for reluctant readers, so I had to include a few of my favorites to this list of books to read for high school students. What all of these books have in common is that they are so much more than comic books. They tell true stories with meaningful artwork that help students grapple with serious topics such as racism and addiction.

The first in a graphic novel trilogy, March tells the true story of John Lewis set against the backdrop of Jim Crow and the Civil War. A must-read for any student! 

They Called Us Enemy

This memoir takes us behind the barbed wire of the Japanese internment camp during WW2 where George Takei found spent years of his childhood. This book will make students think about racism and American identity.

Jarrett’s mother is an addict, his father is gone, and he lives with his grandparents. He uses his art as a creative outlet and tries to be “normal,” but will later find out the truth about his family. 

When Stars Are Scattered

Somali refugee brothers Omar and Hassan have spent most of their lives in a Kenyan refugee camp. One of the brothers gets the opportunity to pursue an education, but must leave the other brother behind.

Romance Recommendations

Well, every high school book list has to have at least a couple of romance titles, I suppose…

Everything, Everything

This book is one that has both an interesting concept and engaging writing. The main character is allergic to everything and lives in her house, closed off from the outside world. That is, until she meets the boy next door…

The Beginning of Everything

Ezra thought he had his life all figured out, until his girlfriend cheated on him, he broke his leg, and he fell in love with the new girl.

The Sun is Also a Star

This is a sweet love story between an about-to-be-deported girl and a boy who is Yale-bound and does everything right. This book will make students fall in love with the characters and think about topics such as family, love, and immigration

Written in Verse

It would not be hyperbole to say that these books are stunning. I’m not usually a fan of books in verse, but these ones had me at hello and should definitely be a part of your list o’ books to read for high school students.

With the Fire on High

If you ever read The Poet X (also a book my students love), this next work by the same author will have your students cheering on the main character, a teen mother, and her cooking dreams.

House Arrest

It’s easy to get inside the main character’s head as he grapples with choices, both good and bad and somewhere in-between. Despite its serious subject matter, this book will have you laughing and entertained.

A Long Way Down

This book explores teen gun violence and has collected a lot of accolades, but the best award it receives every year is the handful of my students who sit gued to its pages, not saying a word, because they couldn’t wait to read it during reading time.

Realistic Fiction

If a student tells me that he or she “hates to read,” one of these titles usually does the trick. A lot of these titles explore personal identity, making the main characters relatable for students.

Neanderthal Opens Door to the Universe

Your students will enjoy following the protagonist, a decidedly large and unpopular high school student, as he teams up with the school quarterback in his mission to make the school a better place. With lots of twists and turns, including a surprise at the end, students will think about identity and friendship. Add it to your list of books to read for high school teenage boys! 

Kiera is the smart girl in school who creates an online community of Black gamers in her role-playing game by the name of Slay. Unfortunately, her identity and online space come under attack, and she must try to protect her secret identity. 

Mary, the protagonist, “allegedly” killed a white baby. After serving time and ending up in a group home, Mary inevitably has to confront her past, revealing who she really is in the process.

Orbiting Jupiter

After getting everything taken from him, including his infant daughter, and serving time in juvenile detention, Joseph ends up at a foster home, meeting Jack who will do anything to help him find his daughter.

The Other Side

Life is all a matter of perspective, and it takes a girl named Alice to help Toby see the good in himself despite his past.

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

This historical fiction story is set against a historical backdrop as musician, Frankie Presto, goes on a journey that will tug at your heartstrings and remind you a bit of the story of Forrest Gump.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Julia is not perfect, and she feels pressure to be something that she is not. This book explores what it is like to grow up in an immigrant family, stuck between two worlds. 

In this book, Sadie tries her whole life to protect her younger sister from harm, but is unsuccessful. After Mattie dies, Sadie is on a mission to find out why and how. This book is told in multiple perspectives and involves hard-hitting topics, but I’ve had students who couldn’t put it down.

I love Fredrik Backman, the way he writes character-driven novels, the way he makes small town life come alive for the reader. Beartown has nothing going for it except hockey team dreams, but this story is less about sports and more about the stories of the people in this town.

This book is laugh out loud funny, a bit off-color and irreverent, and one that never fails to engage teen boys. If I am out of luck and a student just can’t find any book to like, this is my go-to.

Last but not least, nonfiction memoir had to make the book list. The first title below transformed my most reluctant reader last year into a boy who carried this title around in his backpack because he found it so engaging.

Laughing at My Nightmare

Shane Burkaw deals it straight in this honest (and funny) memoir, helping readers to see the realities of living with a disability and that he’s just another guy like everyone else. The book starts out with a forest of pube-y leg hair which usually gets students’ attention.

Every Falling S tar

Sungju pulls back the curtain on street life in North Korea, including his fight to survive and later escape. Students will no doubt think about the freedoms they may take for granted. 

The Running Dream

When the main character, a runner, loses her leg in a car accident, she thinks she’ll never run again…she is wrong! This title makes it onto the list of books to read for high school because it is an inspirational story that also highlights the importance of friendship.

All These Wonders

This little collection of Moth stories focus on taking risks, acting with courage, and facing the unknown. I’m purchasing this book for students who may have trouble sustaining momentum through a longer text. 

What Made Maddy Run

This was an option for literature circles in my classes, and the interest was so high that I chose to form two groups in one of my classes. This book explores the incredible pressure put upon college athletes that, combined with depression, led to Maddy’s suicide.

Hey, if you loved this post, I want to be sure you’ve had the chance to grab a FREE copy of my guide to streamlined grading . I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m over the moon to be able to share with you some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm.  Click on the link above or the image below to get started!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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20 Contemporary Books for Your High School Reading List

• by Alana Domingo

All across the country, contemporary books are quickly joining the ranks of the classics on high school reading lists, and for good reason. Like the literary greats before them, modern titles have the power to introduce new and diverse perspectives, explore universal themes, and challenge students to think critically about the texts they read.

Based on titles we know are currently being taught in classrooms, we've compiled this contemporary high school reading list of 20 titles your students will love. We've sorted the books by high school grade level, considering aspects such as text difficulty and content. However, just as reading levels among students vary, the titles featured are certainly flexible.

Ready to read? Let's go!

Bless Me, Ultima

Rudolfo Anaya

If you’re seeking cultural diversity in your literature curriculum, Rudolfo Anaya's classic piece of Chicano literature is an excellent choice! In 1940s New Mexico, an old healer named Ultima comes to stay with Antonio and his family. Intrigued by Ultima’s mysterious aura and knowledge of folk magic, Antonio opens his eyes to a spiritual realm that was once unfamiliar. Anaya's use of the supernatural and his fine lyrical prose bring the novel’s themes of innocence, spirituality, and good versus evil to life.

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

Poignant and topical, The Hate U Give is being lauded as one of this generation’s most important books. When a police officer kills sixteen-year-old Starr Carter’s childhood best friend, her world is irrevocably upended. The Hate U Give deftly tackles themes of racism, police brutality, and societal injustice and will undoubtedly lead to plenty of interesting discussions, both in and out of the classroom.

Neal Shusterman

If you want to include contemporary science fiction in your curriculum, consider Unwind . This National Book Award winner tackles themes of free will, consciousness, and trust throughout its gripping story. After the Second Civil War, which had been fought over reproductive rights, three teenagers try to escape being “unwound”—having their organs harvested and distributed to others against their will. Although each comes from a different background, the teenagers band together for survival, learning the true meaning of life on their journey to freedom.

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

One of the ALA's Best Books for Young Adults, The Book Thief is an outstanding young adult novel with a unique perspective on the Holocaust: Death himself is the narrator, offering his take on this difficult topic. Even reluctant readers will be enthralled by the manner in which Death relates his duties in wartime, and your more active readers will experience the variety in point of view that the author has created. The book is truly an amazing work of creativity, one that will fully engage your classes.

Walter Dean Myers

Written by Walter Dean Myers, Monster is sure to engage even your most unwilling readers because of its unconventional structure and captivating plot. Part epistle, part screenplay, Monster tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenager from Harlem on trial as an accomplice to murder. While in jail, he records his experiences, both in prison and in the courtroom, in the form of a film script. As they read Monster , students will appreciate Harmon’s perspective in full as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

The Fault in Our Stars

Thanks to its movie adaptation, your students may already be familiar with this title. After meeting one another at a cancer support group, teenagers Hazel and Augustus soon fall in love, bonding over their uncertain futures. However, their relationship eventually is cut short by the disease. Both funny and tragic, The Fault in Our Stars will certainly make your students ponder heavy subjects like love, death, and the unfair nature of fate.

Fast Food Nation

Eric Schlosser

Often compared to The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Eric Schlosser's nonfiction book Fast Food Nation takes an unflinching look at the controversial facets of the fast food industry, including the exploitation of minimum wage workers, the dangers of child-targeted advertising, and the often hazardous conditions of food processing plants. Use this book as an engaging way to introduce students to investigative journalism and to examine broader themes of ethics and consumerism.

Three different refugee stories come together in this gripping book by Alan Gratz. Though their narratives span time and place, Josef, a Jewish boy in 1939 Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015, all face danger, death, and discrimination on their journeys to seek safety. Refugee is a great choice for students who love historical fiction and realistic narratives.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky

Written as a series of letters to a friend, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the story of Charlie, a quiet high school freshman who prefers to observe the world around him, a result stemming from the trauma he endured as a child. But after befriending Patrick and Sam, two quirky seniors, Charlie finds the value in participating in life and begins to heal from his past. Your students will surely find Charlie’s accounts of adolescent issues, including social pressures, dating, and identity, all too relatable.

Yann Martel

Yann Martel’s allegorical novel comments heavily on the roles of spirituality and nature in shaping one’s identity and encouraging personal growth. After a storm sinks the ship on which his family was traveling, Pi Patel finds himself adrift in a small lifeboat with only a large Bengal tiger to keep him company. Despite his circumstances, Pi is determined to survive, relying on his spiritual beliefs to keep his morale high.

The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls’s memoir, The Glass Castle , explores her unconventional upbringing by an alcoholic father and erratic mother. Her parents’ nomadic lifestyle, spurred by debt and unemployment, exposed Walls to the harsh realities of poverty and ostracism at a young age. Both humorous and heart-wrenching, this memoir speaks greatly to the power of forgiveness and resilience.

The Leavers

Winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, The Leavers is a powerful novel that examines cultural heritage, familial relationships, and the true meaning of belonging. When his mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, suddenly goes missing, a boy named Deming Guo finds himself completely alone. It’s not until he’s adopted by well-meaning white parents and renamed Daniel Wilkinson that he realizes just how much he has lost.

The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

Since its publication in 1990, The Things They Carried has become an unparalleled portrayal of the Vietnam War, an incomparable work of American literature, and a staple title taught in schools across the country. Its structure, a set of related short stories based on Tim O’Brien’s experiences, will keep your students eager to read more, and what the soldiers endured will educate your students on the horrors of war.

Nickel and Dimed

Barbara Ehrenreich

When journalist Barbara Ehrenreich decides to go undercover as a minimum wage worker, she discovers just how challenging life is for millions of Americans. This investigative nonfiction title makes a great springboard for conversations about the causes and effects of income inequality, and Ehrenreich's comprehensive analysis of welfare reform will make your students think about the social responsibility of both governments and individuals.

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Jesmyn Ward

Sing, Unburied, Sing —a masterpiece of American magical realism—will haunt readers long after they’ve finished the book. In Jesmyn Ward’s award-winning novel, set in the heart of Mississippi, young Jojo and his family embark on a road trip to pick up his father from prison. Family legacies, violence, and the brutalities of racism seem to define his family—until he meets a literal ghost at the prison who has something very important to teach Jojo.

The Other Wes Moore

Two boys, both named Wes Moore, live in Baltimore just blocks from each other, but their similar backgrounds result in wildly different outcomes. One Wes Moore became a Rhodes scholar, and the other a convicted murderer. Students interested in exploring the ways in which education, socioeconomic disparity, and parental support shape the individual—for better or for worse—will find this nonfiction title an insightful read.

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

At its surface, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is a stunning coming-of-age tale centered around a woman named Kathy and her memories of her days at a boarding school in England. However, as Kathy's story progresses, Never Let Me Go transforms into a dystopian science-fiction novel, revealing a world in which human cloning is the norm. Aside from presenting students the opportunity to discuss themes of mortality and fate, this novel’s complex plot will also help students refine their inference skills.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Margaret Atwood

In Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, under the rule of a theocratic regime, women have no autonomy and are instead assigned to specific societal roles. Told from the perspective of an oppressed woman whose sole purpose is to reproduce, The Handmaid’s Tale warns of the dangers of totalitarianism and is sure to ignite classroom discussions about identity, persecution, and female empowerment.

Cormac McCarthy

There’s a reason The Road won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In this post-apocalyptic story, an unnamed father and son journey through a desolate landscape, fighting gangs of thieves and cannibals to survive. While certainly bleak, and at times disturbing, Cormac McCarthy’s novel is ultimately a testament to the bond between a father and son and a brutal examination of humanity at its worst.

Bryan Stevenson

The powerful, true story of one of America’s most committed lawyers, Just Mercy examines the inequalities of the justice system through a life dedicated to defending those most in need. This book is a perfect nonfiction pairing with To Kill a Mockingbird or A Lesson Before Dying . Just Mercy has won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence and numerous other awards.

You can find all these titles and more at Prestwick House! When you order from us, you'll always save at least 25% on any paperback. If the retail value of your order is at least $500, you'll save 30%. And if the retail value of your order is at least $2,500, you'll save 35% on all your paperbacks!

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Great Books High School 9–12

The Great Books High School program combines high-quality literature, student-centered discussion, and activities that support reading comprehension, critical thinking, speaking and listening, and writing. We provide outstanding classroom materials and inspiring professional development. We help students get the most out of reading and interacting with their teachers and classmates, while providing instruction and support in Shared Inquiry, a method of learning that gives teachers the approach they need to help their students succeed.

For more than 50 years, schools that integrate Great Books materials and our inquiry-based approach to learning into their curriculum have been helping their students become independent readers and thinkers while enhancing the instructional skills of their teachers.

• Balancing literary and informational texts
• Building knowledge in the disciplines
• Providing a staircase of text complexity
• Requiring text-based answers
• Focusing on evidence in writing
• Expanding vocabulary

“How do we challenge students to get to their very best selves and their biggest potential? In that, you have to be able to think critically. You have to be able to write well. You have to be able to articulate your thoughts. You have to collaborate with others—we think Great Books enhances all of these abilities for us.”

Debra Ciochina Director of Teaching and Learning-Secondary Duneland School Corporation Chesterton, IN

The Shared Inquiry Method of Learning

Shared Inquiry is an active and collaborative search for answers to questions of meaning about a text. It is a research-supported method of learning that promotes deeper thinking through reading, discussion, and writing. Shared Inquiry enables teachers to work with students in an exciting intellectual partnership through a range of interpretive activities that stimulate students’ thinking. The Shared Inquiry approach develops students’ reading comprehension, critical thinking, and communication skills in the context of thinking about genuine problems of meaning raised by a rich work of literature.

Teachers who learn Shared Inquiry:

Rooted in the Socratic method, Shared Inquiry is distinct in its focus on high-quality texts and the participation of a trained leader who helps participants arrive at their own well-reasoned interpretations of the text. There are a variety of ways to implement Great Books programs, but Shared Inquiry always involves close reading, questions, collaboration, and reflective thinking.

• Meet key learning standards through inquiry-based, collaborative approach
• Engage all students in higher-level reading, thinking, and discussion
• Integrate critical thinking and social-emotional learning into the curriculum to provide essential skills students need to be college and career ready
• Prepare students to thoughtfully consider different points of view, listening to others and responding appropriately

“Discussions are a great way for students to get to know each other and listen to each other’s thoughts and ideas. Great Books Shared Inquiry helps me hit the essentials every time—close reading, well-reasoned writing, and formal discussion.”

Marc-Paul Johnsen English Teacher La Academia at Denver Inner City Parish Denver, CO

“As a curriculum director, I work with teachers to use the Shared Inquiry process to provide the most rich and rigorous literacy program possible so that all students, regardless of neighborhood or social-economic background, have the ability to genuinely be ‘college and career ready’ through the interaction of authentic literature and development of true critical thinking.”

Natalie Flores Curriculum Director BSNBCS Brooklyn, NY

Students who learn Shared Inquiry:

• Use reading comprehension strategies purposefully
• Develop their own opinions and claims about a text
• Support ideas with textual evidence, and weigh evidence for divergent ideas
• Go beyond initial responses to think deeper about issues
• Develop social and emotional intelligence through respectful dialogue and collaboration
• Create a collaborative classroom community with support from their peers and teachers

Great Books Program Features

In Great Books programs, students’ critical thinking develops through careful reading, attentive listening, thoughtful speaking, and purposeful writing.

Critical Thinking

Students explore problems of meaning by:

Generating ideas Giving evidence Responding to each other

• Read aloud fluently
• Annotate a text
• Interpret word meaning
• Recall facts and cite details
• Generate ideas about meaning
• Infer, evaluate, and revise ideas
• Find evidence to support ideas
• Routinely write notes and questions
• Organize, develop, and support ideas
• Edit and revise writing with peer review
• Use different writing forms for different purposes

Speaking and Listening

• Share questions
• Express and clarify ideas
• Explain and support ideas
• Listen and respond to others’ opinions
• Recall ideas and evidence heard in discussion

Research-Based Learning with Fiction and Nonfiction

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Schools Have Used Our Materials/Training

Great Books has over 50 years of experience imparting key principles and practices of inquiry-based teaching. Our method, known as Shared Inquiry, has been used in thousands of classrooms across the country and around the world. Our programs are currently in use in countries worldwide, including Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. No other organization or company has more history or expertise at making inquiry-based teaching and learning succeed than Great Books.

Great Books inquiry-based programs have been recognized as effective by the US Department of Education, and independent research has shown that regular, sustained used of Shared Inquiry improves reading comprehension, writing, and critical thinking for students from a wide range of demographic backgrounds and achievement levels.

High-Quality Literature

The Great Books High School program features outstanding literature by award-winning authors. Stories are selected for their engaging, vivid writing and for their ability to support multiple interpretations and thought-provoking discussions, as well as for their diversity of settings, themes, genres, and writing styles.

William Faulkner, author of “Barn Burning”

Standards and Alignments

Great Books programs combine classroom materials and an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning to provide the essential elements students need to meet and surpass the goals of Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Great Books programs help teachers develop the competencies and skills outlined in the Danielson Framework for Teaching, adopted by school districts as a road map of professional practice designed to guide, support, and evaluate teachers. Great Books programs promote the most effective teaching practices outlined in the Danielson Framework.

As your school implements the NAGC recommendations for gifted education, Great Books materials and professional development can help you meet the classroom practices and teacher learning components described in the NAGC’s six programming standards. The table below highlights the student outcomes and evidence-based practices met by Great Books programs.

Our training and follow-up consultation services focus on Shared Inquiry as a method—and on the shift the teacher makes to become the model of an active learner who is leading, facilitating, and enhancing the learning of others through questioning and gradual release of responsibility to the students. This emphasis on teacher development and growth and on student-centered learning harmonizes with both Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and Marzano’s Teacher Evaluation Model, specifically in the areas of questioning and discussion strategies, the teacher’s role in Shared Inquiry, and content and preparation in a student-driven learning environment.

Customize Your Approach

Our materials help your students develop the critical thinking, close-reading, and analytical skills they need to be college and career ready. Our questioning and discussion techniques help teachers become better discussion leaders.

If your teachers and students are not sure how to integrate inquiry-based teaching and learning into their daily routines, we can help you identify the key problem areas for your students and teachers. No matter what curriculum, literacy program, or textbook you’re using, we’ll work with you to develop a customized approach that integrates our products and/or professional learning into your classroom routines. Please contact us to schedule a time when we can meet and start developing the approach that works best for you.

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21 classic books that you read in high school

By Mo Elinzano

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” seen here in the film version starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, was just one of a plethora of classic American books that many read in high school. From F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” to John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” to Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” these books take us straight back to our high school English and American literature classes and to nostalgic memories of those books forever sitting in our backpacks.

September 6 is National Read A Book Day. We’ve compiled a list of 21 classic books that you probably had to read in high school with research from  BuzzFeed ,  Publisher’s Weekly ,  Time Entertainment , the  American Library Association  and  BannedBooksWeek.org .

“To Kill a Mockingbird” (1960)

Author: Harper Lee

Location: Maycomb, Alabama

Plot: Intelligent, kind and upstanding lawyer Atticus Finch is basically the greatest father ever to his children Jem and Scout. He’s also busy with the most important trial in Maycomb’s history being the defense lawyer in a case involving an African-American named Tom Robinson accused of raping a white woman.

Then, there’s the Finches’ neighbor Boo Radley, and that’s another story within itself.

Themes: Coming-of-age, racism, social equality

“The Great Gatsby” (1925)

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Location: East Hampton, New York (Long Island)

Plot: It’s the “Roaring Twenties” and Midwesterner and narrator Nick Carraway attends one of the lavish Hamptons parties of neighbor Jay Gatsby in his equally lavish mansion. Thus begins Nick’s adventures in Fitzgerald’s classic novel, which includes the tragic romance between Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan and Gatsby and the tension that follows with Daisy’s husband Tom.

Not all that glitters is gold and the “Roaring Twenties” wasn’t all about decadent parties, fast cars and mansions.

Themes: The American Dream, the upper class

“Of Mice and Men” (1937)

Author: John Steinbeck

Location: Central California

Plot: It’s the Great Depression, and a pair of migrant workers, George and Lennie, journey through the California farms and find work at a new farm owned by “the Boss.”

Dreams of land ownership fade away and matters get worse when a freak accident happens between Lennie and the wife of the Boss’ son, Curley.

Themes: The American Dream, friendship

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1885)

Author: Mark Twain

Location: Various, including Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois

Plot: Protagonist Huckleberry Finn becomes best friends with a slave named Jim and the pair travel down the Mississippi River together as Finn grows up along the way and Jim seeks his freedom.

Plus, Tom Sawyer, Finn’s other best friend and the main character in Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” appears in the novel.

Themes: Coming-of-age, racism, moral education

The book is  one of the most-controversial books of all time  and is still deemed controversial today on the grounds of language and racial insensitivity.

”The Catcher in the Rye” (1951)

Author: J.D. Salinger

Location: New York City

Plot: Directly about the relatable adventures of being a teenager and the fears of adulthood, Salinger’s famous novel will forever be a required book in high school.

Protagonist Holden Caulfield, 16, isn’t the greatest student ever (he was kicked out of four private schools), but he learns his lessons and grows up during his adventures in the city, and he absolutely loves his 10-year-old sister Phoebe.

Themes: Coming-of-age, alienation

The book has been banned in the past for obscenity, profanity, language and sexual references.

”Lord of the Flies” (1955)

Author: William Golding

Location: A deserted tropical island

Plot: A bunch of British schoolboys living on their own after their plane crashes on a deserted tropical island create their own society led by protagonist Ralph and including choir leader Jack, shy Simon and the intellectual Piggy.

Like schoolboys playing games, chaos ensues among the group and the ultimate battle for survival happens.

Themes: Loss of innocence, loss of civilization

The book has garnered controversy in the past because of violence and language.

”The Scarlet Letter” (1850)

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Location: Boston

Plot: It’s 1642, and beautiful protagonist Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet cloth “A” on her chest to symbolize her committing of adultery.

The real question is, who is the father of her little girl, Pearl, and thus the real truth comes out as the novel unfolds.

Themes: Guilt, forgiveness, society, good and evil

”Macbeth” (1600s)

Author: William Shakespeare

Location: Scotland

Plot: It’s the 11th century, and the not-so-virtuous title character is battling for the Scottish throne with his fellow lord Banquo thanks to a series of prophecies by a trio of witches. Macbeth proves that he isn’t the greatest king of Scotland ever and is better fighting on the battlefield than sitting on the throne.

Themes: Power and ambition, tyranny

”Hamlet” (late 1500s-early 1600s)

Location: Denmark

Plot: Another high school classic from Shakespeare with quite possibly the worst family drama to ever appear in any high school required reading. The title character, who is the Prince of Denmark, has revenge on his mind as he seeks to avenge the murder of his father, King Hamlet, by his uncle and the king’s brother Claudius.

To make things worse, Claudius is now sitting on the throne and is married to Hamlet’s mother Gertrude, the queen of Denmark.

Themes: Uncertainty, revenge, power and ambition, death

”Fahrenheit 451” (1953)

Author: Ray Bradbury

Location: An American city in the future

Plot: It’s the future, and books are outlawed, which sounds like the worst possible thing to ever happen. Protagonist Guy Montag is a special fireman who starts fires instead of stops them and is ordered to burn any book that he comes across.

Montag becomes slowly dissatisfied with his job of burning books and the routine society that he lives in, and he yearns to rebuild civilization.

Themes: Censorship, ignorance, freedom

”1984” (1949)

Author: George Orwell

Location: London, Airstrip One in Oceania

Plot: Protagonist Winston Smith lives in a tyrannical society amidst the ruins of a former England and is tired of the oppression and rules of the Party, which rules and controls everything in Oceania.

He hates his job with the Ministry of Truth, dreams of rebellion against the dictator and the leader of the Party, Big Brother, and falls in love with a dark-haired beauty named Julia.

Themes: Tyranny, power and control, technology

The book was found controversial in Jackson County, Florida, for being pro-Communist and for sexual content.

“Slaughterhouse-Five” (1969)

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Locations: Illum, New York; Germany

Plot: The protagonist, a World War II soldier and optometry student named Billy Pilgrim, journeys throughout different periods of his life without any indication of why he keeps time-traveling.

The novel features the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, that took place in February 1945.

Themes: War, time-travel, sight

“Animal Farm” (1945)

Locations: England and Russia

Plot: In the ultimate battle of man versus beast, a group of animals on Manor Farm seek rebellion and revolt against the farmers and other humans.

Led by an aging boar named Old Major, the animals strive to create a world where they can act like men and have their own society, but there aren’t any humans in sight.

”Brave New World” (1932)

Author: Aldous Huxley

Location: London in the future and New Mexico

Plot: Protagonist Bernard Marx feels out of place in the society that he lives in, called the World State. The World State, with its five castes and orthodox values, doesn’t sit well with Marx.

He visits the other side, the Savage Reservation, which is the exact opposite of the World State, meets a man named John and tries to shake things up from that point on.

Themes: Technology, power and control, consumerism

The book has been banned in the past for sexual content, negative activity and language.

”Catch-22” (1961)

Author: Joseph Heller

Location: Pianosa and Rome, Italy

Plot: It’s World War II in Italy, and Captain John Yossarian is stationed there with the rest of his U.S. Air Force squadron.

Yossarian struggles between fighting for his country and his personal reasons for being there and slowly becomes disillusioned with the war.

Themes: Power, loss of religion, war

”Death of a Salesman” (1949)

Author: Arthur Miller

Location: Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York; Boston

Plot: The play takes place in the late 1940s, and Willy Loman, a salesman stuck in the past, daydreams of a better life, including ones for his sons Biff and Happy.

Biff and Happy want to buy a ranch out West, but Willy wants Biff to become a businessman just like him.

Themes: The American Dream, betrayal, the past

”Their Eyes Were Watching God” (1937)

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Location: Southern and central Florida

Plot: Hurston’s novel is told in flashback by the protagonist, a beautiful African-American woman named Janie Crawford, to her best friend Pheoby upon returning to Eatonville, Florida.

Crawford’s life from her youth to adulthood was full of adventures, relationships and lessons learned.

Themes: Racism, love and relationships, power, religion

”A Farewell to Arms” (1939)

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Locations: Italy and Switzerland

Plot: It’s the First World War in Europe, and American ambulance driver Lt. Frederic Henry falls in love with English nurse Catherine Barkley. Through Henry’s illnesses and knee surgery and constant traveling, he and Barkley form a loving relationship amidst the terrors of the war.

Themes: War, love and relationships

”Heart of Darkness” (1899)

Author: Joseph Conrad

Locations: Central Africa

Plot: The protagonist, Charles Marlow, who is a sailor and captain of a Belgian riverboat company that trades ivory, goes on adventures on the Congo River to meet up with a man named Kurtz.

He sees the dichotomy between the civilized life that he’s used to and the unpleasant life and treatment of the native savages along the river.

Theme: Imperialism

”The Crucible” (1953)

Location: Salem, Mass.

Plot: Based on the infamous Salem Witch Trials that took place in the late 1600s, a series of events culminates in tragedy involving various aspects, such as a possible witch and the reverend’s niece named Abigail Williams, a farmer named John Proctor and rampant rumors of witchcraft that rock the town.

Themes: Reputation, evil, paranoia

”The Odyssey” (700-600 B.C.)

Author: Homer

Location: Troy; modern-day Italy; Ithaca, Greece

Plot: The epic poem that we absolutely had to read in high school was about the Greek hero Odysseus and his 10-year journey back to his kingdom Ithaca after the end of the Trojan war and the fall of Troy.

From battling Polyphemus the cyclops and his father and Greek god of the sea Poseidon to being tempted by the gorgeous Sirens to fighting the sea monster Scylla, Odysseus does all he can, including get help from the mighty gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, to return back home to his wife Penelope and son, Prince Telemachus.

Themes: Intelligence, perseverance, fighting temptation

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High School Reading List: 25 Books to Read Now

While there are plenty of strategies for preparing for standardized tests, there’s no better strategy than this: read, read, read .

The more confident that students feel analyzing texts on their own, the better equipped they’ll be to tackle reading passages on the SAT and ACT, as well as into college and beyond!

Below is a high school reading list of 25 recommended texts based on what students are most likely to encounter on the SAT and ACT.

To aid in selection, we’ve further broken down the list by grade-level and provided a brief description of why we feel each book is worthwhile. Happy reading!

• Freshman Year Reading List
• Sophomore Year Reading List
• Junior Year Reading List
• Senior Year Reading List

High School Reading List : Freshman Year

Hard times by charles dickens.

Synopsis: A retired merchant raises his family in a fictional industrial city in England, surveying the socio and economic realities of the era.  

Why it’s important: Hard Times is perhaps Dickens’s most accessible text and a great introduction to one of history’s most famous authors. As with most Dickens texts, it provides sharp satire that is excellent for helping readers become more comfortable recognizing irony and subtle humor in fiction. 

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton 

Synopsis: The story of a well-born but impoverished young woman navigating New York City’s world of high society.  

Why it’s important: This is an insightful character study that helps readers to better understand character, point-of-view, and theme.  

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Synopsis: The coming-of-age story of a naïve young woman who strives to make her life as romantic as the Gothic novels she reads.  

Why it’s important: This is one of Jane Austen’s lesser known but more entertaining reads, and another great introduction to an important author. Additionally, it is perhaps her most humorous novel, and excellent practice for readers looking to get a better understanding of how authors use tone to contribute to theme.  

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

Synopsis: The coming-of-age story of a girl growing up in the Caribbean.  

Why it’s important: This is a rich text loaded with complex relationships and themes similar to those we tend to see in the literary fiction passages of the SAT and ACT. 

Hiroshima by John Hershey 

Synopsis: The intersecting stories of six people who survived the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. 

Why it’s important: Often credited as one of the first examples of “new journalism” (i.e. when authors tell non-fiction stories in the style of literature), this is a great place to start for readers who wish to get more comfortable reading non-fiction.  

High School Reading List : Sophomore Year

My antonia by willa cather .

Synopsis: Two pioneer children form a strong bond while living with their families on the land in turn-of-the-century Nebraska. 

Why it’s important: This is a seminal text for an important author who oftentimes gets overlooked in high school curricula. It is also similar in terms of tone and scope to the type of literary fiction passages that get covered on the ACT and SAT. 

Emma by Jane Austen

Synopsis: A humorous, romantic story about a misguided young woman who plays matchmaker for her friends and family. 

Why it’s important: Austen masterfully employs humor and satire, providing helpful practice for readers hoping to get a firmer grasp on understanding tone. 

The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen by Olympe de Gouges 

Synopsis: Written as a response to The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, this is a pamphlet about what women’s place in French society should be at the end of the 18 th -century. 

Why it’s important: T his is a seminal text similar to the sort of historical texts that students will encounter on the SAT. It provides great practice for working through argument and navigating tricky, outdated language.  

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Synopsis: A young lawyer falls in love with his cousin’s fianceé in New York high society. 

Why it’s important: Wharton is another quintessential modern female author who isn’t taught enough in high school. Her writing style and emphasis on complex characters is also similar to the sort of content that is covered in the literary fiction passages of the SAT and ACT reading sections. 

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

Synopsis: An extended essay about the importance of finding both figurative and literal space for women in society. 

Why it’s important: This is an essential feminist text that also closely aligns with the sort of historical/sociological texts that students see on the SAT. 

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Synopsis: A handsome young man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for external youth and beauty, only to find that there are horrific consequences. 

Why it’s important: This book both draws-from and invents many literary tropes that we continue to see today. It is a great text for sharpening understanding of symbolism and allegory.  

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Synopsis: A collection of articles in which an economist applies economic theory to diverse subjects not usually coved by traditional academics. 

Why it’s important: This book blends pop culture with economics to make academic material engaging. It is helpful for understanding how to approach the social studies and (to a lesser extent) science passages on the SAT and ACT, as well as how to look at graphs/charts alongside text. 

High School Reading List : Junior Year

Heart of darkness by joseph conrad.

Synopsis: A British traveler narrates his voyage up the Congo River into the heart of Africa. 

Why it’s important: The language in this text is a bit challenging, providing good practice for working through the sort of writing that students tend to find the most difficult in SAT and ACT reading sections. It is also a good text for thinking about symbolism and ambiguity.  

The Souls of Black Folks by WEB Du Bois

Synopsis: A collection of essays about race in America at the turn of the century. 

Why it’s important: This is a rewarding but slightly difficult read. The collection of essays aligns closely with the types of historical essays that students tend to find challenging on the SAT and provides good practice for working through complicated language.  

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

Synopsis: Widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States, Friedan’s book examines the feeling of discontent that many women were experiencing in the middle of the 20 th -century. 

Why it’s important: Friedan initially started this project with the intention that it be an article after she was shocked by the results of a survey among college-educated women. Written through a combination of interviews, psychological research, surveys, etc., Friedan makes a strong social argument that aligns well with both historical and social studies passages on the SAT and ACT. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Synopsis: A strong-willed woman’s family pressures her to marry for wealth in 1800’s England. 

Why it’s important: Arguably Austen’s most famous work, this book has been hugely influential in establishing what’s come to be known as “the marriage plot” and creating a template for stories to come. Not only will it provide a deeper understanding of future texts, but it aligns well with the sort of literary fiction passages found on the SAT and ACT.  

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Synopsis: This novel follows the lives of the members of a Midwestern family as they struggle to find happiness and ultimately fall apart. 

Why it’s important: An in-depth psychological look at the American family, this is a great text for considering multiple perspectives and character. 

History’s Greatest Speeches edited by James Daley

Synopsis: A collection of history’s most important speeches. 

Why it’s important: This is a collection of essays that aligns well with the sorts of essays that students see in the historical passages on the SAT, as well as the SAT writing prompts. It’s also great source material to practice close reading skills and rhetorical analysis. 

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 

Synopsis: A survey of the history of humankind. 

Why it’s important: This book blends natural and social sciences seamlessly, providing helpful content for considering both the science and social studies passages on the SAT and ACT. 

High School Reading List : Senior Year

Cloud atlas by david mitchell .

Synopsis: An epic saga that follows a single soul as it is reincarnated through different lifetimes over a span of roughly 400 years. 

Why it’s important: This novel is structured as six different stories that stand alone but inform one another as the same soul progresses through time. Each story is written in a radically different genre, providing an excellent opportunity to practice a diverse set of analytical skills on independent stories while also thinking about how they fit together to contribute to theme. This is a difficult read, but a masterful example of literary craft and character. 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Synopsis: This novel follows the story of a doctor imprisoned in France and then released to live in London, set against the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror.  

Why it’s important: This is maybe Dickens’s most important text, with arguably his most engaging plot and his best built-out cast of characters. It provides a great study for students looking to think about character archetypes and classic tropes in literature.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 

Synopsis: An experimental novel focused on the ghosts inhabiting the graveyard in which Abraham Lincoln’s recently deceased son finds himself inhabiting. 

Why it’s important: Blending real historical documents with narrative fiction, this is a useful text for becoming comfortable with the sorts of passages students see in both the historical/social studies passages and the literary fiction passages on the SAT and ACT. The experimental nature of the novel makes it a difficult read, but it’s a rewarding challenge for advanced readers looking to stretch themselves before college. 

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Synopsis: A non-fiction account of a family of murders that occurred in small-town Kansas in 1959. 

Why it’s important: While this is a non-fiction book, it reads like a thriller and is an engaging way to open students up to non-fiction and varied character perspectives.  

To the Light House by Virginia Woolf

Synopsis: This novel centers on a family’s visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland over the course of a decade. 

Why it’s important: This book is an influential text that has been cited as a key example of “focalization,” meaning that it is written almost entirely as a series of internal thoughts/observations from the protagonist. There is very little dialogue or action, and the plot of the novel is secondary to the philosophical introspection of the characters, providing readers an opportunity for a different sort of critical thinking than they might get from other novels. 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Synopsis: The intense, almost demonic love story of a man and woman in 19 th -century England as social expectations and gender norms tear them apart. 

Why it’s important: This is one of the most important examples of Gothic literature, notable for challenging Victorian ideas about religion, morality, and femininity. It’s a great introduction to the genre, as well as a helpful text for thinking about symbolism, mood/atmosphere, and theme.

Annie is a graduate of Harvard University (B.A. in English). Originally from Connecticut, Annie now lives in Los Angeles and continues to mentor children across the country via online tutoring and college counseling. Over the last eight years, Annie has worked with hundreds of students to prepare them for all-things college, including SAT prep, ACT prep, application essays, subject tutoring, and general counseling.

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It's only as an adult that I truly realized how lucky I was in my high school English classes . Unlike many of my friends, the curriculum at my all-girls school made ample room for stories written by a diverse list of women . There were some of the usual suspects like Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, but we also read Toni Morrison, Julia Alvarez, Danzy Senna, Esmeralda Santiago, Zadie Smith, Sandra Cisneros, and more.

So many high school students around the U.S. don't get to experience a wide range of literature or see themselves represented in what they read in school, thanks in large part to our old-fashioned idea of the literary canon that make up so many English curriculums: books like The Scarlet Letter , The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , The Great Gatsby , and The Catcher in the Rye. Y es, those books have merit, but it's time to rethink curriculums and how they reflect the world as it actually exists.

When it comes to adding more books by people of color, and especially women of color, to a high schooler's to-be-read pile, there is always room for improvement. Below are 15 books by Latinx authors — including everything from modern classics to contemporary reads from various genres, all of which delve into timely and relatable topics — that all teenagers should definitely have on their radar:

'A Cup Of Water Under My Bed: A Memoir' by Daisy Hernández

In her lyrical coming-of-age memoir, Hernandez writes about what the women in her Cuban-Colombian family taught her about love, money, and race. These lessons — rooted in experiences of migration and colonization — define what it means to grow up in an immigrant home.

Click here to buy.

'The Carrying' by Ada Limón

It's time curriculums included living poets. Why not start with Ada Limón? Her most recent collection, The Carrying, is modern and moving, and sure to get a class talking.

'In The Time of the Butterflies' by Julia Alvarez

Julia Alvarez is the author of numerous novels, including How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Yo!, but In the Time of the Butterflies — the story of the Mirabal sisters, set during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960 — provides talking points on history, narrative, memory, and more.

'500 Words Or Less' by Juleah del Rosario

Many high schoolers will see themselves in Juleah Del Rosario's debut novel-in-verse, which follows Nic Chen as she tries to redefine her reputation among her Ivy League–obsessed classmates by writing their college admissions essays. But the more essays Nic writes for other people, the less sure she becomes of herself and the kind of person she is.

'The Education of Margot Sanchez' by Lilliam Rivera

Gentrification is a high-stakes issue, and it's important for young people to understand what it is and how it happens. Rivera's novel delves into the realities of changing neighborhoods, and tackles issues of family, patriarchy, education, friendship and more.

'The House Of the Spirits' by Isabel Allende

In one of the most beloved Latin American works of the twentieth century, Isabel Allende tells the story of three generations of the Trueba family. This political and personal drama has been made into a film (with a nearly all-white cast) and inspired an upcoming television adaptation, so there's plenty to discuss.

'I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter' by Erika L. Sanchez

Sanchez's tale of the life-changing effects of immigration, living life between cultures, legacy, love and grief is heart-wrenching. Widely celebrated for its unflinching takes on mental health and the unique burdens of women immigrants, this book opens the door for important discussions.

'The Poet X' by Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo's National Book Award-winning novel-in-verse has made such a splash for good reason. The novel follows Xiomara Batista, a young poet grappling with her coming-of-age in Harlem, her strict religious mother, a new romance, and her burgeoning creative drive.

'In The Country We Love' by Diane Guerrero

Guerrero's memoir takes readers through her experience as a U.S.-born daughter of undocumented immigrants, both of whom are arrested and ultimately deported. This is an important story about the immigration crisis, as told by someone who is still living with the ramifications of the U.S.'s system.

'Make Your Home Among Strangers' by Jennine Capo Crucet

Jennine Capó Crucet's novel about first-generation college student follows Lizet — the daughter of Cuban immigrants who secretly applies and is accepted to an ultra-elite college — and takes place during the arrival of Ariel Hernandez, a young boy whose mother died fleeing with him from Cuba on a raft.

'Juliet Takes A Breath' by Gabby Rivera

So few books in the English curriculum discuss young female sexuality in an empowering way. Gabby Rivera's follows Juliet Palante after she comes out to her family and embarks on a summer of self-discovery while working an internship with her favorite queer writer.

''The Book of Unknown Americans' by Cristina Henríquez

Cristina Henriquez's page-turner is the tragic story of two teenagers living in an apartment block of immigrant families. It charts the expectations, dreams, and heartbreaks of refugees in the United States, and might help young readers put a face to the headlines about immigration.

'Lost Children Archive' by Valeria Luiselli

Valeria Luiselli's 2019 novel Lost Children Archive centers on a family on a road-trip across America as they follow news of the migrant crisis at the border. It's a timely addition to any curriculum, and is understood best when paired with Luiselli's essay about undocumented, unaccompanied minors, Tell Me How It Ends.

'The Distance Between Us' by Reyna Grande

Reyna Grande's moving memoir about her life before and after coming to the U.S. from Mexico as an undocumented immigrant is a contemporary classic.

'Gabi, A Girl In Pieces' by Isabel Quintero

In this diary-style novel, Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year — everything from college applications to her best friend's pregnancy to her father's drug addiction. It's an both unflinching and recognizable portrayal of the emotions of senior year.

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Home » Homeschool Curriculum » American Literature: A Full-Year High School Course

American Literature: A Full-Year High School Course

American Literature High School Curriculum

This one-year study guide collection will provide your student with a college-prep level American Literature high school course. As with all 7Sisters curriculum, it can also be adapted to Honors level using the easy-to-follow suggestions in the “how to use this curriculum” introductory material.

American Literature comes complete with:

• background information
• supplemental ideas
• and answer keys for each guide (except Little Women and Scarlet Letter because t hose consist of questions that are of a personally reflective nature with no clear “right answer.” Any reasonable answer that displays thought is acceptable.)

You will receive two zipped files:

• This is for the student. 
• The student study guides contain fillable form fields so the student can answer the questions directly on their computer.
• It also includes parent information and answer keys for each of the study guides.

American Literature High School titles covered by these study guides include: 

• View an excerpt from A Separate Peace Study Guide at this link.
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (NOTE: There is no answer key for this guide. The questions are of a personally reflective nature with no clear “right answer.” Any reasonable answer that displays thought is acceptable.)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (viewed through a lens of American Transcendentalism) (NOTE: There is no answer key for this guide. The questions are of a personally reflective nature with no clear “right answer.” Any reasonable answer that displays thought is acceptable.)
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• View an excerpt from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Study Guide at this link .
• The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Click any of the above titles to view excerpts from the study guides in this bundle.

Add to Wishlist $39.99 – Add to Cart Checkout Added to cart Excluding 0% tax

(Full disclosure: We are Amazon Associates. Purchasing through this link provides a commission to 7Sisters.)

• Review by Betsy at The Curriculum Choice.
• Review by Cathy Duffy of Cathy Duffy Reviews.

10-Day No-Questions-Asked Money-Back Guarantee on all 7Sisters EBook curriculum.

If you’d like an in-depth comparison of the different bundles for Literature and Writing available from your homeschooling big sisters here at 7SistersHomeschool.com, click here for Which ELA Curriculum Bundle is Right for YOU?? , and download this FREE, informative PDF.

(Get a comprehensive look at understanding high school literature credits in this Authoritative Guide post .)

Sabrina Justison’s philosophy of teaching literature to teens and tweens:

Some kids are natural bookworms; some are not. There is no right or wrong answer to the question, “Do you LOVE to read??” But homeschoolers pretty much universally agree that teens and tweens need to read books. Why is it important for our kids to read books – good books, and sometimes even hard books! – and what are ways we can help them engage in the process, gaining rich learning from it…even if they are not naturally bookworms?

Here’s a thought: A book is nothing unread.

Something amazing happens when a reader opens an author’s book. It’s not simply that the author’s words are released from captivity. Instead, much more than that happens.

The author’s words are released and brought into an encounter with the reader. The ideas, experiences, settings, characters and relationships that poured out of the author’s mind and onto the page meet up with all that has been a part of the reader’s life to that point. Anything might happen in such a meeting!

How can we encourage our kids to read classic literature, help them actually get something worthwhile out of it, but also be honest enough to validate any frustrations they feel, and help them move beyond that frustration to something like satisfaction with the experience?

As our kids grow from early readers to late elementary school reading assignments, we focus a lot of attention on READING COMPREHENSION, right? Vocabulary must be mastered. Simple devices like symbolism or personification must be introduced. We have them answer questions to make sure they are following the plot. We have them draw pictures when they are young and write papers when they are older describing characters and their relationships with one another…all so that they will be able to understand what they are reading. And these are all good things – don’t get me wrong!

Comprehending what you read is absolutely vital to success as a student, and even to success in life as an adult.

But there is a lot more to reading than comprehension. In fact, comprehension is only the FIRST level of a reader’s grasp of a book.

Reading for Interpretation is another layer, a deeper level of interaction with a book.

When we read for interpretation, we are trying to understand the book IN LIGHT OF a particular idea. How different might it be to read Harper Lee’s classic story of the challenge to overcome prejudice in the Great Depression era American south if you were not encouraged to keep the idea of “prejudice and its damage to society” in mind as you read? Sometimes all it takes is a simple mention of an idea on which to focus; teens don’t need to find every single instance of prejudice causing damage, but they may benefit from some gentle direction to keep their eyes open and pay attention when they do encounter it.

Inferential Reading adds another experience and set of skills.

When we read for inference, we gain knowledge from the book and then reach a conclusion based on that knowledge. We try to predict what will come next, thinking about cause and effect. We ponder a character’s motives that are not clearly spelled out for us. The conclusion one person reaches may be vastly different from the conclusion reached by another reader.

It needs to be okay for a young person to learn something different from the book than what I learned, as long as he or she can take a reasonable stab at sharing with me HOW that conclusion was reached. Teens should get full credit for using their brains as they read, even if they reach an unusual conclusion!

Reading for Evaluation is yet another type of reading.

When we evaluate a book, we determine its worth. This is a highly subjective process, and it can be empowering for students who are NOT natural bookworms when we teach them to evaluate a book and encourage them to articulate their conclusions.

The worth of book can be defined in countless ways.

Pick one, and ask your student to evaluate it in light of a particular question. Questions like, “Even if you didn’t like this book, was it filled with vivid descriptions of a time and place you didn’t know much about before?” or “You may not have liked it, but did it give you a new understanding of the roots of Communism in the Soviet Union?” For extra layers of learning, you can give students a couple of different scales and ask them evaluate the book based on the two or three different sets of parameters. Often kids who thought a book was “stupid” will have a new way of thinking open up to them when they are asked to evaluate a book.

The literature guides I’ve written for 7Sisters attempt to lead tweens and teens into:

• new types of reading experiences beyond simple comprehension,
• and evaluation.

In my experience with my own kids (some of whom were NOT bookworms!) and with hundreds of teens in our local homeschool community, these guides usher even reluctant readers into new levels of engagement with really good books.

I was thrilled to have Cathy Duffy review my American Literature study guide bundle and earn her glowing endorsement. You can read Cathy’s review here:

• Cathy Duffy American Literature 7Sisters

For some great info on specific ways to increase your student’s engagement with literature check out these resources on the 7Sisters website:

Over the years, this workshop I’ve taught to homeschool parents on successful ways to teach literature to teens has been really well-received. You can get the full transcript of my teaching on this topic in PDF format.

Printables for summarizing a book or analyzing a character – great for visual learners!

Have you thought about using a few movies as opportunities for literary analysis?

Yes, it can be a legitimate way to learn in high school! Here’s how:

• Using Movies as High School Curriculum

Do you have concrete, black-and-white, or literal thinkers who really struggle with moving to the deeper levels of understanding literature?

This blog post may help:

• Teaching Literature to Literal Thinkers in High School

Are you unsure about literature study guides altogether…like, isn’t reading good books enough?

This episode of The Homeschool High School Podcast will give you a fresh perspective:

• How and Why to Use Literature Study Guides 

Like podcasts?

There are SO MANY episodes of The Homeschool High School Podcast just waiting to encourage and equip you for the adventure! Check out the full library of episodes here at The Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network…and see if some of the other awesome podcasts there might also be worth a listen! You can download the complete list of 7Sisters Literature Study Guides at this link.

• The Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

If you feel uneasy about the basic requirements for homeschooling through high school

…or want to read up on the most common transcript must-haves, Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has been offering current information and helpful data to homeschool families for decade in addition to providing legal defense for homeschoolers. Learn more about homeschooling high school with confidence at HSLDA’s website.

And finally, if you’d like some ideas from a terrific homeschool high school mom whose blog offers WONDERFUL resources, visit my friend Marcy Crabtree at BenAndMe.com.  

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12 Great Options of High School Literature Curriculum

May 3, 2022 | 3 Comments This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy .

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Next to math, deciding high school literature curriculum for my first high school teen was scary for me. Today, I will share practical pointers in choosing high school literature curriculum. Also, look at How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Looking back after three homeschooled grads, I’ve learned you need to be absolutely clear of your goal.

Choosing curriculum versus stand alone components was confusing as well.

So, I want to help you make a better choice.

First, confusing to me in the beginning was what to teach from high school literature.

Also, how to transition from teaching your child reading to literature wasn’t clear.

Quickly, I learned there is a shift in high school to not just reading a variety of literature, but to analyzing it.

Table of Contents

What to Teach With High School Literature

As you can see, the elements you look for in a high school literature curriculum will vary depending on your goals.

If your teen is on a college track, analyzing literature is a basic requirement for most colleges.

However, if your child is on a career track, you decide if analyzing literature will benefit your teen.

That was the part that confused me. My English teacher in high school taught me like I was in an AP Lit class. I was not, but her love for literature was obvious.

The very basic reason why you teach high school literature is to move your child beyond the reading is fun stage. Appreciating why literature moves us, how to be involved in the great conversation, and how to analyze literature is one goal.

Another goal is to help your child appreciate the variety of genre. Think about it.

You have doing this all along as you taught your child to read.

Teaching a love of reading doesn’t stop in high school, but you want your child to now dig into the literature.

In addition, one more thing to be aware of before choosing curriculum is to decide if you need the other components of language arts.

Besides literature, grammar, vocabulary, composition, and writing are other components of language arts.

Teens are normally all over the place on each component of language arts, I encourage you to try to choose just literature curriculum.

High School Literature Curriculum Goals

One huge advantage to choosing just high school literature curriculum which is not tied together with the other components is to save time.

I don’t think teens should get bogged down with the other components when focusing on beautiful pieces of literature.

However, some options I share below is curriculum which does not make deep dives into analyzing.

That too has been a great option some quarters in high school when your teen needs a change of pace from analyzing in depth.

Covering all the components together may be your goal.

The point is your teen, your choices, and your goals should stay front and center when poring over options.

Furthermore, tying literature to history is another fun way to bring both subjects to life.

This is a slant that many teens enjoy.

On top of that, some choices will be more faith-based and others with a secular focus.

Keep all those facts in mind as you compare curriculum below.

12 High School Literature Curriculum

Finally, look at these twelve high school literature curriculum.

• BJU Press Literature for Junior and Senior High. This is one of my favorite because it’s so comprehensive in the variety of genre.
• Memoria Press is another one I’ve used and although they’ve updated through the years, I still love their guides.
• Stobaugh is another keeper which has been around for years. It’s comprehensive and takes more of a classical approach.
• Lightning Literature has been another mainstay by homeschoolers. I love their choices.
• Windows to the World: An Introduction to Literary Analysis . Although the topics covered are comprehensive, there are short passages. So it makes for a great option.
• Illuminating Literature is one by Sharon Watson. I’ve used her other writing and love them because of their step by step guidance.
• Beautiful Feet we used when we wanted to cover literature analysis lightly. Focusing on our history love, we could include a framework of analysis with the literature choices.
• Progeny Press is another favorite because of how many activities they have and ease of use.
• Learning Language Arts Through Literature is not as well know today as it used to be. I love it because it’s gentle and has a Charlotte Mason flair. Some years, we just needed light language arts and literature. So, I’m listing it as option. There is both American and British literature options. It’s just a beautiful option
• Sonlight has been around for years. Started by a homeschool family like some of other companies, it too has a comprehensive language arts program.
• Total Language Plus is just what it says. All the components of language arts when you want to cover them at one time. We love this curriculum as well.
• The Art of Poetry is a resource we just absolutely loved. If your teen is wanting to dive deeper into poetry, you’ll love this resource. In addition, this resource can be used for middle school kids too.

These are not all the resources available for you, but they are ones I know will work.

They give your teen guidance; And the best part is they create a love of literature and push your teen out of his comfort zone.

Which ones have you tried?

Look at some more posts which will help you:

• Best Homeschool High School Literature Suggestions For Teens
• Modern U.S. and World History High School Literature
• 3 Beginner’s Tips: Homeschool High School Literature
• How to Choose the BEST Homeschool Middle and High School Language Arts Curriculum & Options
• Homeschooling High School: Curriculum, Credits, and Courses
• Free Homeschool High School Planning Sheet (and pssst help for high school too)

Reader Interactions

February 27, 2023 at 7:17 am

Needing a crash course of reading that will help a high school boy grasp comprehension better. Any suggestions???? Appreciate binding your post !

March 10, 2023 at 10:43 am

Hey TG….Glad to have you here…well comprehension takes some time but you do want to go a bit slower. I have a worktext on this post I think will help you

How to Begin Homeschooling A Teen Lagging Behind

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, ap literature reading list: 127 great books for your prep.

Advanced Placement (AP)

A lot of students wonder if there's a specific AP English reading list of books they should be reading to succeed on the AP Literature and Composition exam. While there's not an official College-Board AP reading list, there are books that will be more useful for you to read than others as you prepare for the exam. In this article, I'll break down why you need to read books to prepare, how many you should plan on reading, and what you should read—including poetry.

Why Do You Need to Read Books for the AP Literature Test?

This might seem like kind of an obvious question—you need to read books because it's a literature exam! But actually, there are three specific reasons why you need to read novels, poems, and plays in preparation for the AP Lit Test.

To Increase Your Familiarity With Different Eras and Genres of Literature

Reading a diverse array of novels, poetry and plays from different eras and genres will help you be familiar with the language that appears in the various passages on the AP Lit exam's multiple choice and essay sections. If you read primarily modern works, for example, you may stumble through analyzing a Shakespeare sonnet. So, having a basic familiarity level with the language of a broad variety of literary works will help keep you from floundering in confusion on test day because you're seeing a work unlike anything you've ever read.

To Improve Your Close-Reading Skills

You'll also want to read to improve your close-reading and rhetorical analysis skills. When you do read, really engage with the text: think about what the author's doing to construct the novel/poem/play/etc., what literary techniques and motifs are being deployed, and what major themes are at play. You don't necessarily need to drill down to the same degree on every text, but you should always be thinking, "Why did the author write this piece this way?"

For the Student Choice Free-Response Question

Perhaps the most critical piece in reading to prepare for the AP Lit test, however, is for the student choice free-response question. For the third question on the second exam section, you'll be asked to examine how a specific theme works in one novel or play that you choose. The College Board does provide an example list of works, but you can choose any work you like just so long as it has adequate "literary merit." However, you need to be closely familiar with more than one work so that you can be prepared for whatever theme the College Board throws at you!

Note: Not an effective reading method.

How Many Books Do You Need to Read for the AP Exam?

That depends. In terms of reading to increase your familiarity with literature from different eras and genres and to improve your close-reading skills, the more books you have time to read, the better. You'll want to read them all with an eye for comprehension and basic analysis, but you don't necessarily need to focus equally on every book you read.

For the purposes of the student choice question, however, you'll want to read books more closely, so that you could write a detailed, convincing analytical essay about any of their themes. So you should know the plot, characters, themes, and major literary devices or motifs used inside and out. Since you won't know what theme you'll be asked to write about in advance, you'll need to be prepared to write a student choice question on more than just one book.

Of the books you read for prep both in and out of class, choose four to five books that are thematically diverse to learn especially well in preparation for the exam. You may want to read these more than once, and you certainly want to take detailed notes on everything that's going on in those books to help you remember key points and themes. Discussing them with a friend or mentor who has also read the book will help you generate ideas on what's most interesting or intriguing about the work and how its themes operate in the text.

You may be doing some of these activities anyways for books you are assigned to read for class, and those books might be solid choices if you want to be as efficient as possible. Books you write essays about for school are also great choices to include in your four to five book stable since you will be becoming super-familiar with them for the writing you do in class anyways.

In answer to the question, then, of how many books you need to read for the AP Lit exam: you need to know four to five inside and out, and beyond that, the more the better!

Know the books. Love the books.

What Books Do You Need to Read for the AP Exam?

The most important thing for the student choice free-response question is that the work you select needs to have "literary merit." What does this mean? In the context of the College Board, this means you should stick with works of literary fiction. So in general, avoid mysteries, fantasies, romance novels, and so on.

If you're looking for ideas, authors and works that have won prestigious prizes like the Pulitzer, Man Booker, the National Book Award, and so on are good choices. Anything you read specifically for your AP literature class is a good choice, too. If you aren't sure if a particular work has the kind of literary merit the College Board is looking for, ask your AP teacher.

When creating your own AP Literature reading list for the student choice free-response, try to pick works that are diverse in author, setting, genre, and theme. This will maximize your ability to comprehensively answer a student choice question about pretty much anything with one of the works you've focused on.

So, I might, for example, choose:

A Midsummer Night's Dream , Shakespeare, play, 1605

Major themes and devices: magic, dreams, transformation, foolishness, man vs. woman, play-within-a-play

Wuthering Heights , Emily Bronte, novel, 1847

Major themes and devices: destructive love, exile, social and economic class, suffering and passion, vengeance and violence, unreliable narrator, frame narrative, family dysfunction, intergenerational narratives.

The Age of Innocence , Edith Wharton, novel, 1920

Major themes and devices: Tradition and duty, personal freedom, hypocrisy, irony, social class, family, "maintaining appearances", honor

Wide Sargasso Sea , Jean Rhys, novel, 1966

Major themes and devices: slavery, race, magic, madness, wildness, civilization vs. chaos, imperialism, gender

As you can see, while there is some thematic overlap in my chosen works, they also cover a broad swathe of themes. They are also all very different in style (although you'll just have to take my word on that one unless you go look at all of them yourself), and they span a range of time periods and genres as well.

However, while there's not necessarily a specific, mandated AP Literature reading list, there are books that come up again and again on the suggestion lists for student choice free-response questions. When a book comes up over and over again on exams, this suggests both that it's thematically rich, so you can use it to answer lots of different kinds of questions, and that the College Board sees a lot of value in the work.

To that end, I've assembled a list, separated by time period, of all the books that have appeared on the suggested works list for student choice free-response questions at least twice since 2003. While you certainly shouldn't be aiming to read all of these books (there's way too many for that!), these are all solid choices for the student choice essay. Other books by authors from this list are also going to be strong choices. It's likely that some of your class reading will overlap with this list, too.

I've divided up the works into chunks by time period. In addition to title, each entry includes the author, whether the work is a novel, play, or something else, and when it was first published or performed. Works are alphabetical by author.

Warning: Not all works pictured included in AP Literature reading list below.

Ancient Works

The Queen of AP Literature surveys her kingdom.

Don't get trapped in a literature vortex!

1990-Present

Don't stay in one reading position for too long, or you'll end up like this guy.

An Addendum on Poetry

You probably won't be writing about poetry on your student choice essay—most just aren't meaty enough in terms of action and character to merit a full-length essay on the themes when you don't actually have the poem in front of you (a major exception being The Odyssey ). That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be reading poetry, though! You should be reading a wide variety of poets from different eras to get comfortable with all the varieties of poetic language. This will make the poetry analysis essay and the multiple-choice questions about poetry much easier!

See this list of poets compiled from the list given on page 10 of the AP Course and Exam Description for AP Lit, separated out by time period. For those poets who were working during more than one of the time periods sketched out below, I tried to place them in the era in which they were more active.

I've placed an asterisk next to the most notable and important poets in the list; you should aim to read one or two poems by each of the starred poets to get familiar with a broad range of poetic styles and eras.

14th-17th Centuries

• Anne Bradstreet
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• George Herbert
• Andrew Marvell
• John Milton
• William Shakespeare*

18th-19th Centuries

• William Blake*
• Robert Browning
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge*
• Emily Dickinson*
• Paul Laurence Dunbar
• George Gordon, Lord Byron
• Gerard Manley Hopkins
• John Keats*
• Edgar Allan Poe*
• Alexander Pope*
• Percy Bysshe Shelley*
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson*
• Walt Whitman*
• William Wordsworth*

Early-Mid 20th Century

• W. H. Auden
• Elizabeth Bishop
• H. D. (Hilda Doolittle)
• T. S. Eliot*
• Robert Frost*
• Langston Hughes*
• Philip Larkin
• Robert Lowell
• Marianne Moore
• Sylvia Plath*
• Anne Sexton*
• Wallace Stevens
• William Carlos Williams
• William Butler Yeats*

Late 20th Century-Present

• Edward Kamau Brathwaite
• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Lorna Dee Cervantes
• Lucille Clifton
• Billy Collins
• Seamus Heaney
• Garrett Hongo
• Adrienne Rich
• Leslie Marmon Silko
• Derek Walcott
• Richard Wilbur

You might rather burn books than read them after the exam, but please refrain.

Key Takeaways

Why do you need to read books to prepare for AP Lit? For three reasons:

#1 : To become familiar with a variety of literary eras and genres #2 : To work on your close-reading skills #3 : To become closely familiar with four-five works for the purposes of the student choice free-response essay analyzing a theme in a work of your choice.

How many books do you need to read? Well, you definitely need to get very familiar with four-five for essay-writing purposes, and beyond that, the more the better!

Which books should you read? Check out the AP English Literature reading list in this article to see works that have appeared on two or more "suggested works" lists on free-response prompts since 2003.

And don't forget to read some poetry too! See some College Board recommended poets listed in this article.

What's Next?

See my expert guide to the AP Literature test for more exam tips!

The multiple-choice section of the AP Literature exam is a key part of your score. Learn everything you need to know about it in our complete guide to AP Lit multiple-choice questions.

Taking other APs? Check out our expert guides to the AP Chemistry exam , AP US History , AP World History , AP Psychology , and AP Biology .

Looking for other book recommendation lists from PrepScholar? We've compiled lists of the 7 books you must read if you're a pre-med and the 31 books to read before graduating high school .

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

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60 Best Short Stories for High School Students

June 3, 2024

The short story can do so much in so little time. Although short stories for high school students are appealing due to their brevity, this doesn’t minimize their lasting impact. Like the novel, short stories can leave readers undeniably moved, if not more moved, in powerful, unexpected ways. This form of storytelling has influenced the wider culture in film, television, theater, and other arts through its structure and use of literary devices .

Recommended below is a combination of classic and contemporary short stories that are great for high schoolers. Check out our 60 best short stories for high school students that will be hard to forget:

1) “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury

“Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it?”

Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day” is, you guessed it, a science fiction short story. It was first published in March 1954 for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Heartbreaking and set in Venus, this makes for one of the best short stories for high schoolers to study character behavior.

2) “Recitatif ” by Toni Morrison

“People want to put their arms around you when you tell them you were in a shelter, but it really wasn’t bad.”

3) “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe

“True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a classic murder mystery that tries to convince the reader of the narrator’s sanity.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

4) “hills like white elephants” by ernest hemingway.

“The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes.”

5) “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin

“With a clamor of bells that set the swallows soaring, the Festival of Summer came to the city Omelas, bright-towered by the sea.”

Ursula K. LeGuin’s legendary short story was originally published in 1973 and centers on the misery of a single child.

6) “ Mrs. Sen ’s” by Jhumpa Lahiri

“At home, you know, we have a driver.”

“You mean a chauffeur?”

7) “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan

“America was where all my mother’s hopes lay.”

Perhaps you’ve heard of Amy Tan’s book “The Joy Luck Club.” Published in 1989, “Two Kinds” is a great short story for high schoolers. It focuses on a mother-daughter relationship, set in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

8) “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates

“Her name was Connie. She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right.”

9) “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

“Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.”

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” was written on April 19, 1894 and published in Vogue as “The Dream of an Hour.”

Read College Transitions’ summary and analysis of the short story here .

10) “ My Flamboyant Grandson ” by George Saunders

“I had brought my grandson to New York to see a show.”

11) “The Schoolmistress” by Anton Chekhov – Best Short Stories for High School Students

“She felt as though she had been living in that part of the country for ages and ages, for a hundred years, and it seemed to her that she knew every stone, every tree on the road from the town to her school.”

Anton Chekhov’s “The Schoolmistress” was published on December 21, 1987. This classic makes for a great short story for high schoolers through its use of symbolism.

12) “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver

“While he was bent over the counter with the pencil in his hand, she studied his coarse features and wondered if he’d ever done anything else with his life besides be a baker.”

13) “Standard Loneliness Package” by Charles Yu

“Pain is an illusion, I know, and so is time, I know, I know. I know. The shift manager never stops reminding us. Doesn’t help, actually. Doesn’t help when you are on your third broken leg of the day.”

Charles Yu’s “Standard Loneliness Package” is a science fiction story first published in 2010 that asks what we should do with our emotions. High schoolers might find this to be familiar terrain.

14) “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

“She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as if by an error of fate, into a family of clerks.”

15) “To Build a Fire” by Jack London

“Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth- bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland.”

Published in 1902, Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” is the perfect, timeless short story for any adventure-hungry high schooler.

16) “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka

“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.”

It stands as one of the most famous first lines in literature. Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” published in 1915, is an unforgettable classic short story for high school students.

17) “ The Veldt ” by Ray Bradbury

“But nothing’s too good for our children,’ George had said.”

18) “ Young Goodman Brown ” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Depending upon one another’s hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” was published in 1835 and reveals the tragedy of blindly following tradition.

19) “A Contract Overseas” by Mia Alvar

“After a flood, eggshells and beer-can tabs and bottle shards clung to the Creek’s banks, as if even trash hoped to escape.”

20) “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs

“‘Never mind, dear,’ said his wife soothingly; ‘perhaps you’ll win the next one.’”

21) “Powder” by Tobias Wolff

“ Just before Christmas my father took me skiing at Mount Baker. He’d had to fight for the privilege of my company, because my mother was still angry with him for sneaking me into a nightclub during his last visit, to see Thelonious Monk.”

Tobias Wolff’s “Powder” will resonate with high schoolers contemplating father-son relationships.

22) “Synchronicity” by John Keeble

“ When I came into the kitchen, Ward was using a knife to help his wife, Irene, peel the skin from two buffalo tongues.”

23) “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes

“ She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails.”

Published in 1958, “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes imparts timeless, lifelong lessons.

24) “You, Disappearing” by Alexandra Kleeman

“The apocalypse was quiet. It had a way about it, a certain charm. It could be called graceful. It was taking a long time.”

25) “The Ice Palace” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“The sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar, and the freckling shadows here and there only intensified the rigor of the bath of light.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Ice Palace” makes for one of the best short stories for high schoolers in its depiction of love. And all the tension that comes with it.

26) “The Storm” by Kate Chopin – Best Short Stories for High School Students

“‘Mama’ll be ‘fraid, yes,’ he suggested with blinking eyes.”

Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” was published in 1898 and uses the storm as symbolic imagery of social norms and desires.

27) “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord.

Written by Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce, this makes for a completely surprising short story for high school students.

28) “The Hawk” by Jules Chung

“You are thirteen so, of course, I am convinced I still have some say over you.”

29) “The Minister’ s Black Veil ” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“A rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper into the meeting-house, and set all the congregation astir.”

“The Minister’s Black Veil” was first published in 1836 and centers on themes of repressed guilt.

30) “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell

“Off there to the right—somewhere—is a large island,” said Whitney.” It’s rather a mystery—”

31) “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin

“ As the day was pleasant, Madame Valmondé drove over to L’Abri to see Désirée and the baby.”

Kate Chopin joins the list for best short stories for high school students again with “Desiree’s Baby.” The story is set before the Civil War and examines issues around race and discrimination.

32) “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane

“ None of them knew the color of the sky.”

Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” was first published in 1897. This story was based on Crane’s own experience being shipwrecked off the coast of Florida while traveling to Cuba.

33) “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield

“‘Y’are very snug in here,’ piped old Mr. Woodifield, and he peered out of the great, green leather armchair by his friend the boss’s desk as a baby peers out of its pram.”

Katherine Mansfield’s “The Fly” is a recommended short story for high schoolers because of how it deals with grief, death and survival.

34) “The Hanging Stranger” by Philip K. Dick

“Five o’clock Ed Loyce washed up, tossed on his hat and coat, got his car out and headed across town toward his TV sales store. He was tired.”

35) “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

“Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry…”

Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” is written like a to-do list, but it devastates the reader with its heartbreaking wisdom.

36) “What the Dead Man Said” by Chinelo Onwualu

“I suppose you could say that it started with the storm.”

37) “Sticks” by George Saunders

“The first time I brought a date over she said: what’s with your dad and that pole? and I sat there blinking.”

This short story by George Saunders is not just about a pole and a dad. “Sticks” is a great short story for high schoolers and brings into mind what family unity means.

38) “A Ride Out of Phrao” by Dina Nayeri

“In her last week in America, Shirin sells or gives away all her possessions, returning to the same small parcel she carried when she first arrived—a purse full of dried fruit and extra underwear. She feels thirty again.”

39) “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush

“There was nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of their meal, when it suddenly became obvious that this was an Occasion—in fact, the husband’s birthday, and the wife had planned a little surprise for him.”

Katharine Brush’s heartbreaking “Birthday Party” was published in 1946 and implores the reader to examine what really is happening to the characters.

40) “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks

“The janitor makes her way through the hallway with purpose, suctioning space dust and human debris from crevices of the space station.”

41) “ Trifles ” by Susan Glaspell

“‘He died of a rope around his neck,’ says she, and just went on pleatin’ at her apron.”

This is not a short story but a very short play. “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is still a great short story-like read for high schoolers about the social oppression of women.

42) “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl

“She loved the shape of his mouth, and she especially liked the way he didn’t complain about being tired.”

43) “Two Friends” by Guy de Maupassant

“Besieged Paris was in the throes of famine. Even the sparrows on the roofs and the rats in the sewers were growing scarce. People were eating anything they could get.”

Guy de Maupassant’s “Two Friends” is an essential short story for high schoolers. The story is one of melancholy and dives into themes of loyalty during wartime.

44) “ The Landlady ” by Roald Dahl

“Normally you ring the bell and you have 120 at least a half-minute’s wait before the door opens. But this dame was a like a jack-in-the-box.”

45) “The Pie” by Gary Soto

“I knew enough about hell to stop me from stealing. I was holy in almost every bone.”

Gary Soto’s “The Pie” is an ideal short story for high schoolers as it delves into the guilt we carry throughout our lives.

46) “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

“Della counted it three times. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.”

47) “He-y, Come On Ou-t!” by Shinichi Hoshi

“The typhoon had passed and the sky was a gorgeous blue. Even a certain village not far from the city had suffered damage.”

Shinichi Hoshi is a science fiction writer who wrote “He-y, Come On Ou-t!” in 1971. This short story illuminates the consequences of selfish behavior.

48) “ Miriam ” by Truman Capote

“Her interests were narrow, she had no friends to speak of, and she rarely journeyed farther than the corner grocery.”

49) “ Eleven ” by Sandra Cisneros

“What they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one.”

Published in 1991, Sandra Cisneros’ “Eleven” asks the reader to confront questions around transition and remembering the years we carry.

50) “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.”

Read our blog entitled: The Yellow Wallpaper Summary and Analysis .

51)  “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

“The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.”

A story that is brutal and questions tradition. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is one of the best short stories for high schoolers because of how it subverts expectations.

Read College Transitions’ Summary & Analysis of The Lottery .

52) “The Magic Barrel” by Bernard Malamud

“Since he had no present prospects of marriage, after two tormented days of turning it over in his mind, he called in Pinye Salzman, a marriage broker whose two-line advertisement he had read in the Forward.”

53) “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber

“Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!” said Mrs. Mitty. “What are you driving so fast for?”It’s one of the best short stories for high schoolers, and it’s the most famous of James Thurber’s stories. First published on March 18, 1939, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is impossible to put down. It was even made into a film with Ben Stiller.

54) “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov

“Aton 77, director of Saro University, 11 thrust out a belligerent lower lip and 12 glared at the young newspaperman in a 13 hot fury.”

55) “The Test” by Theodore Thomas

“Robert Proctor was a good driver for so young a person.”

Theodore Thomas’ “The Test” was first published in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine in April 1962. High schoolers, and any reader, likely won’t see the ending coming.

56) “Tenth of December” by George Saunders

“The pale boy with unfortunate Prince Valiant bangs and cublike mannerisms hulked to the mudroom closet and requisitioned Dad’s white coat.”

57) “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell

“Martha!” now came her husband’s impatient voice. “Don’t keep folks waiting out here in the cold.”Susan Glaspell wrote “A Jury of Her Peers” in 1917. This short story was loosely based on the murder of John Hossack in 1900.

58) “Araby” by James Joyce

“North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free.”James Joyce’s “Araby” is a short story that was published in his collection “Dubliners” in 1914. It’s one of the best short stories for high schoolers as it focuses on the struggles of growing up and the obsession of a crush.

59) “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal.”

60) “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan

“I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games.”Also published in Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club,” this short story for high school students is about independence and growing up.

Best Short Stories for High School Students 

These stories pose questions that students will continue to ask themselves not just for their creative writing prompts but later in college and throughout their lives. As high schoolers read more short stories, they’ll also understand that the power of literature is not confined to the form of the novel.

• Teacher Tools

Joanna Hong

With a BA from Pitzer College and an MA from University College London, Joanna has worked in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles covering many cultural and political issues with organizations such as Byline Media, NK News, and Free Turkey Media. A freelancer for The New York Times, her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Dazed and Confused Magazine, and The Guardian, among others. In addition, Joanna was the recipient of the 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship in Fiction and is currently completing her first novel.

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The big list of summer 2024 book recommendations from your local librarians

The warmest season of the year is a siren song for readers who look forward to the long uninterrupted hours of turning pages the old-fashioned way, or tapping the toolbar on an e-book. Whether your toes are in the sand or your feet are curled up on a porch swing, books and summertime go together. ( Scroll down for the full list of recommendations!)

The Nobel Prize-winning writer John Steinbeck once mused, “I guess there are never enough books.”

Nobody knows that better than librarians, our top reading ambassadors.

For Under the Radar’s annual summer reading special, three of our local librarians return with their curated lists for summer, including thrillers, histories, young adult stories, romance and mysteries.

“I always like to highlight a book that was released earlier in the year, but I thought didn’t receive as much recognition as it should have,” said Susannah Borysthen-Tkacz, senior librarian at the Cambridge Public Library. Her first pick was “ Dixon, Descending ,” author Karen Outen’s debut novel that hit the shelves in February.

The story follows the main character, Dixon, a former track athlete who missed the Olympics by two-tenths of a second decades earlier.

“He’s become a school psychologist where he’s formed really strong relationships with some of his students, including Marcus, who gets bullied a lot,” said Borysthen-Tkacz. “But they’re sort of thrown into this very extreme subculture of climbing. And it’s not a spoiler to tell you that the hike does not go as planned and they encounter some really tragic turns of events. ... The book goes to some really unexpected places. “

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Robin Brenner, teen librarian at the Public Library of Brookline, chose “ Looking for Smoke “ by K. A. Cobell. Set on the Blackfeet reservation, it’s about four Indigenous teens who find themselves suddenly the suspects in a murder of a classmate.

”This is a very classic setup ... but this is a different location and a different kind of detail of the world that you’re in,“ Brenner said. She said the novel also highlights the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The next recommendation ventures into the world of ”romantasy,“ or romance plus fantasy. Veronica Koven-Matasy, reader services librarian at the Boston Public Library, chose “The Warm Hands of Ghosts” by Katherine Arden, set in World War I.

“It had a quite interesting setup, to me,” she said. “It opens with the Halifax harbor explosion, which — you know — Boston has a close relationship with. The story itself, it’s actually a historical fantasy , but very grounded in the real world. The main character is a retired nurse named Laura who has come back to Canada from the front.

“There’s so many threads in this — it was like a fairytale, but also such a fabulous heroine. The brother-sister relationship was amazing,” Koven-Matasy added.“ I stayed up all night reading this book.”

Listen to the full hour of summer book talk on Under the Radar with Callie Crossley above.

Susannah Borysthen-Tkacz , senior librarian at the Cambridge Public Library

Robin Brenner , teen librarian at the Public Library of Brookline

Veronica Koven-Matasy , reader services librarian at the Boston Public Library

Summer 2024 recommended reading lists

From the librarians, robin brenner’s list:.

Teen (and one adult) fiction

“Four Eids and a Funeral” by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar

“The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories” edited by Desiree S Evans and Saraciea J Fennell

“Blood at the Root” by LaDarrion Williams

“Flawless Girls” by Anna-Marie McLemore

“Looking for Smoke” by K. A. Cobell

“Twelfth Knight” by Alexene Farol Follmuth

“My Salty Mary” by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

“Pretty Furious” by E.K. Johnston

“Sheine Lende” by Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Rovina Cai

“Trouble” by Lex Croucher (adult title!)

Graphic Novels

“Plain Jane and the Mermaid” by Vera Brosgol

“Pearl” by Sherri L. Smith and Christine Norrie

“Youth Group” by Jordan Morris and Bowen McCurdy

“Escape from St. Hell: A Graphic Novel” by Lewis Hancox

“Lunar New Year Love Story” by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham

“Ghostkeeper” by Johanna Taylor

Hotly anticipated sequels and authors

“Such Charming Liars” by Karen McManus

“The Grandest Game” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

“The Girl in Question” by Tess Sharpe (early September)

“Celestial Monsters” by Aiden Thomas (early September)

“Let’s Make Bread!” by Ken Forkish and Sarah Becan (cookbook)

“Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice: A Thai Comic Book Cookbook” by Christina de Witte and Mallika Kauppinen

“Kawaii Café Bubble Tea: Classic, Fun, and Refreshing Boba Drinks to Make at Home” by Stacey Kwong and Beyah del Mundo

“Lies My Teacher Told Me: A Graphic Adaptation” by James W. Loewen and Nate Powell

“Barbie(TM): The World Tour” by Margot Robbie, Andrew Mukamal, and Craig McDean

“Cute Kawaii Cross Stitch: Over 400 Super Adorable Patterns” by Sosae Caetano and Dennis Caetano

Susannah Borysthen-Tkacz’s list:

“Dixon, Descending” by Karen Outen

“Some Strange Music Draws Me In” by Griffin Hansbury

“Homebody” by Theo Parish

“Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

“The Truth According to Ember” by Danica Nava (August 6)

“Bear” by Julia Phillips (June 25)

“Housemates” by Emma Copley Eisenberg

“My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book Two” Emil Ferris

“Catalina” by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (July 23)

Veronica Koven-Matasy’s list is available on the Boston Public Library website.

Callie Crossley’s summer reading list

“James” by Percival Everett

“Neighbors and Other Stories” by Diane Oliver

“A Love Song for Ricki Wilde” by Tia Williams

“Lies and Weddings” by Kevin Kwan

“Allow Me to Introduce Myself” by Onyi Nwabineli

“Colored Television” by Danzy Senna

“Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books” by Kirsten Miller

“Dream Count” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“Why We Read” by Shannon Read

“That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America” by Amanda Jones

“The Survivors of the Clotilda” by Hannah Durkin

“Whiskey Tender” by Deborah Jackson Taffa

“The House Of Hidden Meanings” by RuPaul

“Shakespeare The Man Who Pays the Rent” by Judi Dench

“The Secret Lives Of Booksellers And Librarians: Their Stories Are Better Than The Bestsellers” by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann

“The Swans Of Harlem” by Karen Valby

“Every Valley” by Charles King

“Night Flyer” by Tiya Miles

Children’s and young adult books

“Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All” by Chanel Miller

“Someone Just Like You” by Helen Docherty

“Big” by Vashti Harrison

“Running In Flip Flops From The End Of The World” by Justin A. Reynolds

“Ultraviolet” by Aida Salazar

“A Little Bit Super” stories by several authors, co-edited by Leah Henderson and Gary D. Schmidt

“Blood At The Root” by LaDarrion Williams

“Chinese Menu: The History Of Myths, And Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods” by Grace Lin

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Great Gatsby, The: Defining Literature of the Decade

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Use Bloom's Literature, Biography in Context, and Literature Resource Center to research influential authors from the 1920s.

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Annual Tom Cosenzi Scholarship awards two graduating high school students funding towards college expenses

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - In an effort to give back and support young people on their journey to academic excellence, the annual Tom Cosenzi Scholarship funded by Tommy Car Auto granted two graduating high school students’ 25 hundred dollars to go towards their college expenses this fall.

During a scholarship recognition breakfast at Hotel Northampton, this year’s winners shared with Western Mass News some of their plans for their scholarship money.

“I’ve done sports communication for the past 4 years in high school. I’ve done play by play, so my goal now is to go to Arizona state that’s where I’m going to be headed in the fall and I’m going to try and do play by play there.” Antonio “AJ” Goncalves, a graduating senior at Pope Francis Prep in Springfield tells us. “So, this money that they are going to give me for that is an honor to receive and hopefully one day I can become a good sports broadcaster. Maybe one day be at Western Mass News,” he exclaims.

“I feel truly honored getting this scholarship and just so happy overall, Christian Ciolkos from Hopkins Academy in Hadley tells Western Mass News, “I plan to use this scholarship to go towards my college expenses at UMass Amherst for business management,” he says.

The annual high school scholarship was started to honor the late Thomas Cosenzi who was a strong advocate for education and community involvement.

Copyright 2024. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.

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East Brunswick High School under fire after yearbook photo mishap raises concerns of bias

EAST BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey high school is under fire after a picture of Jewish students was found replaced with a photo of Muslim students in their yearbook.

East Brunswick High School students discovered the photo on Tuesday in a section in the yearbook titled, in bold print, "Jewish Student Union." The names of the Jewish students were also omitted.

News of the mishap raced through the school like wildfire.

"I don't think that this was intentional by a group of people, but one person trying to make a statement," said senior Hilda Jaegersen.

But it wasn't only the school where the controversy spread.

East Brunswick Mayor Brad J. Cohen called the situation a "blatant act of antisemitism." Local rabbis also responded to the concerns of their congregations.

"We are disheartened, dismayed and feeling a lot of anger," Rabbi Larry Brandspiegel said. "I do believe we have to give the people in charge, those who are responsible the opportunity to speak, explain and come up with some answers."

The East Brunswick School District took action immediately. The 700 yearbooks handed out to seniors were recalled. The publisher is being paid $1,000 to make this right. It was not the publisher's error.

East Brunswick School District Superintendent Dr. David Valeski says an investigation is underway into what happened. He acknowledged it won't ever happen again, and if it was done on purpose, the person or people involved will be held accountable.

"If it is a staff member, this would be a loss of a job," Valeski said. "If it is a student, we would have to look at the code of conduct handbook."

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Records reveal Fort Bend ISD board member is the only person pushing for library books to be removed

SUGAR LAND, Texas (KTRK) -- Documents reveal a Fort Bend ISD board member has asked the district to remove more than 30 books that he believes are graphic and better suited for "perverted adults."

THE FIGHT OVER FORT BEND ISD LIBRARY BOOKS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS

Libraries are a place where you can get lost in a book and learn about something new. They also tend to be on the quiet side.

But what's on Fort Bend ISD library shelves is making a lot of noise. At a board meeting earlier this year, a number of people took to the podium.

"I hope you don't sin, and start getting this junk out of our schools," one person said.

"If you keep it in here, you're complicit in the sexualization of children," another person said. "It's got to stop!"

This summer, the school board plans to revisit the district's policy to remove books. Before it does, the district has had more than 30 books challenged this year - novels that will be read by a committee.

DOCUMENTS REVEAL ONLY ONE PERSON IS RAISING CONCERNS ABOUT THE BOOKS

13 Investigates requested the documents to see who's challenged the books. We discovered it was only one person.

"Without knowing firsthand, my guess would be people on the extreme of one side or the other," Fort Bend ISD taxpayer Paul Cooper said.

It's a person who said in the documents they only read excerpts.

"If you want to exclude it, then certainly you ought to know everything about it," Fort Bend ISD taxpayer Fedell Price said. "If you want to exclude it, you have a more credible voice if you have read it."

The person who's challenging books is Fort Bend ISD board member David Hamilton.

"I found content that discusses sex with Jesus and oral sex with Jesus," Hamilton explained. "There's school library content about child porn and child rape."

Hamilton said he learned about the books in January. He started to challenge them months later.

"I've tried to get other people to submit forms, and I think it's just the political reality right now that people are afraid to be called a book banner," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said he's not a banner but a concerned parent. If he's worried, we asked why not read the whole book.

"I think it's fair for somebody to ask that question, and if you're going to have that criticism of me, then you should have that criticism for a lot of these books getting into the campus libraries," Hamilton said.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A FORT BEND ISD BOOK IS CHALLENGED

After someone challenges a book, a five-person committee reads the literature. It can be removed, retained, or restricted.

The district created a website where you can see the books that are being reviewed by the committee. So far, eight of the books Hamilton wants gone have been removed.

Seven were kept. One of the books allowed to remain on high school shelves is "People Kill People." One committee wrote the book is beneficial to high school students, but Hamilton disagrees.

"The book's got a handgun on the cover, and the title is literally 'People Kill People'," Hamilton said.

It's a controversial cover, but committee members say the book allows students to see themselves and not feel alone.

CHANGES COULD BE COMING TO HOW BOOKS ARE REVIEWED

The documents reveal that committee members fear the rubric isn't fair. They add that kids are more open-minded than adults.

A challenge could soon be less involved. Hamilton wants either a librarian or administrator to decide the fate of certain books.

"We should trust them to be educational experts when it comes to deciding which books to remove," Hamilton said.

It's a path education experts warn may not be inclusive.

"The reason you have a diverse group that should be reviewing when instructional material is challenged is because we all have very different perspectives," University of Houston assistant clinical professor Duncan Klussmann explained.

Klussmann is a former superintendent who now teaches at UH. He said book challenges aren't new.

When he was a district leader 10 years ago, books were challenged. He said these concerns were brought on by parents, never a school board member.

But he said the pandemic has caused some elected leaders to focus on libraries - an attention he said may not be a bad thing because the process of how districts buy books has changed.

"Once it became more online ordering and librarians could order directly, I feel like what happened in many cases, librarians used just the rating system," Klussmann said. "It's like you going on Amazon and saying, 'Oh, this book gets a good rating.' And there probably wasn't as strong of a review over the last 10 years of what those instruction materials or library books should be."

HAMILTON FEARS IF THE BOOKS AREN'T REMOVED, HE COULD BE CRIMINALLY CHARGED

It's not just school board members focused on this. State lawmakers are, too.

Last session, HB 900 passed that requires vendors to let districts know about graphic material.

The bill has been challenged in court. It's a 10-page bill Hamilton is aware of, although, like the books, he's only read some of it.

"I've read most of it," Hamilton said. "I haven't read word for word the entire thing."

An attorney who reviewed the bill told ABC13 there's nothing that references jail time. Hamilton said the district's attorney says it's unclear because the bill mentions a penal code where someone could be charged with a misdemeanor or felony.

More board members are set to weigh in soon. On Wednesday, there will be a special board workshop on the book challenge policy.

It'll then head back to a committee before it's expected to go to the full board for a vote later this summer.

For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook , X and Instagram .

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