If there’s one thing that seems to be universal about high school, it’s the fact that you are forced to read old “classics” that are usually wordy, dry, and tend to have sexist/racist undertones. The amount of times we all had to analyze the significance of an insignificant book we probably didn’t even read is distressing to think about. However, despite the rep the high school book list has, there were actually several books I had to read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Here is a list of the top five books (in no particular order) that I read for my high school English classes and reminded me about how much I love reading.
( 1 ) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
“The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.” – Amazon description
The girls in my senior year AP Literature class had to read The Kite Runner (The boys read A Thousand Splendid Sun, also by Khaled Hosseini). When I say I couldn’t put it down, I am not exaggerating one bit. I remember we read the books in three sections, and when I reached the end of each section it was upsetting to have to stop reading and wait until we started the next one. Not only was the book extremely well written, but it has a very powerful message that my entire class ended up being super passionate about.
( 2 ) The Crucible by Arthur Miller
“One of the true masterpieces of twentieth-century American theater, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil. It is a play that is not only relentlessly suspenseful and vastly moving, but that compels readers to fathom their hearts and consciences in ways that only the greatest theatre can.” – Amazon description
My sophomore year honors English class read The Crucible entirely in class. When my class read the play, each person was assigned a character (or the narrator) and had to read aloud. This definitely had an impact on my enjoyment of book because reading for a specific character allowed me (and the rest of my class) to really get into the story and the overarching message of it. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a good witch book? The connection to history, that of the 1600’s and 1900’s, also makes the book interesting as you make connections to the theme of mass hysteria in terms of the witchcraft and McCarthyism.
( 3 ) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
“One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.” – Amazon description
Outside of the incredible message of the book, the reason this was one of my favorite reads of high school is because the way the message is presented through the eyes of Scout, a young girl. Lee managed to portray the important themes in the background of Scout’s childhood, and still managed to show her growing up and living a normal life. Not to mention the fact that the book was extremely well written.
( 4 ) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world—conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.” – Amazon description
I enjoyed reading this book because while it’s not one of “the classics” it has the same overall feel of one while being written in a modern setting, and more importantly, being written in modern English. It was also very interesting to read a novel that is about an immigrant family coming to America, while still trying to maintain their roots with their home country.
( 5 ) The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
“The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.” – Amazon description
As a woman, it’s interesting to see a world laid out where women are effectively striped of all their rights and have no intention of taking it laying down. What makes this book especially good is how much attention the author pays to details and subtext of the novel rather than relying solely on dialog.