top ten tuesday

I was a nerd who always read all the books that were assigned in high school. But, I can’t say that I truly enjoyed any of them. We read Moby Dick, Great Expectations, Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace, etc. See the pattern? All men, all the time.

While I was thinking about this post I came across this article – The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books – The Atlantic. Students aren’t assigned full books as often as they were in the dark ages when I was in school. This is because standardized testing has prioritized analyzing shorter passages. Now college students don’t have the skills or attention spans to handle longer texts. That’s sad.

If I was in charge of the world, what books would I put in a high school curriculum instead of the books I was assigned?

Pride and Prejudice

Gotta have a classic novel? Check!

Oh no, it’s so female! Who will think of the poor boys? Too bad. Reading is all about seeing the viewpoints of people different than yourselves. It is time that people other than girls are given the chance to do that.

This is an historically important novel that is referenced all over the place. You can bring in historical context. Why are these people so rich? Slavery and worker exploitation. Why are there so many British soldiers hanging around? Let’s talk European colonization and dreams of empires.

Alice in Wonderland

Forget Dickens’ dreary take on life. Let’s go to Wonderland and have some fun. Along the way, we can learn about wordplay and allusions.

The Handmaid’s Tale

You have to have the right parent group for this one because *gasp* there is sex in this one and *even worse* a really strong political and feminist message. (Maybe when I’m ruling the world, parents are going to let their kids explore ideas.)

But this is a modern classic that can be dived into deeply to study current and near-current events that mirrored events in the book. It can be used to introduce dystopian themes in literature.

V for Vendetta

Yes, schools should teach graphic novels. I’m for reading in all forms.

I’ll admit I haven’t read this one but I love the movie version.  (Bad book blogger!!  I came out of the movie barely holding back tears and my husband-at-the-time said, “That’s 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back.” How did I not see that divorce coming? Current husband also loved the movie. That is my deep relationship advice for the day.) Anyway, totalitarianism, anarchy, ethical decisions, all kinds of discussions could be had around this one.

Brown Girl Dreaming

It’s a verse novel. Look at all those awards on the cover. Add in the fact that it is about growing up Black in the Jim Crow south and this seems like a no-brainer for schools that want to teach real history.

Two Boys Kissing

Yeah, I know, now I’ve gone out of my mind thinking I can get things past right wing parents in schools but I’m still living in my dream world here.

This is the story of several gay high school couples including two exes who are trying to get a world record for kissing as a protest after a hate crime.  What makes this book special is that there is a Greek chorus made up of the spirits of men who died in the first wave of AIDS in the 1980s.  They compare and contrast gay life in the 2010s vs their lives in the 1980s.  This would be so great to discuss with kids who have no idea about gay history.  We are going to let this happen in my world. 

The Poet X

This is a book about slam poetry. Lessons obviously could include writing your own poetry (and performing it for those students who were comfortable with that.) This also brings in a Latina author into the curiculum. Take that, all you dead white men.

Dear Martin

A short book about racial issues and policing that partially consists of letters written to a historical figure? The lesson plans almost write themselves. Write letters to a historical figure discussing how you think they would feel about this current issue, etc.

Unidentified Suburban Object

It’s getting pretty heavy in here so let’s lighten it up. This is a middle grade sci-fi novel dealing with Asian-American identity. It’s an easy read and fun but still has themes around family and belonging that can lead to good discussions. Plus, science fiction needs a place in school!

So, obviously I’m getting fired as an English teacher and will have to go back to doctoring on dogs and cats. What books would you assign if you got to take my place?