Most Common Books Read in High School
A huge number of books exist out there, ready and waiting for yous to read them. Whether you lot prefer manga or ancient, epic poems, reading is cracking for all sorts of reasons.
What follows is a listing of highly benign books to read in high school (or after!). These are remarkable books—books that made history, books that claiming societal perceptions of the world, and books that are quite simply interesting and moving. The books are presented in alphabetical order, and a brusque description is given for each book, as well an explanation of why it is worth reading.
Why Is Reading Important?
Why should you read these books? Why should you read at all for that matter? Reading is essential to communication, especially in an era of emails and texting. Across even that, though, reading has an array of crucial purposes. It volition help meliorate your grades and examination scores. You'll learn near other places, other times, and other cultures. You'll encounter issues you can relate to—issues that speak to you and challenge you to call back and experience in new ways. You will abound, empathetically and intellectually. Plus, you'll understand more than of the references that crop up all the time in popular culture.
Below are 31 books to read in loftier school that will assistance you lot gear up for college and beyond.
1984 (George Orwell)
This dystopian novel by George Orwell was written 35 years before the date referenced by the title. In this book, Orwell tells a story that warns readers about the possible consequences of self-approbation in the face up of ascent dictators (think Hitler and Stalin) and burgeoning applied science ripe for misuse. He describes a world where everything is monitored, correct downwards to citizens' thoughts, and where whatsoever opposition to the ruling course is punishable by extreme measures. The oft-encountered quote, "Big Brother is watching," finds its origin in this novel.
The Adventures of Blueberry Finn (Mark Twain)
This sequel to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is much graver in nature than its predecessor. There are still enough of good antics worthy of a laugh, but it concerns itself largely with a young male child'south try to escape severe family dysfunction and the moral implications of his taking an escaped slave as a companion on his gamble downward the Mississippi River. Readers should exist warned that the "n-word" is used liberally throughout the novel, which tends to be jarring to many a modern ear.
Marker Twain wants yous to read his novel(south).
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
Set in the Creole culture of the belatedly 1800s, this novel past Kate Chopin details one woman's process of becoming aware of herself. At the fourth dimension, women were essentially property, and they were expected to act in demure and socially acceptable means. As the protagonist "awakens" to her emotional and sexual needs, likewise every bit the ultimate truth of her own independence , all sorts of problems ensue. The novel examines the rest between cocky-respect and selfishness.
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
This autobiographical novel by poet Sylvia Plath explores the deep, dark reality of mental illness. The protagonist, Esther, a stand up-in for Plath herself, is a college student exploring her talents, interests, and sexuality as she descends into an unsettling spiral of mental instability. It is essential for students to sympathize the seriousness of mental illness as it is so earnestly portrayed in this volume.
Blackness Rain (Masuji Ibuse)
Black Rain, by Masuji Ibuse, is about the very immediate, homo consequences of the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It follows a pocket-size family of survivors, detailing what happened to them during the days of the bombing and what the effects are some years afterwards. The volume adopts a gentle, subtle tone, and nonetheless information technology is not afraid to delve into very explicit and challenging topics related to the bombings.
Bless Me, Ultima (Rudolfo Anaya)
This semi-autobiographical novel by Rudolfo Anaya contains a healthy dose of magical realism and is considered a staple of Chicano literature. It combines Spanish, Mexican, and Native American influences, showing openly the ways in which these forces inside the protagonist'due south life come up into conflict. Young Antonio is growing up in a earth that leaves him with more questions than answers: major questions nearly life and decease, expert and evil, and so on. These issues seem too large for his half-dozen-year-old heed, and yet he grapples with them valiantly through the end of the novel.
Antonio has lots of questions surrounding his religion traditions.
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley explores themes like to those constitute in Orwell's 1984. Huxley wrote this novel before than Orwell wrote his, and yet both deal with dystopian concepts. In item, Huxley balances utopian and dystopian interpretations of a globe that is highly controlled, hands manipulated, and extremely dysfunctional, set up to fall apart at any provocation. There are insiders of and outsiders to this world, and each character views and interacts with the lodge in a different low-cal.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee joint (Dee Brown)
Dee Brownish covers a lot of historical ground in this book. In it, Brown describes the history of European Americans equally they interact with (and slaughter) the Native Americans who already inhabit what they claim equally their country. It's an infuriating and accurate tale of mistreatments and abuses, besides equally the unfortunate decline of a noble people trying to defend their established style of life. It's essential for students to empathise this part of United states of america history.
The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
This bold and controversial novel by J. D. Salinger centers around ideas including adolescent sexuality and relationships. The protagonist is constantly billowy effectually from person to person, identify to place, activeness to action. Critics were greatly offended by Salinger'due south frank discussions of sexual matters and his generally very coincidental style. This volume is an important read in part because of its direct relevance to struggling adolescents and the issues they face up.
The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
Arthur Miller wrote this tragic play in the early 1950s. While it is somewhat loosely based on the Salem witch trials of 1692, and while it is likely intended as an allegory to McCarthy's rooting out of suspected Communists at the fourth dimension of the play'south writing, the issues it touches on are much more than broadly applicable. This is an important dramatic work on how hysteria, cruelty, and ignorant gullibility destroy communities.
Bonus: Studying The Crucible for schoolhouse and struggling? Check out ourThe Crucible study guides hither!
There are lots of accusations of creepy stuff in The Crucible.
The Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank)
Anne Frank's published diary is different from a typical literary work. It's a true business relationship of the life of one Jewish girl during the Holocaust, and, while Anne Frank wrote some passages with publication in mind, others she did non. When the book was first published, many passages that her father, Otto Frank, found too long, unflattering, or inappropriate were excluded. Today, the book is available with all textile included. Gaining some understanding of this horrific genocide is crucial to students.
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Books are on trial in this phenomenal work by Ray Bradbury. Set in nevertheless some other dystopian future where firemen are employed to burn books and the houses that contain them, Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of a firewoman who begins to wonder what books have to offer. This novel is an ode to literacy, and, while it has its tragic moments, it ultimately leaves readers with a message of promise.
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
Daniel Keyes writes a very warm and human form of science fiction in Flowers for Algernon. The novel tells the story of a man considered mentally retarded who is selected for an intelligence-enhancing surgery. The book follows the effects, both positive and negative, that come from the sudden change in his I.Q. This is a moving read for students who wish to empathise how intelligence plays into our humanity.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf (Ntozake Shange)
In For Colored Girls…, Ntozake Shange creates choreopoetry (poesy meant to exist performed with motion and dance) that covers of import themes of race, gender, abuse, and perseverance. It'south largely a deep and night verse form, but it contains a bulletin of promise. This is an awesome opportunity for readers to become exposure to poesy in a very relevant and theatrical form.
The rainbow contains all sorts of symbolism.
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
First off, let'due south all exist clear: as some volition already know, Frankenstein is not a monster. Rather, the very human Victor Frankenstein is responsible for creating what we recognize as the monster from the story; the fauna itself is nameless. Mary Shelley wrote this Gothic thriller in the early 1800s, and all the same nosotros remain fascinated past this tale of playing God and facing the consequences. Information technology'due south an eerie tale with themes that run deep.
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
John Steinbeck'south masterful The Grapes of Wrath centers effectually the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in American history. Information technology's a story of hope and despair, moving from one to the other and back once more seamlessly throughout the novel. While loaded with biblical allusions, it is not heavy-handed with them, and the writing is frequently praised as realistic and beautiful.
Dandy Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations, past Charles Dickens, is a staple of English language literature. It'southward i of his most autobiographical works; information technology tells the story of a young male child, orphaned and poor, who ultimately experiences a drastic modify in his fortunes. In add-on, he learns much about love, trust, and relationships in this coming-of-age novel. As the championship suggests, the novel also contains discussions of hope, disappointment, and expectations.
The Corking Gatbsy (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Bully Gatsby a novel that in many ways closely reflected his ain experience. The decadence of the Jazz Age was, as is revealed in the novel, both enticing for many and revolting for some. The Peachy Gatsby follows the quest of a wealthy boyfriend to win back the dear of his life by extravagant displays of riches and social connections. Equally the plot builds to its climax, readers, along with Gatsby'due south simpler, humbler friend and neighbor, are left to ponder the passing of an era in American history.
BONUS: Reading The Neat Gatsby for school but finding it hard to keep track of all the characters? We have several study guides that might be able to help, including our guide to all the characters in The Great Gatsby.
The Joy Luck Order (Amy Tan)
Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, deals with intergenerational and intercultural questions. Tan seeks to stand for the Chinese-American experience while also representing issues of mother-daughter relationships and the passage of time. The book focuses on four female parent and four daughters beyond four sections of the novel for a full of sixteen stories that come together to complete this total piece of work.
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
William Golding's Lord of the Flies speaks to the evil and degenerate potential that lurks within each human. Information technology tin be interpreted religiously, politically, psychoanalytically, or any number of other ways, simply the basic premise is that a group of schoolboys stranded on an island descend into grotesque savagery. It'south a disturbing story, to be sure, but 1 that is important to be familiar with in a earth where cruel instinct too ofttimes presents itself today.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien)
As with any work, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are not everyone's loving cup of tea, simply they're hugely rewarding pleasure reading for too many fans to count. Tolkien'south masterpieces are more than than just pleasure reading, though; the trilogy covers major themes of the ballsy struggle between good and evil, the necessity of persevering through immensely difficult ordeals, and how to apply mercy. Tolkien asks major questions near those who are evil versus those who are misguided and what nosotros should do when our paths intertwine with any such individuals. The Hobbit is lighter and more than kid-focused, simply still addresses of import themes.
The Odyssey (Homer)
The Odyssey is an epic poem nearly 3 thousand years old that'southward attributed to the bullheaded poet Homer. It tells the story of a state of war hero'south ten-year quest to return to his home, married woman, and son. He encounters a number of varied setbacks forth the way, and the problem isn't over when he gets habitation. The Odyssey deals with human interactions with the gods, bringing upwards questions of righteousness, wrongdoing, and pride as well as ideas of faithfulness and patience.
Odysseus was a fan of the ladies.
Oedipus King (Sophocles)
This play by Greek dramatist Sophocles is about a man who inadvertently kills his male parent and marries his mother. Information technology's dark subject matter, and nothing skilful comes of information technology, as you may well doubtable. This another instance, as in The Odyssey, of the divine tinkering with human lives and the smashing sin of pride.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo'south Nest (Ken Kesey)
Ken Kesey documents in this piece of work the darkest side of mental health care as information technology existed in the 1960s. While certainly non all mental health care was like what's described in the book, nor is it all like that today, audiences of the novel are aghast that whatever care might even vaguely resemble the horrors discussed. Despite how disturbing the storyline is, it's important for readers to recognize the vulnerability of this too often overlooked segment of society.
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice follows a family with v daughters, all unwed, and all, due to English community of the late 1700s and early 1800s, in demand of nuptials. Of the five daughters, Elizabeth is the focus of the novel, though the others are discussed aplenty. While matrimony is one of the primal ideas in the novel, at that place are plenty of other themes to exist picked autonomously, including ones that touch on pride, prejudice, beginning impressions, dear, misunderstanding, and manipulation. This is, all around, a classic slice of literature, and 1 with which to exist familiar.
Next upward: one of my favorites, William Shakespeare.
Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare'due south Romeo and Juliet is familiar to most people on some level: two teenagers from feuding families fall in love and ultimately sacrifice their lives to their passion. Of all of Shakespeare's works, it's a particularly popular 1 to read in high schoolhouse for a multifariousness of reasons. For one thing, it deals explicitly with teenaged dear, and, for some other, it'southward a relatively unproblematic plot that's nonetheless action-packed. It as well opens with a shameless series of very witty dirty jokes, and such humour is scattered throughout the rest of the bear witness. Then at that place's the thematic cloth, which includes obedience, fate, and rash decisions, amongst others.
For those who don't wish to read about teenagers mooning for each other to the point of suicide, there's always Hamlet. This story follows a Danish prince whose father has died and whose female parent has near instantly married the male parent'southward brother. When Hamlet discovers, via an advent of his male parent's ghost, that his uncle murdered his father, all sorts of interesting events ensue. There's madness (existent and feigned), murder, suicide, treason, and a lot of waffling over the right grade of activity.
As an added bonus, those who read Hamlet may wish to read Tom Stoppard'due south Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Information technology follows the events of Hamlet from the perspective of two minor and typically much-maligned characters. It's likewise hilarious, if absolutely weird.
Butchery-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Shambles-V is a fictional account of events in some ways very similar to what the author himself experienced as a prisoner of war in WWII. He writes about the atrocities humans commit upon each other, and he too mixes in a number of other concerns, some heavy, some light, such as death, aliens, and the ability to come across other points in time, past or hereafter.
Their Optics Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
The novel Their Optics Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston has been much criticized over the grade of its history, and however it stands as one of the great classics of American literature. It tells the story of a black woman who is full of zest and passion and who is passed from man to homo as she goes through life. With her first husband, she is absolutely miserable; with her second husband, information technology'south more than bearable, for a time; and with her 3rd man, she finds happiness. The trials and tribulations she undergoes with all three make for an interesting examination of what it takes for Janie to free the strong, confident woman within.
(Not an actual representation of Janie. Same arroyo to life, though.)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
In Chinua Achebe'south Things Fall Apart, readers encounter a complex and beautifully rendered examination of life with the Igbo tribe in Africa, both before and later on the white human'due south interference. Okonkwo is the protagonist, and he goes through a number of difficulties that put him in the position of making distasteful decisions. Readers are left to wonder whether things are falling apart considering that's simply the way of the world or whether unlike decisions could have kept them together. The inevitability of alter is neatly demonstrated.
To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Harper Lee'southward To Kill a Mockingbird deals with elements of racism, courage, sympathy, understanding, and hope. It tells the story of a small-scale town where a black human has been falsely accused of raping a white adult female. The girl of the lawyer defending the accused is the master protagonist, and another aspect of the story is her journeying from bemused mockery to gentle agreement with regard to an eccentric man in the boondocks. To Kill a Mockingbird rose to prominence during the Civil Rights Movement and remains as stiff today every bit it ever was.
The Ugly American (Eugene Burdick and William Lederer)
The Ugly American by Burdick and Lederer is a denouncement of the American practice of sending insensitive diplomatic figures into foreign countries. Through a series of vignettes, it demonstrates American inefficiency overseas. It so impressed John F. Kennedy while he was a Democratic senator that he sent a re-create to each and every one of his Senate colleagues. It can exist an uncomfortable read, but a worthwhile one.
Decision
If you tin can read through these 30-odd books before you graduate loftier school, you'll be in a expert shape, from a literary perspective.
Even if you can't read all of them, picking a few would not be a bad place to start. You might starting time with those that simply audio the nigh interesting to you, or y'all could look for themes in the books that relate to what you're learning in school. If yous're studying McCarthyism, for instance, perhaps attempt The Crucible; if you're studying the Holocaust, maybe try The Diary of a Young Girl.
These stories are immensely powerful. Some are newer, having instantly won their identify in the pantheon of classics, while others take proven themselves past withstanding the test of time.
Readers volition find that they resonate with some books more than than others, and that'southward fine; the point is that all of these books take important messages to communicate, and I encourage readers to be open to finding out what those letters are.
Open a volume, and you'll find all sorts of messages! Normally not in bottles, though.
What'southward Side by side?
A lot of these books may exist read or referenced in AP English Lit classes. Bank check out our guide to AP Literature for tips on preparing for the exam. If y'all're not sure whether to have AP English language Language or AP English Literature, permit u.s.a. to provide you with some thoughts on the topic.
While we're on the topic of literature, why don't you take a moment to read some recommendations on which English classes you should take during your high school career?
Are y'all both a reader and interested in becoming a doctor? Then you should definitely take a look at our listing of books to read as a pre-med student.
And as a reminder, if y'all decide to read The Not bad Gatsby or The Crucible, y'all tin can bank check out our analyses of each to assist you lot along the way!
One of the single virtually of import parts of your college application is what classes you cull to take in high school (in conjunction with how well you exercise in those classes). Our team of PrepScholar admissions experts have compiled their knowledge into this unmarried guide to planning out your high school course schedule. We'll propose you on how to balance your schedule between regular and honors/AP/IB courses, how to choose your extracurriculars, and what classes you tin't afford not to take.
Vero is a firsthand adept at standardized testing and the college application procedure. Though neither parent had graduated high school, and exam prep was out of the question, she scored in the 99th percentile on both the SAT and ACT, taking each examination only once. She attended Dartmouth, graduating as salutatorian of 2013. She afterward worked every bit a professional person tutor. She has a cracking passion for the arts, especially theater.
Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/books-to-read-in-high-school
Post a Comment for "Most Common Books Read in High School"