Top Ten Books That You Wish Were Taught In Schools
What books should be taught in schools?
As I learned this summer, something dies when a book is assigned.
No assigned reading then.
What about a list of great books to pick from?
Okay. I'll go for that. If we really want students to read books they connect with, if we really want students to read books that set them thinking, if we really want students to become lifelong readers...how about a list like this?
The House on Mango Street
The Fault in Our Stars
How to Be Perfect (poems)
Any Billy Collins (more poems)
Nickel and Dimed
I Am the Messenger
Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything
The Arrival
High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver
God Went to Beauty School
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
Reading Lolita in Tehran
How Full is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Life and Work
The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant
The Hunger Games
My Name is Maria Isabel
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
Ender's Game
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Wonder
The Happiness Project
Giants in the Earth
Dandelions by Eve Bunting
The Westing Game
If the World Were a Village
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Kathleen Krull's Lives of the Artists (or any in this series)
Never Cry Wolf
The Little Prince
Rotten Island by William Steig
Walk Two Moons
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Holes by Louis Sachar
A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen
Bud, Not Buddy
The Duck in the Gun by Joy Cowley
Skellig
Wolves by Emily Gravett
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Anne of Green Gables
Of Mice and Men
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The 13 Clocks
Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
Love That Dog
The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse by John R. Erickson
Stargirl
Harry Potter
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Tale of Despereaux
Hatchet
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Material World by Peter Menzel
A Wrinkle in Time
How to Steal a Dog
Snow Treasure
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
The Last Lecture
The Last Shot by Darcy Frey (basketball; nonfiction)
The Good Earth
American Born Chinese
Because of Winn-Dixie
Pride & Prejudice
The Book Thief
The Glass Bead Game
Eleanor & Park
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Persepolis
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
The Hobbit
Out of the Dust
1984
The Giver
14 Cows for America
To Kill a Mockingbird
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Glass Castle
Tadpole's Promise (I'd love to hear what teens would say about this one!)
Fahrenheit 451
Uglies
Lord of the Flies
Speak
Poetry 180 (yet more poetry)
My Name is Asher Lev
Gift of the Magi
Bless Me, Ultima
The Diary of Anne Frank
Animal Farm
A Christmas Carol
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
The Lightning Thief
Firegirl....
What else? Do you have more good possible choices? But let's not assign everyone the same book any more. Please.
What do you think? Should students be assigned a book to read? If so, what would you suggest?
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.
