A Modern Reading List for High School?

[John Cole]

I read it. Get rid of the crappy short stories, The Lady or the Tiger and The Most Dangerous Game. Make sure that you read aloud the final couple pages of Omelas; it will hit them harder if you do. Add Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog and teach it as a love story; make sure you look at how Chekhov uses details.

By all means, use Ender's Game. It's perfect for hs kids. Also, you might bring up ideas about how the book looks at "special education." Did you know that Card's son requires special needs?

I would add Maus I, a superior graphic novel without the moralizing. This renders what inhumanity does to people as well as anything.

Don't be afraid of The Dead, but take it slow. I was surprised to find out that some of my blandest students found it the best story of the semester. Araby is best seen as a little boy's story first; he's got a crush on a girl, and his romantic imagination produces wonderful melodrama. But he never really sees the object of his affection--merely her image throughout the story. Note how Joyce uses sight throughout. You could have the kid track the references to sight throughtout the story. Note that the story ends with tears. It's funny and sad.

I think you will love The Things They Carried.