While I don't think the length of a book should eliminate a book from consideration I do think you have to remember that students have work for more than one class at the same time. 1000 pages of literature plus math, plus science, plus history, something has to give.

Well, I am curious to see the final list and if Carrie decides to get small groups read different books and present... Fill us in Carrie.

I took British Literature in 10th grade and we read a few of The Canterbury Tales - some of them boys would be thrilled to read as they're extremely bawdy (up to and including fart jokes). I would recommend "The Miller's Tale" for this reason, and "The Knight's Tale" because it's the best of the tales, in my opinion!

It might be interesting to see what books they come up with ,if you required them to pick one classics ,one contemporary,one 20th century etc. Make a list and have them vote. Hopefully they will all be excited about the list ,they have chosen

Personally I think the reason most kids don't like to read is because in school the assigned readings are sometimes confusing, overly literary (i.e. critically acclaimed but maybe not easily grasped by us peons), or just plain boring.

I think the biggest mistake made in school systems today is educators don't encourage kids to read what interests them... they REQUIRE them to read what is available/mandated. Reading is such a personal thing and definitely not something that can be so narrowly defined as what the school/education systems try to do. Just like there are "gateway" drugs there certainly can be "gateway" books (Harry Potter being a prime example); books that get reluctant readers to at least crack the cover and give it a chance. Most of the time that's half the battle!

When I used to teach Middle School Social Studies, I would often try to use literature in a way that would open up the topics we were talking about with fresh eyes. I am wondering if Child 44 would be relevant not only because of what they will be learning in their History class (is 11th grade still US History?) concerning our government and why we, as a country, went the democratic route, but also to current events of today and understanding some of the problems that are continuing to happen around the world because of governments, repression, and opposing views.

Sorry... that was long winded.

My son read and liked Anthem in his gifted 10th grade English class.

If they can make it through the Harry Potters, they have no excuse that a book is "too long" to read, in my view.

Don't pick a book just because it's by a major author and short. Short/=easy-to-read, though many high school students think so. A good book is a good book; the length is pretty much irrelevant.

Killthepopular wrote: "Mari Anne wrote: "How about some exciting memoir type books for the boys, i.e. Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" or "Into the Wild" or adventure books like "Three Cups of Tea" or "Shadow Divers". Maybe b..."

Sure, instead of encouraging students to read, let's just continue to coddle them and agree that they're probably too dumb to understand basic literature. I find it very close-minded to believe that most students will not understand certain books. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's the teacher's responsibility to make sure the student understands the material that is presented to them. There are multiple ways of doing this, whether through discussion, additional projects, etc. If the student does not understand Lord of the Flies at the end of the year, it's not the student's fault - it is the fault of the teacher. Liking a book is a different matter, but again it's also incredibly close-minded to assume that just because someone doesn't like a certain book that it must mean that they don't get it. I read and got Bukowski's Ham on Rye, but I certainly did not care for it.

The biggest reason that students are incapable of reading anything more than 100 pages in school is because society almost always tells them that they can't handle it. How is it that most students in my high school were able to read, comprehend and write a paper on The Fountainhead before graduation, yet you're saying most students can not even fathom the depth of Animal Farm?

Students have a hard enough time doing more than the bare minimum. Perhaps if they're encouraged to read more quality books and not told that they could not POSSIBLY understand Lord of the Flies or Animal Farm, or could not POSSIBLY figure out how to make it from one end of The Count of Monte Cristo to the another without neon lights showing the way they would manage to graduate with having a few decent books under their belt.

Mari Anne wrote: "How about some exciting memoir type books for the boys, i.e. Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" or "Into the Wild" or adventure books like "Three Cups of Tea" or "Shadow Divers". Maybe books with movie ti..."

The stand? Lord of the rings? The count of monte cristo? You're suggesting she gets 10th graders to read books that are over 1000pp long? I think thats probably why people don't mention those books...

Might be worth taking a look at this list as a clue to what books would be better avoided:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/534.R...

I personally loved lord of the flies but i suppose most kids don't get it.

When i was at school i was in the top of the 5 english class divisions at an above average school and as far as i was aware i was the only kid there who actually read for pleasure, or who at least read anything other than just YA lit. Even in good classes, it's unlikely that 90% of kids will be able to appreciate the literary masterpieces theyre forced to read, which is the reason why fantastic books like the call of the wild and lord of the flies get such bizzarrely low scores on this site.

So probably best to keep your selections short, simple and trashy. They mostly aren't gonna get something like Animal Farm, so just get them to read some YA garbage like twilight or harry potter. They'll certainly appreciate it more.

Also, to some extent it's difficult to enjoy any book when you study it at school. I read both "of mice and men" and "animal farm" for my own enjoyment a couple of years before we read them in class and i enjoyed them both, but found them both to be very flat and tiresome when we came to study them in class. Being surrounded by students who didn't enjoy the books churning out cookie-cutter answers to stock exam questions really saps the joy out of any book.
The whole education system is designed to make kids pass exams regardless of whether those exams truly represent any meaningful understanding of their subject matter. English, in my experience, is the worst subject in this respect. Curriculums are designed to be entirely useless and to alienate children from every subject. You've got to be a really special teacher to make kids enjoy a subject under pressures like that.

my 10th grade class we read:

all quiet on the western front
lord of the flies
a tale of two cities
the 3 musketeers- dumas
malcolm x

How about some exciting memoir type books for the boys, i.e. Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" or "Into the Wild" or adventure books like "Three Cups of Tea" or "Shadow Divers". Maybe books with movie tie-ins, i.e. "The Hobbitt" and "The Lord of the Rings", "The Princess Bride", "The Bridge over the River Kwai" or the Ian Fleming James Bond books.

Stephen King's "The Stand" is a challeging end of the world book that might appeal particularly to boys. Or his "Green Mile" story, which I thought was particularly good.

War books are always a big draw for boys, "Black Hawk Down", "The Quiet American", "Band of Brothers" for example. I've heard good things about "Jarhead" and "The Lone Survivor".

I commend you for being diligent and doing your homework. I have always longly and loudly proclaimed (to anyone who would listen) that they always make you read such CRAP in school that it's a wonder anyone comes out wanting to read!

As a younger (and older) reader I have also greatly enjoyed Dumas' "Count of Monte Cristo" and wondered why noone ever seems to mention that book. That's one that might certainly appeal to boys!

10th grade boys? I guess something like harry potter or His dark materials would be the obvious choice. I remember everyone in my year going crazy for the Harry potter books when i was in the 9th or 10th year.

If you want lit tht would specifically appeal to the male psychology:
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Ham on Rye A Novel
Ask the Dust
Catch-22
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Fight Club A Novel
Lord of the Flies (i read this when i was in year 9 and was blown away)
I Am Legend

I would suggest "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. It's a sci-fi book but defies all negative stereotypes of the genre- it has tons of depth and lots of philosophical material. I just discovered it this year and it's a favorite. I've since given it to one of my friends for his Bday and he really liked it too (just happens he's a 10th grade boy).
This year in Lit class. We read "The Great Gatsby" and "My Antonia". Both we're wide-spread favorites. They made fantastic use of poetic language, deep characters, and were completely unpretentious.

In grade 10, we read The Bean Trees. I know i loved it :)

Jensownzoo wrote: "One thing that one of my teachers did in honors english (but not sophomore year) was to provide a list of books with their descriptions. The class ranked the books in order of which ones they woul..."

That sounds like a really neat idea. Did it work well?

Carrie wrote: "Lori, I hope this is okay that I put this here. If not, tell me where to move it and I will!!

Guys, I am SO excited. I am teaching HONORS 10th grade English this fall! I have never taught an HON..."

So Carrie have you decided on a list yet?

One thing that one of my teachers did in honors english (but not sophomore year) was to provide a list of books with their descriptions. The class ranked the books in order of which ones they would most like to read. Then the teacher paired off 5 students based on their higher ranked book (but making sure that no two groups were reading the same book). The groups met in class for 20-30 minutes every other week to discuss the book for the first two months (the teacher provided discussion topics and guidance by circulating between groups), then the next two months the groups spent preparing presentation for the rest of the class (and any other visitors the teacher invited). We were encouraged to be creative in our presentations (some dressed up like the characters, there was a puppet show, etc.). It was a lot of fun and made that class very popular for that teacher.

Here are some suggestions that I didn't see listed already (although I love the idea of Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are dead).

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay I think the boys would really get into this one.

And I don't know if you want to enter into any non-fiction but Touching the Void The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival is a pretty phenomenal book and may allow you to touch on some other aspects of writing. The suspense in it is crazy even though you know the guy lives because he wrote the book....

And I wonder if something by Neil Gaiman might be of interest.

I would love to suggest The Echo Maker A Novel but I think it is actually university level...

Let us know what you end up with. I am curious.

How about Carson McCullers The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter in conjuction with The Secret Lives Of Bees.Then compare the books ,ie how alike are they and how different. See what they come up with. It was also suggested to me how alike Wuthering Heights is to The Great Gatsby. Same story different eras.. You can have great discussions on these four books

I love this discussion all the titles. Congrats on teaching the class! The list compiled is fantastic and you should be in great shape with it. Another one that I would like to suggest for boys (not sure if it qualifies for honors, but it's loved by both teens and adults) is Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.

Good luck and have fun with it!

We did American Lit in 11th grade and I was in the honors class...some of the things I remember reading were...
Gone With The Wind which I loved, different works by Edgar Allen Poe, The Joy Luck Club which could be paired with the film which I always loved, The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, To Kill a Mockingbird...more recently written that I would add is The Help.

American Lit. was my favorite class in high school (but we take it as 11th graders in my district)...probably because my fave teacher of all time taught it...these are the books I read

The Catcher in the Rye (all my sibling and sibling-in-laws loved this book from high school and my favorite)
The Crucible(probably my second favorite from this course)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Great Gatsby

For boys:

The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
What is the What - Dave Eggers
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - M. Chobsky
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman - Richard Feynman

How about pairing Julius Caesar with another play like Frost/Nixon-you could even just watch the movie. They have some overlapping political themes-manipulation of language and power, political compromise etc. Comparing the two might make the unit more interesting and relate better the rest of the American lit you're reading.

I do not recommend The Scarlet Letter. Reading that book was...not fun.

For boys I would suggest:
Catch-22,
Slaughterhouse 5, or
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

As a general suggestion I would also add The Road by Cormac McCarthy since I think it could lead to some great discussion both on the literary tools he uses to tell the story and the story itself.

Abbie K. wrote: "If you have to do Julius, do the down and dirty version...have them buy a copy of their own "No Fear Shakespeare" which is a modernized version and they can read on their own, then just hit the imp..."

Spark notes has No Fear Shakespeare on line for free.

The Outsiders migh be something they like or maybe even an author like Chris Ryan, Andy McNab and Matthew Reilly. All three do the kind of action/thriller book that they might be into.

You might even get them to write down some interests or maybe get the class to suggest a couple of books that they themselves liked to read!

Two books that would encourage discussion are Nineteen Minutes and If I Stay. Nineteen Minutes does have some teen sex, but it also has an abusive teen boyfriend. If I stay is about being an outsider and death.

If you have to do Julius, do the down and dirty version...have them buy a copy of their own "No Fear Shakespeare" which is a modernized version and they can read on their own, then just hit the important scenes for language, imagery, poetic devices and speeches. Nothing of much interest happens after Scene III anyway:)

Shakespeare in an American Lit class??

I certainly agree with the recs for The Killer Angels and Autobiography of Malcolm X. I would also throw out a new rec for City Boy - I read that in 10th grade and loved it. And it's one that students might not otherwise read on their own, thus being an interesting book to teach and discuss.

Don't know if these have been mentioned yet, but both The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are both great books for teens that will appeal more to boys.

BOOK THIEF would be fantastic!! I would LOVE to teach it. We will see how much time these three take up! :)

Oh, just saw the note about American Lit. Zusak is Australian, and the books take place in Germany and Australia, respectively, but I still believe they shouldn't be missed. Thief especially for its learning potential.

Hi Carrie - I'm so excited for you. This sounds like it would be a really fun class to teach. I'm going to recommend both The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger, both by Markus Zusak. Book Thief is WWII Germany, and would be a great learning experience. Messenger is inspirational for kids of all ages, but was written for a YA audience.

Good luck with your class! I hope you'll let us know how it works out.

I didn't flag the books, but Concord Carlisle High School used The Things They Carried, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Kite Runner to appeal to the boys.
Also, my son's favorite book in high school (Roxbury Latin School) was Song of Solomon.

I was also recommending Women in White.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Alvarez

Outliers by Gladwell

Autobiography of Malcolm X by Haley

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Kesey

No Exit by Sartre
The Kite Runner by Hosseini

Angels in America (Play)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Booksellers of Kabul by Seierstad, Åsne

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil Rodriguez, Deborah

House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
What is the What by Dave Eggers

Scarlet letter by Hawthorne

Yes, I will share it.


So far I have:

The Once and Future King

The Things They Carried
The Secret Life of Bees

When you finalize your list, can you share it with us? I would love to see it. My high school assigned TONS of fiction (including things people can't believe I was assigned, like Dune, which I hated!), this was mid-80s. MY husband's assigned NONE. They wrote and wrote and wrote, but he only read Shakespeare in 1 college class, and his fiction experiences are, shall we say, lacking :)

thanks guys :)

For something from the Civil War era The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is a classic. His son Jeff Shaara has written a number of very good books on the American Revolution.

March by Geraldine Brooks is also set during the Civil War - she won the Pulitser Prize for this novel.

I like many of Shakespeare's plays so I don't have a particular favourite, but if your class acts or reads out scenes, then a Midsummer Night's Dream is very entertaining. Of course, it doesn't compare in depth with the drama of the tragedies of Hamlet or Othello, but both of those are very difficult to read out loud well. Macbeth is a bit easier though.

I think my favorite 10th grade ish era reads were Anthem, Macbeth, A Tale of Two Cities, Orlando(might have been older), The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Richard III. I hated The Invisible Man and Of Mice and Men.... I think the best way to go is to have enough of a change in the styles/genres of books that many different kids will have a chance to read something they'll love. I always wished I'd been assigned to read Twain and I loved The Great Gatsby, but I read it only last year.

I've always wished the high school reading lists were a little more varied than they are. It seems like kids always seem to end up reading the same books, there are a lot of options out there. Maybe you could make a list of possible reads within categories and then have the kids vote on what they'd rather read. Or have two books for each category and then let each individual choose the one that was most appealing to them.

Stephanie wrote: "Liz -

Good call on The Once and Future King! I think we read that when I was in 10th grade Honors English, and that's one of the few books I truly liked. It is a bit of a brick for..."

In this vein you could also use The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart. I love that series.

Ooooo...really BIG book!

When I was in tenth grade I read The Fountainhead and loved it.

Debbie wrote: "Oh! And a really good post-9/11 read...Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

Oh yes that is very good - can't believe I forgot that one!

Oh! And a really good post-9/11 read...Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Montana 1948...not long, full of good stuff!