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Ellen Oh's Picks for New 'Required' Reading
Ellen Oh is an award-winning author of middle grade and young adult novels, including The Dragon Egg Princess, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, and Finding Junie Kim, as well as the cofounder of We Need Diverse Books, the groundbreaking, grassroots nonprofit organization. Her latest book is Something Wicked, the conclusion to her Spirit Hunters trilogy, available in the U.S. now. A recovering attorney and Diet Coke addict, Oh believes in the power of K-dramas and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Take a look at most high school required reading lists, and trying to find a book that would classify as “recent” would be nearly impossible. These curated lists are perenially old and overwhelmingly white. The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, The Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, The Outsiders; to name a few of the “indispensable high school reads” proves my point. I’ve read all of them, and I absolutely think they are great books (although one I admit to detesting). Most high school students have to read them. They, and a bunch of others, are the “classics” and considered essential reading.
But there’s a lot of research out there showing us that reading has been on the decline for years. Now, I’m not saying it’s because of required reading of classics. After all, the advent of our online world is probably more to blame. However, I will say in a period of declining reading, isn’t it more important than ever to give students some choice?
Nowadays there is a growing movement to create reading lists that give students the freedom to read beyond the old classics. Programs like ProjectLit and DisruptTexts ask educators to think outside of the canon. There's also been pushback because of a concern that students would read only YA books and graphic novels. OK...I’m not sure why that is a problem since I personally feel that any reading is better than none, but I also want to point out that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing! Teach the classics and also allow a small curated list of books for students to choose from. And include a recent list of YA books, please. The only “YA” book on the classics list is The Outsiders, and it was published over 50 years ago!
Look, I’m not here to take away your “classics.” But I will once again ask that our required reading lists INCLUDE more modern YA books for our students' sake! Notice, I said INCLUDE. Not REPLACE. Because these modern books are diverse, they’re full of stories about people who haven’t been able to have a voice in publishing for a long time, and they’re brilliant. So, let's give our kids the freedom of choice to expand their worlds and read widely.
For these lists, I tried to pick books that made sense to teach in an English curriculum. For example, The Outsiders is usually taught in 9th grade and has a Lexile score of 750L. I tried to find books that I thought would pair well with it and had similar or higher Lexile scores (when I could find them), like If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth or The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. I also tried not to include more than one title per author, as much as it pained me.
But mostly, I wanted books I felt would really resonate with reluctant readers, because shouldn't we all celebrate when more people, no matter their age, get hooked on reading?
Once again my editor has limited me to the number 15. My nemesis. Fifteen for each grade, she said. ARGH. There are far too many books that didn’t make it onto these lists because of the number 15. But we can get around this by including your favorites in the comments below! Don’t be shy, and let me know what YA books you think should be on student choice reading lists for high schools alongside the classics!
For 9th Graders
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For 10th Graders
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For 11th Graders
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For 12th Graders
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Do you love YA reading? Which books would you add to Ellen Oh's lists? Drop your recommendations in the comments below!
Comments Showing 1-34 of 34 (34 new)
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Whitney
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Aug 22, 2022 09:08PM
I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see Darius the Great is Not Okay. Absolutely should be required ♥️
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Yes, yes, yes! I agree. Way too many old books by the same author. Way too white. The world has changed. PoVs have changed and lenses. Replace a few, but add a bunch of more current books. Poet X was/is amazing. As is/was 'American Street' by Ibi Zoboi.
I shared this list with my entire faculty! This librarian approves!!!
I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching children to enjoy the classics and not to despise them and move onto a lesser book. I love YA more than anyone but they should be acknowledged as not to the level of classics. Sorry but this is the truth.
She's not suggesting that classics be replaced by these. She's suggesting these in addition to classics. And as a trained librarian, I think that she's absolutely 💯 spot on.
Anjali wrote: "I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching child..."While I understand your point of view I would have to disagree. I am an 11th grader myself and I have read a lot of what you call the classics. The thing is they are all so outdated. A lot of the classics have nothing in them addressing queer people or several different colored people. I have read many of them. It's always Shakespeare or other books that have been around forever and are just not truly representative. I like the books on this list because they represent other people.
Nina wrote: "I shared this list with my entire faculty! This librarian approves!!!"Yay! Thank you for sharing with educators! We're so glad you like this list.
This list brings up the great dilemma of required reading: how can educators pick books that are a good reading level for every student? I'm about to enter 7th grade, but have the reading level of an average freshman college student. All last year, I was bored out of my mind re-reading books I'd read years ago. However, one of my friends who does not have English as her first language struggled to keep up. While some readers could really benefit from more YA books in required reading, it would just make English class painful for some students. Though I absolutely agree that there needs to be more diversity in required reading, I don't think it necessarily has to come in the form of YA books. There are plenty of diverse adult books that could also be used to supplement the classics in high school curriculum. However, as I said before, this might make some students struggle more-thus the dilemma. Overall, required reading should include more diversity, but it also needs to appreciate that students have different reading levels and all of the new diverse books added shouldn't just be YA. P.S.-I haven't been to high school, so I don't know whether it has a better system for dealing with disparities in reading level than middle school(I suspect it also depends on other factors, such as the location and budget of the school). I'm just mentioning that in my experience, it hasn't been handled very well, and that needs to change or else kids are going to loose interest in reading because they are either reading too hard or too easy books.
^ I’m not sure how things are handled in your area, but my high school has different level English classes: regular, Honors, along with AP courses. That way most students are reading appropriate material for their level. Just wanted to comment that I’m pretty proud of my school! We had a short choice novel unit last year that included books like Crying in H Mart, Educated, and A Burning. While not YA, the titles were all much more modern and diverse than Dickens or Shakespeare, and the focus of the unit was just to learn to love reading! :) We also had a unit on “How Much of These Hills is Gold,” which is another great, new, diverse work!
I am just glad that Patron Saints of Nothing is included in this list. I appreciate that the list had books of different cultural contexts like American Born Chinese and Darius the Great is Not Okay. I'm excited to read as much as I can from this list and share them to YA readers!
Anjali wrote: "I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching child..."It's not ridiculous if the goal is to get kids reading. The classics are BORING. They're outdated, they use old language. Boring. I never wanted to read them when I was in high school, and that was 30+ years ago. I still don't want to read them now. Being forced to read these classics is the exact reason that my kids don't like to read now as adults even though they loved it as children.
Anjali wrote: "I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching child...""Cannon"? What are you talking about? These are suggestions of books not a weapon to shoot people. Now if you mean "Canon" you are still using the wrong word because that means "the aspects of a story or fictional “world” or “universe” that are considered to be “official”
If you think that required reading should only be the classics then I have to disagree. Some of those "classics" have nothing but problems. What virtues do the need to be teaching? I had to read "Catcher in the Rye" that book taught be nothing and I hated it throughout. The world is changing and the books that students have to read should be changing as well.
I do find it offensive that you think some of these YA books are lesser than classics. Some of them are actually better then some classics and may turn into classics.
I hate the phrase "required reading," whether it's applied to SFF, YA or even cookbooks. If we want people in the 9th-12th grades (and younger) to turn into avid readers as adults, we should stop "requiring" them to read a set list. Especially if the "teachers" don't BOTHER to quiz the kids to see if they actually DID read the books on the list.The only time I ever actually read a damned thing on my "required summer " reading lists was when there were several books listed that I'd ALREADY read and was merely looking for an excuse to REread: The Hobbit, The War of the Worlds, and A Study in Scarlet. And this was in fifth grade!
I'm 44 now and I still read for pleasure, which I wouldn't do if I'd actually paid attention to what my so-called teachers thought I should do with MY time on summer break. I'd have turned into someone who didn't give a (bleep)ing God(bleep) about literacy. *wink*
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I agree on more recent books and I actually WANT them to replace some of the "classics" because the kids don't want to or aren't reading them. I wanted to propose an AP Modern Lit class with amazing books written within the past 20 years. My12th grade son has loved some of his assigned reading like Homegoing By Yaa Gyasi, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, both of which he enjoyed (in addition to the Great Gatsby). I'd prefer they save Shakespeare until college and get the kids READING and discussing books they find more relevant.
As a recently retired English teacher of both regular and AP students, emphasizing the key issue of getting students to read is essential. The classics and current titles can co-exist in a curriculum. Teaching a book and providing students reading options does not have to be an either or situation. Just have books available!
Anjali wrote: "I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching child..."Having been loved for decades does say something good about a book, but it is not the only mark of a good book, and it doesn't automatically make a book more valuable. Of all the books you read in your lifetime, only a percentage will stick with you forever. The point of putting books into the hands of young readers should always be trying to find those special books, which means exposing them to as wide a range of material as possible.
We need a mixture of the new and old, especially since I love both. Also, I think having modern books will make kids want to read more. We need to try appealing to them, not putting them off.
Why dictate what books kids read in school? Why not just let them pick by themselves and just keep track that they're actually reading them and engaging with them?
While I agree that we shouldn't do away with classics, as someone who had required readings (in both English and French so help me god), there should be both classics and more modern (as the above) to allow students to choose what they wish to read. One main reason is that there is not much diversity in what we consider "classics". Shakespeare, Bronte, Austen, and the like, while fantastic authors, do not show the true diversity of authors.
While "1984", "Fahrenheit 451", "The Hobbit", and other classics are books I think everyone should read, some students may find it difficult to grasp these novels, and would prefer, and excel with, a contemporary novel that is just as poignant as some of the classics.
I think it would also get students to read more if they see books written and featuring characters of their ethnic background. We tend to gravitate towards what we know.
I definitely agree that many of these novels would be a good addition to the classics found on most reading lists in schools.
Danna wrote: "Why dictate what books kids read in school? Why not just let them pick by themselves and just keep track that they're actually reading them and engaging with them?"As someone who was an avid reader, this would have been much more preferable to the list given. Give parameters if needed (minimum page count or specific topics or a much larger list including contemporary works). I remember actually enjoying my summer reading when it was Bleachers instead of another "classic" novel.
I would've ADORED this list in high school! My only addition would be The Hate U Give, but hopefully hs students are already reading it :)
I have never been so tempted on reading something other than a novel, great recommendations! I’m totally gonna put my hands on a lot of these
As a mother of a high school and a middle school boy, this list is right up my alley. Although of the four I've read, two were really good and two were not. Am I the only one that feels like a lot of these covers are really childish looking?! I'm pretty sure my older son would refuse them just by the cover. My biggest complaint with required reading lists is that the majority of the time teachers do not allow books that have been made into movies/tv. Hollywood takes too many of our good books and ruins it for the young readers.
Whitney wrote: "I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see Darius the Great is Not Okay. Absolutely should be required ♥️"I agree. What a wonderful book on so many important issues, and for so many important things in YA life.
YA certainly came a long way since i was a teen, but am still not open to reading it. Will read adult novels over YA mostly because there are books i can relate to in adult novels vs YA, unless there is a YA story of an immigrant Jewish girl who suffers from avoidance personality disorder as well as depression and very strong and severe social anxiety who has ZERO friends and wants to get together with a cute immigrant East Asian male? Lol right, like i will really see it one day...
Penelope wrote: "I would've ADORED this list in high school! My only addition would be The Hate U Give, but hopefully hs students are already reading it :)"I was going to suggest this one also. :)
Emily wrote: "This list brings up the great dilemma of required reading: how can educators pick books that are a good reading level for every student? I'm about to enter 7th grade, but have the reading level of ..."Emily, I appreciated your well-articulated comment! My daughter is a 7th grader this year, and her ELA class assigns a Bookseller project whereby each student can select any book from the middle school library longer than 150 pages and "sell" it to their classmates and teachers via visual aids and giveaways. Students get exposed to several reads they may not have picked up otherwise and have a wide variety to choose from. When I was in high school (you know, in the last century), I enjoyed some reads from Honors and AP English courses and others I detested. We were offered a few choices (Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead vs Walter Scott's Ivanhoe sticks in my mind), but mostly the entire class read the same titles. In any event, for reading to be an enjoyable or meaningful experience, teachers should understand that we each need literature that speaks to us individually. Best of luck as you navigate your English classes. Maybe you can be the voice that helps to resolve the disparity you're facing. ;)
This isn't technically YA, but Maria Davana Headley's new translation of Beowulf should 100 percent be on this list. It's amazing and high schoolers would love it! Much more accessible, a mix of current / timeless language, and it would make for fascinating discussion with feminist and patriarchal themes...Looking back, my sophomore English teacher took a great approach. We had some classics that were really engaging for 15 year olds (e.g. Franny & Zooey, Julius Caesar—a Shakespeare play that is still as relevant as ever in politics!), but we also had a massive reading list to choose books from, including current novels, ones from the last 20 years, classics, etc. The only requirement was it couldn't be a re-read. I didn't love some of my choices (i.e. Wicked), but at least it was MY choice! We read modern song lyrics in our poetry unit as well as some classics (e.e. cummings). A great class and I don't know anyone who didn't enjoy it.
My junior year, on the other hand, was less engaging. Our teacher selected a mix, but the contemporary novels, well... I didn't care for most of them (Going After Cacciato, Snow Falling on Cedars, Cold Mountain). I think I would have liked them more in college/now. (Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried is amazing).. I do remember thinking The Crucible, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, East of Eden, Great Gatsby were interesting, though. I guess I have a few points.. (1) the right teacher can pitch almost any book if they know how to teach it (2) students are simply not going to like every book! I think hoping they connect with at least one is a worthy goal.
Anjali wrote: "I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching child..."While "the canon" is part of our cultural norm, it ought not to be static. When I was in high school in the late 1950s, early 60s, our main reading assignments were mostly 19th century books, with a few "muckraker" and depression novels from the 1920s and 30s. When my children were in high school during the 1970s and 80s, in 9th grade they were assigned to read "Lord of the Flies," "Animal Farm," "1984," and "Fahrenheit 451." I actually went to the principal to complain that of 6 books required, 2 were by the same author, and 2 additional titles were topic duplicative. I requested that some variety occur, either something from the traditional canon, or something more contemporary. I still think these are important books, but see that based on this list and having been an elementary school librarian instead of high school, I have some real reading to do in order to catch up.
No suggestions yet, but I would love to blot The Outsiders from my memory! And I see no value in all but one of the other "classics" listed in the article. What a bunch of trash. If they are supposed to teach us something that isn't blatantly obvious, let me know.
Danna wrote: "Why dictate what books kids read in school? Why not just let them pick by themselves and just keep track that they're actually reading them and engaging with them?"Could you explain how you would see this working in a classroom? For example if the teacher needs to teach about theme or influence of literary and historical context (both of these are standards in my kids' school district for 9th grade), how do they accomplish that when dealing with 37 different books?
I think the biggest problem is that common core focuses on "informational text" to the point that only 30% of what they are reading by 12th grade is literary. When you have less than 1/3 of 12 grade English for literature, it doesn't leave enough time to teach a diverse set of books. They are going to have to stick with what colleges will have expected them to be exposed to.
I'm confused. Are we trying to get students enthused about reading? Or is our focus on diversity? Or do we think that is the same thing? I personally think that a love of reading begins much earlier than high school. As much as we want to provide engaging, diverse texts to secondary students (and I believe there could be more texts included and used by teachers), the fact remains that everyone's tastes are different and sometimes we all need to read texts just because we need to exercise that muscle - that we have to do things we don't like sometimes. However, to nurture a love of reading, I believe that is created before secondary school when we need both teachers and parents to engage children and provide a variety of both recognised classics and also new and upcoming books to nurture a love of reading. Story is a wonderful thing and can absolutely be contagious as we share our own love of reading with children...who grow into teens. Once a love of reading is established maybe then a student can find value in reading a book (even if they don't like it) so that they are informed and can speak authentically about what they don't like instead of only reading for personal pleasure. Having said that - I'm making a note of what books have been suggested - I love a good YA read!
Anjali wrote: "I think this is ridiculous. The classics are "the cannon" for a reason. The classics are classical for a reason. They teach so many virtues students need. What you should be doing it teaching child..."But who established the classical canon? The same rich white men who wrote the books! Literature is so much more vibrant today, and honestly? Some of the most diverse and most innovative books being published today are YA and middle grade. I’m 45 and increasingly find that the literature that speaks to me, moves me, or challenges me, is YA.
But then, I never liked the “classics”. But I do love reading and have since I learned how when I was 3. The best thing is still a weekend with nothing to do and a stack of new books.
Great list! Def agree there should be more recent classics in school required reading.I’d argue Speak can be read earlier. I read it in middle school and it really opened my eyes. Yes, it’s a heavy, triggering subject but important enough to be discussed earlier than 17/18 yrs. If not middle school, freshman year? My opinion.
