Given that school is such a pivotal moment in our lives, it’s crucial we invest our time there reading meaningful books.
The Hobbit
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. (Goodreads)
Albeit a strange pick as a school book, The Hobbit has cemented itself as a legendary fantasy novel. When I think about on the books I’ve read at school, I find no tales of bravery and fantasy. I believe this novel serves as the perfect introduction to the genre and hopefully gets students more excited to read fiction!
Turtles All The Way Down
Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Pickett’s son Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
When we read books, in a way, some of them should reflect our current state and then allow us to reflect on ourselves. That should be what books are for. Often times the coming of age novels we read in school are so outdated, the students cannot internally connect with the book or pick up anything meaningful from it. John Green has widely been regarded as one of the greats in penning heartfelt stories about young adults and their lives. I choose this book specifically to put on the list because the protagonist, Aza, struggles with her OCD and anxiety (something that is seemingly everpresent in today’s society). The way the novel wraps up provides a solid
The Hunger Games
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
Before you say, this isn’t school appropriate, I urge you to look more closely at what it is you learn in the classrooms. The Hunger Games is a class tale of bravery and fighting for what is right. Suzanne Colins provides excellent criticism of the state of Panem, a world that now more than ever closely resembles us.
The Dead
Often cited as the best work of short fiction ever written, Joyce’s story details a New Year’s Eve gathering in Dublin that is so evocative and beautiful that it prompts the protagonist’s wife to make a shocking revelation to her husband—closing the story with an emotionally powerful epiphany that is considered one of the best in modern literature.
Their are two certains in my life: one, I love short stories, and two, I love Irish literature. One critique I have for the novels chosen for me at school is they often aren’t unique in setting (with the exception of Things Fall Apart and a few holocaust related novels). I love this short story so much and the healing and realization our protagonist Gabriel goes through in such a short time frame are written so well and in such a concise way.
Fahrenheit 451
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.
You’re probably tired of hearing this, but we need more realistic novels! Stories that we can draw parallels to our modern world. Despite be released a fair while ago, it’s sad to say but we’re moving into a world where Fahrenheit 451 seems like non-fiction.
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