What are some books my high schooler should read?

[Alice R]

He's a good student but "great works of literature" does not excite him. (Truth be told, it's not my thing either)

He is starting high school and I want to choose some books that he should read but it's overwhelming when I see these complicated books that I know he will hate.

Any ideas for me?

Or websites etc. to point me in the right direction?

[KiminNJ]

Hi Alice!!! Cannot believe we don't run into each other more often in person. OK so I am thrilled that all the reading I did when the kids were young has made both my girls avid readers. Thrilled because I can listen to an audiobook while they read on their own. I am attaching a list I got from Collegeboard.com. Honestly I find many of the choices such a chore to get through myself but Emily enjoys many of them. I can get you a list that my sister (Public HS English Literature teacher) thinks are critical. She is working with Emily this summer on essay writing for me. It's a very weak area for me and Alex so need to pull out the big guns and she is a fantastic teacher.

Some classics on her list include Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Romeo & Juliet, Julius Ceasar, Glass Menagerie, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Antigone, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice & Men, Go Tell it on the Mountain.... and more... She will be here starting Wed. of this week for 2 hours each morning for two weeks. I'll see what she thinks of this list I've attached

Oh when you open the txt file just choose (Edit/Select All/Edit/Copy) and then go to a blank Excel Spreadsheet (upper left Cell A1) and right click with your mouse and choose Paste. Then you can just play with the formats as you wish.
Bye for now

[Gitel in nj]

My son happens to love classics..me? I really don't care for most of them. Anyway, here is a list of books from our high school that might fit the bill for you and your son.

The Cay
Into Thin Air
The Contender
The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian
Red Badge of Courage
Unbroken
The Things They Carried
Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
The Book Thief
The Catcher in The Rye
The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas
The House on Mango Street
Tale of Two Cities
Adventures of Tom Sawyer

[Alice R]

Thanks my Jersey Girls!

That is a good starting point. He has read a few already and it wasn't pretty.

Nathaniel is like me, loves non fiction. I haven't read a fiction book in over 20 years.

[Gitel in nj]

Thanks my Jersey Girls!

That is a good starting point. He has read a few already and it wasn't pretty.

Nathaniel is like me, loves non fiction. I haven't read a fiction book in over 20 years.

My list includes non fiction:
Into Thin Air
Unbroken
The Things They Carried

A few others that appear on reading lists in the high school would be:
Nickel and Dimed
Omnivoures Dilemma
The Autobiography of Malcolm X


He also might like the Malcom Gladwell Books, my DS really enjoyed them.

[Nancy Ann]

I would make a fairly short list for your son and let him choose from that list. Maybe that will make it go down better for him.

Are you still doing Progeny Press? They have a great list for highschool, I would just choose from those. I would just keep to a couple booklists so as not to overwhelm yourself.

I recommend The Hobbit. The movie is coming out at Christmas!!

For Shakespeare I would recommend seeing a play once a year at a local theater or renting a good movie version. I would not concern yourself with him reading Shakespeare, but it would be nice to be familiar with the stories.

How many do you want him to read a year? I am not teaching highschool but maybe others can chime in. I would think 4-6 would be good for a reluctant reader and considering they would be challenging reads. Than have 2-3 of those come with a study guide like the Progeny Press. The rest of the books he reads can be ones that he would enjoy like non -fiction.

[Linda]

How about a Horatio Hornblower novel, by CS Forrester?

Truth be told, I haven't read any of these novels yet but I have watched the A&E series w/ Ioan Gruffud, which I enjoyed (probably should preview before letting your son watch ).

They are on Emily's reading list for next year (9th grade) and are listed as possibly being more favored by boys than girls. I'm looking forward to reading some soon.

[Heather (WI)]

Thanks my Jersey Girls!

That is a good starting point. He has read a few already and it wasn't pretty.

Nathaniel is like me, loves non fiction. I haven't read a fiction book in over 20 years.

You sound like me! I always read non-fiction and cannot seem to get into too many fiction books for some reason.

We're planning to read-aloud "Tom Sawyer" this summer, and then we have tickets to see a "Huck Finn" play in the fall. I think those would be great books for a high school boy, since they are all about boyhood antics! (My dad was just telling me how much he loved them when he was that age.)

[Alicia]

Here are books my 9th grader read this year and really liked ~

Tale of Two Cities
The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas
The Three Musketeers by Dumas
Twenty Years After {sequel to Three Musketeers} by Dumas

My son loves everything by Dumas. :-)

He also has read MANY books by John Grisham and loves them.

[Alice R]

I feel better now.

I was looking at the CLASSICS and getting stressed. These titles don't seem so overwhelming to me.

I was doing Progeny press but fell off the wagon with the baby, some family issues and the baby's allergies...Progeny Press is a workout for my son. I didnt' have the strength to push him!