High School Reading Lists

Published December 28, 2008 | by Grace Chen

1. As high schools analyze thousands of books to choose the most compelling and engaging
titles for young teen readers, many parents often feel that the chosen books are inappropriate
for their kids. According to Pearson Prentice Hall, an Advanced Placement educational
network, some of the most highly recommended high school books include popular and
classic titles such as:

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart.

Alvarez, Julia. How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio.

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Arnett, Peter. Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Bagdad.

Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying.

Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.

Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies.

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front.

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle.

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men

Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome.

Wright, Richard. Black Boy.

Wright, Richard. Native Son.

2. While these, among hundreds to thousands of other books, are commonly read in public
schools across the country, many parents express concern over the content and topics of these
required texts. For example, Steinbecks classic novel Of Mice and Men raises issues of
euthanasia, murder, and justice as some of the core questions of the text. Adding to this,
Salingers ever-popular Catcher in the Rye has been one of the most commonly banned
books among public schools in the nation, specifically for its sexual content, language, and
discussions of religion, death, suicide, and peer-pressure. As many of these required texts
raise such complex, convoluted, and controversial issues, parents are often surprised and
occasionally angered by a schools approval of divisive books.
The Raging Debate Surrounding Controversial Books
3. As Rose Ann Pearce from The Morning News reports, a local North Carolina high school,
Fayetteville, held a meeting to discuss and debate 50 required texts currently being taught
and read in classrooms. The school leaders and parents arranged the meeting to evaluate
whether or not the 50 books were too explicit and sexually charged for young readers to pore

without parental approval. According to Pearce, some of the parents contested the books
because they felt the reading was pornographic and vile. In contrast, teachers and students
tried to explain their desire to offer up controversial books, topics, and issues. As one high
school senior stated, Books are the epitome of life, as the senior asserted that the protested
books should remain in the libraries and classrooms. A fellow senior student offered more
support in arguing that taking these books off shelves would be Depriving students of an
education about the world around them while adding that it is, hateful and intolerant to
portray these books as pornographic.
4. In addition to the protests about the sexual content of many of the contested books, the
Forbidden Library, a site dedicated to posting the explanations behind the banning of books
in public schools, reveals hundreds of other books that have been banned in public schools
for various reasons. For example, the popular historical non-fiction text Anne Frank: The
Diary of a Young Girl, was outlawed in Alabama schools due to sexually offensive
passages. Adding to this, as the site reveals, Four members of the Alabama State Textbook
Committee (1983) called for the rejection of this book because it is a real downer. Among
other banned books and authors is Alice Walkers The Color Purple, where parents and
school leaders in Jackson County West Virginia banned the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel due
to its sexually and socially explicit nature, in addition to the books Troubling ideas about
race relations, man's relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality. While this
banning occurred in 1992, it was finally returned to public school shelves after nine months
of rigorous debate.
Can Controversial Books Foster Important Learning for Teens?
5. In offering an explanation for the support of the controversial texts, Pearce reveals one school
leaders fervent protest, in stating, All of us are here for what's best for the youth in our
community. By offering up controversial topics and themes in a variety of engaging texts,
schools and teachers are able to give students materials that help answer their questions. As
many teachers reveal, the books are not intended to be read without guidance. The themes
and controversies of many questioned texts are used to foster a dialogue and discussion in the
classroom. By exposing students to a myriad of confusing and troubling topics, teachers are
guiding students into the reality of the complex adult and social world. Each text is chosen
for a specific grade and age group; therefore, the books serve as a scaffold to slowly guide
students to build upon more complicated ideas and realities.
6. Ultimately, while parents of teens possess the right to question books and texts that are being
taught in their son or daughters classrooms, many school leaders and teachers want to
remind parents that, regardless of the books topics, themes, and context, teachers carefully
plan and explore issues with teen readers cautiously. The attempt to expose students to
challenging topics and issues, as many teachers support, is not intended to force students into
a certain mode of thought; moreover, the books are to serve as opportunities for students to
think, theorize, question, and explore.

Questions
1. How does the author feel about banning books in public schools?
A. The government should ban all controversial books.
B. Controversial books should not be placed in school libraries.
C. Controversial books should only be taught with parental approval.
D. Controversial books have value in classrooms by helping students think
deeply.

2. Select a sentence in the text where the author appeals to the readers
emotions to support an argument.

3. How does the author of the third text differ in her interpretation of
controversial books from the author of the second text?
A. The author of the third text wants to ban controversial books; however, the
author of the second texts promotes reading books that have been banned.
B. The author of the third texts sees educational value in controversial books;
however, the author of the second text feels that controversial books harm
society and should be banned.
C. The author of the third text wants controversial books to be limited in
schools; however, the author of the second texts wants to create a list of
what categories of books should be banned.
D. The author of the third text wants controversial books to have parental
approval before being read; however, the author of the second text wants
them to be banned regardless of anyones approval.
4. How does the author use the conflicting evidence to develop the point
of view in the text?

A. The author gives examples of how specific schools handled controversial

books.
B. The author gives examples why certain books are controversial, but then
points out their educational value.
C. The author uses expert testimony by offering quotes from educators and
students on why the books are needed in their schools.
D. The author states reasons why books are banned, and then gives specific
examples of how those topics helped students understand the world around
them.

5. Part A: Select a sentence containing relevant and supportive evidence

for the texts central argument.

Part B: Select a sentence containing irrelevant or inappropriate evidence.

6. Part A: Select one way in which the second text disagree with the third
text on a matter of fact or interpretation.
A. The second text only sees the negative of books, whereas, the third text
only focuses on the positive of reading.
B. The second text supports Banned Books Week and the third text feels
parents need input on their childs reading list.
C. The second text feels controversial books should be banned, and the third
feels they offer ideas, but parents may need explanations on how they are
used in class.
D. The second text feels banning is not really banning, and that lots of texts
need to be removed. Whereas the third text feels all books have value and
should be required reading in school.

Part B: Select sentences from the third that highlights this disagreement.