Pam Webb

#4: Required Reading for High School English

Having recently plunked out my series list caused me to wonder about creating other lists.  Yes, I am a confessed list maker.  I have Post-It squares tacked all over the place of To-Dos, Epiphanies, Story Starts, Poem Parts, and Lesson Plan Pundits.  The Cricket List will be an on-going project.  Today’s offering is #4: Required reading in high school English.  I encourage your suggestions:

The Cricket List:

1. Children’s authors and selected titles

2.  YA authors and selected titles

3.  Picture books

4.  Required reading in high school English:

• The Outsiders(teens haven’t changed too much in the thirty years this has been out)
• The Miracle Worker (Helen Keller is a hero favorite and goes a long way in learning about overcoming adversity)
• Pride and Prejudice (all man/woman hate-at-first sight movies stem from this gem)
• Sherlock Holmes (the original, to understand why Robert Downey and Jude Law’s version is pure entertainment)
• Frankenstein (a riveting read and shows the fallacy of Hollywood’s meddling)
• Jules Verne (original science fiction master storyteller)
• Julius Caesar (politics gone wrong)
• Hamlet (love-revenge-hate-murder-intrigue-dueling-witty wordplay–who could ask for more in a plot)
• Taming of the Shrew (Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus four hundred years ago)
• Othello (Shakespeare was ahead of his time with this tale)
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a light-hearted romp which shows not all is tragedy on Shakespeare’s plate)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (timeless classic which showcases the South both in a positive and negative way)
• The Once and Future King (or some version of King Arthur–I like John Steinbeck‘s version)
• Stargirl (beautiful story of not conforming to peer pressure or the consequences when one does)
• John Donne‘s Holy Sonnet X (Death Be Not Proud)
• She Walks in Beauty (timeless appreciation of beauty)
• Rime of the Ancient Mariner (To understand Pirates of the Caribbean better)
• Beowulf (so you can boo/hiss at the animated version and hope it will be done correctly someday)
• Canterbury Tales (when you rewatch A Knight’s Tale you will laugh at the inside jokes)
• Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath, of course)
• Mark Twain (American Lit wouldn’t be the same without him)
• The Odyssey (understanding the epicness of heroes and their journey)
• Romeo and Juliet (umm, how could one not read R&J?)

5.  Beach Reads

6.  Must reads

7. Saw the movie, then read the book

8.  Read the book, wish it were a movie

9. Poems to know and grow on

10. GoodRead gotta-get-to-someday reads