Editor’s Note: You may remember Natalie from her post earlier this year about the books she loves to read over and over again. As school gets underway, I asked her to think of the books a teacher assigned that turned out to be personal favorites. Here’s her list.
All of us have had our share of bad book assignments for school. In my experience, the books assigned generally aren’t bad, but they just aren’t very good either. However, every once in a while, the exceptional book comes along. Suddenly, you don’t dread the thought of “read chapter 4 by Tuesday.” Reading assignments are finished before they’re due, and notes fill with details. I’ve had a handful of good books assigned by teachers; they have a variety of great qualities: funny, thought provoking, inspiring, exciting, and the like. The books listed below are from very different genres, but they are each enjoyable in different ways.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A semi-autobiographical novel about a Native American teenager living on a reservation, this book doesn’t have a page that is boring to read. Fourteen year-old Junior tells the story of his family, friends, and school through an illustrated diary. The book leads the reader through life-changing situations with razor sharp wit and an excellent voice. You really feel like you are in Junior’s head. This book draws attention to important issues like poverty, bullying, and discrimination. It also reminds us not to forget the young people in our community, as they are just as affected by problems as everyone else.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury gives a fascinating and sometimes horrifying vision of the future in a series of short stories. The stories start in the year 1999 and continue into 2026. They depict the experiences of humans fleeing a dystopian Earth and its ignorant population. They go to Mars to escape from the troubles plaguing them on their home planet. I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable and fun to read because of Bradbury’s beautiful writing and use of imagery, his understandable characters, and the stories’ lessons about respect and appreciation for the unknown. What I found especially great about this book was Bradbury’s use of an inter-planetary setting to explore issues that are still prevalent in our world today. The problems remain the same from Earth to Mars, and they also are unchanged from 1950 to the our world of 2013.
Liz’s Pick: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I thought this book was so salacious when it was assigned in my eighth grade English class and the adult themes in this book about shame, guilt and the female body are as relevant today as ever. I’m also a huge fan of the film adaptions - but the book is a short and easy read that always delivers.
So what books did your teacher assign that you actually loved?
Post by Natalie El-Hai. Natalie enjoys science and all things theater. She spends her free time reading and snuggling with her cats. She will be a sophomore at Southwest High School this fall.