Fiction that would’ve been great to read in school as a way of introducing us to a culture, time period, event, or issue that we then went on to study using primary resources
I see SO MANY wonderful books on here and I completely agree with your list! There’s so many diverse, contemporary books high school kids could be reading. I didn’t read any of these in high school, but I’ve heard of a majority of them; additionally, I read Any Tan and Khaled Hosseini in high school, just not the books listed above. Also Homegoing was fabulous and so heartbreaking.
That is quite a title, and I love the concept. I wish our standards in my district were aligned so we could do world literature and world history at the same time, and American literature and American history at the same time. That would make so much more sense.
It really would! It’s intriguing that you say that, because I was just yesterday exposed to the idea that divisions between disciplines of knowledge—the way we think of different “subjects”—are really a matter of university architecture and budgets. (It was Sam Harris who said it; I heard it on his podcast but got the impression it’s an idea he discusses frequently.) I think he meant the sciences more specifically, but literature and history are tied very closely together. I think education could be so much more effective if we combined them this way; it would feel more relatable, be easier to engage with, because our own lives aren’t separated into disciplines as we experience them.
Exactly. For middle school, it’s the middle school model, which takes a more collectivist approach, vs. the junior high model, which does what you described. I went to a middle school that used the middle school model, and when we were studying ecology in science, we were reading an eco novel in reading so we could see how our content areas did not exist in isolation.
I can’t get over how much I like this idea, and wish I’d gotten to experience that kind of education. I think in the younger grades, especially—middle school through early high school—that would have made a huge difference in my level of engagement.
I still have that feeling too, because I haven’t read The Kite Runner yet, and that’s the one everyone talks about. This is the only one of his books that I’ve read, but it was beautifully written.
Meanwhile the World Goes On 
I see SO MANY wonderful books on here and I completely agree with your list! There’s so many diverse, contemporary books high school kids could be reading. I didn’t read any of these in high school, but I’ve heard of a majority of them; additionally, I read Any Tan and Khaled Hosseini in high school, just not the books listed above. Also Homegoing was fabulous and so heartbreaking.
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Wow! Awesome list!
Here’s my list:
https://rabbitearsblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/top-ten-tuesday-8-top-10-rabbit-ears-books-you-should-read-to-kids-at-school/
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Thanks! 🙂
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That is quite a title, and I love the concept. I wish our standards in my district were aligned so we could do world literature and world history at the same time, and American literature and American history at the same time. That would make so much more sense.
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It really would! It’s intriguing that you say that, because I was just yesterday exposed to the idea that divisions between disciplines of knowledge—the way we think of different “subjects”—are really a matter of university architecture and budgets. (It was Sam Harris who said it; I heard it on his podcast but got the impression it’s an idea he discusses frequently.) I think he meant the sciences more specifically, but literature and history are tied very closely together. I think education could be so much more effective if we combined them this way; it would feel more relatable, be easier to engage with, because our own lives aren’t separated into disciplines as we experience them.
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Exactly. For middle school, it’s the middle school model, which takes a more collectivist approach, vs. the junior high model, which does what you described. I went to a middle school that used the middle school model, and when we were studying ecology in science, we were reading an eco novel in reading so we could see how our content areas did not exist in isolation.
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I can’t get over how much I like this idea, and wish I’d gotten to experience that kind of education. I think in the younger grades, especially—middle school through early high school—that would have made a huge difference in my level of engagement.
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Also, here’s eli
My TTT if you’re interested
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Awesome choices 🙂 now I really need to get to Khaled Hosseini. Makes me want to create my own list, but I fear it will be very limited 😦
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I still have that feeling too, because I haven’t read The Kite Runner yet, and that’s the one everyone talks about. This is the only one of his books that I’ve read, but it was beautifully written.
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