Required reading was the bane of my existence in high school.
My elementary and middle school years were a bit of a mess since I went to five different schools (and was homeschooled for two years) prior to ninth grade. That being said, I don’t recall being required to read any specific book before high school. I remember getting library time in elementary school and having to choose books to read, so I guess it was required in a sense. Then in middle school I was required to choose books to do reports on. The only books I specifically remember choosing to read were The Call of the Wild and A Wrinkle in Time. I remember enjoying them quite a bit!
It wasn’t until my last four years in public education that I was required to read specific books and be tested on them. Here are the ones I recall reading:
While I actually did end up enjoying a couple of these, I was largely bored to tears. For whatever reason, the public education system in my county chose the most boring books of all time for a bunch of teenagers to read.
I looked up a couple of recent required reading lists from random schools and saw things on them like Harry Potter, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Uglies, and Eleanor and Park. Honestly, I wonder how much sooner I would have become an avid reader if I had been required to read contemporary, fun books instead of A Separate Peace. I understand the reason certain books were chosen, but I do wonder why the education system doesn’t value instilling a love of reading in students, which I can’t believe reading Romeo and Juliet does for most students.
I’m curious to know how other people’s required reading differed from mine, especially people who are in high school now or recently graduated!
