General Chat

My choices are here already Lord of the Flies Animal Farm 1984 I would add Brave New World - Huxley Catch 22 - Heller and an anthology of Poetry from the First World War. Gwynne

It's a really hard question because a lot of kids are put off reading some authors/playwrights for life because the texts need more experience than a teenager has. I hated Dickens at school and wasn't struck on Shakespeare either but have come to appreciate some of their works more as I've got older and re-read them. I remember finding Robert O'Brien's Z for Zachariah (a set text) and Robert Swindell's Brother in the Land very powerful at school. Both were set in post nuclear war society but also very focused on relationships between people. Two other books specifically for kids that both managed to portray teenage worlds brilliantly were The Cool Boffin and That Was Then, This is Now - can't remember the authors but I think school ages kids should have to read books that they can relate to. But I also think Wuthering Heights and The Good Soldier should be compulsary for maybe 15-16 year olds.

I don't think there's one book that all teenagers would benefit from reading because everyone is different. I think a good policy is to give teenages are list from which to choose, with a short synopsis for each title. Everyone learns most when there is an element of choice and interest in their reading matter, and some classics are best read in adulthood, or at least when the reader has enough life experience to appreciate them. If I had to come up witha list though, it would be VERY long. :-)

That's a good point Felicity - I think so many teenagers are put off reading because they don't relate to the set texts. That's why I chose my first four - I was put off George Orwell for life at school:) I really think they should be encouraged to read and that if that meant letting them study some books some of us would dismiss as rubbish, I still think that would be better than forcing kids to loathe classics they can't connect to at an early age. Don't suppose the education system would be able to accommodate it though, so perhaps your suggestion of options is better.

With so many different reading levels within any one age group, how do you choose? Our compulsory reading throughout high school included Day of the Triffids The 39 Steps Lord of the Flies Alive (football team crashing in the Andes) Harp in the South To Kill a Mockingbird. Romeo and Juliet. Great Expectations. These books are still on the reading lists for todays students. For their literary value, or because the educaton system is stagnant? A lot of the kids found these boring, or could not cope with the literacy levels. I actually enjoyed all of them (except Alive), but then again l was a total geek. I chose Papillon as an elective book review in 1st form. Although I have to admit as a 12 year old l cringed at where he hid his money role. Totally dscusting :-))

David, there's no reason why the education system can't accommodate choice. I used to be an english teacher and it could be very difficult to get some children to read. I found that by accommodating choice right from the beginning, most children were more motivated to study set texts as they got nearer to GCSE level. It was an uphill struggle with some, but for every class I ever taught, I allocated some time in the teaching week for self-elected reading where it really was ok for them to bring and read (just about :-)) anything - comics, magasines, you name it. So long as they spent the time reading, and were prepared to talk to the class about what they read and why, I was happy. Most times it led to a discussion that prompted them to read something else and led to them reading the things I wanted them to read.

Marvellous book Em. My 15 year old grandson's school class read it and their teacher took them on a trip to Amsterdam to see the Ann Frank house. They were all amazed at the tiny space the families had to live in. The story left a big impression on them all. There are of course many other books for young folk to read,but this factual one (written by someone their own age) has,I think, a strong and moral message that can only be a good thing in this day and age. Mau xx

I imagine you're a very well remembered teacher, Felicity. I had an excellent English teacher too, who encouraged a lot of pupils to read and learn. That's how it should be - perhaps the education system doesn't encourage your way of teaching enough:)

My grandson has an excellent English teacher too David. Mau

Thanks, David. There were many reasons why I left teaching, but you've identifed one of them. One of my favourite lesson topics was to take part of a Shakespeare play and to get the children to rewrite it in the accent or dialect of their choice. We had such fun with that, and by the time they'd finished, they really understood what was going on!!

It makes all the difference, Mau:) I'm sorry about that, Felicity - I understand but it's a shame.

Thanks for all your replies... I have now got an urge to re read all the books i read as a youngster and see how adulthood has changed my perception of the storylines :))

Two books I think everybody should read are The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressall and One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey. Davex