The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton

This perennial favorite of students and teachers alike is a simple, yet powerful story of the bonds of family and boundaries of friendship. Themes of revenge and forgiveness, heroism and hero-worship, and violence, gangs, and survival make The Outsiders a memorable read. Easily taught at almost any level, S. E. Hinton’s classic is a sure way to get your reluctant students interested in reading.

Ceremony
Leslie Marmon Silko

Winner of the 1980 American Book Award, this poignant novel quickly immerses students in the world of Tayo, a young veteran of Native American descent. Haunted by his experiences during World War II, Tayo returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation only to fall into self-destructive behaviors. In his quest for healing, Tayo seeks help from his grandmother, who calls on Betonie, a Navajo medicine man. With Betonie’s guidance, Tayo embarks on a journey to complete a traditional ceremony, finding peace and purpose in the process.

A Lesson Before Dying
Ernest J. Gaines

What happens in A Lesson Before Dying is a remarkable story of transformation; your students will learn lessons about life similar to those in Ernest J. Gaines’s other books, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Gathering of Old Men. In the late 1940s, Jefferson, a barely literate Black man, is sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. Grant Wiggins, a teacher, is pressed into service by Jefferson’s godmother to teach him self-respect. Students will be captivated by Jefferson’s failures and successes.

Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison

Unquestionably a milestone in American literature, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man has continued to engross readers since its publication in 1952. Describing the unnamed narrator’s experiences growing up in a Black community in the South, attending and being expelled from college, and moving to New York to join “the Brotherhood,” a Communist organization, Ellison paints a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Black America.

In Cold Blood
Truman Capote

With the publication of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote permanently ripped through the barriers that separate crime reporting from serious literature and journalism from fiction. These distinctions are ones your classes will inevitably need to understand. As he reconstructs, in non-linear fashion, the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, Capote expertly generates both suspense and empathy.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou

The first volume of Maya Angelou’s autobiography is the frank account of a young girl’s ability to survive desertion, abuse, and neglect and to know love and appreciate beauty. Angelou’s straightforward narrative makes I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings easy to read, but many of the situations she lived through and candidly deals with suggest that the book be used with your mature classes.

A Separate Peace
John Knowles

Set at a boys’ boarding school in New England during World War II, A Separate Peace is an intense, highly emotional, brilliant parable detailing the dark side of adolescence through easily accessible themes. The improbable friendship of Gene and Finny resonates with students, who will empathize with the two boys’ struggles in a world full of conflicting values, insecurities, and threats.

The Joy Luck Club
Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club, which is told in sixteen interlocking chapters, is about four Chinese women born and raised in China and their American-born daughters. It deals with cultural and generational conflicts in ways that most readers will understand and find fascinating. The novel gives your students a fascinating look into Chinese culture and heritage and is a glimpse into the special bonds between mothers and daughters.

The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros

This modern classic tells the compelling story of Esperanza, a young Latina living in the Mexican American section of Chicago. Using poems and stories that lend themselves to classroom use, Sandra Cisneros presents important insights on themes such as the force of language, the importance of communication, and the eternal struggle for self-definition. The House on Mango Street is an easy read, yet its power cannot be overstated.

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry

Over sixty years after its Broadway debut, A Raisin in the Sun, a play about a Black family striving for their share of the American Dream, remains a relevant discussion of one generation’s struggle to offer the next a better life. Readers see an individual’s battle for dignity and a family’s effort to protect loved ones, even in hardship. While race is at the heart of the book, the Youngers’ story is universal, and your classes will recognize themselves in it.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee

Why is To Kill a Mockingbird so immensely popular in schools? It’s been more than sixty years since it was first published, and even now, the book remains fresh and powerful. It may be the authentic and friendly voice of Scout, the humanity of Atticus, or the innocence of Boo Radley. Harper Lee’s hopeful message that an entire community can learn from one man’s integrity makes Mockingbird among the best-loved American novels of all time.

Kindred
Octavia Butler

Part Time Machine, part Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, this amazing novel will enthrall your students as few other books can. Octavia Butler has created a terrifying mix of science fiction and history in which a twentieth-century Black woman is mysteriously transported to a slave plantation in the pre-Civil War South. Written for almost any high school student, Kindred is sure to be at the top of the list of the most memorable books your students ever read.

Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury’s surreal tale of a dystopian future in which reading is eschewed and firemen start blazes to burn books is one of science fiction’s enduring classics. This story is more than just an interesting read, though; it will give your students a profound sense of the intellectual wonder found within the world of literature. Its depiction of the bleakness and dangers inherent in a society that has lost its thirst for the written word makes Fahrenheit 451 a must-have for every high school curriculum.

Beloved
Toni Morrison

This mythic novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison is part historical fiction and part ghost story. Based on a true account, this story of an escaped slave who kills her child rather than allowing her to also become a slave is a powerful introduction to the mental and physical effects slavery had on its victims. Your students will explore themes of slavery, dominance, home, and the importance of family while they savor the suspense and power of Morrison’s language.

Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston

When this classic was first published, Zora Neale Hurston’s use of dialect brought her scathing criticism from her Harlem Renaissance contemporaries. Today, the multiple levels of language used, from the poetic voice of the narrator to the earthy voices of Janie and her fellow characters, are part of what makes Their Eyes Were Watching God an important book for you to teach and your students to read.

The Crucible
Arthur Miller

Meant as a reflection of anti-communist hysteria in the early 1950s, The Crucible is also a timeless tale of betrayal, vengeance, greed, and political corruption that your students will not want to put down. Arthur Miller said, “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.” This classic play depicts the destructive power of retaining one’s own moral values when faced with the possibility of death.

The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway

This story of an old fisherman battling the elements and wrestling some kind of triumph out of defeat remains one of Ernest Hemingway’s greatest works and was a major reason he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The novella’s simple prose, symbolism, and readily accessible themes of courage and perseverance make The Old Man and the Sea understandable for students of all reading levels.

The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger

While Holden Caulfield is certainly a twentieth-century anti-hero and an unreliable narrator of his own story, The Catcher in the Rye continues to be a compelling, influential read. It explores themes such as the protection of the innocent, alienation, the difficulties of maturing, and the phoniness of the adult world, all of which will capture students’ imaginations.

Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck

In this American classic, John Steinbeck explores the concepts of friendship, sexism, racism, and euthanasia, which are still relevant to modern students. Most important to the book is the idea of settling down to make a better life, which is the essence of the American Dream that pervades the novel. Because of Steinbeck’s Naturalist style of writing, Of Mice and Men is an especially versatile novel that is easily accessible to students at any level.

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

The rich and powerful Jay Gatsby appears to have it all but struggles with a deep secret—he has reinvented himself as a millionaire to impress his lost love, the married socialite Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby is certain that money can buy happiness, as well as Daisy’s heart. However, his obsessive pursuit of her affection has consequences that he never expected. Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin, tells Gatsby’s story after the turbulent events of the summer of 1922. Considered the Great American Novel by many, The Great Gatsby is a portrait of the Roaring Twenties and a timeless exploration of American identity.