Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
Sheri's Choices: To be frank, this was a difficult Top Ten list. I think required reading is what often makes teenagers not like reading. So I was curious to find out if high school required readings lists today are like the ones I had in high school. After a quick look on the web, I was pleasantly surprised to find some very recent YA fiction and also a little dismayed to find some classics missing. So I've decided to identify five books I was required to read that made a lasting impression. I was able to come up with a more contemporary YA choice for two of them but not the other three.....any suggestions?
1. Woman on the Edge of Time with Divergent
2. Animal Farm with Hunger Games (Totalitarian States Always Bad)
3. The Scarlet Letter
4. The Well of Loneliness
5. Romeo and Juliet
Pam's Picks:
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker paired with Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
I've seen Gone on a few lists this week. I must check it out. Excellent choices!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely got the kids running things so I thought it would be good paired with Lord of the Flies. ~Pam
DeleteI'd pair The Well of Loneliness with Annie on My Mind. I finally read both classics last year, and loved them.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read that one so I will have to check it out! Thank you!~Sheri
DeleteI really like The Odyssey and LFA pairing. I loved reading Romeo and Juliet freshman year of high school (it was my introduction to Shakespeare and now I'm obsessed).
ReplyDeleteSara at The Page Sage
I thought The Odyssey and LFA made sense given the journey aspect. ~Pam
DeleteI liked how you added a twist on the TTT question by pairing contemporary reads with classics. There aren't a whole lot of contemp. reads that I see now that are studied in school - most I have seen is from John Green. I did see an analysis of Sarah Dessen in body image for teenage girls though.
ReplyDeleteI've never read Well of Loneliness so can't give any suggestions there. However Scarlet Letter & Romeo and Juliet? I've seen a few books use R&J as their focal point; there's a retelling by Stacey Jay, there's Eleanor and Park, there's the twilight book, there's Fallen. Not all contemp - E&P would work for your qualification - but it is interesting to compare Shakespeare's satire to modern day YA star-crossed romances. Scarlet Letter. I feel like I read something like this just the other day but now I can't remember what... Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers is a sort of similar situation? Gah, I'll have to come back to this later.
Huh, I never thought the Odyssey would get paired with Looking for Alaska. I haven't read LFA yet but I'd always thought that not much questing goes in his work? I don't know if that makes sense -- I'll have to read LFA first. I wish I could comment on the rest, but I haven't read any of the other classics o.O. I am a fail. Dracula and 1982 have been on the list for ages and I still haven't gotten around to them.
LSA does have a journey aspect. Actually, Paper Towns or An Abundance of Katherines would work too. Paper Towns may actually be better, now that I think about it. ~Pam
DeleteI keep reading reviews of Eleanor and Park but I haven't read it yet I will need to put it on my list! ~Sheri
DeleteI really need to read The Book Thief and Looking for Alaska!
ReplyDeleteGreat choices :)
Both are excellent. ~Pam
DeleteWhen I first read the Hunger Games, I thought it seemed like Lord of the Flies, but 100% better. I haven't read Gone yet, but I really want to!!!
ReplyDeleteI want to read Gone. Haven't gotten around to it yet. Another book I think would go well with Lord of the Flies is The Maze Runner. Different perspective on what would happen when a group of young boys is forced to live on their own. Great list ladies!
ReplyDeleteRebecca @ The Library Canary
I love the idea of pairing Hunger Games with Animal Farm, 1984 with Feed, and Anne Frank with The Book Thief. I had a hard time thinking of pairings, so I chose to write about books I wish they'd teach in school. New follower by Bloglovin'! :D
ReplyDeleteMy TTT @ Donnie Darko Girl
Diary of Anne Frank with The Book Thief is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT:
http://qaisracetusbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/top-ten-tuesday-9313.html
I still love the Twilight series, but I think it'd be interesting to discuss what made it so popular. Looking For Alaska was such a good book! I can't believe it was banned in some place for one stupid sex scene.
ReplyDelete