Every American high school English department builds a reading list around the same core titles. The books change a little from district to district, but not much — and for good reason. The classics on this list have been taught for generations because they hold up to close reading, they reward discussion, and they contain the questions teenagers are actually asking: Who am I? What do I owe others? What kind of world is this?
Here are the classic high school books worth reading, organized the way they're usually taught — by tradition.
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