Recommended Reading List for Homeschoolers 2-12-05

Recommended Reading Lists for Homeschoolers
February, 2005

Here is my list of recommended reading for college preparation, covering roughly what would be covered in the average high school curriculum. I haven't read all of these: I'm no longer in college prep, for one thing, so I can read what I like. Knowing that, I also based this list on thoseI have gotten from my friends who are librarians, and on lists I tracked down online, including American Library Association lists and online High School lists, so that friends who are being homeschooled can be sure they will be able to show they are meeting the same general requirements

I also made an effort to ensure this list is as multi-cultural as I could while still making sure it would meet college education standards. I am deeply unhappy that college education standards, as evidenced by all those online lists, is still that of white men who died over a century ago and fear for the best and brightest minds educated on a standard that does not address the fact that we live in a global culture that does not recognize the primacy of the values of dead, white, European men.

It's not necessary for someone to read everything on this list: I provided a big selection so a person can pick and choose. I did * those books/authors that appeared on a lot of lists, meaning a reader should read that book or one book by that author. I was asked not to include fantasy on this list because most of my friends read fantasy anyway. I did include the many science fiction titles I found on the required reading lists online (1984, BRAVE NEW WORLD, FAHRENHEIT 451, THE HANDMAID'S TALE).

Contemporary Teen (I tried to include as few depressing problem novels as I could, but sadly, most of the contemporary teen books on the lists are just that. Sorry):

Alvarez, Julia - BEFORE WE WERE FREE
Bauer, Marion Dane, ed. - AM I BLUE? (short stories)
Bloor, Edward - TANGERINE
Crowe, Chris - MISSISSIPPI, 1955
Flinn, Alex* - BREATHING UNDERWATER
Gallo, Don ed. - ON THE FRINGE (short stories)
Garden, Nancy* - ANNIE ON MY MIND
Hartinger, Brent - GEOGRAPHY CLUB
Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki - FAREWELL TO MANZANAR
Myers, Walter Dean* - FALLEN ANGELS
Oates, Joyce Carol* - BIG MOUTH AND UGLY GIRL
Plum-Ucci, Carol - WHAT HAPPENED TO LANI GARVER?
Satrapi, Marjane - PERSEPOLIS (graphic novel)
Spiegelman, Art* - MAUS (graphic novel)
Staples, Suzanne Fisher - SHABANU
Voigt, Cynthia - A SOLITARY BLUE

Fiction:

Akutagawa, Ryunosuke - RASHOMON & OTHER STORIES

Alvarez, Julia - IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES

Atwood, Margaret* - THE HANDMAID'S TALE

Bradbury, Ray* - FAHRENHEIT 451

Brown, Rita Mae - RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE

Burgess, Anthony - A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Cisneros, Sandra - THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

Clavell, James - SHOGUN

Conrad, Joseph* - THE HEART OF DARKNESS

Conroy, Pat - THE PRINCE OF TIDES

Diamant, Anita* - THE RED TENT

Dickens, Charles* - A TALE OF TWO CITIES; OLIVER TWIST

Dostoyevsky, Fedor* - CRIME AND PUNISHMENT; THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV

Doyle, Arthur Conan* - THE VALLEY OF FEAR; A STUDY IN SCARLET
(You'll find both in most Sherlock Holmes collections--they're short novels based on events of the times. You might want to find out the real events he's writing about with other names)

Golding, William* - LORD OF THE FLIES

Hurston, Zora Neale* - THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

Huxley, Aldous* - BRAVE NEW WORLD

Ibuse, Masuji - BLACK RAIN

Kingston, Maxine Hong - CHINA MEN

Lee, Harper* - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Malamud, Bernard - THE FIXER

Martel, Yann - THE LIFE OF PI

Maxwell, Robin - THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL

McCourt, Frank* - ANGELA'S ASHES

Morrison, Toni - THE BLUEST EYE

O'Brien, Tim* - THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

Orwell, George* - 1984; ANIMAL FARM

Paton, Alan* - CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

Rand, Ayn - ANTHEM

Remarque, Eric Maria* - ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Roberts, Kenneth - A RABBLE IN ARMS

Tan, Amy* - THE JOY LUCK CLUB

Uris, Leon - MILA 18

Voltaire - CANDIDE

Vonnegut, Kurt* - SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5; CAT'S CRADLE; THE SIRENS OF TITAN

Walker, Alice* - THE COLOR PURPLE

White, T. H. - THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING

Woolf, Virginia - ORLANDO

Yolen, Jane - BRIAR ROSE

Nonfiction:

Agee, James - LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN
Angelou, Maya* - I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
Ball, Edward - SLAVES IN THE FAMILY
Brown, Dee* - BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE
Brown, Claude* - MANCHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND
Didion, Joan - SLOUCHING TOWARD BETHLEHEM (essays); SALVADOR
Ellison, Ralph* - THE INVISIBLE MAN
Gies, Miep - ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED
Goldman, William - ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE
Haley, Alex* - ROOTS
Jung, Henry - MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS (psychology)
Junger, Sebastian* - THE PERFECT STORM
Keller, Helen - THE STORY OF MY LIFE
Lawson, Eric - THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
Mandela, Nelson* - THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Marx & Engels - THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO (philosophy)
Mowat, Farley - NEVER CRY WOLF
Musashi, Miyamoto - THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS (philosophy)
Pipher, Mary - REVIVING OPHELIA
Sinclair, Upton* - THE JUNGLE
Sontag, Susan - IN AMERICA; ON PHOTOGRAPHY (essays)
Thoreau, Henry David* - ON WALDEN POND (philosophy)
Tuchman, Barbara - A DISTANT MIRROR
Tzu, Sun - THE ART OF WAR (philosophy)
Weir, Alison - THE CHILDREN OF HENRY VIII
Wolfe, Tom - RADICAL CHIC & MAU-MAUING THE FLAK CATCHERS; THE RIGHT STUFF
Woodward & Bernstein - ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN

Classics I Liked:

Austen, Jane* - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE; EMMA

Boccaccio - THE DECAMERON

Chaucer* - THE CANTERBURY TALES
(spot what Chaucer stole from Boccaccio! find the dirty stories! find out what life was like during Boccaccio's plague and Chaucer's pilgrimages)

Cervantes, Miguel - DON QUIXOTE

leFanu, Sheridan - CARMILLA

Malory, Sir Thomas - MORTE D'ARTHUR

Mishima, Yukio* - THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA

Shelley, Mary* - FRANKENSTEIN

Stoker, Bran* - DRACULA

Poetry (most you'll just find under "collected poems of"):

Angelou, Maya*

Auden, W. H.
Cisneros, Sandra*

Dante - THE DIVINE COMEDY
Dickinson, Emily
Ginsberg, Alan Howl
Hesse, Karen - WITNESS
Milton, John - PARADISE LOST
Neruda, Pablo*

Plath, Sylvia*

Sappho
Sexton, Anne
Thomas, Dylan*

Whitman, Walt - LEAVES OF GRASS
Whitney, Phyllis
Wilde, Oscar - THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL
Williams, Wallace

To my friends - There are some writers people say you have to read to be educated in our society. A lot of them write plays. I hate these writers. I would be letting you down if I did not mention them, but if you hate them, I don't want you blaming me. I also do not want you to blame me if people say you're ignorant. So here they are:

Camus, Albert* - THE PLAGUE; THE STRANGER
Cormier, Robert - THE CHOCOLATE WAR*; I AM THE CHEESE; TENDERNESS
Dreiser, Theodore - AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY*

Eliot, George* - MIDDLEMARCH; ADAM BEDE; THE MILL ON THE FLOSS
Faulkner, William* - LIGHT IN AUGUST; THE SOUND AND THE FURY; AS I LAY DYING
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - THE GREAT GATSBY*; TENDER IS THE NIGHT
Flaubert, Gustave* - MADAME BOVARY
Hardy, Thomas* - JUDE THE OBSCURE; TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES; FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
Hawthorne, Nathaniel* - THE HOUSE OF SEVEN GABLES; THE SCARLET LETTER
Hemingway, Ernest* - THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (it's short); A FAREWELL TO ARMS; THE SUN ALSO RISES
James, Henry* - THE WINGS OF THE DOVE; THE TURN OF THE SCREW
Joyce, James - PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (short)*; DUBLINERS (stories); ULYSSES (really long)
McCullers, Carson* - THE BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFE (stories); THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER; THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING
Melville, Herman* - MOBY DICK (I liked it, but that was in 6th grade); BILLY BUDD
Rand, Ayn - THE FOUNTAINHEAD
Salinger, J.D.* - CATCHER IN THE RYE; FRANNY AND ZOOEY; RAISE HIGH THE ROOF BEAM CARPENTERS
Steinbeck, John* - THE GRAPES OF WRATH; CANNERY ROW (stories); THE PEARL; OF MICE AND MEN
Stowe, Harriet Beecher - UNCLE TOM'S CABIN
Twain, Mark - HUCKLEBERRY FINN* (his only book I don't like)
Voltaire - CANDIDE*

Wharton, Edith* - THE AGE OF INNOCENCE; ETHAN FROME

Plays:

Anderson, Maxwell - Anne of the Thousand Days; Elizabeth the Queen

Albee, Edward - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf*

Anouilh, Jean - Becket

Aristophanes* - Lysistrata; The Frogs

Beckett, Samuel* - Waiting for Godot

Chekhov, Antonin* - The Cherry Orchard; Uncle Vanya

Churchill, Caryl - Cloud 9

Eliot, T.S.* - Murder in the Cathedral

Euripides - Iphigenia at Aulis; The Trojan Women

Flagg, Fannie - Fried Green Tomatoes

Hansberry, Lorraine* - A Raisin in the Sun

Hellmann, Lillian - Julia

Henley, Beth - Crimes of the Heart

Marlowe, Christopher* - Dr. Faustus

Miller, Arthur* - The Crucible; Death of a Salesman

Moliere - Tartuffe; The Imaginary Invalid; The School for Wives

Norman, Marsha - 'Night, Mother

O'Neill, Eugene* - A Long Day's Journey Into Night

Osborne, John - Look Back in Anger

Pinter, Harold* - The Birthday Party

Rostand, Edmond - Cyrano de Bergerac*

Shaffer, Peter - Equus*

Shakespeare, William* - Hamlet; Henry V; King Lear; Macbeth; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Othello; Richard III; Romeo and Juliet; Twelfth Night
(there are versions with portions or retellings of some of these on film, including Japanese retellings of Lear and Macbeth, and a WWII as-done-in-Shakespeare's-time Henry V, and pieces with background research of a Shakespeare-in-the-Park production of Richard III with Al Pacino)