[QUOTE=OtakuLoki]
I can’t speak for the Sophocles tragedy. I was referencing an modern version of the play, written by one of the contemporaries of Satre and Camus. I had it taught as part of the Existentialist movement. (I misspelled Anouilh’s name, though.) It moves a lot more comfortably than Greek. Honest.
[/QUOTE]
Well now I’m intrigued.
Oh! Speaking of Greek drama. There is at least one Greek play that will go over like a house afire with that age group: Aristophanes’ Lysistrata! And for all that the play abounds with crude physical humor, innuendo, puns, and outright ribaldry, it also touches on a number of serious issues, and would be, I think, quite timely for people in today’s 11th grade.
ETA: Alas the spirit of Bowdler would make teaching this play a challenge in the public schools. 
I came in here to mention this.
Another one that is excellent, along the lines of Night: Donbas ( Amazon’s Donbas )
This book really deserves more light.
I first read about Jacques in an article in Oprah. Actually it was an article, IIRC, about his wife and how she had married this older man with a secret ( being a prisoner during WW2 and escaping a soviet work camp. Never talked about it.) The article struck something with me and I tore it out and shoved it away for future reference.
Then, this book somehow came to my attention, not really sure how and it blew me out of the water. It was after that that I realized the writer of this book was the husband of the woman in the article I tore out years earlier.
The King of Mulberry Street was quite popular with my 14 year nephew.
I dunno, we read *Invisible Man* in the 11th grade and I thought it was great, probably my favorite of all the books we read in high school.
I liked Antigone too, but I’ve only read it in the original French.
I don’t get why they don’t have students read more enjoyable books in school. I mean, I love to read. I read all the time, whenever I get a chance. I always have since I was a little kid. But even I, loving to read like I did, hated most of the crap that we had to read in school. No wonder kids don’t like to read if all they’re introduced to is stuff like The Scarlet Letter and A Separate Peace and All Quiet on the Western Front and stuff by Faulkner and the like. A lot of the suggestions in this thread made me want to run and hide even as an adult. And it’s not that I don’t enjoy “real literature” because I do… but so many of these books are just so dreadfully and awfully boring and dry and hard to get through…
I say give them books that they’ll enjoy as much as going to a movie; use these years to instill a love of reading in them and let them read the boring “meaningful” stuff in college. I love Manda JO’s suggestion of Ender’s Game. That’s a fun book. But I say, why not have English classes read stuff like A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or the Discworld books or something? Why not make it something really entertaining that will make them crave books for the rest of their lives, rather than wanting to have nothing more to do with them once they’re out of class?
In Cold Blood by Capote
Or for a laugh:
Finnegans Wake by Joyce
Lots of books I would have liked to read in high school, but I only have two suggestions. If you really want to make them read a lot go with The Stand (unedited, naturally) by Stephen King. For a shorter, probably more fun, read, try Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. I can’t imagine anyone reading this and not enjoying it, of course that’s just my opinion.
Catch 22 was one of the very few books that I enjoyed being assigned in high school.
*Jane Eyre * by Charlotte Brontë
Although, it’s fairly easy by older standards, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, is a great adventure classic. It reads great and is very relatable to 16-17 year old boys. Everybody loves Pirates.
Stroke of genius, OpalCat. In sort of that spirit,
Kinky Friedman
Philip Dick
These guys are just meaty enough to keep the kids interested, without pandering or bowling them over.
Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy. The bits of hesitation I feel about this one are that the violence might be over the top, and it’s very boy-centric.
There are also our friends in “classical” SF, such as Clarke (Fountains of Paradise, Childhood’s End), Asimov (Foundation books), or Farmer (Riverworld series). These have some interesting viewpoints of serious issues like life, death, and destiny, without using a hammer for them, give a little dose of hard science, are pretty nifty adventures, and are multicultural to boot!
The Uplift War by David Brin is a great SF novel… it’s the third in a series but stands well on its own. It brings in racial stereotyping and prejudice but on a totally different level. It may have too much sexual overtones, though, not sure. But it’s a hell of a fun read and it’s got actual meaning behind it. The author has a BS in astronomy, an MS in applied physics, a PhD in space science, and also taught Physics and Writing at San Diego State University. So basically, a smart guy who can write SF with a hint of credibility to it.
He wrote The Postman which is a really good non SF book (post apocolyptic)–way way better than the movie. It is exciting enough to engage 11th graders, I think.
For a novel that is both short, easy to read, and full of philosophical discussion potential, try Frank Herbert’s Soul Catcher. It’s not SF either, even though it is the same guy who wrote Dune.
[QUOTE=OpalCat]
I don’t get why they don’t have students read more enjoyable books in school. I mean, I love to read. I read all the time, whenever I get a chance. I always have since I was a little kid. But even I, loving to read like I did, hated most of the crap that we had to read in school. No wonder kids don’t like to read if all they’re introduced to is stuff like The Scarlet Letter and A Separate Peace and All Quiet on the Western Front and stuff by Faulkner and the like. A lot of the suggestions in this thread made me want to run and hide even as an adult. And it’s not that I don’t enjoy “real literature” because I do… but so many of these books are just so dreadfully and awfully boring and dry and hard to get through…
I say give them books that they’ll enjoy as much as going to a movie; use these years to instill a love of reading in them and let them read the boring “meaningful” stuff in college. I love Manda JO’s suggestion of Ender’s Game. That’s a fun book. But I say, why not have English classes read stuff like A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or the Discworld books or something? Why not make it something really entertaining that will make them crave books for the rest of their lives, rather than wanting to have nothing more to do with them once they’re out of class?
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I agree whole-heartedly. We read LotF as our major canonical work, Of Mice and Men because it only takes a week (they happened to love it, which means I’m going to keep teaching it) and Life is Funny because I love it and thought they could relate, plus it’s a fairly easy book to read.
I love the suggestion of Ender’s Game. I haven’t read it, but I’ll put it on my summer list. I’ve gotten a lot of good suggestions so far, and a few I can’t use. I forgot to mention that we’re on block schedules here, so I only get my kids for 9-10 weeks, depending on the term. I’d rather read multiple works than one long one. We did LotF and OM&M in class, with LiF and Monster as homework last block. It was tight to get all of that in.
I also try to avoid books that aren’t written in modern English. Dickens, Bronte, etc. are great for me (well, not Dickens, but I hope you get what I mean), but not so great for an English Language Learner. We’re 4 hours from the border of Mexico here, and it shows in our student population. If I give stuff written in 19th-century British-English, I end up with 8 kids who love it, 12 who don’t care, and 20 who don’t have the language skills to keep up.
I love Hemingway as well for this. Such simple, direct language!
Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. I have this thread bookmarked now!
I think I have some extra qualification posting on this thread, as I was an 11th-grader only three years ago and I have a younger sibling around that age.
Vonnegut is great, so is Catch-22. 1984 is really popular too. But the most popular book among “non-readers,” in my experience, was the Kite Runner, actually (well, aside from Harry Potter, anyway). Easier to relate to than a lot of these suggestions - I’d stay away from anything regarded as Great Literature. It’s too dry and too uptight for most students aren’t already crazy about reading.
If you want simple, straight forward, modern language-- something conversational; something quirky and compelling; then I can suggest Chuck Palahniuk’s book entitled Choke.
The movie is also coming out in September, you can make a preemptive strike and show your students the value of reading and introduce them to their imaginations by contrast.
[QUOTE=Skylark]
We did Antigone when I was a sophomore. It was a chore. We read it in class. 30+ bored 16 & 17 year olds reading translated Greek in monotone.
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There were only 10 of us when I did it nearly a quarter of a century ago and it was great. But then we were actually translating it from the Greek. Perhaps you were reading my translation? 
And Camus’ L’Etranger? Only in the original French TYVM.
[QUOTE=Quartz]
There were only 10 of us when I did it nearly a quarter of a century ago.
[/QUOTE]
Old fahrt!
Give 'em some Carl Hiaasen. Funny as hell, good guys win, environmental themes.
Not sure you could get away with it, but “Red Sky at Morning” by Richard Bradford tells the story of a boy whose family moves to NM during WWII. The white boy becomes the minority among all the Hispanics. Funny, funny story!