If the school board/principal read it first, no way it would be allowed to be taught probably. The main character is a sex addict. Palahniuk’s books are weird and interesting, but also contain a lot of stuff not necessarily appropriate (in the eyes of administration) to teach in high school. All of his books are “messed up” in some way - lots of sex, violence, and just plain weird shit. I’ve read all of them and enjoyed them to vastly different degrees (Survivor was my favorite) but even though people who appreciate books and want kids to read would love to let them read whatever, it’s still high school and administration/parents still have a say.
<sob> That really hurts my heart. Seriously, you didn’t like A Separate Peace and All Quiet on the Western Front? The most effective book about war ever written?
Maybe this is too young for them, but what about Holes by Louis Sachar ( http://www.louissachar.com/HolesBook.htm )? Not too long and a compelling story with symbolism that they should be able to grasp.
Or Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time ( The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Wikipedia ) - has some violence at the beginning.
Beryl Bainbridge: The Birthday Boys ( The Birthday Boys - Wikipedia ) is a well-told first-person account (split amongst five people) of Scott’s failed expedition to the Antarctic. But the early 19th century British point of view might not be too interesting for them. On the plus side, it’s short.
Oh, I know. I know it’s a bit controversial… won’t fly. But it just seems ironic, or maybe the right word is hypocritical, that most of these kids can go see the movie alone at 17 (rated R), but we are so hung up as a society, that they can’t have a responsible, guided, literary discussion about the written story in the halls of learning. The story does have an important moral message, as well.
I know as a 17 year old such a novel would have interested me. I can only imagine the discussions we would have had as a class.
No, I didn’t. At the time (10th grade) I found them slow paced and tedious reads, and I already thought war sucked so I didn’t need to be told. If I read them now I’d probably just be annoyed that they were depressing. (At this point in my life I’m trying to avoid things that tank my mood–I don’t snap out of it well.)
Keep in mind that during high school I was an obsessive Kafka fan, though, and read just about everything he wrote. The only one I didn’t make it through in high school was The Trial which was just too bleak and ominous and took me almost 6 months as an adult to read (I had to keep putting it down for a month at a time to get my perspective on life back, lest I slit my own throat.) So my tastes were odd, I guess.
I just read this review over at the Onion AV Club:
Sounds like a very fun, very cool read that would really hit your class at the right time.
Oh I wish we could have read controversial stuff before college. I did on my own time though, but I’ve been a voracious reader since I could read. And it’s not like none of the kids haven’t already seen plenty of sex or violence that has no educational or otherwise enriching purpose like a book would give them, but that’s unfortunately how it goes. And it’s really too bad, because the books with lots of sex, violence, bad language, and off-color themes are some of the best 
And I’m only 21, and I know few people anywhere near my age who enjoy reading, and it is very sad.
Except Ninja’s.
I loved Ender’s Game & all the Hitchhiker’s Guides, but I don’t know if 11th is quite the right grade …
Ditto Jane Eyre (and Wuthering Height).
I have another loopy suggestion: Poe.
Kids love The Raven. (and it’s not relevant to anyone, so don’t worry that)
Some non-fiction ideas:
“Baghdad Without a Map” is a compilations of articles written by a journalist, so the vocabulary and sentence will be well with in your students’ range. And I love the book.
“Mamaw” by Susan Dodd; I think it’s out of print, but that book inspired me to drive the length of Missouri ten years after I first read it.
I loved that book. The kids could relate in a couple of ways. They might like reading about the wild west and outlaws, and they’ve probably seen parents in the media, denying their offspring’s bad deeds or making excuses, or otherwise supporting them. Great book for these times.
Whilst avoiding the real world, I wandered the web and found School Library Journal which seems to be a place for bookish peeps to their kid and teen lit book info at.
Another book blog
Whoa now. I went to a public school.
My son read Don Quixote de la Mancha & loved it. I havent read it yet.
I wished the schools would include sci-fi in the reading agendas & introduce some of the greats from that genre. The closest I came to know of in my youth was the Wrinkle in Time series.
The best part of this is that I actually can imagine reading something by Palahniuk as an English assignment back when I was a Junior, hypothetically. I had some truly enlightened, progressive, cool, English teachers. (Thanks, Mr. B, Mr. H, and Mr. M).
That was in a long ago America, before teaching to tests, before lawsuits, and before these dark ages. You know, when teachers had balls and spines, vision, and the backing of Admin.
Hm, isn’t 11th grade around the time most kids read 1984 and Brave New World and The Good Earth and To Kill A Mockingbird?
If they haven’t read it already, and assuming it’s not on your school’s blacklist, there’s always Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
My very favorite book that was required reading in high school was Fifth Business by Robertson Davies; it’s from Canada, though, so as I recall there’s not much in the way of Hispanic culture or content.