Some people on Unfogged got into a discussion of high school books and I looked up the summer reading lists for my old school district to see what they have kids reading these days.
A lot of the curriculum appears to be the same (A Separate Peace! Bleargh!), but what I find vaguely disquieting is that the summer reading requirements for the same course vary from school to school in a way that correlates rather closely with the composition of the student body.
For example, these books are required summer reading for the AP or pre-AP courses at the district's wealthiest school: Rebecca; Alas, Babylon; Lord of the Flies; 1984; Interpreter of Maladies; Slaughterhouse-Five; Poisonwood Bible; Crime and Punishment.
The same courses at the district's poorest school require: Anthem; Light in the Forest; Black Boy; 10 op-eds from news publications; Poisonwood Bible; Candide; plus two more selections that they didn't bother to announce.
Anyway, this is your opportunity to vent about terrible books you were forced to read (or wonderful books that were ruined for you by being forced to read them) or to bash my suburban school district.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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