In high school English class, we all had various books assigned to us. In grade 9 I read The Chrysalids and Lord of the Flies, both of which I thoroughly unenjoyed.
In grade 10 it was To Kill a Mockingbird, and I honestly don’t remember any books from grades 11 or 12. My last year went out with a bang, featuring a spectacularly depressing book by a Canadian author, The Stone Angel. (Yes, that was back when there were 5 years of high school here. But that’s for another post. Or even another blog.)
So now I ask you, dear readers, what did you read in high school English (aside from Shakespeare)? Please share! A synopsis and your opinions would be lovely, but I don’t ask you to invest a lot of time. Just some titles and comments. I’m looking forward to comparing our experiences!
Books I remember reading in high school in Ontario in the 1970s
Flight Into Danger-Arthur Hailey?
Great Expectations-Charles Dickens
Such is my Beloved, + 2 other novels by Morley Callaghan
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Thanks for your reply, Greta! Now I remember grade 11: Great Expectations as well. That was in the mid 1990s. I wonder if they still prescribe it?
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I really enjoyed most of the books I read in high school!
Grade nine was : Nobody Said it Would be Easy and Lord of the Flies.
Grade 10 was : To Kill a Mokingbird and something else I can’t quite remember I want to say A Separate Peace
Grade 11 was : Animal Farm
Grade 12 was : The Great Gatsby **siggghhhhh
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Ah, yes! Grade 12 was The Great Gatsby for me too. One of your favorites, I know, but a little too far over on the depressing side for me 😉 Thanks for your comment!
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I don’t remember what year, but our class was able to chose independently whether to read Great Expectations or A Tale Of Two Cities, not sure how our teacher did that. I do remember not really caring much for Pip and wondering if I made the wrong choice! Just had a discussion with the husband; we both read Wuthering Heights and don’t remember much about it, other than Catherine and Heathcliff on the moors. I’ve reread most books from high school and usually had favorable second opinions, with the exception of The Grapes of Wrath, yikes.
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Thanks for your reply, Wendy! How interesting that you both were assigned Withering Heights! Now that I see A Tale of Two Cities, I recant my previous response about grade 11 and Great Expectations. That was grade 12, because I now clearly remember A Tale of Two Cities in grade 11. Ah, so many memories from those precious years.
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