Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
These are some of the many books I read in school and what I thought of them. There are a few mild spoilers in this post, but I can only assume that all of you have either already read these old titles or don’t mind a few vague hints about their endings.
1.The Giver (The Giver, #1)by Lois Lowry
My Thoughts on It: Certain details about this society make no sense if you try to work out the logistics of them over multiple generations, but I found the rest of it thought provoking and loved it overall.
2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
My Thoughts on It: This story was surprisingly relatable, especially since a few of my friends acted a lot like Ponyboy.
3.1984 by George Orwell
My Thoughts on It: What a frightening warning about totalitarianism. This was a great read.
4.The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
My Thoughts on It: I loved Anne and was heartbroken by the postscript that let readers know she died in a concentration camp. We’d read a fictional book in which a girl about her age survived it shortly before this one, so I assumed this nonfiction account would have a triumphant ending as well.
5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
My Thoughts on It: Why didn’t they listen to the sensible adults around them? I liked this story but was so annoyed with Romeo and Juliet for rushing everything.
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My Thoughts on It: While I liked the story, I hated the ending. It was so dark and dreary.
7.Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
My Thoughts on It: I loved the first 90% of it, but the last 10% or so is the origin story for why I’m so hesitant to read books about beloved pets anymore unless I know for a fact that those pets are going to live happily ever after.
8.A Separate Peace by John Knowles
My Thoughts on It: The writing was beautiful, but I thought many of the characters needed to learn some basic manners and social skills as they clearly hadn’t been taught how to behave at home. They were so unkind to each other! I faced enough bullying growing up that it was not something I usually wanted to read about in fiction, especially when the adults in the story often didn’t take it seriously.
9. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
My Thoughts on It: Living in a giant peach sounded terribly sticky and uncomfortable, but I loved the playfulness of this story.
10. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
My Thoughts on It: This is still one of my all-time favourite stories. I love the life lessons in it about never judging anyone based on physical appearance and how even small acts of kindness you don’t think anyone has noticed can still be repaid in unexpected ways.
I forgot about A Seperate Peace and Anne Frank — although in Anne’s case, we read a play based on the book and not the book itself. I’ve since read it several times, though. I realized it’s a very edited version of Anne, but she’s always a ray of sunshine in a sometimes bleak world.
I’ve never seen a play based on Anne’s life. That must have been interesting.
And, yes, I’m sure her diary was very edited.
The only two I haven’t read are The Giver and A Separate Peace. Agree with your thoughts on the others, especially Romeo and Juliet. So many ways that entire story could have actually had a happy ending.
Thank you. And absolutely!
I *cannot* believe I forgot about The Diary of a Young Girl this week.
It was a very popular pick this week! 🙂
Good list! A Separate Peace was my favorite. Thanks for visiting my blog today.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked that book!
I forgot about James and the Giant Peach, that was a fun one indeed!
I know, right?
I thought about putting A Separate Peace on my list, but I didn’t have strong enough memories/feelings about it to really say anything about it. I do remember being so mad at the main narrator character though. A lot of the other titles on your list are ones I just read for fun!
Cool. 🙂
I’ve not read many of those. They sound interesting though!
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
Thanks. You, too!
I like the Prokofiev ballet where the priest makes it back to stop the disaster of pre-teen decision making!
🙂
I’ve read all the books on your list, though I only had to read a few of them for school. The Velveteen Rabbit is one of my all-time favorite books, too. 😀
Wasn’t it great?
The Outsiders was one of my favorites when i was a teen
It was such a great read. 🙂
That would be so hard to read Anne Frank expecting a positive ending because of the other book. I’m not sure what I expected going in but was heartbroken because of Anne’s fate.
Yes, for sure. I’m still glad I read, but what a sad surprise.
Seems like a lot of people got The Giver and The Outsiders. I have still never read The Diary of Anne Frank.
It was so good!
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS is SO sad. I have never been able to re-read it. I just can’t face that kind of heartbreak again!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Same here.
I loved Where the Red Fern Grows and The Outsiders! I’m sorry you read Anne Frank expecting it to end differently, that must have been traumatizing. But maybe that’s also what makes it a powerful read. Much of it is so mundane – arguing with family, having a crush on a boy, etc.
Thank you, and totally agreed there. It was mostly a normal family experience until it wasn’t. 🙁
I’m sure many adult readers can trace their fear of pets dying in a book to Red Fern! 😭 you had a rich young reading life!
Thank you. 🙂
Where the Red Fern Grows. OH MY GOSH. I was destroyed by that book!
It was so sad!
I know the feeling of reading a true story and not expecting the tragic ending. I always convince myself that everything is going to be okay
I’m glad you get it. 🙂
I have read The Diary of a Young Girl but don’t think we studied it. There are a few of yours I haven’t heard of but I’m pretty sure I’ve also read The Outsiders.
The Outsiders was so good.
Great list! I haven’t read any of these yet, but I’ve wanted to read The Giver for some time now :). I loved reading about your thoughts too.
If you’d like to visit, here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairy.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-was-assigned-in-school.html
Thank you. You might really like The Giver. If you decide to watch the film based on it that came out about 10 years ago, just be warned that they made a lot of changes from the book. (It was still interesting…just very different from the original in important ways).
I read a lot of these on my own, but only Romeo and Juliet was required reading for school. It’s so interesting to see how everybody’s schools differed!
Yes, I was fascinated by that as well! I thought schools would overlap more in what they teach at certain ages.
I also had to read 1984 and The Diary of Anne Frank. They are both books that stick with you!
Totally agreed there.
All these titles are so familiar to me, but I’ve only read a few of them. The others have been on my tbr forever though! I should try to read them soon! Great list!
Thank you. May you enjoy whichever ones you someday decide to read. 🙂
For some reason James and the Giant Peach freaked me out. Lol. I was more afraid of it than of The Witches.
Oh, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t stir up any bad memories there. 🙂
The Outsiders was one I didn’t include on my list, but it definitely had an impact on me.
Cool!
I read The Giver and 1984 on my own. Of Mice and Men was assigned to me as well. Profound, but also, deeply sad. I tried other Steinbeck, but couldn’t stomach his stories. I’m with you on stories about pets.
Thank you. I’m glad you understand.
Great list! I didn’t read a lot of these, although other English classes had to read some of them. I’m especially glad to see that so many of us had read The Diary of Anne Frank before we became adults.
I noticed that, too, and was also pleased by it.