While I support the reading of just about any kind of books at any age, I have to admit to being a big believer in the classics. Some books are written that become wildly popular for a short time (think Harry Potter), but there are so many more out there which have experienced enduring popularity for hundreds of years or more. These are the best classic novels, my list of 10 top books.
These classic works of literature survive in our hearts and minds because the messages contained within the stories are timeless. They have touched the lives of countless people, and offered their simple wisdom to anyone who reads them. They deserve just as much attention as the newer books which seem to clog our reading lists in the typical high school classroom.
Unfortunately, times have changed since many of these books were first written, and the language and themes of many of these novels have become a little overwhelming for the majority of middle and high school children. Because this is a problem for every teacher, I decided to create a list of various titles from what I consider to be the best classic novels of classical literature that are not too overwhelming for middle and high school students, but aren’t so common in modern curriculum as “the Great Gatsby” or “to Kill a Mockingbird” which are required reading in almost any English classroom. These are some of my choices for best classic novels which have a combination of being relatively easy to read, and being fairly high-interest, faster-paced novels that your students will enjoy. If you are teaching these kind of kids, take a look at our list and incorporate some of the choices into your yearly lesson plans.
10 Top Books to Read – Best Classic Novels
10. Call of the Wild by Jack London – A domesticated dog named Buck feels his fierce natural instincts start to return as he is enlisted in a sled dog team in Alaska. While it is a little violent, this is a quintessential nature-lover’s story that the young men of the room will really get into. This is one of the most popular of my 10 top novels for middle school teachers.
9. War of the Worlds by Jules Verne – What high school student doesn’t want to read about an alien invasion? Exactly. This is a high-interest novel that was written during the radio era, and gives some unique insight into the effect that media has on our culture (just read about the backstory). This is criminally under-read by our younger generations.
8. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis – While it seems a little young for high schoolers, I think that this book offers a whole lot of different talking-points, and it’s fantasy plot (and recent movie adaptations) will help to really involve students in the lesson. Older students can examine the religious overtones hidden within the novel, while younger ones might simply appreciate the adventure.
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – A futuristic look at what the world would be like with heavy censorship. Bradbury’s firemen start fires rather than put them out, and their book-burning mission causes all kinds of problems for their society. This is a quick read, which makes it perfect for lower-achieving students who don’t have the effort for the longer novels on the list.
6. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – Who doesn’t know the basic story of one of the most famous horror movie villains of all time? What you’ll find in Mary Shelley’s novel, however, is significantly different than what you’ll see in almost any film adaptation of the book. In this novel, you’re exposed to a gentler, more intelligent movie monster than you might expect.
5. A Separate Peace by John Knowles – A classic story of friendship between boys on opposite sides of a war. John Knowles writes with passion, and his characters are similar in age to the students who will be reading it, which always makes a story more interesting.
4. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens – A young orphan is mistreated by an oppressive system which doesn’t give enough aid to the poor. While Oliver Twist is certainly one of the most challenging books on the list because of it’s length, it is certainly readable by your average high school sophomore. This is a great novel to use when history classes begin covering the Rockefellers, labor unions, the Great Depression and the like, when poverty becomes a major theme in American History. Be aware when thinking about this one, however, that my paperback edition is 462 pages long, so it may be too overwhelming for any but honors students.
10 Top Books to Read – The Three Best classic Novels
3. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien – When I was a young man, my number one complaint about the choices for high school reading was that there wasn’t enough action in the books I was reading. Tolkien’s Hobbit has plenty of excitement, is short enough to base an entire unit around, challenging for middle schoolers, and full of enough talking points for high schoolers to find the many hidden connections between the story as presented here, and Norse Mythology, which it draws heavily on.
2. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – A young man is beset upon by a criminal in the first chapter of this book, who later reforms, becomes wealthy, and helps young Pip become a gentleman. The moral of the story is all about self-improvement and believing in yourself, which is a great message for all teenagers to be exposed to, and it also includes a number of references to socioeconomics, and how that affects the way in which we are all perceived.
1. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque – This is the story of a young, teenage soldier in World War I, along with some of the horrors he has seen along the way. When I taught English, this was the book that my students most enjoyed reading of all of my best classic novels, and while it is full of graphic images, it’s well worth incorporating into your reading lists.
Best Classic Novels Runners Up – 10 Top Books That Didn’t Make the Cut
Honorable mentions include Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, and many others. These are just meant to get you started.