User:Kingturtle/Reading List

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There is a new school-wide program at the High School where I teach that allows me to assign outside reading to students. I am amassing a reading list. If you have any recommendations, please post them on this page.

The books can be fiction or non-fiction. They *must* relate to U.S. history in some way (meaning simply that the book must take place in the U.S. or be a critique on the U.S.; science fiction such as Bradbury's Martian Chronicles would apply because it is a critique of the U.S.). Reading ability ranges from 9th grade to 12th grade. The books can be written in English or Spanish; there is a Chicano population at the school. Preferably the book is in print.

Please use the following format when adding a title to this list:

  • Name of Book, name of author. A two to four sentence summary. Estimated reading difficulty (by age or grade). Name/Date stamp.
  • Callus on My Soul, by Dick Gregory. A riveting memoir of a civil rights activist and comedian. The book describes his experiences with violence, poverty and the civil rights movement. (10th grade and up). Kingturtle 17:51, 6 Sep 2003 (UTC)
  • The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger. A school kid goes on a bender in New York. He sees everyone around him as a "phony", but I recon that he's the phoniest of them all. This book has to be read before you are 18, it's incredible in the way that people see themselves in it. 13 or above (just a guess really). CGS 19:09, 6 Sep 2003 (UTC)
  • Tell England, Ernest Raymond. This book helped me understand the boys who went to fight in the first world war more than any thing else I've read. It provides such a rich emotional background to the boys, before killing them off in just a few pages that it really hits you unlike a short poem could. A perfect explanation of people's opinions at the time, and why so many were sent to their deaths. Not exaclty US history, but still relevant. Ages 15 or above (a bit of gay sex referred to) I'm afraid it's not in print, but it is out of copyright, I think. CGS 19:14, 6 Sep 2003 (UTC).
  • Made in America, Bill Bryson. A brilliant, funny, history of the US, often concentrating on language (did you know that the offical language of the US was very nearly ancient Greek?). I think I read it at ten. CGS 19:18, 6 Sep 2003 (UTC).
  • Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck. A theatrical story of itinerant workers in the early 20th century (I think) and the last in a chain of tragedies caused by the retarded Lenny, and the destruction of his and his friend's dream. It also calmy looks at race problems at the time, a refreshing alternative to the much more gruesome and ill-willed Beloved, for example. It's quite simply written and very short so I suppose 9 or above. CGS 19:24, 6 Sep 2003 (UTC).
  • The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (1959), William Appleman Williams
  • America, Russia, & the Cold War, 1945-2002, Walter Lafeber
  • Reconstruction, 1863-1877, Eric Foner
  • Liberty and Power: U.S. Diplomatic History, 1750-1945, Walter LaFeber
  • The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War (1995), Alan Brinkley

172 03:38, 7 Sep 2003 (UTC)

-- Cimon Avaro on a pogo-stick

These are all age 15 and higher, I would say:

  • Tragedy and Hope. A History of the World in our Time. by Carroll Quigley (1966, 1348 pages!). A comprehensive and critical history of the modern world, and the US role in it, until the 1960s.
  • JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy by Col. L. Fletcher Prouty: (1992; 366 pages). How the CIA and related government, corporate and financial interests shaped foreign policy in the United States, and how JFK's opposition to this policy ultimately led to his assassination.
  • Killing Hope: U. S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II by William Blum et al. Large parts online here.

—Eloquence 14:28, Sep 9, 2003 (EDT)

Here's a couple:

  • Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
  • The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler

Two Halves who has failed to log in yet again...


Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. --Dante Alighieri 17:20, 13 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Joy by Marsha Hunt. Written by the Philadelphia-born actress and singer who became famous with the musical Hair. A thrilling tale set against the backdrop of 1950s and 60s race relations. From age 16. --KF 22:36, 15 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Our world is full to the brim with Mildreds. -Smack

  • Los Gusanos', John Sayles. Set in Miami in 1981, Los Gusanos is the vivid and moving account of one extended family's life in Cuba and the United States. 9th grade and above.
  • Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck. More relevant to American history than "Of Mice and Men". Discusses migrant farm workers in Depression-era California. 8th grade and above.
  • Roots Alex Haley. An investigation into the "roots" of an African-American provides an overview of the history of African-Americans in the U.S. 8th grade and above.
  • The Ugly American Eugene Burdick (?) About the failures of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy in Third World nations (esp. Southeast Asia) in the 50s and 60s. Still relevant in the 21st century, we seem to be intent on recasting ourselves into the role of "The Ugly American". 8th grade and above.
  • Return to Manzanar Documentary of Japanese internment camps in California. 9th grade and above.
  • Future Shock Alvin Toffler. A bit dated since it's all come true but also timeless since it keeps on coming true. I read this in high school 30 years ago but it's amazing how right on the money Toffler was. 10th grade and above.
  • The Third Wave Alvin Toffler. More recent than "Future Shock". Discusses the "knowledge worker" economy. 10th grade and above, maybe 11th grade and above.
  • I left my heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown. A documented account of the systematic plunder of the American Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century, battle by battle, massacre by massacre, broken treaty by broken treaty. Long book. Only the dedicated will read it in its entirety but it's an important perspective. 10th grade and above, maybe 11th grade and above.
  • Catch-22 Joseph Heller. An anti-war novel set in WWII Italy. 8th grade and above.
  • Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut. References the fire-bombing of Dresden. As always, a critique of America. 8th grade and above.
  • All the President's Men Woodward and Bernstein. About the Watergate scandal. 9th grade and above.
  • Centennial,Chesapeake,Hawaii,Alaska,Texas James Michener. 9th grade and above.
  • The Caine Mutiny,Winds of War Herman Wouk. 9th grade and above.
  • Burr,Lincoln, 1876,Empire,Washington D.C. Gore Vidal. 10th grade and above.
  • Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser. 9th grade and above
  • Babbitt Sinclair Lewis. 9th grade and above
  • The Fifties David Halberstam. A well-written, easy to read history of the 50s. 9th grade and above.
  • All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren. This landmark book is a loosely fictionalized account of Governor Huey Long of Louisiana, one of the nation's most astounding politicians. 9th grade and above.
  • A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck. A coming of age story by Robert Newton Peck about a young Shaker boy in Vermont.

The book tracks the life of Robert Peck through a single year. Set in the 1930s, it follows him as he is bitten by a cow, receives a pig named Pinky, and faces the death of his father. Warning: Controversial content. (though I don't know why) 8th grade and above.

Richard 08:37, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

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