And by “top ten”, I mean “the first ten books that floated up from the depths of memory”. But first, the tease!
The professional whistler” alone would make the obit interesting, but to also have Hitler, Frank Sinatra, and a sex-change operation (in a Cairo clinic!) is outrageous. The business about dying “aged 80” sits in the middle of the sentence, British style. (The Dead Beat: Lucky Stiffs, Lost Souls, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries).
Okay, so — books I read because of school!
(1) Island of the Blue Dolphins. I remember nothing about this book other than being surprised I liked it.
(2) Bridge to Terabithia. Assigned summer reading. Can’t remember a blessed thing about it.
(3) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Assigned summer reading in between 3rd and 4th grade. My first encounter with C.S. Lewis, though I didn’t read the series in full until much later — when I was beginning my thirties.
(4) Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls. My fifth-grade teacher read this to us over the course of a few weeks and it remains one of the most leaky-eyeball books I’ve ever read.
(5) Animal Farm, George Orwell. Read in fifth or sixth grade, and it improved enormously when I re-read it in high school after becoming familiar with the Soviets. This is one I should revisit.
(6) The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck. This book is forever linked to 9/11 for me, because my class discussion of it was interrupted by an aid from the office coming in to tell the teacher the news. Read it again a few years ago and enjoyed it tremendously.
(7) Goosebumps: The Beast from the East. Why my brain remembers that my fifth grade teacher read this specific Goosebumps title to us, I have no idea. (I suspect it has something to do with kid-me having a teacher crush.)
(8) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Listening to my teacher bring scenes to life in tenth-grade world literature is the first time I remember being impressed by a teacher’s skills. She really made me aware of how much is happening in the scene in which Caesar is stabbed — people shouting questions and vying for his attention.
(9) Mephisto. Read for a college-level German history course. The chilling story of an artist who sells his soul to the Nazi party for pelf & place. Re-read a few years ago.
(10) A Life of her Own, Emile Carles. The memoir of a French woman from a rural village who became a teacher through two world wars: this book was my introduction to the left, libertarianism, and pacifism. It made me much more critical of the state and far more interested in reading about political philosophy, and it’s one of my few college class books that I’ve retained. One to re-read.
Reading Freely 
This is an interesting lineup! I haven’t read Bridge to Terabithia, but I think I’ve seen the movie, and I remember finding it depressing. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe I’ve read more recently, and it was a lot of fun. It was great reading your review for each book 🙂
I think if I made a list like this it would end up being like yours & based on what I remember more than what I most liked. Although could I even think of ten books 🤔 oh yeah probably as a few more just came back to me although I hated those ones 😂
I’m not surprised that Grapes Of Wrath timing memory stuck with you as it’s horrific. It sounds like you had an impressive teacher for the Caesar book too.
I’ve only read one of these and haven’t heard of a few 🙈 I would say that Goosebumps is a strange assigned reading book but one of mine was Captain Underpants so I’m aware of the randomness of some school reads 😂
Goosebumps wasn’t assigned reading, but in the afternoons this teacher would always take a half-hour to read a book aloud to us: I think it was her way of sharing that experience with kids whose parents weren’t bookish.
Aww that’s such a lovely idea and a good way to try and get children into reading. I think its good to throw in some stories like that too as if you only pick up those assigned ones at school, and haven’t got into reading yourself already, it can be pretty off putting given how heavy many of those texts are.
I liked Island of the Blue Dolphins, too.
Lydia
I worked in a school for a while and I remember the fifth grade would read Where the Red Fern Grows every spring. I always knew when they were reading it because the halls would be full of crying students wiping their eyes and going to the bathroom. It is such a sad book!
Hah! It does have that effect.
When I was a fifth grade teacher, I read Where the Red Fern Grows every year to my class. It’s a wonderful story of persistence during a time of great hardship.
I need to add a couple of these to my list of books I want to read before I die, I think.
Ooh, I don’t know why I didn’t expect to see Island of the Blue Dolphins on here but I had that on my list today too. I also remember nothing about it but I enjoyed it so much it has stuck out for this week’s TTT prompt! 🙂
I had the same reaction to Where the Red Fern Grows.
Here is our <a href=”https://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-was-assigned-to-read-in-school/“>Top Ten Tuesday.</a>
Astilbe
GRAPES OF WRATH and THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE are both on my list today too, but I TOTALLY forgot about WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS. Talk about a tearjerker! I remember really liking the book, but I’ve never reread it because I remember it being so incredibly sad. Oh, and I loved ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS when I read it in elementary school, even though I can’t recall a single thing about it now. School was a loooonnnnggg time ago for some of us 🙂
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I read Island of the Blue Dolphins in elementary, but for fun. And also remember nothing about it.
We both read Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe AND Where the Red Fern Grows. I also only read the rest of the Narnia series w/ my kids. And, agree, Red Fern Grows made me cry, too. It’s DOGS! It does that to people.
Interesting! My 6th grade teacher read/explained Animal Farm too us in 1973/74. It made a huge impression on me.
Wait, you read Animal Farm in middle school? For school?? Mind blown! I didn’t read it until 12th grade government.
Though I shouldn’t judge you too much, I remember reading The Odyssey in 6th grade and asking my English teacher what something meant. She told me I shouldn’t be reading that and should read something my own age. Looking back, I think it’s more that she didn’t know what it meant either.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/books-i-think-they-should-discuss-in-school/
Yep! I didn’t get much of it that young, though. With the Odyessey, were you reading a ‘regular’ translation or was it aimed toward younger readers? My library had juvenile versions of Homer’s works that I read long before reading the adult ones.
My third grade teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows to my class and I loved it, but it’s SO sad! I still cry when I read it. A Bridge to Terebithia is also really sad, but a book I do really like. Thanks for commenting on my blog earlier. 😀
I have Island of the Blue Dolphins on my list too, although I’m not 100% convinced it was assigned reading for school. Seeing it on another list makes me feel more confident that it was assigned reading for me.
I hope you have a great week.
Here’s my TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-was-assigned-to.html
These are kind of new to me ones. A few I know but I think the only one I can vaguely recall reading was Bridge to Terabithia. Only vaguely…trying to recall if we read it or if our teacher read it to us…it’s a dusty memory recollection! Lol.
Thanks for visiting my TTT!
Oh man Bridge to Terebithia was one of those books I never forgot because it made me cry!
Wow, Bridge to Terabithia and Where the Red Fern Grows! Your teachers like to make students cry! 😂 I haven’t read Bridge to Terabithia but I watched the movie and was ugly crying. Also ugly cried with Where the Red Fern Grows and I’m too afraid to reread even now, years later!
Haze
https://thebookhaze.com/
It was just as rough when I re-read it a few years back!
Seems almost everyone has had to read Steinbeck and Shakespeare, me included. I read The Pearl by Steinbeck and MacBeth by Shakespeare. I’m going to give A Life of Her Own a look.
Ah, yeah. The Pearl also featured in one of my classes. It’s less ambitious than Grapes but no less sobering!