Many of the books our teenage selves were forced to read in high school were boring, irrelevant or, at best, enjoyed but later forgotten. But while much of this compulsory reading sunk without a trace, the occasional book rose to the top to tell us something new, or make us fall in love with language or even rescue us from ourselves.
Tell us about a high school read that you still remember, whether for sheer enjoyment or because it had a long-lasting impact, and you could win the October prize pack: copies of Equator, Spinner and What is left over, after.
Comment on this post by Monday 25 October to go into the draw!
I still have my copy of Bridge to Terabithia that I read in high school (I'm 37 now) and it still reduces me to tears when I read it. The love between the two friends, and the grief at the end was all beautifully written, and it's still a treasured favourite.
ReplyDelete... the film sucked LOL
To kill a mockingbird. A classic I still revisit every few years or so. Absolutely love Atticus and of course Scout, And finally Boo Radley. Look forward to the day my children are old enough to read it.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I always had books around me. My father was Danish and I remember having a fascination with Hans Christian Andersen fairytales for a while, but there were too many other things to do rather than read. I do however remember the first book that really got me interested. It was the book we had to read for Year 10 English, the set text we would be examined on. The cover was red, the title was in gold lettering and the paper was very thin and filled with very small print. I knew I had to read it, but I didn’t think I would ever finish it. I would read it every night in bed. Before too long I was totally involved in the story and couldn’t wait to find out what happened. That book was Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I didn’t stay with the classics for very long but that was the book that opened the flood gates for me. I have had a love affair with books and stories ever since.
ReplyDeleteTwo books: I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven, and The Harp in the South by Ruth Park. I found the first very moving and beautiful, and the second I loved because I loved the characters so much that I missed them when I finished the book.
ReplyDeleteI read both books again when I was older and realised how much had gone over my head when I first read/studied them, though. :-)