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26 Contemporary Books That Should Be Taught In High School

"I was born with a reading list I will never finish." —Maud Casey

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what contemporary book should be taught in high school. Here are the brilliant results.

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak

2. Looking for Alaska by John Green

3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini

4. I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

6. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

7. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

8. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

9. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

10. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

11. Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

12. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

13. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

14. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

15. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

16. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

17. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

18. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

19. Bossypants by Tina Fey

20. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

21. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

22. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

23. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

24. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

25. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

26. And Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

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