Growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, I by no means got to study books like The Hunger Games and The Hate U Give for college — but I was assigned a couple of good novels that nevertheless hold up nowadays. Traditionally, college reading consists of several books that are regarded as classics, and these do not constantly lend themselves to an enjoyable practical experience. While particular books are vital to realize their time periods or authors, it can be complicated to sell young readers on selecting them up for enjoyable.

Fortunately, extra and extra schools are assigning books written with children’s reading levels and interests in thoughts. And there have been a couple of classics that are worth reading, even if it is not for college. I did not constantly jibe with the books my teachers gave me, but there have been a handful that I enjoyed. I’d even choose them up nowadays, as their characters and themes hold a unique spot in my heart — and are accountable for my really like of reading.

9 The Outsiders By S.E. Hinton

I loved S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders when I 1st study it for college, and this book is 1 I’d gladly return to nowadays. Set in Oklahoma in the 1960s, The Outsiders follows a 14-year-old named Ponyboy as he grapples with getting an outcast — and with the hardships life throws at him due to the fact he’s a greaser. In Ponyboy’s globe, greasers are the children who are not wealthy or privileged. They typically clash with the richer children in their town, whom Ponyboy dubs the Socs. And 1 of these face-offs ends fatally through The Outsiders, catapulting the book’s lead into a globe of difficulty.

I bear in mind how tragic The Outsiders seemed when I study it for college, and it is surely 1 of the earlier books to elicit such a robust emotional response from me. I have tiny doubt I’d have the similar reaction nowadays, specially with a much better understanding of how one’s class status can make or break their future. Hinton delivers a timeless and memorable story in The Outsiders, and there is a cause the book’s popular line continues to show up: “Stay gold, Ponyboy.”

8 Of Mice &amp Men By John Steinbeck

Of Mice &amp Men by John Steinbeck is yet another tragic study, and it is a book that several would advantage from re-reading as adults. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, Of Mice &amp Men explores friendship and the American dream in a way that feels raw and somehow nevertheless relevant practically a century later. I recall feeling for George and Lennie when I initially picked up Steinbeck’s classic, but their predicament hits a lot differently with a thorough understanding of the time period and how it feeds into the all round themes.

7 The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe By C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis’ causes for writing The Chronicles of Narnia are extra clear as an adult, but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe holds a unique spot in my heart, regardless of its heavy-handed allegories. This is 1 of the earliest fantasy books I picked up, and it showed me just how immersive a effectively-crafted globe can be. There are not several books assigned by college that I devoured in a single day. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is undoubtedly 1 I could not place down, even though, and it introduced me into even extra novels in this globe.

6 The Giver By Lois Lowry

The Giver by Lois Lowry could possibly be the 1st dystopian book I ever picked up, and it established my really like for the genre at a young age. The Giver requires spot in the future, and while the novel initially claims that it is set in a utopian society, it quickly becomes clear that this is not the case. The Giver explores what occurs when a society removes individuality and freedom of selection from its men and women, questioning whether or not performing so is worthwhile to reach peace. It’s a quick but intriguing narrative that is quick to plow by means of in just a couple of hours.

5 Animal Farm By George Orwell

The Giver could have introduced me to dystopian fiction, but George Orwell maintained my interest in it as I reached higher college. Both 1989 and Animal Farm are good books by the author, but the latter is the 1 I bear in mind reading the most. And its popular quote — “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” — almost certainly tends to make it slightly extra iconic.

4 Charlotte’s Web By E.B. White

There are a handful of books I study for college that produced me cry, and Charlotte’s Web is undoubtedly 1 of them. E.B. White’s novel unfolds on a farm, exactly where a girl named Fern discovers her father intends to kill a infant pig just due to the fact he’s the runt — and requires the animal below her wing alternatively. But when Wilbur gets as well large to reside on the household farm, he’s sent to Fern’s uncle alternatively. It’s on his farm that Wilbur meets a new pal — Charlotte the spider — but he also learns that he’s destined to be killed for meals 1 day.

Wilbur and Charlotte’s friendship is amongst the most wholesome dynamics I’ve ever study, and Charlotte’s Web does an impressive job of exploring grief. Its bittersweet ending is the sort that will resonate with youngsters without the need of coming off as well robust. And in spite of some sadder themes, Charlotte’s Web is extremely significantly a tale of really like and hope, generating it timeless and worth selecting up even now.

3 Lord of the Flies By William Golding

A much less hopeful book I study for college is William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, but its shocking and violent narrative tends to make is a quick and fascinating study. It also keeps it front of thoughts, even right after getting out of college for so several years. Lord of the Flies finds a group of boys stranded on a remote island on the heels of a plane crash. The novel sees them attempting to type their personal society and survive. However, the hardships they face on the island whittle away at their humanity, pushing them additional and additional from civilized behavior.

Lord of the Flies requires a harsh but realistic view of humanity, and that is element of the cause I really like it so significantly. Its exploration of how far men and women will go to survive holds up decades later, and that is probably why the novel is nevertheless referenced and taught in schools. It’s surely not a satisfied study, but it is 1 that is worthwhile — if only for the discussions it raises about humanity and morality.

2 To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee

There are surely much better books to address racism than To Kill a Mockingbird, but this is 1 of the most poignant ones I was assigned for college. And though it could possibly not be my 1st selection on the subject nowadays, it remains a classic for a cause. Set in Alabama in the 1960s, To Kill a Mockingbird follows Scout and Jem Finch, whose father is a lawyer defending a Black man falsely accused of rape. The novel digs into the town’s response to the Finch family’s actions, and it does an impressive job of displaying and critiquing their prejudice.

1 Holes By Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar’s Holes is popular thanks to the 2003 film starring Shia LaBeouf, but the 1998 book is even much better than its adaptation. Holes follows Stanley Yelnats as he’s sent to Camp Green Lake for stealing a pair of sneakers — a crime he does not truly commit. At the facility, Stanley and the other children at the detention center are provided brutal punishments, with the warden generating the boys dig holes in the desert all day. The book does an impressive job of breaking apart the criminal justice program, showcasing how class and energy identify who suffers at the hands of it.

I believe several of Holes’ themes hold up nowadays, and its ending guarantees I’ll constantly suggest this book. Stanley’s journey appears bleak, but it is challenging to appear away from it. And Holes does a good job of engaging readers from start out to finish, succeeding exactly where several other books assigned for college reading do not.