What Would You Say Is Required Reading For Contemporary Teens?

Among the many things over the centuries that have drastically evolved, literature has given us many things that have changed the way we think, and our very lives for that matter. The decades have given us such literary treasures as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Scarlet Letter", which force us to question the way we think, our opinions, and our morals.
What would you say should be required reading for modern teens? What books do you think that we should read, hands down? Also, which books have changed your lives? Would you recommend them to teenagers?

I don't think required reading does kids much good. It teaches them that reading is an unpleasant chore, not something they can enjoy. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scarlet Letter are great themselves, but kids who don't already read a lot aren't going to understand them or see what significance they have.

First, kids should be encouraged to read from a young age so that the classics will be appreciated when they're read. Second, if they're going to HAVE to read, they should read something beneficial, sure, but something they'll enjoy. I've noticed more modern books making their way onto reading lists, like Fake ID and The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time, combined with the more traditional classics, and I think that's a great idea... The kids can pick what appeals to them.

(I'm a YA librarian, so I help a lot of kids looking for their school books.)

I don't think anything should be required reading for anyone.

Txt.

In the spirit of what HannaRose is really asking - what titles would be most highly recommended, and which would you most wish your teenagers to read:

I would second To Kill a Mockingbird.
Flatland: A romance of Many Dimensions
Crazy Horse, the Strange Man of the Oglalas

It depends on the teenager. If they like history they should read history, if they like science they should read science...etc. There's nothing worse for a teenager than forcing them to read something they don't like. It nearly turned me off of reading when I was required to read things like To Kill a Mockingbird when I was a 15 year old boy in high school...

As I said in my first post, nothing should be required, let teens discover their own tastes, and then they'll turn to classics and literature when they are older.

Having no idea what my many teenage relatives like to read, I wait until they express a particular interest in some topic and base my choice of gift on that hint.

No clue? Book voucher.

Recently, and based on her well-known interest in horses, I presented a niece with The History of the Horse in Australia by Fiona Carruthers. I suppose I should not have been surprised that this excellent book did not inspire its recipient to delve immediately into literature's treasure trove; she is, however, rapidly becoming expert in the cracking of a stockwhip. Who gave her the whip? No one's telling.

FFortuna you make a great point about including modern YA lit into the curriculum. My wife and I have this very conversation often. In fact it is the focus of her master's thesis.

Classics should be read because of their inclusion an reference in everyday society, but the actual analysis and application of literary theory can just as easily be accomplished with works that are more familiar and friendly to Young Adult students.

Following on from Merrymary's post (No 5 - darn, lost the hash key) and also with regard to HannaRose's second paragraph, I would recommend:
Little Big Man by Thomas Berger
Making History by Stephen Fry
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- all very accessible, I think, and all bringing in wider issues while remaining entertaining in the widest sense. I suspect the Ishiguro is more distressing for adults than for teenagers, especially those of us who have children of our own.

Moving on (just a little) from HannaRose's initial question, I would aim to bring a very wide range of material before teenagers to underline just what a wonderful world is there in print, so would try to include "easy" classics like Northanger Abbey Jane Austen and Precious |Bane by Mary Webb as well as the more odd stuff like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.

Always remembering that 13-yr-olds are very different in their needs from 19-yr-olds, of course!

I apologize if my meaning in my first post was misinterpreted. I agree that nothing should be absolutely REQUIRED (I would just use lower case here and italicise, but I don't know how, sorry) to be read. Strongly encouraged, certainly, but not required per se. Of course, books that follow a person's interests (this goes for everyone, not just teenagers) are the ones that impact them the most, and from whom they gleam and retain the most information. However, had certain books (such as To Kill a Mockingbird & The Education of Little Tree) not been pushed on me by my school, chances are I wouldn't have picked them up, at least until a much later date. And I'm very glad that I was required to read both-they both made me think and rather challenged and shaped my views on some things. Sometimes, a person just wouldn't ever pick up a certain book unless "required" to do so, and even if they have to force themselves through it, it can have quite the impact (and not always such a negative one).

What I really meant, and should have made more clear in my first post, is "What books do you really, really think that teenagers should be strongly encouraged to read, and what books have changed your life, and would you add them to that list?" Keeping in mind that a good portion of high schoolers are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for, and also actually enjoy (and comprehend) the classics.