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Teens Reading the ClassicsA Brief Guide to Literary Classics that Appeal to TeenagersTeens are not limited to the modern fiction being mass-produced for them today - the classics are still equally as applicable and accessible.
Though many of the choices in young adult fiction are positive, so much of the explosion in this genre lately has created poorly written fiction that is not doing much to help the failing literacy of our youth. The answer? It always seems to go back to reading the classics. However, the current generation is not going to be drawn to War and Peace and Anna Karenina quite like previous generations have, so what is the answer? The Bottom LineThere are classic books that this generation, and indeed all generations of teens can enjoy, if they will just open their minds a bit an accept something other than what they know. So much of the success of the Harry Potter-type fiction of today is, in part ,due to the reader’s yearning to dive into another place and another time. What many teens are not aware of, is that there are plenty of classics that hold just as much excitement and intrigue and place them in an entirely different world. American HistoryMargaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind is a perfect place for adolescent teens to start. Sweeping the reader off into the life and times of the Civil War in the south, this classic is particularly appealing to teens because they can also watch the movie along with the book. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adventures of Tom Sawyer are also great choices, if they are not mandated to read them in school. Both humor and history find their ways into these societal commentaries of the late 1800s. Lastly, if the girls get wrapped up in Gone with the Wind, boys find Crane’s Red Badge of Courage an interesting (and gory) look at young Americans at war. British HistoryThe classics on this list could go on for pages, but no list would be complete without T.H. White’s Once and Future King. Though many would argue it is hardly considered British history, White’s humorous retelling of the legend of King Arthur takes readers back to a possible history of Britain, mixed with a great deal of magic and fun. Hundreds of years later in British history, teen readers find the elegance and wit of the likes of Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility), and the Bronte sisters (Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre) often irresistible. Not to be forgotten, however, are the tantalizing Agatha Christie mysteries, set much more recently in British history, but still of great literary value and great entertainment (Death on the Nile, And Then There Were None, Body in the Library). Teen literature can often be fluffy and borderline insulting to interested teen readers, so rather than continuing to push readers towards more and more “teen drama” fiction, suggest a few classics. Readers of any age have found through hundreds of years that these classics share similar stories and themes which we are still dealing with today.
The copyright of the article Teens Reading the Classics in Teen Fiction is owned by Laura L. Johnson. Permission to republish Teens Reading the Classics in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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