by Julia Mendes
March Madness is upon us, and while many students are filling out college basketball brackets, the Fanscotian staff indulged in some literary competition. Through students’ high school careers, they will have the privilege (or the displeasure) of reading some of the world’s most celebrated literature. From Hamlet to The Kite Runner, these books inspired a wide range of reactions.
We set the grid with 16 of the 52 books students might have read from freshman to senior years, and asked 100 seniors to rate their favorites.
Winning by a large margin, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the clear favorite.
“I enjoyed the novel because it is an actual love story. Gatsby was torn because he could not have what he wanted,” said senior Sara Killeen.
Luckily, there is a way for students to re-experience the unique perspective of an active narrator like Holden Caulfield, the injustice in the Deep South and the effects of war through other literary favorites. Check out The Fanscotian’s suggestions for further reading below: