Summer Reading: All the Classics!

Disclaimer: I just want to say sorry if my writing may seem all over here. I was just really annoyed about why schools can't pick awesome books with characters we teens might actually relate to. 

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    When students think of June they think about school being over and done with. No more tests and no more homework. "HA!" Screams basically every school from everywhere,"NO ESCAPING. YOU MUST SIT AND READ THESE MANDATORY BOOKS!" Now I actually get excited for summer reading. It's like Christmas! You sit down in English class, nervous energy radiating from everyone. You're dreading the bad gifts but hopeful for good ones. At least that's me. See I don't get why I get so excited. I know it will be some classic by some dude whose work wasn't appreciated until AFTER they died. 

  So I sat there. A hopeful 17 year old. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, it would turn out to be awesome. Or if I get stuck with a classic it'll be like Fahrenheit 451. Eh... No. Three books that I really don't want to read. The one book I will mention that I have to read (one out of three) is Great Exceptions by Seriously Dude If You Don't Know It You Need To Pray To The Literature Gods. This is where my hatred for summer reading comes in. I'm not saying the big GE is horrible (I haven't really started it yet), but it puts me to sleep faster than math class. Which takes a lot. 

     Schools insist on enforcing books. We have to sit down, shut up, and read. Like an intense version of DEAR Time complete with mental breakdowns and moments of absolute torture. If you're going to force a book choose an awesome one. Because when you go with the classics this happens: 

 Give a list for crying out loud! Let us choose. Do schools honestly think that a forced book will make us love it? Yeah, maybe I loved Fahrenheit 451, but I also know a lot of kids who hated it. Imagine if schools gave a giant list (like I said before). Put Great Expectations on it with Fahrenheit 451. Throw in Emily Bronte and Jane Austin. But then add modern authors like John Green, David Levithan, Patrick Ness and more. 

      For some reason though schools never will learn. Whether it's ten to hundred years from now, students will be stuck with the classics. They'll be reading The Great Gatsby or Sense and Sensibility. Classics are happening NOW! Right now sitting on that shelf in some bookstore is a classic, but schools won't look at the Chaos Walking series and think,"Great Scott look at this book. A book someone could understand! It's characters are teens that struggle with what OUR students may face. THIS BOOK SHALL BE SUMMER READING APPROVED!" Okay, so maybe the person that picks books doesn't speak like this, but it still makes sense. 

     Schools are going to go straight to Barnes and Nobles Classic Literature section and pick books. Maybe not all schools are like this. I do know of some that actually choose YA books. Most don't though and how I wish they did. I don't want a classic. I want to read a book that will make me feel. One that shows me a teenager going through my struggles. I'm sorry but I highly doubt some teen guy is walking around New York because of some secret benefactor while struggling with society. Not all the books suck, not all the books are worship worthy. So before giving us three books that we have to read, give us five of ten and tell us to pick. I'll gladly write an essay. Right now though, this is me:

     What do you think of summer reading? Is your school forcing you to read any classic books? Tell me in the comments. Also, tell me about the worst book you had to read or your favorite. Now if only I remember where Great Expectations went... 

~Lauren