Nearly every student is familiar with the moaning and groaning that ensues when English teachers assign books to read for homework.

“You’ll learn from the reading,” they say.

“You won’t be able to use Sparknotes,” they presumptuously claim.

As the dusty stack of a particular title is pulled out of the old cabinet in which the teacher stores the books, students do one of two things:  ponder how they are going to fit time into their schedule to read the book, or plan how to get around reading the book but still manage to pass the class.

Speaking as someone who only took accelerated English classes throughout high school, nearly everyone in my classes aimed for an A, regardless of the means by which they achieved it.  Personally, I was a try-hard who was too afraid to risk not reading the novels, but there were a few texts that I either skimmed my way through or could not finish on time.

Anyhow, through this blog, I aim to review high school classics read in high school that were meant to be “totally worth it.”  By providing the context of educational merit for which the books were chosen to read, I intend to describe my personal experiences with reading (or not reading) each particular book and give my opinion as to whether or not I felt the given assignment accomplished its educational goal.  I also plan to tell stories about how other students around me handled the reading assignments.  If applicable, I hope to provide alternative possibilities to a certain book assignment, whether it involves altering the way a teacher presented the homework or changing the chosen book altogether to learn about a certain concept more effectively.