Education: Classic Literature

 School starts next week, at least the public schools for our county. This year I will homeschool all three boys in their core academics. They will attend the public school part-time for electives, like Band and French I.

I was perusing a list of classic literature and asked the boys which of these they had read in school (since I did not remember them reading any from the list). I was right, and sadly surprised. While I cannot remember all the days of my youth, I do know that by 10th grade I had read many. Steven just finished The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Previously Steven had not read any Sherlock Holmes's stories and that just will not do. The Hound is my favorite!

So, now it is time to pick the next classic. I am perplexed. There are so many to choose from, but selecting for a teenage boy is different from what I wanted to read in school. For instance, I cannot imagine Steven interested in Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.

I choose Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. However, I was wondering which classic book(s) do others think are important?