12th grade AP Literature novels?

Question

I need something that's "AP worthy" and contemporary. I haven't found any of the classics that I'm overly interested in. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Why contemporary?

I loved:
Three musketeers
Tale of Two Cities
The Scarlett Pimpernel
James Joyce (although a bit depressing)
Willa Cather (not sure AP level)

Answer 2

The March by E.L. Doctorow (Civil War with interesting parallels contextually with the current war/any war)

The Body Artist by Don DeLillo (what is art/beauty and in the reality TV world of Beauty and the Geek and America's Next Top Model)

Plot That Changed America Philip Roth (what if America had sided with the Nazis)

My real selection although it has very strong religious overtones so would not be selected in many public schools probably would be Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. Has that old school feel with amazing descriptive paragraphs, strong characters and has similarities to To Kill a Mockingbird.

Birds of America by Lorrie Moore and Runaway by Alice Munro are strong collections of short stories.

Answer 3

I'm old, so I don't know exactly what would qualify as 12th grade AP, but here are a few suggestions that might work. You can look them up at Amazon if you want details or reviews and to try and get a feel for whether they're appropriate.

Neverwhere, American Gods or Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

Answer 4

Try Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (only about 100 pages)
along with Michael Cunningham's The Hours. (modern re-visiting of Mrs. Dalloway).

Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring is also a good contemporary novel.

Frazier's Cold Mountain does some crazy things with The Odyssey.

Answer 5

In my 12th grade AP lit class, we read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison which was quite an interesting book. I believe it was published in the 1950's. We also read one of my all-time favorite plays, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. While not a novel, it is incredibly funny and a great classic read. Another great one, though I actually read it is college is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston. I thought it was excellent. My mind is blanking on the other things we read in ap lit, except Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. That's a great book too if you haven't tried it. Oh, and we read The Awakening by Kate Chopin, another great one.

Answer 6

How about "A Prayer for Owen Meaney" by John Irving. It's a coming of age story with broad themes (self-determinism, fate, faith, friendship, family) and it's very well written. It's set in the 60's and 80's and a lot of the current events mentioned in the book (Vietnam and Iran Contra) have crazy parallels to today.

The characters really come to life and by the end of the book, I was really sorry to put it down and say good bye to them all.

Great book!

Answer 7

I know the author, but I'd love to teach this novel. A contemporary war novel, Fives and Twenty-fives, by Michael Pitre.

Answer 8

The Awakening.