Editor’s note: We’re thrilled to feature this guest post by Lydia Anderson from Summit Educational Group. Summit provides high-quality, affordable standardized test preparation from the SSAT to SAT.

Most high school students complete a reading list of books written long before they were born. While these remain classics for a reason, they can often feel dated. We’ve taken ten of the most popular required readings, and paired them with a contemporary book (written within the last ten years), with similar themes. If you’re looking for something to read this summer, why not give these a try? We’ve included the first lines of each book to whet your appetite.

The Great American Novel
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.”

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007)
“They say it first came from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved.”

Far-off Struggles
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)
“Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond.”

What is the What by Dave Eggers (2006)
“I have no reason not to answer the door so I answer the door.”

The World of an Outcast
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
“A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and grey steeple-crowned hats, inter-mixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bare-headed, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.”

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2003)
“It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’s house. Its  eyes were closed.”

Humor in the Everyday
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin (1813)
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb (2007)
“The funeral director’s name was Manny Musico.”

Chills and Suspense
“The Tell-Tale Heart,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)
“True!—Nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier (2001)
“‘Feeling better?’ ‘I guess so. My headache’s gone. Is there a connection?’ ‘Maybe. They say confession’s good for the soul. But I don’t know if it eliminates headaches.’”

Unpopular Justice
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (1999)
“It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.”

The Complexities of Friendship
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)
“A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas river drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.”

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury (2008)
“The nose of the seat bit into my shoulder as the toe clip scraped the back of my thigh.”

A Minority Within a Minority
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.”

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2000)
“This is me when I was 10 years old.”

Dystopian Societies
1984 by George Orwell (1949)
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall (2008)
“My name is Sister. That is the name that was given to me three years ago.”

Teen Angst
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”

Looking for Alaska by John Green (2005)
“The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party. To say that I had low expectations would be to underestimate the matter dramatically.”

For more information on these books, and other great books as well, visit your local library.

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