Teachers, Find Time to Read Just for YOU: 11 Suggestions to Get You Started

We read this one with the intention of recommending it for First Chapter Friday since it’s been all over BookTok and #bookstagram this year, but one romantic scene was just a touch spicier than we were comfortable with. Ross’s gorgeous novel, which reads a lot like Julie Berry’s Lovely War but with a dusting of magic, is well worth your time, telling the story of Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, who fall in love during a war between the gods that feels an awful lot like World War I.

We loved this one so much we were inspired to write an entire post about its value to teachers. At a time when many of our students are wrestling with mental health issues and we’re being encouraged to find ways to address those needs within our classrooms (see “unreasonable expectations above), Damour’s book provides many practical suggestions and insights that help us better understand the students who fill our rooms each day or those you go home to each night.

Another one that we initially considered for students but quickly realized was definitely for older audiences, this first title in Yarros’s The Empyrean series is like a cross between Harry Potter, Divergent, and A Court of Thorns and Roses, but with more dragons. Wild, right? It’s been alllll over BookTok and #bookstagram, and we definitely get the hype: the story of Violet Sorrengail’s training to become a dragon rider under the watchful eye of the rebellious Xaden Riorson was definitely a page turner. (Side note: Since we prioritize diversity and inclusion here at Three Heads, we found this link about Yarros’s incorrect use of Gaelic an interesting read, especially if you’re a fan of the fantasy genre.)

George’s novel about Maddie, a young Black woman who takes care of her ailing father in London while her mother lives in Ghana, perfectly captures the anxieties of early adulthood, when you’re trying to figure yourself out and not entirely sure how to do it. Her depiction of Maddie’s efforts to work through depression brought tears to our eyes.

Kingsolver’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel about the opioid crisis, set in the Appalachian mountains, is outstanding. We loved the way she used the Dickens connection to bring light to one of our own modern American social issues, and we really loved her protagonist. If you’re teaching AP Lit, we’d encourage you to recommend it to students interested in a more contemporary novel of literary merit.

Freedland’s nonfiction work introduces us to Rudolf Vrba, who escaped Auschwitz during World War II with a tale to tell, desperate to inform the world of the horrors being committed inside the death camps, only to find few people willing to share his warning. It’s a good read, and one that students who love historical fiction will find compelling, but it’s also an excellent resource for those who teach Elie Wiesel’s Night.

Another novel that we think older students would also enjoy, Erlick’s story brings to life a world in which, on a person’s 22nd birthday, they receive a box containing a string that indicates the length of their life. Naturally, scientists quickly work out how to correlate string length to time, and it’s possible to know, down to the day, how long your life will be. Erlick’s story is moving and engaging, and it made us think about how we would respond in similar circumstances.

Zamora’s memoir, which we included in our list of books by Latinx and Hispanic authors, tells the important story of Zamora’s migration (at the age of 9 and without his parents) from El Salvador to the United States. In a culture where immigration is a hot-button issue, it’s essential that we take time to set aside numbers and statistics and remember there are human beings behind the news stories. Zamora’s memoir offers a valuable reading experience for us and our students.

Zevin’s novel was on pretty much every “best book of the year” list for 2022, and when it reached the top of our TBR lists, we could see why. Sam Masur and Sadie Green develop a blockbuster video game, Ichigo, during college, which launches them to wild success in the video game industry. However, it also tests their friendship, and their transition from college life to adulthood is recognizably bittersweet. If you have older students, particularly older students who love science fiction, we think they’ll enjoy the novel as well.

Ray McMillian, a leading Black classical violinist, is preparing for the elite Tchaikovsky Competition when he discovers his priceless Stradivarius violin (passed down from his grandfather, a former slave who inherited what everyone thought was just an old fiddle from his master) has been stolen. As Ray works with investigators to find the violin, we dive into the world of classical music and explore important issues of race in America, and this is another story that will appeal to older students ready to start sampling novels outside of the YA space.

Steph read this one as part of her work in college counseling, and it’s an immensely valuable resource when it comes to understanding the ultra-competitive college application process. Selingo is a journalist with years of experience writing about college admissions, and he spent a year behind the scenes at three different colleges during the admissions process. It completely changed the way Steph thinks about college admissions and the application process, and if you work closely with seniors during this process, it’s a must-read.