What Books to Read Before Finishing High School?

I read this query and the thread that followed on TJEdMuse yahoo group.  I thought I would answer it on this blog.

"In a quest to form an  'Master Plan' for my kids' education and experiences before they leave high school, I'm compiling a list of the books I feel they should read before leaving home.  My list is very short though, and I wondered if you had any suggestions for books you were glad you read in middle school,  high school, or even elementary school, or books you want your kids to read while they're in school."

I read all the answers and they all named good books. I surprised to not see "central canon" listed. I find it is often taken for granted and is often treated as a classic on par with other classics, especially in colloquia (group discussion); almost as if it is used apologetically. This is a big mistake. Our central canon informs us and helps us discern right from wrong; good from evil; and truth from error. A canon is supposed to be a measuring rod. A canon is the book or books that guide one's character and helps a person determine whether a book is bent, broken, whole or healing.

Being able to speak universally, find common ground, etc. does not have to result in banishing one's canon from discourse. I feel this minimizing one's sacred canon is an ill conceived attempt to appear open minded or diplomatic. I never saw Gandhi, Jefferson, Washington, or other greats minimize their canon or remove it from their writings, or distance themselves from it. I do realize that politically correct speech tends to banish God and belief, but I do not feel we ought to go there. It is in a person's central canon that one can gain all the scholar skills that one can apply to other classics. If beginning with establishing one's own canon is where Oliver DeMille suggests adults reading his book to begin, then it is where we should help our youth begin their journey, as well. Do they not also need to establish their canon?

I often hear of moms trying to study and read classics to inspire their children. Yet, I feel that the most important classic our children should see us read, study, and explore our central classic; they should see us in it everyday. Then have another classic going that we may read to our children. Then finally, reading other classics perhaps in the evening, or during quiet time. When our children just see us read but not study our central classic and they see us study deeply other classics I feel we send a mixed message.

I feel that President Gordon B. Hinckley's remarks that he gave in a Commencement Address at Brigham Young University 27 April 1995, would be helpful:

“We live in a world where knowledge is increasing at an ever-accelerating rate. Drink deeply from this ever-springing well of wisdom and human experience. If you should stop now, you will only stunt you intellectual and spiritual growth. Keep everlastingly at it. Read. Read. Read. Read the word of God in sacred books of scripture. Read from the great literature of the ages. Read what is being said in our day and time and will be said in the future.” Gordon B. Hinckley Commencement Address, Brigham Young University 27 April 1995

In the concluding paragraph of Thomas Jefferson Education: Chapter V: Classics, by Oliver DeMille, he states:

"The place to start is with yourself. Establish a clear canon and spend time in it everyday. Become and expert on it, ponder it, put your life in line with it. Teach it to your family and then others. If you are a teacher, take it into your classroom. If your faith does not include the Bible, use the Declaration or something of equal magnitude.  Then broaden that knowledge to other classics which support your central classic. America is what it is due to its national books, and the choices you make now regarding books will have tremendous impact on what America will be twenty, forty, and even sixty years from now."

Jefferson and his contemporaries studied their central canon in their youth.  When I was a youth I studied and read deeply in the Bible.  I was not a member of any church at the time and I did not attend adult led classes.  Those deep studies deeply guided the direction of my life.  Though I was not reading other classics, I established my central classic.  I watched my own children grow through this phase, they read, explored, studied,  and established their central canon.

So, I feel that the most important book, not just to read, but to study before going out into the world, is one's central canon, and not just once, but many times. Each time it should bring us new insight, and help us become better people. There are many other classics I include in our classes, but they are not of equal value or importance with that central canon. 

~Donna