Interlake Reading Choices

Lydia Bae

It often feels like the books we read for school jump from genre to genre.

One year, it's historical fiction. The next, it's horror. And the year after that, it's Greek mythology. Looking at it this way, it seems that students are introduced to a wide variety of literature.

Certainly, we rarely read two books that are even comparable. However, upon closer inspection, it is revealed that these books share a few key similarities.

First, let's look at the authors of these books. Looking at a list of “Most Commonly Read High School Books” (books that most often appear on high school reading lists), the most popular books seem to be Shakespeare's various plays, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and various other works of literature written by classic authors.

Many of these have likely been read by Interlake students at school. There are around thirteen books on this list. Out of those, three were female authors. Nearly all of the authors are Caucasian.

In comparison, on the New York Times Bestseller's list, around fifty percent of authors were female by 2015. Based on statistics from the Bureau of Labor, fifty-four percent of authors in 2019 are white. Despite what may seem like diversity, the vast majority of the books that we are reading come from authors of similar backgrounds and identities.

The plot and characters of these books follow the same pattern. In a list of the “Most Commonly Read High School Books,” the majority of the characters within these books are white, male, and heterosexual. Again, three books have female main characters and only one has a main character of color. In the rare case that there are main characters with disabilities and/or mental illness, these characters are rarely portrayed accurately, if at all.

At Interlake, books most commonly read novels include Frankenstein, The Tempest, and The Awakening. Each are of a different genre: horror, drama, and historical fiction respectively. Yet, nearly all characters within the books are Caucasian. The majority of women that are portrayed are fixated on romance or are mere background characters with no function other than to advance the plot.

The lack of diversity within these books is harming students. There is a popular concept known as “mirrors and windows” when discussing literature. Mirrors are when readers find themselves represented in the books and media that they are consuming. Windows are when readers are exposed to new lifestyles, people, and concepts through the books and media. But when the books we are mandated to read have similar characters, concepts, and authors in them, there are few “windows or mirrors” in books. Consequently, students miss out on one of the most important benefits of books.