Choosing the right book club themes for your high school English literature circles can be the difference between a good experience and a great experience. Any time we give our students choice, we generally get more buy in, but when we tie the theme of our literature circles to high interest topics, students thrive.
Why call Literature Circles Book Clubs in High School
For students, especially high school students who have been exposed to literature circles since elementary school, literature circles can come with a stigma. Our better students have had bad experiences with other students not keeping up their end of the bargain. So a little rebranding can help.
Additionally, book clubs can have both more and less student control. I tend to do hybrid book clubs for my students. Students select their books and groups based on a theme and then have one day a week which is discussion day.
Reading takes place at home or at the beginning of each class. But the other classes are anchored by common texts. That way if someone in their group is not keeping up with the reading, they still have something to add on “discussion day.”
Why pick a Book Club Theme?
Using book club themes for high school literature circles anchors the short texts that you will do together.
Book club themes give guidance in selecting groups texts for both the teacher and students.
And themes can be anchored in essential questions.
21 Book Club Themes for High School English
1 Coming of Age
Coming of Age is one of my favorite book club themes to do with students of all ages, so I wrote a whole post on it.
Essential Question: To what extent is a loss of innocence inevitable?
Suggested longer texts: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffren Foer , Beartown by Fredrick Backman, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She is Sorry by Fredrick Backman, Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Suggested shorter texts: “Valediction” by Sherman Alexie, “Girl Gangs of Pacific Avenue” by Heather Kamins
Want to save yourself the research? I ready to use short story unit to pair with your book club theme of Coming of Age?
2 Reading Like a Professor
This can be done in book clubs or as independent reading and is anchored in chapters from How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. Students read chapters from Foster’s book and short works to practice as a class and then apply them to their book club or independent selections.
Essential Question: What is the power of craft?
Suggested longer texts: literally any
Suggested shorter texts: “Fish Checks” by Amy Tan, “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien,
3 The Byronic Hero
Students love the Byronic Hero and all his darkness. This is a great way to hit these classic novels while giving choice. (Cause, I am not going to lie, I HATE Wuthering Heights.) Technically, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice could be included with this grouping, but I like to double dip and do the book club themes Byronic Hero and Gothic together.
Essential Question: To what extent is the antihero a hero?
Suggested longer texts: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Silas Marner by George Eliot, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Suggested shorter texts: “When We Two Parted,” excerpts from “Childe Herold” both by Lord Byron (Both are poems, I couldn’t find any short stories with Byronic Heroes)
4 Gothic
I used this with my on-level/ICT English 11 class a few years ago calling the book club theme “Mysterious Dead Bodies.” At the end we looked at what they all had in common and came to the conclusion that they were Gothic. We did the activity that is included with the Gothic Literature Genre Anchor Charts. They loved the short works and their choices for longer words.
Essential Question: What is intriguing about dark stories?
Suggested longer texts: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Suggested shorter texts: see the post of Gothic Short Stories
5 Family
Including the idea of family as one of your book club themes gives students the opportunity to discuss families and family dynamics without getting personal (unless they want to).
Essential Question: What is family?
Suggested longer texts: Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffren Foer, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She is Sorry by Fredrick Backman,
Suggested shorter texts: The Long Christmas Dinner (one act play) by Thornton Wilder, “Separating” by John Updike, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
Ready to Use: Family Themed Book Clubs
6 Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic
What student doesn’t want to talk about the potentiality of the end of the world (as we know it)?
Essential Question: To what extent is it worth it to stand up for what you believe in, even if the world is against you?
Suggested longer texts: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collier, Anthem by Ayn Rand, Fahrenheit 451 by , 1984 by George Orwell, The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Suggested shorter texts: “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden, “You, Disappearing” by Alexandra Kleeman, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kirt Vonnegut
7 The Dangers of Technology
With the exponential rate of technology growth, this is a perfect topic to include as one of your book club themes. I didn’t include any in this list because it is changing so rapidly, but be sure to include nonfiction articles about the use of AI in schools and in other places, as well.
Essential Question: Where do humans belong in the changing world of technology?
Suggested longer texts:: Feed by M.T. Anderson, Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Suggested shorter texts: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury, “The Perfect Match” by Ken Liu, “The Machine Stops” by EM Foster, “Frustration” by Isaac Asimov
8 Hidden History
I have used the concept of hidden history to pair historical fiction with research as one of my book club themes for AP® Language.
Essential Question: What is hidden history? What is the power of exposing hidden history?
Suggested longer texts: As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Rose Code by Kate Quinn, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Short texts: “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Trifles”(a one act play) or “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell
9 War
As long as the concept of war remains abstract, student are quite interested in discussing it.
Essential Question: What are the moral conflicts of war?
Suggested longer texts: As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Suggested shorter texts: “The Benefactors” by Rudyard Kipling, Letter from Sullivan Ballou, “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain, “Frustration” by Isaac Asimov
10 Love Hurts
I always have group of girls who are constantly carrying romance novels for their independent reading. This is a way to weave some of that in without disenfranchising the students who don’t care for all the sappy rom-com material.
Essential Question: Why do people stay in relationships that aren’t working?
Suggested longer texts:: Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Beartown by Fredrick Backman, Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
Suggested shorter texts: “Story of an Hour” or “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When We Talk about Love” by Raymond Carver, “The Moonlit Road” or “The Wireless Message” by Ambrose Bierce
11 The Power of Memory
Memory is a funny thing. So consider including the fuzzy nature of memory as one of your book club themes. Looking at how others adjust memory to fit their needs is an interesting discussion topic.
Essential Question: How can cloudy memories influence our futures? To what extent is memory accurate?
Suggested longer texts: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Big Fish by Daniel Wallace, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Suggested shorter texts: “A Memory” by Eudora Welty, “The Memory Priest of the Creech People” by Paul Theroux, “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter
12 Relationships
Students love the idea of exploring the values of characters as a basis for literature circles. Just about any text can go in this direction. This is one of the most versatile book club themes out there.
Essential Question: In what ways do a person’s values shape relationships?
Suggested longer texts: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She is Sorry by Fredrick Backman, Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, really, just about anything
Suggested shorter texts: “Separating” by John Updike, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “The Other Wife” by Collette, “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver, “The Kiss” or “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, “Turned” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, “Hills Like White Elephants” by Earnest Hemingway
13 Identity
As our students explore their own identities, this is a perfect opportunity for them to see how other people find themselves.
Essential Question: How are people’s identities shaped by the world around them?
Suggested longer texts:: The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angelina Boulley, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent by Julia Alvarez, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Suggested shorter texts: “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, “Honor Society” by Sherman Alexie, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, “When I Lay My Burden Down” by Maya Angelou
14 Right and Wrong
Use this theme to explore ethical criticism in literature in your book clubs.
Essential Question: What is a person’s obligation to choose right over wrong even if it is the harder choice?
Suggested longer texts: Beartown by Fredrick Backman, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collier, As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh, The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angelina Bully, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Suggested shorter texts: “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver, “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury, “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, “The Pie” by Gary Soto, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, “The Girl Gangs of Pacific Avenue” by Heather Kamins, “Valediction” by Sherman Alexie
15 Brief Encounters
The idea behind this theme is books and stories where a character makes a brief appearance that changes the trajectory of the protagonist’s life.
Essential Question: In what way can brief or momentary encounters with people have lasting impacts?
Suggested longer texts: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffran Foer, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Stranger by Camus, A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She’s Sorry by Fredrick Backman
Suggested shorter texts: “The Open Window” by Saki, “A Piece of String” by Guy de Maupassant, “Thank-you, Ma’m” by Langston Hughes, “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet, “The Burlington Northern, Southbound” by Bruce Holland Rogers
16 Revenge
Students understand a desire for revenge which makes it a good book club theme for high school English.
Essential Questions: At what point does the desire for revenge become too much?
Suggested longer texts: Hamlet or Othello by William Shakespeare
Suggested shorter texts: “The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, “A Jury of her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, “Chocolate” by Manju Kapur
17 The American Dream
It seems hard to teach American literature without touching on the American dream.
Essential Questions: Is the American Dream dead or alive? To what extent is the American Dream available to all?
Suggested longer texts: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Four Winds by Kristen Hannah, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, My Antonia by Willa Cather, The Street by Ann Petry, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
Suggested shorter texts: “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Egg” by Sherwood Anderson
18 The Other
It’s not uncommon for our students to have a moment where they feel like they are outside of the group. That’s what makes “otherness” a perfect book club theme.
Essential Question: What do people want from society? What do they want from themselves?
Suggested longer texts: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrick Backman, A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffran Foer
Suggested shorter texts: “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes, “I and the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg
19 Coming to a Crossroad
It’s about that moment where the character must make a decision that will change everything.
Essential Question: In what ways do outside pressure influence decisions?
Suggested longer texts: The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Suggested shorter texts: “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet, “On the Bridge” by Todd Strasser, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, “The Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson
20 Defining Home
Like family, home is a concept that our students will have differing experiences with which makes it an ideal theme for book clubs allowing students to discuss it in the abstract, so that they can process their own experiences.
Essential Question: How is home defined?
Suggested longer texts: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Four Winds by Kristen Hannah
Suggested shorter texts: “A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf, “A Country Cottage” by Anton Chekhov, “What is Home?” by Mosab Abu Toha
21 Story Truth
Story truth is a concept that Tim O’Brien discusses in The Things They Carried. It is the idea that sometimes the stories we tell about our situations, although fictionalized, are more true than the truth itself.
Essential Question: How is truth determined in an ambiguous world?
Suggested longer texts: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Big Fish by Daniel Wallace, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffron Foer
Suggested shorter texts: “Sleeping” by Katharine Weber, “The Red Clown” by Sandra Cisneros, “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas, “Math Class” by Mary Crow
Harnessing the Power of Book Club Themes
Choosing the right book club themes for our students can be very powerful. It can be the difference between lack luster discussion and amazing discussions. Students love having choices and literature circles afford them those choices.
If you are at a point in your career where you can do this, I highly recommend letting students vote on the theme itself. Perhaps choose two themes that use the same full length works and then share the essential questions. Then use a ballot system (I use Google Forms) to let them vote.
Related Resources
Short Stories for Coming of Age
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Ready to use Coming of Age Short Story Unit to pair with a book club
Family Themed Book Clubs for high school English
