[Top 5 Wednesday] Future Classics

 

It's time for this week's Top Five Wednesday! This has been created by gingerreadslainey and it also has a Goodreads group. I am hoping to do these posts (or other weekly Wednesday posts) more often as long as I am interested in the current prompt! This week's prompt I am talking about books I have read that I think are future classics. Future classics means (at least to me) books that I think will be held as important pieces of literature of our time. Maybe even taught in classes. So let's get to it!

Right off the bat I want to give a shout out to the Harry Potter series. I think they're already classic and that they will live on as amazing storytelling for years and years. I didn't want to make Harry Potter one of my answers because it's an obvious one and instead I decided to focus mostly on stand alones (Ari and Dante have a sequel coming out).

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
I think THUG accurately represents what is currently happening right now in the world and it's a lot of people's reality. I think this book have an importance to the world like many of the books we consider as classics novels that tackle racism in America. I know many readers agree with me, seeing that it is #1 on the New York Times Best Selling List and that it was on so many people's "2017 anticipated reads" list. Starr is such an amazing character to follow and the story is such a raw and inspirational one. Click here for my review for The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. 

Wonder by R.J. Palacio 
Wonder follows the main character Auggie, who has a facial deformity that keeps him home-schooled to keep him protected from bullying. Auggie decides that he wants to go to a real school, and it's about his experiences in this new school with kids and how he makes friends. It's such a heartwarming story that I honestly think needs to be required reading for middle school students. It teaches compassion, love, and accepting of people that are different than you. It makes my heart so warm and I love it.

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill 
This is a book that I think is easily a must read for high school students. It has a lot of mature and heavy topics concerning rape and victim blaming. This is a book I plan on re-reading sometime this year so I can get a review up on it because I think talking about this book and books like it is important. Especially revolving around victim blaming. The main character is raped while she's at a party, and when she is up front about it she is treated like the one who is to blame. Her friends and the authorities ask if she had alcohol, what she was wearing, her relationship with her rapist. Her parents try to brush it under the rug because they don't want to look bad. It's such a realistic and harsh reality that I think is often skewed in books to make it a more conventionally inspirational story. When, I think, the inspiration lies in the main character speaking up about her rape. I think this needs to be read and discussed within high school or even college students.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 
This is a classic coming of age story that I think is timeless. With Ari dealing with his brother's imprisonment, his father's lack of communication, and him struggling with his sexuality is something I think is written so beautifully. Ari is so closed up and has his walls up, where as Dante is an open book. He acts younger and is more relaxed. He tries new things, experiments more, and stays true to himself. They work so perfectly together and their friendship makes my heart so happy. Their relationship, something we haven't gotten to see much of yet (I cannot stress how excited and nervous I am for the sequel) but if it's anything as great as their friendship, I'm going to love it. I also think the family aspect of this story is really important, and the weaving of their Latino culture really helped the reader get to know the two main characters more. I cannot recommend this beautiful book enough.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman 
For me, Coraline is our generations Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Which is saying a lot because I absolutely love Alice. I think the writing is spooky and amazing. The story is so much fun. You have a smart spunky young female character who is thrown into this world they never knew existed. They go against evil creatures, meet strange talking cats, and learn a life lesson. I do admit that Alice is maybe more trippy than Coraline, but Coraline has a more spooky feel to it, because it's Gaiman.

 

Thanks for reading! 

What are some books you think are future classics?