The 1920s

• The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot — The ultimate indictment of the modern world’s loss of personal, moral and spiritual values.

• The New Negro by Alain Locke — A hopeful look at the Negro in America.

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald — The American dream that anyone can achieve anything.

• Strange Interlude by Eugene O’Neill — A look at 30 years in the life of a modern woman.

• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway — The lost generation of expatriates.

• Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis — A satirical look at small town life.

• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner — Details the moral decay of the Old South.

• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston — Life in a black community.

The 1930s

• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck — Chronicles the life of a displaced Oklahoma family that had lost its farm to the drought of the Dust Bowl.

• Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell — A trilogy of novels about an Irish-American’s attempt to rise above his poor beginnings.

• Native Son by Richard Wright — Takes on the issue of racial prejudice and the plight of blacks.

• Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell — Describes the life of poor whites in the rural South.

The 1940s

• The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer — A novel about the adventures of a 14-man infantry platoon stationed on a Japanese-held island during World War II.

• Young Lions by Irving Shaw — The lives of a German and two Americans are affected by four years of war.

• A Bell for Adano by John Hershey — A young war correspondent has proven himself as a reporter and now wishes to extend his range by becoming a novelist.

• The Human Comedy by William Saroyan — A collection of about 100 linked stories and novels by the French realist writer Honore de Balzac.

• Black Boy by Richard Wright — A masterful recording of the author’s own life.

• Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Dr. Spock — Provides sensible, compassionate advice and hard-core how-to-do-it tips.

The 1950s

• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury — A haunting collection of short stories that chronicles humankind’s colonization of Mars.

• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov — A brilliant robot psychologist’s life is bound up with the history of the robots from their beginnings as the speechless victims of humans to a different conclusion.

• The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone by Tennessee Williams — Tells about unrequited love, the seamy side of sexuality, the bitter side of aging and omnipresent reminders of mortality.

• The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk — A novel that championed conservative morals such as valor, chivalry, patriotism and loyalty.

• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger — The account of three disoriented days in the life of a troubled 16-year-old boy.

• The Grass Harp by Truman Capote — The story of three endearing misfits.

• Giant by Edna Ferber — Steers us through the whole complexity of west Texas life.

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck — A novel that tells the stories of three generations of families and focuses on the theme of good against evil.

• The Bridges of Toko Ri by James Michener — A World War II hero, enjoying the civilian life with his family, is called back to war in Korea.

• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury — A novel that anticipated many of the issues that were to divide American culture during the 1960s.

• Laughing to Keep From Crying by Langston Hughes — examines how humor is used in black culture as a source of expression and healing.

• Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin — A classic that brings Harlem and the black experience vividly to life.

The 1960s

• The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson — Surveys mounting evidence that widespread pesticide use endangers both wildlife and humans.

• The Games People Play by Eric Berne — Introduces games as ritualistic transactions or behavior patterns between individuals that can indicate hidden feelings or emotions.

• Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann — A sensational story of three pill-popping movie stars that perfectly crystallized the decadence of the 1960s.

• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote — A painstaking portrait of a family’s character, activities and community status during the last days before their murder.

• The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan — A detailed exploration of the author’s beliefs about women’s unhappiness.

• Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader — A 1965 book alleging that unsafe automobile design was the major contributor to highway accidents.

• Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe — A portrait of the coterie that gave the hippie world of the 1960s much of its philosophy and vocabulary.

Lesson Plan Sites
The following sites have lesson plans that are already prepared for many of the books listed above:

• Spark Notes — http://www.sparknotes.com

• Doucette Index K-12 index to books and Web sites — http://www.educ.ucalgary.ca/litindex

• S.C.O.R.E. CyberGuides Web resources on novels — http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html

Some story summaries come from eNotes found at http://www.enotes.com.