PBS
Comparing Hemingway to Young Adult Literature
Challenge groups to create a recommended reading list of contemporary young adult fiction that explores the same themes found in Ernest Hemingway's short stories and novels. After examining a list Hemingway created and a list put...
PBS
The Old Man and the Sea: Critical Interpretations
Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; however, the critical interpretations of the novel have called it everything from "ordinary" and "schoolboy writing" to a "masterpiece." Readers are allowed to...
PBS
Chosen Family and Ghost
There's something powerful about a book that speaks your language and experiences or introduces you to the language and experiences of others. A National Book Award winner, Jason Reynolds' novel, Ghost, is such a book. Find out more...
PBS
Looking for Alaska
Looking for Alaska is the subject of a short PBS video that encourages viewers to read John Green's award-winning young adult novel about first love.
PBS
Relatable Characters in Dark Tales and The Book Thief
Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is another novel high on the list of must-reads from The Great American Read collection. Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George W. Bush, and John Green of Crash Course series fame share...
PBS
Falling in Love with Reading and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
At first glance, it doesn't seem like Betty Smith's story of 11-year old Francie Nolan, a poor Irish girl living in the 1920's Brooklyn, should remain a best-seller for almost 100 years. But A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has remained a...
PBS
Frankenstein | The Great American Read
A top vote-getter for the Great American Read program is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Find out why the classic tale, adapted into over 50 films and numerous TV shows, has earned its spot on the favorites list.
PBS
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Rather than windmills, Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Confederacy of Dunces, battles against modernity. Find out why Professor Walter Isaacson thinks Toole's novel should get viewers' votes...
PBS
The Handmaid's Tale | The Great American Read
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the focus of a Great American Read video that urges viewers to read this dystopian novel about a villainous society that oppresses women and minority groups.
PBS
George R.R. Martin Discusses Lord of the Rings
George R.R. Martin, famous in his own right for heroes, villains, dragons, and direwolves, offers his rationale for why viewers should vote for J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings with its elves, wizards, and hobbits as part of the Great...
PBS
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Created for the Great American Read series, a short video encourages viewers to vote for Invisible Man. Musician Wynton Marsalis and Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, among others, share their rationale for why Ralph...
PBS
John Green Talks about the Importance of The Catcher in the Rye
A part of The Great American Read series, John Green shares his passion for J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and urges viewers to include the novel on their list of great books.
PBS
The Catcher in the Rye and First-Person Narrative
Testimonials for The Catcher in the Rye demonstrate the power of J.D. Salinger's story of a young man who wants to protect innocent children from the phonies in the adult world. Part of the Great American Read series, speakers urge...
PBS
A Separate Peace
Jenna and Barbara Bush, daughters of former President George W. Bush, and author Armistead Maupin share with viewers their reasons for selecting John Knowles' A Separate Peace as one of their favorite books.
PBS
Ready Player One
Ready Player One has been praised as a novel that captures the vitality, the allure, and the essence of the virtual reality experience. Speakers in a short video share their rationale for why Ernest Clines' dystopian novel should be...
PBS
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Narrators of a short video offer their rationale for why Catch 22 should be included in the Great American Read program. They touch on the key themes in Heller's satirical and sobering novel about Captain John Yossarian and the catch-22s...
PBS
Heroes and Hope in Frank Herbert's Dune
Wil Wheaton shares his rationale for why readers should vote for Frank Herbert's Dune as their choice for the Great American Read program. His talk touches on the major themes of the novel and its central conflicts.
PBS
Dune
Dune remains one of the most popular science fiction tales ever written. Find out why with a short video that argues for including Frank Herbert's tale of sandworms and Fremen, Mentats and witches, villains and heroes in the Great...
PBS
The Continuing Fight for Tom Robinson and To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, but its messages remain just as true today as they were in Harper Lee's novel. Learners watch a video that details the story of Anthony Ray Hinton, who was sent to prison for a crime he...
PBS
Family and Identity through To Kill a Mockingbird
How does the Finch family structure set it apart from their community, even before Atticus begins defending Tom Robinson? Watch a video that discusses how Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird establishes a distinctly American world...
PBS
Chosen Family and The Outsiders
Can you choose your family after all? The greasers in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders are as close as family, even though only Pony Boy and his brothers are related. A short video features commentary by hip-hop artist Danny Boy O'Connor...
PBS
S. E. Hinton, Danny Boy O'Connor, and The Outsiders
Could your 16-year-old students write a novel? S.E. Hinton did! An engaging video reviews the setting and themes of Hinton's breakout novel The Outsiders through the perspective of hip-hop artist Danny Boy O'Connor, as well as the author...
PBS
The Call of the Wild
Jack London's books feature male characters, but that doesn't mean they're just for boys! Chelsea Clinton and Shanna Peeples discuss the underlying messages of love and sacrifice in The Call of the Wild, as well as the conflict of man...
PBS
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Is the Queen of Hearts a misunderstood monarch or an unchecked tyrant? A video from a series on villainous characters examines how Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland paints the Queen of Hearts as the ultimate...