That sounds about right.

And aaargh, Wikipedia reminds me that they are REMAKING it for some godforsaken reason.

They're remaking Ice Castles ferchrissakes.

They're remaking Ice Castles ferchrissakes.

They are doing that IN MY TOWN! Oh, the humanity!

Can y'all give me titles of young adult novels where the lead character is either just out of high school or in college proper?

Two that came to mind right away are both about guys in the summer after high school: Catch by Will Leitch, and Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by Peter Cameron (both very good, btw).

A few of Ellen Wittlinger's books are in that age/time period. I forget which one I'm thinking of, but one of her more recent ones is sort of a sequel/follow up (focusing on different characters) and the main character is taking a year off after high school/before college.

That's Love and Lies, the sequel to Hard Love.

for CJ, I'd also recommend D'Auliere's which is probably more kid friendly than Hamilton's mythology. D'Auliere's is often in middle school libraries.

But Odysseus is such a jerk.

And SUCKED a leader.

I'm thinking of the must reads before entering my AP class next year. I think, for what I do, it's these things you need before English Lit makes sense:

1. The Bible
2. The Odyssey
3. The Aeneid
4. The Inferno.

That might be my summer reading list.

Has CJ read the percy Jackson series? I love the whole concept of the gods still being around -- still up to their old tricks -- and Dionysus all grumpy because he can't have anything stronger than diet cola. It would be fun to read those along with books on greek mythology. I'm curious how -- accurate they are. That's not exactly the word I mean.

I understand his Hamlet is nearly all the original with minor changes. Hamlet is my favorite, and yet I haven't seen his version.

Branagh's Hamlet is the entirety of the Second Quarto, with a few lines from the Folio, therefore clocking in at 4+ hours. It's also a stunning argument for editing Shakespeare down for performance.

The whole bible, for reals? I mean, I did read it, but it didn't lend itself to the sort of absorption I associate with a high school lit class. Massive chunks of it went in and then right out.

You know, the bits with the names.

Beth, I adore the Percy Jackson series. From what little I can tell, they're fairly true to the mythology they're based on, allowing for some wiggle room for comedic or dramatic effect. To be honest, in some ways I like them better than the Harry Potter books. Percy is an engaging narrator, and remarkably angst-free while still being complex.

Plus, funny as hell.

juliana,

your post lead me out into the net unsupervised and I found a marvelous post about Hamlet and the Bad Quarto. Linked here if anyone cares:

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