Why should a teenager bother to read a book, when there are so many other demands on their time? We hear from Atlantic staffers about the books they read in high school that have stuck with them. Books you read in high school are your oldest friends, made during a moment in life when so many versions of yourself seem possible, and overidentifying with an author or character is a safe way to try one out. Later in life, they are a place you return—to be embarrassed by your younger, more pretentious self or to be nostalgic for your naive, adventurous self or just to marvel at what you used to think was cool.

Books mentioned:

Spencer Kornhaber: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Jessica Salamanca: A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Helen Lewis: Mort by Terry Pratchett
David Getz: Chips Off the Old Benchley by Robert Benchley
Shan Wang: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Sophia Kanaouti: Ypsikaminos by Andreas Embirikos
Ann Hulbert: The Pupil by Henry James
Shane Harris: Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Katherine Abraham: Sand and Foam by Kahlil Gibran
Eleanor Barkhorn: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Robert Seidler: On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

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355. Enlightenment takedowns! - With Daniel Ingram