10 Required High School Reads Worth Diving Into Again

"I had my ups and downs with John Steinbeck in school (I could barely get through Grapes of Wrath both times it was assigned), but something about East of Eden spoke to me. I loved the story of nature vs. nurture, the family drama that spanned generations, and the rich Northern California setting that Steinbeck described so well. It's even one of those cases where the book is still way better than the movie — and the movie stars James Dean, so that's saying something." — Shannon Vestal Robson, director, entertainment