Books that are found to be slanderous or containing libel would qualify, I'd think... someone's right to write what they like doesn't go so far as to spread lies about other people in book form. Obviously, there'd have to be some serious leeway in that, though, particularly when involving books that are supposed to be fiction. But I can imagine cases where it would be justified to not allow publication or force the publisher to change something.

Yes. We don't really have libraries in high schools here, and I recall a discussion not so long ago in which I wondered what the point of them was, but ignoring that for a moment... there are definitely books that are too shocking in various ways to be in a high school library. Extreme depictions of violence or sexuality, bomb-making instructions, that kind of thing. The school should make those decisions, I suppose - having the state or federal government make them would probably be more efficient and prevent pointless censorship of tons of books teenagers should be able to read, but it'd create an impression of impropriety and political censorship.

The Wealth of Nations is pretty much a must on such a list, as is Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Copernicus' book on heliocentrism (I'm too lazy to look up the title). Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah / Prolegomena, which I guess is "frequently overlooked" although it has its high-profile defenders. And for the last one, since I'm guessing the Code Napoléon isn't really a book, I guess I'll go with Marx, although it's hard to say which one of the two. I think ultimately Das Kapital was perhaps more influential.

Well, no. Most of them are fairly technical in nature and require a certain background knowledge you can't expect all students to have. The Muqaddimah probably doesn't, but considering when it was written, nothing in it is groundbreaking *now* or that interesting to HS students.

1984. In American schools, To Kill a Mockingbird or another book dealing with the same issues, while in other countries there may be substitutes that similarly tackle unpleasant but still relevant episodes in the country's history. Anne Frank's diary, arguably. Can't think of any others right now, maybe later.

Of course, when we're talking "mandatory reading", I don't mean by that that *all* students should read those books - for special ed students and for that matter among most vocational students, 1984 probably holds little relevance.

So yeah, one size does not fit all with mandatory books. For some students, easier books may be required, and sometimes a classic is just too far removed from the students' experiences so that a lesser work can be more helpful than the classic in expressing themes and ideas.

Absolutely. One can only shake one's head in disbelief at those who would ban To Kill a Mockingbird for being "racist" because it uses the N word. I'm guessing on the whole, though, sexuality is most often the cause of unjust bans, like the other day in some American school with Anne Frank's diary. To be honest, I think American parents have too much power over their children's schools in general. I may be somewhat biased as a teacher's child, but even so.

Can't really say - not here in Belgium.

I think American schools exaggerate a little in their focus on American authors, and there is reason to think it would be good if they had more foreign writers. I'm not familiar enough with all of those authors to comment on specific ones, though.

None really coming to mind now.

I guess 1984, but even so, "everyone" would merely mean, everyone who has the intellectual capabilities to read it and learn from it, and still I'm sure it'd be wasted time for some people.