The Mensa Reading List for Grades 9-12

Purpose and Value of Reading Lists

• Some see the Mensa list as akin to “Great Books” programs: a way to encounter older, challenging works that can humble smart teens and expand perspective.
• Others argue lists should be prompts, not regimens; the minute it becomes a checklist, it turns reading into a mechanical task and drains joy.
• A minority defends the prescriptive nature as “literature education,” meant to train the mind, not entertain, especially for high-ability students.

Critiques of the Mensa List Itself

• Strong pushback on the checklist format: rating each book, adult sign‑offs, and a final attestation of having read all titles is seen as infantilizing for teens and likely to kill motivation.
• The content is called “middlebrow” and dated: largely Western, heavily Anglo/Euro-American, with many classics that feel more like a 1970s canon than a contemporary, diverse list.
• Several complain about lack of non-Anglosphere authors and global perspectives; others note that an English-language list will naturally skew that way.
• Specific choices draw fire: inclusion of The Fountainhead is widely criticized; Shakespeare sonnets and some dense works are seen as mismatched for most 9–12th graders.

Reading for Joy vs. Duty

• Many participants say being forced through “slog” classics in school (e.g., Anna Karenina, Dickens, Austen) made them dislike reading.
• Others report life-changing encounters with difficult books, arguing that impact may only be recognizable years later and that cultural literacy and exposure to canonical texts matter.
• There’s broad agreement that letting kids choose a lot of their own reading—often SF/fantasy or genre fiction—builds love of reading; classics can be suggested, not mandated.

Debate Around Specific Works and Age Appropriateness

• Night is described as both profoundly important and potentially devastating for emotionally vulnerable teens; one commenter raises controversies about its factual status and worries about using it to teach the Holocaust.
• Some worry about themes of sex, sexuality, and heavy adult issues across the list for younger teens, arguing suitability depends heavily on the individual child.

Broader Reflections and Tangents

• Discussion touches on volume vs. depth (100 books/year vs. slower, deeper reading), the role of AI tools in learning vs. reading, and suggestions for math‑gifted children (problem books, puzzle-based resources).
• A few suggest that, for teenagers, science fiction and contemporary genre fiction might be a better hook into serious thinking than an imposed “Great Works” canon.