Teach "The Little Prince" to senior English students? Senior Advanced Placement English students? What could these people who had analyzed "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," wrestled with "The Sound and the Fury," dissected "Heart of Darkness," and deconstructed "East of Eden" possibly find of value in a "children's book"? The tendency to…

Argues that "love of reading" should be listed as the top goal of the English curriculum, but that teaching the classics has the opposite effect. Argues that reading and analytical skills can be taught using contemporary teenage fiction that holds students' interest, helps them feel understood, and teaches them about life. Lists numerous books…