Did you do your summer reading?

The American public high school reading list fluctuates from place to place, but as a whole, it looks pretty much the same. We all had to read Shakespeare, we all had to read To Kill a Mockingbird (whether or not you actually read it is beside the point.) And, don't get me wrong. Some of the assigned books were pretty good! But some of them sucked. So, here are some of the most hated required high school reading and (briefly) what they're about. If you've never read them, this is really all you need to know.

Spoiler alert: lots of people die.

1. Brave New World

In the future, people are made in factories and everything is about sex. One man doesn't really like that. He dies.

2. Lord of the Flies

A bunch of little English boys get stranded on an island and murder each other.

3. Romeo and Juliet

Two teenagers from warring families really like each other. This causes them to die.

4. The Great Gatsby

A very rich man tries to rekindle the flame of passion with a married woman. He dies. We're all disillusioned by the American dream.

5. Of Mice And Men

A man with a developmental disability accidentally kills a woman, so his best friend has to kill him. He kills him out of love, apparently. Our spirits die a little.

6. Catcher in the Rye

A guy is expelled from prep school, so he walks around New York City and grapples with the fact that he's a virgin. Everybody's a phony. No one dies in this one.

7. The Odyssey

I don't know. I really don't know, I couldn't finish this one. A man takes a really long time getting home to his wife and he kills a bunch of people. Who could read this whole thing? Screw you, Homer.

(Not intended to be a shot at this platform.)

8. A Separate Peace

A guy is jealous of his best friend. He accidentally makes said friend fall out of a tree. At the end, he dies.

9. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn, a young boy, runs away with Jim, an escaped slave, and they get into a whole bunch of nonsense. Tom Sawyer shows up. Huck's dad dies.

10. Beowulf

Beowulf is a really strong dude who can kill pretty much any monster. Pretty much everyone loves him, especially at the end when he kills a dragon. Then he dies.