September 25, 2007 7:06 PM

Reading Liberally Page Turner: Getting an A the Progressive Way

Our high-school-aged readers (or the high-school-aged children of our middle-aged readers) are probably just now getting settled into their fall classes, and being given the tasks of figuring out which teachers are the easiest, filling out applications, getting used to a new school...basically, everything imaginable to distract them from paying attention to the state of the nation. We here at Living Liberally sympathize with these time-pressed students, and we want to give them suggestions for a few reads that'll both help them get an A and give them ammunition against right-wing bullies in the classroom. Without further ado, we recommend:

American History - Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong - This dissection of the "mainstream media" of America's classrooms -- our textbooks -- justifies every student's objection to sitting through another day of the propaganda called "school."

Health Class - Chew on This! - the companion to Fast Food Nation focuses on how the fast food industry targets young people and the impact it has on their lives

Earth Science - Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics and the Battle over Global Warming - Despite our President's decision to skip climate change talks this week, the threat is real, and this book offers a more realistic view of the disasters facing our planet than our disaster of a President holds.

Social Studies - Bowling Alone - the compelling tale of the decline of social capital and civic engagement in America...and the inspiration for MeetUp, Drinking Liberally, and countless individual efforts to repair our nation's social fabric.

Biology - Undermining Science - from EPA suppression to NASA censorship, the Administration's made it clear they don't value science...but if you need to hear it in more detail, this book makes the case.

There are countless others books, of course, to recommend to your liberal-in-training.  What would you give suggest to give a teenager the right tools for progressive trouble-making?