In classrooms across Los Angeles, high school English teachers are navigating significant challenges as they seek to engage students with American literature amid shifting educational priorities, technological distractions, and declining reading habits. Educators from various schools in the city shared insights on the texts they are teaching and the difficulties they face in fostering literary appreciation in 2026.

At Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, Raquel Olvera incorporates a mix of classic and contemporary works in her curriculum. For 11th-grade American literature, she teaches options such as “Friday Night Lights,” “Beloved,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “The Warmth of Other Suns.” In her 10th-grade World Literature course, she includes “Antigone,” “Things Fall Apart,” and Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” which she uses to examine American interests in true crime through the lenses of race, gender, class, and the justice system. Olvera highlights “The Great Gatsby” as a novel adults could revisit today, noting that its exploration of power, wealth, consumerism, and American identity remains pertinent. She identifies student apathy as a major hurdle, attributing it partly to diminished engagement with reading, which in turn affects empathy and curiosity.

At Da Vinci Schools in El Segundo, Schehrezaade Lodhy finds that students enjoy Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” for its exploration of themes like cancel culture and forbidden love. She also incorporates poetry from diverse American voices such as Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, and Amanda Gorman, along with storytelling podcasts to make literature more accessible. Lodhy recommends James Baldwin’s works, particularly “Giovanni’s Room” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” to adults, although she notes some content is too mature for high school. She cites artificial intelligence as a growing challenge in the classroom and emphasizes a return to paper and pencil to cultivate critical thinking.

Aiden Brown of John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills advocates balancing canonical and contemporary literature. He frequently teaches Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” paired with bell hooks’ “All About Love,” and uses Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” through a performance lens to reduce intimidation. Brown highlights “The Great Gatsby” for its resonance with young men and Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” for its cautionary view of community responsibility. He notes increasing student interest in connection amid a landscape of shortened attention spans, influenced not only by technology and the pandemic but also pervasive screen time.

Clarke E. Andros of Crossroads School in Santa Monica recommends Lan Samantha Chang’s “Hunger: A Novella and Stories” for its accessible writing and engagement with Asian American and first-generation immigrant experiences. He views John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” as particularly relevant for discussions about labor, social hierarchy, and systemic challenges. Andros critiques the education system’s emphasis on educational technology and third-party vendors over smaller class sizes and teaching support, referencing a recent LAUSD superintendent’s controversial tech initiatives. He contrasts this with elite school environments where students are more focused on college preparation and less likely to seek shortcuts like AI assistance.

Adam Tan of the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in Mid-City prioritizes memoirs such as “Crying in H Mart” and Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” along with texts reflecting students’ cultural backgrounds like “Musashi” and “Pachinko.” His American literature curriculum features “The Great Gatsby,” “The Things They Carried,” and “The Crucible,” alongside nonfiction articles addressing technology and rhetoric. Tan suggests “The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel adults should revisit for its enduring exploration of adolescent alienation. He expresses concern over conflicting district policies regarding technology use and graduation standards, underscoring the importance of fostering intrinsic motivation and preserving the joy of reading despite external pressures and AI challenges.

Together, these educators illustrate a comprehensive picture of the changing landscape of English education in Los Angeles. They emphasize the enduring value of classic literature, the need for curriculum flexibility to reflect diverse experiences, and the ongoing effort to re-engage students amid modern distractions and systemic constraints.