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Books With Class: Autumn Reads That Bring Back The School Daze

School (in this country, anyway) is like taxes; there is absolutely no getting out of it without breaking the law. So it makes sense that so many authors have set novels in a classroom — they were all there at some point.

School is a near universal experience, and yet each child reacts differently to the rigor of academic life and the pressure of being jammed together with one's peers for eight hours a day. Books about school are as varied as authors themselves; some depict those years as a warm, halcyon time of friendship and camaraderie; others equate high school to a torture chamber. Either way, it's always worth traveling back in time via a book when classes begin anew; it will help you empathize and prepare the students in your life. Here are five of our favorite stories set in schools — tell us yours in the comments.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Rachel Syme
Rachel Syme is a frequent contributor to NPR Books. She is the former culture editor of The Daily Beast, and has written and edited for Elle, Radar, Page Six Magazine, Jane, theNew York Observer, The Millions, and GQ.

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