Opinion: Books to Revisit in 2026

Literature that matters even more today

For more than 20 years I taught among the finest and most important books ever written—mostly American literature, lots of Shakespeare, and works ranging from well-established classics to newer ones deemed worthy of inclusion in the canon. I’ve been away from teaching for seven years now, but I’ve paid attention to what seems to be an unraveling of sorts—books are less important, and reading skills and interest are diminishing, replaced by different forms of art and information, such as videos, memes, and AI. Being well-read is now a quaint idea, like using paper maps or writing in cursive.

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And yet I still believe that certain books, ones you were most likely assigned to read when you were in classes like mine, deserve a second look and a greater pondering given what the world has come to look like. They have the potential to inform us in deeper ways, helping us to understand who we are and who others are in our families and neighborhoods.

Catcher in the Rye

This is a rant I’ve been on for years now, so forgive me if you’ve heard me ramble on about this boy and his plight in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. When I read it as a kid it was fun—a genuine teenager swore, smoked, and drank, was lecherous, and saw most adults as phonies. But most teens are too young to get it, and the book is often mistaught. There may be other more modern novels about mental health, such as Girl, Interrupted, but from page one to the end of Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story is of a young person in grief over his brother’s death, his struggles to move on in his life, and how pretty much everyone around him is inept at seeing what he’s going through and how he might be helped.

Our recognition of the importance of mental health and the services made available to young people through school health centers is profoundly better today than ever. But none of that was available for Holden. Other than his sister Phoebe who tried, no one in his life was able to save him from the nervous breakdown and hospitalization that came from his depression. Go back and read Salinger’s story with this lens, look for the signs of instability and pain, and appreciate what the author was trying to do—help us to help kids who are not doing well so we can help catch them when they fall.

Animal Farm

Wikipedia calls George Orwell’s story a “satirical allegorical dystopian novella” inspired by the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. I say it is a guide to current events. Seemingly well intended leaders, looking to improve the lives of others, rise to power and then begin to manipulate the system for the betterment of themselves and their closest supporters. Taking advantage of those less sophisticated, Orwell’s pigs rewrite sacred laws, betraying the core beliefs of fairness and equality. They make health care less available for the poor, rig the tax codes to line their own pockets, and turn part of the farm into a ballroom for… wait, no, I’m sorry, wrong story. In Animal Farm, a tyrannical leader (Napoleon) uses vicious dogs to terrorize the populace, employs a charismatic spokespig to obfuscate, and rewrites their history to redact the contributions of others and elevate his own accomplishments. He gives himself the Nobel Prize for Peace… wait, no, sorry again, wrong story. Parents, please get a copy of Animal Farm, sit your children down to read the story with them, and then do it again, monthly, weekly, daily.

If You Could Be Mine

Sara Farizan’s 2013 novel is not on the assigned reading lists of most middle or high schools in the country, but it should be. I found it while shelving in the YA (Young Adult) section at Books Inc., bought it, read it, and then got a class set so my students could read it.

We are living in a time where being a trans person, or knowing a trans person, or advocating for healthcare for trans persons, is fraught with authentic danger. Politicians have bullied health care professionals, ignoring established scientific understanding, in order to marginalize and terrorize people—especially young people—who are trying to be their true selves.

Farizan’s book is not a broad look at this complex topic, but the story of a teenage girl, Sahar, in love with her best friend, Nasrin. But Nasrin’s mother intervenes and arranges a marriage so her daughter will marry a man. Sahar, heartbroken, decides to become a man in order to keep Nasrin in her life. Her cousin Ali introduces her to Parveen, a trans woman, who becomes her mentor. The story is set in Iran and the author is an Iranian American. If You Could Be Mine does what fiction does so well—it tells a story of believable characters and makes them heroes on a small, intimate scale. It is not the grand, definitive tale of transgender people fighting for justice (we need that book, too), but a story that will touch your heart. We need that so much now.

There are so many other books that need to be read and re-read for how well they inform our lives today: Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, on the heroism of being an immigrant; John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath for showing the brutality of capitalism; and The Constitution of the United States because it is the user’s guide to being an American.

P.S. Please read actual books. Don’t read summaries, don’t ask Alexa for a recap, and don’t watch a TikTok video to “know” the story. Read a page, ponder, turn the page, repeat.

Gene Kahane is the founder of the Foodbank Players ^[3], a lifelong teacher, and former Poet Laureate for the City of Alameda. Reach him at [email protected] ^[4]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Gene-Kahane ^[5].