Is Literature Necessary?

We asked Takeaway listeners to tell us: What is the book or reading you were assigned in high school that had the biggest impact on you?
And the responses have been pouring in:  “Lord of the Flies,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Catcher in the Rye,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” and dozens more.
Listeners from all over the country have offered hundreds of titles that changed their lives. But notably, none very few of them were non-fiction.  Nearly all of them were works of fiction.
But the kids of today may have other readings on their inspiration list, not because they dislike fiction, but because their days are filled more and more with non-fiction.
The new Common Core State Standards dictate that non-fiction reading should make up 70 percent of a high school senior’s reading curriculum across all disciplines.
And so far, 46 states have either adopted these new standards or will be adopting them by next year.
Who came up with these standards? How do they work? And how do parents and teachers feel about them?
Catherine Gewertz is assistant editor and lead reporter on Common Core State Standards at Education Week. She joins The Takeaway from her office in Washington D.C.  Diana Zwinak is a teacher and mother from the Chicago suburbs.  Diane Reiter is a Minnesota mother and author of the blog “It’s All Good Until You Burn Dinner.”
For more coverage of schools in New York City, check out WNYC’s SchoolBook.