Okay, so we admit that The Wave might not qualify as Literature with a capital "L" in certain circles of Academia with a capital "A." In fact, our copy of The Wave, a common mass-market paperback, looks pretty indistinguishable from other run-of-the-mill YA books.

In addition, the book's setting presents another educational challenge since the 1960s can seem so far away from students' experiences today. Why did they actually print out the student newspaper? Couldn't Laurie have just texted her friend when she was afraid in the school at night? And what in the world is a film projector? See what we mean? Any dated reference to technology (or absence of technology) or to society in general can certainly present a barrier to students' understanding of the big picture.