I read Catcher in the Rye in 1980 when I was in High school. Not because it was assigned, but because my big sister said it was a good book. Memories of it made me curious to pick it up again this last spring.

I agree that the setting will be foreign to many adolescents today, but the internal dialogue, Holden's worries and comments about the world DO resonate today. And Phoebe is irresistible!

The books recommended by Trubek, while they may better catch the attention of a particular demographic, will not necessarily speak better to today's readers.

A common mistake in education today is that teachers think kids only want to read about kids just like themselves, and that kids need to read about characters just like themselves in order to work though their issues. Children in any one of Trubek's demographics may feel even more alienated if the only literature that they are exposed to show kids like themselves in difficult times. In contrast a Dominican girl for example may get a lot more out of reading about a white boy who ALSO has issues.