Literature

The hit 1995 teen movie "Clueless" may be best known for introducing Americans to Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd, but first-time novelist Porochista Khakpour remembers it for another reason: It injected Iranian Americans into the U.S. pop-cultural consciousness. "There's that scene when [Silverstone's character] Cher says, 'And that's the Persian mafia.

By negative definition, a digression is not a digression if all things are connected. Which is why Barry Smolin, who is supposed to be teaching James Joyce, is kneeling on a desk in the middle of his classroom, giving a dramatic reading of Dylan Thomas' poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

The first words of Francesca Lia Block's "Weetzie Bat" could be a youth manifesto, the opening salvo blaring the Sturm und Drang of adolescence: "The reason Weetzie Bat hated high school was because no one understood.

John Foley figures he has pretty much maxed out on explaining to African American mothers why it's OK to call a black man the N-word -- as long as it's in a novel that is considered a classic.

In the 40 years since Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" was first published, it has evolved into a key classroom tool for teachers trying to engage students in such issues as racism, intolerance and the personal cost of taking a moral stand.

Some parents call it glorification of prostitution, murder and obscenity. But educators, academic experts and even other parents see it as a valuable teaching tool.