[Mordacious]

You must must MUST add the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut.

[So Cal Rocket]

Atlas Shrugged
Fountainhead

by Ayn Rand

[atomicpossum]

The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn.

[3AngelaD]

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. They will love it, so will you.

[untenured]

Courtois et al., The Black Book of Communism, which meticulously documents the democide of every communist regime, totaling close to 100 million.

Two by Richard Pipes: Communism: A History, and The Russian Revolution

A shorter option is Ch. 2 (on Lenin), Ch. 8 (on Stalin along with Hitler) and Ch. 16 (on Mao, along with India) in Paul Johnson's Modern Times.

[A Longer Name]

Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Solzhenitsyn.

[untenured]

I didn't realize you are teaching high-school sophomores. My suggestions above might be a little weighty for those students.

[Petronius]

I saw Grapes of Wrath" the other night for the umpteenth time. Its portrayal of the Utopian government-run migrant camp is so corny and ham-fisted I *almost* thought I was watching a masterpiece of satire. Too bad they were serious.

I've never read Rand, but she tends to make a powerful impression on some.

[A Longer Name]

Vladimir Voinovich, Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin.

[Billthedrill]

L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time.

[Mr. Brightside]

Whittaker Chambers' "Witness."

Chambers was an American spy for Russia during the Cold War. It was his testimony that put high ranking Russian spy Alger Hiss in jail. Hiss was a Roosevelt man in the State Department and who wrote the US/Russian agreement at Yalta.

Chambers eventually abandoned Communism for Christianity, claiming he was "leaving the winning side for the losing side." Fortunately, he was wrong on that.

One of Reagan's first acts in office was to posthumously award Chambers with the Medal of Honor for risking his life to expose Russian spies in our government.

An absolute must.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Darkness at Noon by Koestler
Journey into the Whirlwind by Ginsburg
Harvest of Sorrow by Robert Conquest
Gulag by Anne Applebaum
Koba the Dread by Martin Amis

[Gator101]

Darkness at Noon - Koestler

Read it in college. I can't see how anybody can read this book and still be sympathetic to commies.

[Atlas Sneezed]

MIG Pilot (easy read for junior high kid about defecting pilot.)
Alexander Dolgun's Story (must-read, and readable for high-school and up, about an American who spent decades in the GUlkag post WWII)

The most important lesson is what communism is really about (enslavement), what life was like. Once someone reads these true stories, they will never be susceptible to communism. Truth is far more powerful than fiction.

[Chanticleer]

I read it as a freshman in college, and I don't remember the difficulty level, but I loved We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin.