Summer Reading

At my local high school, every teacher has to choose a book they would like to discuss with students. A list of all the choices will be distributed to the students, and each kid will choose one to read over the summer (the names of the teachers that chose the books won't be on the list, so the kids have to choose a book, not a teacher, that interests them). Then in the fall, each teacher will lead a discussion of their chosen book. This applies to every teacher, math, science, as well as English, and doesn't have to have anything to do with that teacher's subject. For example, a friend of mine, who teaches physics, chose Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World ("a novel about the history of philosophy"), which is about as far from physics as you can get.

I was thinking about what book I would choose. Obviously it couldn't be one they would be assigned already for another class. Nor does it have to be fiction. I am leaning towards Life of Pi by Yann Martel, which I loved so much I read it twice. I think teenagers would enjoy it and it offers plenty of fodder for an interesting discussion. But I could just as easily choose some kind of travel book, like Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz, which is hilarious as well as thought-provoking.

What would you choose if you had to select one a book to discuss with high-school students?