Agner Krarup Erlang

Flickr/GarrettAs the academic year begins and fresh frosh settle into their dorm lofts and Celine Bag Sale seminar desks, parents, relatives, and friends might be worrying: What are our freshmen reading?

Perhaps your freshman goes to a college that urges every matriculating student to read Toni Morrison or Colum McCann or Judd Winick, but what about everyone else?
They can't just be reading the Chive and sexts all day.
We asked Slate staffers what books they would give a college freshman on his or her first day of classes-what books they think might help make sense of the new world of university (and beyond) for those away from home for the first time.

Read our list, pick a book, and send it to the freshman in your life.