Designed to create conversation for incoming classes, the pre-college summer reading homework is causing a few problems in New Jersey.

NJ.com reports:

A tough assignment for colleges: What should N.J. freshmen read?

The start of classes may be a few weeks away, but many incoming freshmen at New Jersey colleges and universities are already tackling their first assignment.

A growing number of schools are requiring incoming first-year students to read a book before arriving on campus.

The programs – referred to on some campuses as Common Book, Shared Reading or Pre-Read – are designed to unite the incoming class around one assignment and give freshmen a weighty topic to discuss during their first weeks on campus.

But, some colleges in New Jersey and around the country have drawn criticism for the books they have assigned for summer reading.

Last year, a report by the National Association of Scholars slammed colleges for selecting “lite lit” for freshmen summer books. The association, a conservative advocacy group, surveyed 341 colleges and universities and found that most of the assigned books were new non-fiction books about illegal immigration, race, global warming, sexual orientation, sexism, recycling, wealth inequality and similar topics.