Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Reading is LIFE work, not homework! Get lost in a book!

Looking for a book to read? There are so many resources for you out there on the internet. I did a quick search and came up with these lists. Use them to find something for your final reading project or to plan your summer reading life! Click HERE for previous posts that have all kinds of summer reading lists and recommendations and links. Or, browse below for links to other lists. I included our recommended reading list from class at the bottom.





YALSA Top Teen Books 2015 20142013

Interesting lists on Goodreads



A great list from Imagination Soup






















100 Best Young Adult Novels

Book Options from Class:
Book Options

(All books are advanced young adult fiction unless otherwise noted):
**Most challenging adult fiction
*Adult fiction

Contemporary Fiction:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer **
Alternating narrators tell the story of a boy’s search to find the meaning behind an object he found in his father’s (who died on 9/11) closet.

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult*
Conceived as a bone marrow match for her sister, Anna begins to think about her identity apart from her family.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo*
The philosophical tale of a boy who yearns to travel and seeks adventure.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
A high school freshman navigates the social landscape of high school while dealing with events of his past. 

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
A collection of poetic vignettes about a poor girl in Chicago who dreams of a better life

The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A native American boy tries to navigate life on and off the reservation. Hilarious and poignant

Into the Wild by John Krakauer*
The true account of a boy who left his privileged life after college to travel and iltimately live away from society in Alaska’s wilderness

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
A young biracial girl must deal with society’s ideas of race and class after a family tragedy

Historical Fiction/Classic Fiction:

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The classic story of class struggle, friendship, loyalty, honor

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver**
The 4 daughters and wife of a southern preacher tell their story of their evangelical trip to the Congo in the 1950s

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger*

The story of a disenchanted teenage boy out to seek what is real in New York City in the late 1940s.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles*
The story of adventure, friendship, and competition between two boys at a boarding school in the 1950s. 

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd*
Set in the 1960s south, 14 year old Lily discovers herself and what family means while in search of her deceased mother’s past. 

Sweet Dates in Basra
Set in Iraq in the 1940s, the friendship between a Muslim boy and a Jewish boy as well as other issues of religion, loyalty and country are explored

Tales of the Madmen Underground by John Barnes
Set in Ohio in 1973, this story follows Karl and the group of kids he has been in group therapy with since 4th grade

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

A mystery set in post World War Two America


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Witness the trial of a unfairly accused black man through the eyes of his white lawyer’s children.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
A turn of the century story about a girl struggling to grow amidst poverty and family struggle

Memoir:
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou*
A moving story of a girl who has to move forward and deal with a horrible thing that happens to her as a child.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Ishmael Beah’s memoir about his experience as a child soldier and how he was able to leave it behind him.

Perspolis (I & II) by Marjane Satrapi
A graphic novel memoir of the author’s experiences growing up in Iran. (graphic novel)

Teen Angst by Ned Vizzini
The author’s semi-autobiography about growning up in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn. 

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
A memoir of how the author survived a highly dysfunctional, non traditional upbringing

Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey by GB Tran (graphic novel)
A memoir of an immigrant family

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
A memoir in verse of how famous author Woodson found her voice and place.

Night by Elie Wiesel**
An account of the author’s time in the ghettoes and concentration camps of WW2

Science Fiction:

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman*
A brilliant fantasy/science fiction novel in a vein similar to The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.

More Than This by Patrick Ness
A boy wakes up in his old house, though the entire neighborhood seems deserted

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
A science fiction coming of age story

The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
A science fiction coming of age story

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Explores artificial intelligence



















1 comment:

  1. Ms. Warren, this lsit was sooooooooooo helpful. Thanks for all the amazing recs. I can't wait to start.

    ReplyDelete