Great Reads for High School

Great Reads For High School

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams (1979) Hapless Arthur Dent is one of only 2 survivors when Earth is demolished to make room for an intergalactic highway.

Little Women Louisa May Alcott (1868)During the Civil War, 4 Massachusetts girls become women.

Speak Laurie Halse Anderson (1999)Melinda called the cops after a party got way out of control, and now no one will talk to her, and she can not speak about why she made that call.

Go Ask Alice (Beatrice Sparks) Anonymous (1971) Alice's diary records her fall into heavy drug use.

Rules of the Road Joan Bauer (1998)Jenna's road trip teaches her a lot about sales, and much more about herself.

Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (1953)In the future, firemen don't put out fires- they start them to burn books.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Ann Brashares (2001) Lena, Bridget, Tibby and Carmen are about to spend their first summer apart.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky (1999) Charlie's life in high school has been on the quiet, observing side- when will he move to the middle?

A Northern Light Jennifer Donnelly (2003) 16 year old Mattie discovers the reason a murder was committed at the hotel she works at.

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)Nick tells the story of his neighbor's desperate love for his cousin, Daisy.

Lord of the Flies William Golding (1954)Without laws, children on a deserted island quickly turn to mob rule.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time Mark Haddon (2003) 15 year-old Christopher John Francis Boone has Asperger's Syndrome, hates the color yellow, and is determined to find out who killed his neighbor's dog.

Brave New World Aldous Huxley (1932)Bio-engineering is taken to terrifying lengths in the future.

A Separate Peace John Knowles (1959)Gene and Phineas are friends at school during WWII.

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee (1960)Scout and Jem have to grow up when their father is appointed public defender of a black man accused of rape in the deep south.

Twilight Stephenie Meyer (2005) Bella moves to gloomy Washington state, and falls in love with mysterious Edward.

Monster Walter Dean Myers (1999)While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script.

Ttyl Lauren Myracle (2005) Angela, Zoe, and Madigan support each other through issues ranging from clothing decisions to peer pressure. Told entirely in texts and IMs.

Monsoon Summer Mitali Perkins (2004) Jazz doesn't want to go to India to volunteer- but she has no choice.

Life as We Knew It Susan Beth Pfeiffer(2006) When Miranda heard that a comet would strike the moon, she couldn't possibly have known how her life would be affected.

Great Non-Fiction

In Cold Blood. Truman Capote. (1965)The true story of a mass murder and the resulting arrests.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Barbara Ehrenreich. (2001)Undercover reporter tries to eat, buy clothes, and pay rent on minimum wage.

Girl, Interrupted. Susanna Kaysen. (1993) The author’s memoirs of being a patient in a psychiatric hospital, diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder.

High Tide: The truth about our climate crisis. Mark Lynas. (2004)An account of traveling to some of the world’s most vulnerable areas to see how climate change is already changing them.

The Hot Zone. Richard Preston. (1994)Thrilling, terrifying account of working with and hunting for some of the most deadly viruses in the world.

The Right Stuff. Tom Wolfe. (1979)A gonzo journalist’s take on the first seven astronauts selected to participate in the NASA space program.