Recommended List for Grades 9 and 10
Select ONE of these to read
Non-fiction
Alive, Paul Read A plane crashes in the Andes and the 32 survivors, 15 of whom are members of an amateur rugby club, have only a little
wine and candy to sustain them. This is the true story of their ordeal.
Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther A well-known author writes about his son’s courage in the face of illness and impending death.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou The first volume of an autobiography, this is a disturbing and moving story of a young
black girl who triumphs over both her abuse by others and her own fantasy that she is an enchanted white girl.
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer Into Thin Air is a first-person account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest. Krakauer takes the reader
step-by-step from Katmandu to the mountain’s deadly pinnacle, unfolding a breathtaking story that will thrill and terrify readers.
Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand This highly readable sports biography, takes an unlikely hero, an overweight, short-in-stature horse, who, in
true American fashion, becomes a champion. Laura Hillenbrand's reporting reveals the trail of racetracks, from humble stake races to the
ultimate challenge – Seabiscuit v War Admiral.
Stop- Time, Frank Conroy First published in 1967, Stop-Time was immediately recognized as a masterpiece of modern American
autobiography, a brilliant portrayal of one boy’s passage from childhood to adolescence and beyond. In this sad, wry, and beautiful tale the
reader takes to the road with the author-protagonist as he deals with friendship, school, family, and love in his passage from childhood to
manhood.
Black Boy, Richard Wright (Note: Read Part I only, "Southern Nights") The grandchild of slaves, Wright spent his childhood in the South,
including Memphis, in the 1920's.
Fiction
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd ISBN: 978-01-4200174-5
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred
memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's
fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and
the Black Madonna who presides over their household.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and
their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand
to be touched and detests the color yellow. The story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes
for a captivating and unusual story.
The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown In this lightning-paced international bestseller, symbologist Robert Langdon embarks on a quest to solve the
murder of a Louvre museum curator and discovers a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo DaVinci. With gifted code-breaker Sophie
Neveu, he sets off on a desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe to discover an explosive ancient truth hidden for centuries.
Edisto, Padgett Powell A boy raised by a single mother on an island off the Carolina coast finds that growing up is both challenging and
ridiculous. This funny account of maturing reminds many readers of The Catcher in the Rye.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Just how much trouble can one boy stir up? Find out and enjoy Mark Twain’s classic,
humorous story of a boyhood spent on the banks of the Mississippi River.
Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland Vreeland’s novel brings together an artfully constructed narrative – a kind of Chinese box unfolding
from the contemporary hiding-place of a painting attributed to Vermeer all the way back to the moment the work was conceived.
The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier Chevalier transports readers to a bygone time and place in this richly imagined portrait of
the young woman who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. Girl with a Pearl Earring is the story of sixteen-year-old Griet,
whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius, even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.
Looking for Alaska, John Green Bored with his safe life at home, Miles “Pudge” Halter heads off for a new experience at Culver Creek
Boarding School, where he finds life anything but boring or safe once he makes the acquaintance of the fascinating Alaska Young!
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier A novel of mystery and passion, Rebecca is a disturbing tale. Filled with dark secrets, it is set in Manderley, an
estate that provides a powerful setting for a story that ends with a twist.
A Separate Peace, John Knowles This is a classic story set in a boarding school at the beginning of the Second World War. A boy has to
struggle with his conscience after he learns about his own capacity to do wrong.
Songdogs, Colum McCann Songdogs focuses on a young man's discovery of some startling information about the lives of his Irish father and
his Mexican mother.
The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger In this engrossing real-life thriller, Junger recreates the lives and gut-wrenching deaths of six fishermen
caught out on the Atlantic Ocean in the “storm of the century” in October 1991. He recreates the last moments of their swordfish boat, the
Andrea Gail, as well as the perilous high seas rescues of other victims of the storm.
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson This novel, that depicts the pressures to conform exerted by peers, is told from the point of view of a girl who
does not belong to any of the groups in her clique-ridden high school. The narrator's sharp wit makes her a survivor and helps give her the
courage to speak out for herself.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston This is the story of Janie Crawford's life as it evolves through three marriages. Beautiful
and dreamy as a child, Jane grows up expecting better treatment than she gets until she meets Tea Cake, a younger man who engages her
heart and spirit and gives her the chance to enjoy life without being one man's mule or another man's adornment.
Fantasy – Science Fiction
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams This is a mystery about a murder, a disappearance, and a time warp, written by the
author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Dune, Frank Herbert First in a series of books about the planet Dune, this is the story of Paul Atreides, whose family is forced to leave its
prosperous home and move to the arid planet of Dune. Paul subsequently battles with the Emperor of the Universe who rules their lives.
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula LeGuin In this masterful work of science fiction a lone human emissary, Genly Ai, is attempting to
persuade the inhabitants of the alien planet Winter to join The League of All Worlds, known as Ekumen. To do so he must overcome his own
prejudices as he discovers that the inhabitants of Winter can change gender at will. How can beings from such different worlds ever come to
understand one another?
The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks The first volume in the Shannara series, this adventure saga with human beings, trolls, elves, gnomes,
good and evil sorcerers, knights and knaves, features a reluctant hero who takes up the quest for the Sword of Shannara. There are several
sequels to this novel.
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer Matt Alacran grows up learning what it means to have been born a clone. And not just any
clone. Matt is the clone of El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Is escape from his fate possible?
Life of Pi by Yann Martel The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of
stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo
animals bound for new homes. When the ship sinks, Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a
wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and
cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard
Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him
to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional--but is it
more true?