At Least Fifty “Reads” to Help Your Teen­ager Evolve Into a More Empathetic and (Simultaneously) Culturally Literate Human Being! By Helen Eden, Corvallis Middle School Librarian American Eyes: New Asian­American Short Stories for Young Adults, by Lori M. Carlson (ed.). “Recreates the conflicts that all young people feel in living in two distinct worlds, one of memories and traditions, and one of today.” (FIC Ame) Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. “One of the most moving personal documents to come out of World War II.” (92 Fra) Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy. “At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates….” (92 Gre) Ball 6, by Virginia Euwer Wolff. “In small­town, post­World­War­II Oregon, 21 6th grade girls recount the story of the annual softball game, in which one girl’s bigotry comes to the surface.” (FIC Wol) Belle Prater’s Boy, by Ruth White. When Woodrow’s mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents’ home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin, and together they find the strength to face the terrible losses and fears in their lives. (FIC Whi) The BookThief, by Markus Zusak. Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a young German girl whose book­stealing and story­telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. (FIC Zus) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown. Traces the white man’s conquest of the Indians of the American West, emphasizing major Indian wars. (978 Bro) A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer. This book rates #1 amongst CMS readers, all of whom come away with a new perspective on just how lucky they are! (362.7 Pel) (Also, consider reading the sequel: The Lost Boy; 361.7 Pel.) A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. The classic story of a miser who learns about the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his life and forecast his future. (FIC Dic) (Other Dickens books would certainly be appropriate, too.) A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck. “...the timeless story of one Shaker boy, his beloved pet pig, and the joys and hardships that mark his passage into manhood.” (FIC Pec) Dogsong, by Gary Paulsen. “...A rigorous journey for an Eskimo boy and his team of dogs,” resulting in an unforgettable run toward self­discovery.” (Newberry Honor Book) (FIC Pau) The Elephant Man. Traces the history of Joseph Merrick, called the Elephant Man because of a deformity, from his birth in central England to his death in a London hospital in 1890. (92 Mer) The Eragon and Eldest, by Christopher Paolini. Every young person from Montana who aspires to someday achieve greatness needs to read these books by one of Montana’s own! (FIC Pao) Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley. Presents an account of the Marines who came together during the battle of Iwo Jima to raise the American flag in a moment that has been immortalized in one of the most famous photographs of World War II. (940.5 Bra) Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. The humanization of a science experiment gone amuck. (FIC Key)
The Giver, by Lois Lowry. “Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.” (Newberry Medal Book) (FIC Low) (Also, read the sequels: Messenger and Gathering of Blue.) (FIC Low) The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck. Pulitzer­prize­winning novel “presenting a graphic view of a China when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings for the ordinary people.” (FIC Buc) Hiroshima, by John Hersey. “Tells what happened” on June 6, 1945, the day Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb. (940.5 Her) Hunchback of Notre­Dame, by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell inger of Notre Dame Cathedral in medieval Paris, struggles to save the gypsy dance Esmeralda from being unjustly executed. (FIC Hug) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou. The moving biography of a black woman who ”confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.” (FIC Ang) I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg. Signet, 1964. “Story of a young girl’s three years in a mental hospital and her journey back from madness to reality.” (FIC Gre) Incident at Hawk’s Hill, by Allan W. Eckert. Autistic boy is raised by a badger (based on a true story). ”Easily one of the ten best books I’ve ever read.” (HAE) (Newberry Honor Book) (FIC Eck) (Also, read the sequel: Return to Hawk’s Hill.) Land I Lost, by Huynh Quang Nhuong. Collection of reminiscences of a boyhood spent in Vietnam. (92 Nhu) Men of Stone, by Gayle Friesen. “Living in a house full of women isn’t helping fifteen­year­old Ben make sense of his life…. He’s being bullied by a thug named Claude, and the violence is escalating. Then Great­Aunt Frieda comes to visit and Ben learns about her former life in Russia. He’s amazed at how she dealt with the men of Stone—Stalin’s agents who terrorized her community and family. Ben begins to see the route he must take….but first he must get past the rage that has taken control of his life.” (FIC Fri) (2003 Pacific Northwest Young Readers’ Choice title) Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli. “A tale of heartbreak, hope and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan” in Nazi­occupied Warsaw. (FIC Spi) Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. “The tragic yet triumphant story of an Old Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.” Won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. (FIC Hem) On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer. “A gripping, compassionate portrayal of a boy’s struggle with conscience….” (“Excellent advisory read­aloud and springboard for discussion!” HAE) (FIC Bau) Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse. In a series of poems, 15­year­old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family’s wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the depression. Newberry Medal Book) (FIC Hes) The Pearl, by John Steinbeck. Terrible events follow the discovery of a magnificent pearl by a poor Mexican fisherman. (FIC Ste)
People of the Deer, by Farley Mowat. Story of the Ihalmiut people of the Arctic, who numbered only 7,000 at the turn of the 20th century. (“Fascinating reading.” HAE) Note: You may also want to consider reading A Whale for the Killing by the same author. (FIC Mow) Phineas Gage: a Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science, by John Fleischman. The true story of a construction worker whose brain had been pierced by an iron rod in 1848 and who became a case study in how the brain functions. (362.1 Fle) Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. “A spirited young woman copes with the suit of a snobbish gentleman, as well as the romantic entanglements of her sisters.” (FIC Aus) The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane. “...Long been considered the first great modern novel of war by an American.” Note: a companion/alternative novel might be Soldier’s Heart, by Gary Paulsen. (FIC Cra and FIC Pau) The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck. Ownership of a beautiful red pony teaches ten­year­old Jody about life and death. (FIC Ste) Red Scarf Girl, by Ji­Li Jiang. “In 1966, Ji­Li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China’s Communist Party. But that year, China’s leader, Mao Ze­dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed….” (778.7 Jia) Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr. ”Sadako Sasaki was only 12 years old when she died. She was two when an atom bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in Japan, where she lived with her family. Ten years later, she had leukemia as a result of radiation from the bomb. Sadako had folded six hundred and forty four cranes…. Her classmates folded the rest.” (362.7 Coe) A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park. “The account of a creative spirit on its journey toward fulfillment set in 12th­century Korea….” (Newberry Medal Book) (FIC Par) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares. Carmen decides to discard an old pair of jeans, but Tibby, Lena, and Bridget think they are great and decide that whoever the pants fit best will get them. When the jeans fit perfectly, a sisterhood and a memorable summer begin. (FIC Bra) So Far from the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. “Though Japanese, 11­year­old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border of China all her life. When the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger; the Korean people want control of their homeland and they want to punish the Japanese, who have occupied their nation for many years.” (FIC Wat) Soldier Boys, by Dean Hughes. Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge. (FIC Hug) Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli. “Stargirl, a teen who animates quiet Mica High with her colorful personality, suddenly finds herself shunned for her refusal to conform.” (FIC Spi) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Two small children in a small Alabama town are thrust into an adult world of racial bigotry and hatred when their lawyer father chooses to defend a black man charged with raping a white girl. (FIC Lee) Under the Blood­Red Sun, by Graham Salisbury. Tomikazu Nakaji’s biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully ­ until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. (FIC Sal)
Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. (A guest recommendation by Christy Duchien.) (FIC Cre) Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls. Arguably the best dog story ever written. (FIC Raw) (Another good “read” is Rawls’ Summer of the Monkeys.) Winter Wheat, by Mildred Walker. Set in Montana, this story “about growing up, becoming a woman, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, within the space of a year and a half” is a classic of both Montana literature and the women’s lib movement. (FIC Wal) Yellow Star, by Jennifer Roy. From 1939, when Sylvia is four years old, until 1945, when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland’s Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation. Written in free verse. (FIC Roy) Zlata’s Diary, by Zlata Filipovic. Autobiography of 11­year­old whose life goes from focusing on piano lessons and birthday parties to the horrors of war. (92 Zla)