2012
2011-2012 …
Hoffman Estates
High School
After
In complete denial of
her pregnancy, Devon,
a straight-A student
and star athlete,
leaves her baby in the
trash to die. Later,
Devon is accused of
attempted murder.
Through flashbacks,
Devon shares her
detention experience.
By Amy Efaw
Beastly
A modern retelling of
"Beauty and the Beast"
from the point of view
of the Beast, a vain
Manhattan private
school student who is
turned into a monster
and must find true
love before he can
return to his human
form.
By Alex Flinn
Before I Die
Tessa has just months
to live. Fighting back
against hospital visits,
endless tests, and
drugs with
excruciating side
effects, Tessa makes a
“To Do Before I Die”
list. All of her
relationships
crystallize before time
runs out.
By Jenny Downham
Carter Finally Gets It
Awkward freshman
Will Carter endures
many painful
moments during his
first year of high
school before
realizing that nothing
good comes easily,
focus is everything,
and the payoff is
usually incredible.
By Brent Crawford
Columbine
Drawing on hundreds
of interviews,
thousands of pages of
police files, FBI
psychologists, and the
boys' tapes and
diaries, Cullen gives a
complete account of
the Columbine
tragedy.
By Dave Cullen
The Compound
After his parents, two
sisters, and he have
spent 6 years in a vast
underground compound
built by his wealthy
father to protect them
from a nuclear
holocaust, 15 year-old
Eli, whose twin brother
and grandmother were
left behind, discovers
that his father has
perpetrated a monstrous
hoax on them all.
By S. A. Bodeen
Flash Burnout
With photography as
the background,
Marissa and Blake’s
friendship is put to
the test after Blake
unknowingly takes a
picture of Marissa’s
long-lost meth
addicted mother.
Blake’s experiences
range from the comic
to the tragic.
By L. K. Madigan
Ghosts of War
This is the true story
of Ryan Smithson who
enlisted in the army
right after 9-11. After
marrying his high
school sweetheart, he
went to Iraq as an
equipment operator
of bulldozers. He
returned home but
experienced
recurring episodes of
PTSD.
By Ryan Smithson
Going Bovine
Cameron Smith, a
disaffected sixteen
year-old is diagnosed
with Creutzfeld
Jakob's (aka mad cow)
disease. He sets off
on a road trip with a
death-obsessed video
gaming dwarf that he
met in the hospital. Is
this trip worth taking
in his attempt to find
a cure?
By Libba Bray
How to Build a House
Seventeen-year-old
Harper Evans hopes
to escape the effects
of her father's divorce
on her family and
friendships by
volunteering her
summer to build a
house in a small
Tennessee town
devastated by a
tornado.
By Dana Reinhardt
If I Stay
In a coma following an
automobile accident
that killed her parents
and younger brother,
seventeen-year-old
Mia, a gifted cellist,
weighs whether to
live with her grief or
join her family in
death. This book is
about the power of
love, and the choices
we must make.
By Gayle Forman
The Looking Glass Wars
When she is cast out
of Wonderland by her
evil Aunt Redd, young
Alyss Heart finds
herself living in
Victorian Oxford as
Alice Liddell. She
struggles to keep
memories of her
kingdom intact until
she can return and
claim her rightful
throne.
By Frank Beddor
Love is the Higher Law
Three New York City
teens express their
reactions to the bombing
of the World Trade
Center on 9/11/2001,
and its impact on their
lives and the world. They
come to new friendships,
understandings, and
levels of awareness for
the world around them
and the people they hold
close.
By David Leviathan
The Maze Runner
In this action-packed
thriller, 16 year-old
Thomas wakes up with
no memory in the
middle of a maze and
realizes he must work
with the community in
which he finds himself if
he is to escape. He must
learn about the society
the others created
before he arrived to
discover an escape
route.
By James Dashner
Mexican WhiteBoy
Sixteen-year-old
Danny searches for
his identity amidst the
confusion of being
half-Mexican and halfwhite while spending
a summer with his
cousin and new
friends on the
baseball fields and
back alleys of San
Diego County,
California
By Matt de la Pena
Reality Check Check
After a knee injury
destroys sixteen-yearold Cody's college
hopes, he drops out of
high school to get a
job in his small
Montana town. When
his ex-girlfriend
disappears from her
Vermont boarding
school, Cody travels
cross-country to join
the search.
By Peter Abrahams
Shiver
In all the years she
watched the wolves in
the woods by her
house, Grace was
drawn to an unusual
yellow-eyed wolf. He
too had watched her
with increasing
intensity. He must
fight to stay human
before he returns to
his other form.
By Maggie Stiefvater
Story of a Girl
In the three years
since her father
caught her in the back
seat of a car with an
older boy, sixteen
year old Deanna’s life
has been a nightmare.
While dreaming of
escaping with her
brother and his family,
she discovers the
power of forgiveness.
By Sara Zarr
Tweak
This graphic, detailed
memoir painfully
depicts the author's
addiction to methamphetamines and
his tortuous, tentative
journey to health. His
flashbacks tell of the
drug underworld and
how he dragged
others and himself
into a pit of despair.
By Nic Sheff
Why I Fight
After his house burns
down, twelve-year-old
Wyatt Reaves takes off
with his uncle. The
two of them drive
from town to town for
six years, earning
money mostly by
fighting, until Wyatt
finally confronts his
parents one last time
in this coming-of-age
novel.
By J. Adams Oaks
Wish you were Dead
Madison, a senior at a
suburban New York
high school, tries to
uncover who is
responsible for the
disappearance of her
friends, popular
students mentioned in
the posts of an
anonymous blogger,
while she, herself, is
being stalked online
and in-person.
By Todd Strasser
World War Z
This is the story of the
world’s desperate
battle against the
zombie threat. It
contains the testimony
of smugglers,
intelligence officials,
military personnel
and others who are
struggling to defeat
the zombies in the
decade long war.
By Max Brooks
The Abraham Lincoln Book List is
•selected by Illinois students in grades 9-12.
•named for one of Illinois' most famous
residents who was an avid reader and noted
author.
•sponsored by the Illinois School Library
Media Association (ISLMA).
•designed to encourage high school students
to read for personal satisfaction and become
familiar with authors of young adult and adult
books. Click to access the HEHS online
catalog.
After you’ve read a book, submit an online
review. You will be entered into our
drawing to win a sweet treat, and we’ll
notify your English teacher who may give
you extra credit!