Independent Reading Suggested Titles
Below is a list of possibilities for your independent reading book. You should plan to
purchase or borrow a book for the first month of school. You are not required to choose a book
from this list; however, you are required to choose a novel written in first-person narration that
deals with coming of age issues. Our first unit is a study of voice and coming of age. To
complement our work in the classroom, your book must deal with coming of age issues and have
a strong, first person narrative voice. Additionally, you should choose a book that you can
reasonably finish in two to three weeks. There are no exceptions to these requirements.
Soldier’s Heart – by Gary Paulson
Dog Song – by Gary Paulson
Notes from the Midnight Driver, by Jordan Sonnenblick
Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, by Jordan Sonnenblick
Stuck in Neutral, by Terry Trueman
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, by David Lubar
The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Skin I'm In, by Sharon Flake
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
No More Dead Dogs, by Gordon Korman
Anything, by Sandra Cisneros
Crackback, by John Coy
Burned, by Ellen Hopkins
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
The Highest Tide, by Jim Lynch
Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen
Boot Camp, by Todd Strasser
Tangerine, by Edward Bloor
Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
She’s so Money, by Cherry Cheva
Slam, by Walter Dean Myers
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, by Michael Dorris
Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons
The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles