Grade 9 Suggested Reading List
Adams, Richard
Watership Down – Picturesque saga of a maverick band of rabbits who
set out against all odds on a quest for a new society.
Blinn, William
Brian’s Song – Biography - Emmy Award winning true story of courage
and brotherhood – one and off the football field.
Bray, Libba
Beauty Queens- A plane full of pageant contestants crashes on a small
tropical island
Clare, Cassandra
The Mortal Instruments- A world of demons and warriors.
Conroy, Pat
The Water is Wide – A triumphant story of one man’s battle for the kids on
a forgotten American island.
Basis for the film “Conrack.”
Cormier, Robert
I Am the Cheese – Chilling novel of a boy’s journey to unlock the past and
discover the truth about his father and his own shadowy childhood.
Craven, Margaret
I Heard the Owl Call My Name – Heartwarming novel about a young priest
who participates in life on an Indian village, where he learns the meaning
of life and death.
Dessen, Sarah
Along For The Ride- Teenage night owls bond during a summer at a
charming beach town.
Heyerdahl, Thor
Kon Tiki – The true record of an astonishing adventure – a journey of
4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft.
Hilton, James
Goodbye Mr. Chips – Novel – Schoolmaster plays a vital role in the lives
of generations of English boys.
Kennedy, John F.
Profiles in Courage – A new classic study in courage as seen in the lives
of John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Sam Houston, Robert Taft and
others.
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algeron – Is superior intelligence the answer to all of Charlie’s
problems? If so, he gains more of it than he bargained for.
Knowel, John
A Separate Peace – Two adolescents come to understand each other and
themselves after a tragic accident.
Lawrence and Lee
Inherit the Wind – Darwin versus the Fundamental approach to man’s
origin as depicted in the Bible. A classic clash between “left” and “right.”
Paterson, Katherine
Jacob Have I Loved – Novel – Story of twin sisters who live on an island in
the Chesapeake Bay.
Peck, Richard
A Day No Pigs Would Die- Gentle, heartwarming novel about a 13 year
old farm boy, his love for his father, and his coming to manhood.
Potok, Chaim
The Chosen – Story of Jewish family life revealing opt8mism and good
humor.
Shaw, George Bernard
Pygmalion - A professor of phonetics takes on the challenge of turning a
London flower girl into a lady.
Shute, Neville
On the Beach – Chilling story of a small community doomed to nuclear
destruction.
Stuart, Jesse
The Thread That Runs So True – The autobiography of a teacher who
began a Kentucky one-room school.
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit – Delightful tale which first creates the fantasy called Middle
Earth and its charming inhabitants including elves, dragons, wizards,
goblins, and dwarf-like creatures known as Hobbits.
Uris, Leon
Exodus – American nurse and an Israeli freedom fighter caught in the 20th
century’s most dramatic event, the re-birth of Israel.
Van Duren, John
I Remember Mama – Amusing and tender story of a Norwegian mother
and father raising their children in America in the early days of the 20th
century.
Vidal, Gore
A Visit to a Small Planet – Vidal’s best known play in which a visitor from
outer space comes to Earth to view the Battle of bull run during the Civil
War. To his dismay, he ends up in present-day Virginia and isn’t
impressed with his findings.
Bischoff, David
Aliens: Genocide – A very exciting and thrilling book. Brilliantly written
with copious themes. Extremely engrossing and difficult to put down. It
gives a clever insight into human nature, and inhuman nature as well.
Chambers, Veronica
Marna’s Girl – The story of one girl’s journey through the troubles of
adolescence growing up in NYC in the 1970’s and 80’s, and the impact of
her parents’ divorce on these formative years.
Duncan, Lois
Ransom – A suspenseful thriller where the reader feels she is being help
hostage by a crazed bus driver and his two friends. Suspenseful with a
highly shocking conclusion.
Greene, Graham
One Man in Havana – An incredibly wonderful book which tells how a poor
vacuum-cleaner salesman is sucked into military life. Ironically, yet
humorously, his bogus reports and design work, inspired by his vacuum
cleaners, become real.
Griffith, Howard John
Black Like Me – A white writer chemically darkened his skin and traveled
through the mid 1950’s South; his journal, a longtime bestseller, offers
chilling revelations.
Harnill, Pete
Snow in August – In Brooklyn in 1947, Michael Devlin, an 11 year old Irish
kid who spends his days reading Captain Marvel and anticipating the
arrival of Jackie Robinson, makes the acquaintance of a recently
emigrated Orthodox rabbi.
Madden, John
Hey! Wait a Minute! I Wrote a Book – The reminiscences and ramblings
of the colorful ex-Raiders coach and CBS commenter. The best-seller
that started it all.
Mann, Thomas
Buddenbrooks – Novel – Chronicles the slow decline of a family over four
generations. Set in North Germany. A wonderful story that provides
many points of insight into humanity, both solemn and humorous.
Mazer, Norma Fox
When She Was Good – Humorous and compassionate, this is a non-stop
read. The death of her abusive, manipulative older sister prompts
seventeen-year-old Em to remember their unpleasant life together with
their parents and then later on their own.
Meyers, Dean Walter
Fallen Angel – This book provides a realistic and exciting portrait of the life
of an American soldier in Vietnam. It shows the horrors of war and how
the human character reacts under such circumstances.
Meyers, Dean Walter
Slam – Seventeen-year-old Greg Harris is known as Slain for his
incredible skill on the basketball court. When he goes to a new school – a
magnet school where African Americans are in the minority – he faces a
host of challenges and conflicts. Myers never presents easy solutions in
his novels, and readers will appreciate the honesty with which he portrays
the dreams of one Harlem teenager.
Millman, Dan
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior – This best seller is based on the story of
a champion gymnast who, guided by a powerful old warrior, journeys into
realms of romance and magic.
Diane, Hoh
Titanic The Long Night – A novel about the unforgettable disaster.
Pfetzer, Mark and Galvin, Jack
My Everest Story – One young mans’ unforgettable journey.
Suggested Summer Reading List for 10th Grade (for your second
choice)
Note: This list was compiled from various sources and is meant to serve as a
guide. There are various reading levels represented on this list and many of the
books would receive a PG-13 or R rating in a movie theater. If this is a concern
for you, please do further research on any of the books before you buy, borrow,
or read them.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni (author of The Kite Runner)
This is the story of the unconquerable spirit of a people seen through the eyes of
two indomitable women.
Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed.
Now she has answered an ad to tutor the teenage daughter of a well-to-do
couple as they spend a sultry summer in their oceanfront New Hampshire
cottage.
Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen
This is an authoritative biography of one of the most enchanting figures in world
history.
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
What Office Space brought to the movies and what Dilbert brought to comics,
Then We Came to the End brings to literature.
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
A mystery set amidst the anarchy that is New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Science writer Alan Weisman asks us to consider what it would look like if, by
plague or divine rapture, the entire human race disappeared from the planet in
his exhaustively researched The World Without Us.
The God of Small Things by Arhundati Roy
The story of the tragic decline of an Indian family whose members suffer the
terrible consequences of forbidden love, The God of Small Things is set in the
state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible
innocence of children the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for
themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family. When their English
cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that Things
Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease
forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding
and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
A seemingly immortal drug lord named El Patron created Matt as a clone of
himself. Though Matt is hardly his first clone used for “spare parts,” he is the
only clone in the world that has not been turned into a brainless slave as is the
law. His freedom of thought was meant to be a gift from El Patron, but it winds
up being a curse. Matt is tortured as if he were an animal by the others in the
family, but when El Patron arrives for a visit Matt is feared and treated as royalty.
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Myers has always had a knack for writing gritty, realistic novels of life on urban
streets, but Monster, with its completely unique format and unbiased tone, is his
finest achievement to date. Narrated by 16 year old aspiring film maker Steve
Harmon, who is on trial for his role in the murder of a convenience store worker,
the text goes back and forth between his scribbled journal and the events in the
courtroom written screenplay style.
Note: If you want a more conventionally written book I would suggest reading
Slam! or Hoops by Myers instead.
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an
accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of
thievery. Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking
new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich.
Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she
encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordionplaying foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her
neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her
basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about
the ability of books to feed the soul.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Seventeen-year-old techno-geek “w1n5t0n” (aka Marcus) bypasses the school’s
gait-recognition system by placing pebbles in his shoes, chats secretly with
friends on his IMParanoid messaging program, and routinely evades school
security with his laptop, cell, WifFnder, and ingenuity. While skipping school,
Markus is caught near the site of a terrorist attack on San Francisco and held by
the Department of Homeland Security for six days of intensive interrogation. After
his release, he vows to use his skills to fight back against an increasingly
frightening system of surveillance. Set in the near future, Doctorow’s novel blurs
the lines between current and potential technologies, and readers will delight in
the details of how Markus attempts to stage a techno-revolution. Obvious
parallels to Orwellian warnings and post-9/11 policies, such as the Patriot Act,
will provide opportunity for classroom discussion and raise questions about our
enthusiasm for technology, who monitors our school library collections, and how
we contribute to our own lack of privacy. An extensive Web and print bibliography
will build knowledge and make adults nervous. Buy multiple copies; this book will
be h4wt (that’s “hot,” for the nonhackers). Grades 8-12. --Cindy Dobrez -Booklist
College Bound Reading List
House of the Spirits by Allende, Isabel
This is the story of the Trueba family in Chile, from the turn of the century to the
violent days of the overthrow of the Salvador Allende government in 1973.
The Mill on the Floss by Eliot, George
Maggie is miserable because her brother disapproves of her choices of
romances.
Like Water for Chocolate by Esquivel, Laura
As the youngest of three daughters in a turn-of-the-century Mexican family, Tita
may not marry but must remain at home to care for her mother.
A Passage to India by Forster, E.M.
A young English woman in British-ruled India accuses an Indian doctor of sexual
assault.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Hardy, Thomas
The happiness of Tess and her husband is destroyed when she confesses that
she bore a child as the result of a forced sexual relationship with her employer's
son.
Brave New World by Huxley, Aldous
This is a bitter satire of the future, in which the world is controlled by advances in
science and social changes.
The Trial by Kafka, Franz
A man is tried for a crime he knows nothing about, yet for which he feels guilt.
Death in Venice by Mann, Thomas
In this novella, an author becomes aware of a darker side of himself when he
visits Venice.
Cry, the Beloved Country by Paton, Alan
A country Zulu pastor searches for his sick sister in Johannesburg, and discovers
that she has become a prostitute and his son a murderer.
Profiles in Courage by Kennedy, John F.
A series of profiles of Americans who took courageous stands in public life.
Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South
Africa by Mathabane, Mark
A tennis player breaks down racial barriers and escape to a better life in America.
Silent Spring by Carson, Rachel
Carson's original clarion call to environmental action sets the stage for saving our
planet.
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Hawking, Stephen
Cosmology becomes understandable as the author discusses the origin,
evolution, and fate of our universe.
The Power of Myth by Campbell, Joseph
Explores themes and symbols from world religions and their relevance to
humankind's spiritual journey today.
There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in Urban
America by Kotlowitz, Alex
Lafayette and Pharoah Rivers and their family struggle to survive in one of
Chicago's worst housing projects.
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Kozol, Jonathan
Kozol's indictment of the public school system advocates equalizing per pupil
public school expenditures.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Recommendations
The Lathe of Heaven by Andre Norton
What if the whole world was just someone’s dream?
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
In another world, similar to the environment of the Middle East, a young woman
learns how to fight with swords and magic.
Beauty by Robin McKinley
A retelling of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
A young woman, who makes the best cinnamon rolls you ever did eat, finds
herself actually interacting with a vampire which is just crazy.
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
A young man finds out how to raise a dragon in the last dragon preserve on
Earth.
Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
Another world with fishermen and magic is explored and a young man comes of
age and finds out his destiny.
Eragon (Be aware that the book is incredibly different from the movie!!!)
Eldest
Brisingr all by Christopher Paolini
These are the first three books of Paolini’s dragon rider series which he started
writing when he was a teenager. They’re long but if you like fantasy you might
like these. Obviously there are dragons in these books, but there are also nasty
creatures, magic, an immortal despotic king, and a resistance movement.