RISING 7TH - 8th GRADERS

BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR

SUMMER READING 2018

“It’s hard to imagine a novel more perfectly suited, in both form and content, to this literary moment. Station Eleven, if we were to talk about it in our usual way, would seem like a book that combines high culture and low culture—“literary fiction” and “genre fiction.” But those categories aren’t really adequate to describe the book” —The New Yorker

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker In Helene Wecker’s first novel, two more than usually disoriented foreigners emerge onto the streets of 1899 New York. One is a golem, a clay woman fashioned near Danzig, then shipped across the ocean as the wife of a man who inconveniently dies on the voyage. The other is a jinni from the Syrian Desert, trapped inside a copper flask until a hapless tinsmith sets him free during a routine repair. “It was ludicrous,” thinks the surprised tinker. “Such things were only stories. But then… [NYT]

Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang, Compestine The summer of 1972, before I turned nine, danger began knocking on doors all over China. Nine-year-old Ling has a very happy life. Her parents are both dedicated surgeons at the best hospital in Wuhan, and her father teaches her English as they listen to Voice of America every evening on the radio. But when one of Mao’s political officers moves into a room in their apartment, Ling begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her world. In an atmosphere of increasing mistrust and hatred, Ling fears for the safety of her neighbors, and soon, for herself and her family. For the next four years, Ling will suffer more horrors than many people face in a lifetime. Will she be able to grow and blossom under the oppressive rule of Chairman Mao? Or will fighting to survive destroy her spirit—and end her life? [Goodreads]

The Help by Kathryn Stockett Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step. Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone. [Amazon]

Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris In a blazing hot desert in Saudi Arabia, a search party is dispatched to find a missing young woman. Thus begins a novel that offers rare insight into the inner workings of a country in which women must wear the abaya in public or risk denunciation by the religious police; where ancient beliefs, taboos, and customs frequently clash with a fast-moving, technology-driven modern world

The housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa Translated by Stephen Snyder. Last December the death of a man named Henry Gustav Molaison made headlines in The New York Times and around the world. He was famous in scientific circles for not being able to remember anything new longer than 15 minutes, due to an accident. He had spent the later part of his life in a Connecticut nursing home being a subject known only as H. M. in psychology experiments A similar malady, but a more humane fate, has befallen the “professor” in this deceptively elegant novel, which was a bestseller and a movie in Japan. A car accident has robbed him of the ability to remember any new memories for more than 80 minutes. For him time stopped in 1975. [NYT]

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

The African Queen by C.S. Forester A classic story of adventure and romance - the novel that inspired the legendary movie starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart A fast-moving tale and a very good yarn...Mr Forester again and again proves himself a master of suspense - [New York Times Book Review

Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury In The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury, America’s preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor— of crystal pillars and fossil seas—where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization. Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work of fiction, Bradbury exposes our ambitions, weaknesses, and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan "There isn’t really a gay scene or a straight scene in our town. They got all mixed up a while back, which I think is for the best." Paul has both gay and straight friends, and they all hang out together at terrific bookstores and concerts, and advise one another on the sometimes troubled progress of their various romances.

Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah Blamed for the loss of her mother, who died shortly after giving birth to her, Mah is an outcast in her own family. When her father remarries and moves the family to Shanghai to evade the Japanese during WWII, Mah and her siblings are relegated to second-class status by their stepmother.

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Firemen don't put out fires; they start them in order to burn books. Society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal; a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fireman Guy Montag is moved to make some changes.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Autobiography/Graphic Satrapi is nine when fundamentalist rebels overthrow the Shah of Iran. While Satrapi's radical parents and their community initially welcomed the ouster, they soon learn a new brand of totalitarianism is taking over.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Despite his natural athletic ability, T.J. has steered away from organized sports. In his senior year he sees an opportunity to get revenge on the athletic establishment at school. He assembles a swim team (in a school with no pool) and invites outcasts to participate on the team; he ends up with "a representative from each extreme of the educational spectrum, a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a psychopath.”

American Born Chinese by Gene Yang - Graphic Novel The Chinese folk hero Monkey King attempts to shed his humble roots. Jin Wang, a lonely Asian American student, wants to fit in with his white classmates. Danny, another teen, is shamed by his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee (a purposefully painful ethnic stereotype). These three stories intertwine to create a commentary about race, identity, and self-acceptance.

Facing the Lion by Joseph Lekuton Lekuton grew up in Kenya’s poorest tribe, herding cows and playing in hyena holes before he was accepted into a fancy Nairobi high school and went to college in the U.S. Now he teaches in Virginia, but he has never lost his Maasai roots.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie When Rashid’s storytelling ability dries up, his son Haroun seeks the mysterious forces that block the Sea of Stories, from which all stories come. The book contains humor, wordplay, fantasy, and epic battle, and it is ultimately a metaphor for the forces that limit free speech and those who fight to keep telling stories.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Algernon is a lab mouse who gets an experimental brain operation that raises his IQ. Charlie, a mentally disabled man, undergoes the same operation, and his intelligence expands. But then Algernon suddenly and unexpectedly begins to deteriorate. Will the same happen to Charlie?

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein Bilbo Baggins is a quiet and contented hobbit whose life is turned upside down when he joins the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves on their quest to reclaim stolen treasure. Tolkein creates an entire world of creatures, geography, culture, and adventures and continues it into the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club explores the bond between four daughters and their mothers. The daughters know one side of their mothers, but they don’t know about their earlier never-spoken-of lives in China.

Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston grew up in two worlds: “solid America,” the place his parents emigrated to, and the China of her mother’s “talk-stories.”

Absolutely Positively Not by David LaRochelle Steven DeNarski, 16, is determined that he is absolutely, positively not gay. He covers his Superman posters with pictures of women in bikinis, hangs out with the hockey players at lunch, and embarks on a series of disastrous dates with girls from his class. It doesn’t work. When he reluctantly tells his friend Rachel that he is gay, she wants him to celebrate by telling his family and forming a gay-straight alliance in his high school the following day. The first-person narrative moves from personal angst to outright farce as Steven finds quiet support, as well as betrayal, in unexpected places.

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez Twelve-year-old Anita de la Torre is too involved with her own life to be more than dimly aware of the growing menace all around her, until her last cousins and uncles and aunts have fled from the Dominican Republic to America and a fleet of black Volkswagens comes up the drive, bringing the secret police to the family compound to search their houses. Gradually, through overheard conversations and the explanations of her older sister, Lucinda, she comes to understand that her father and uncles are involvedin a plot to kill El Jefe, the dictator, and that they are all in deadly peril.

Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech Always the quiet (and often forgotten) middle child in a bustling family, Zinnia's life begins to change when she stumbles upon a hidden, overgrown pathway that stretches from the edge of her family's farm into the great unknown.

China Boy by Gus Lee This story of seven-year-old Kai Ting, set in the tough Panhandle District of San Francisco in the 1950s, includes all of the classic fairy-tale conventions: a wicked stepmother; a bully, Big Willie Mack, who lives to beat Kai into pulp; Toussaint La Rue, a street-wise friend; and the YMCA “Knights” who teach Kai to stand up for himself. Readers will weep with Kai when he’s locked out of the house and left as prey to the McAllister street bullies. They’ll laugh with him when he confuses English idioms and ethnic street slang. They’ll root for him during his survival training at the Y where he transforms his body into a disciplined fighting machine, and cheer loudly when he learns to deal with the ghosts who haunt him.

The Chocolate War series by Robert Cormier Does Jerry Renault dare to disturb the universe? You wouldn't think that his refusal to sell chocolates during his school's fundraiser would create such a stir, but it does; it's as if the…

Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa Violet Paz, growing up in suburban Chicago, barely knows Spanish, and her dad refuses to talk about his Cuban roots, so it's a real surprise when Abuela insists that Violet have a grand quinceanero, the traditional Latina fifteenth-year coming-of-age ceremony. But Violet wouldn't be caught dead in any onstage ceremony wearing a ruffled pink dress and a tiara. Violet narrates her own story, which is specific to to Cuban culture and also transcends that culture to speak to all readers.

Looking for Alaska by John Green Sixteen-year-old Miles goes to boarding school to find real friends, real adventure, and real challenges. He finds all three in this engrossing and intense novel about growing up. (Alaska is the name of a girl here–not that state.)

A Step from Heaven by An Na When at four years old Young Ju takes her first plane ride to emigrate from Korea to California, she is sure she’s on her way to heaven. But it doesn’t take the girl very long to realize that America is not heaven. Young, her parents, and her new baby brother struggle to adjust: learning a new language, dealing with government bureaucracy, adults working two jobs each, and children embarrassed by their parents’ behavior. Woven throughout Young’s story, beginning when she’s four and ending when she’s about to go to college, is the abuse she faces from her alcoholic father as well as the small joys she encounters in her family life.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith Francie grows up in the slums of Brooklyn during the early part of the twentieth century, and life treats her badly. But like the Tree of Heaven that grows out of cement or through cellar gratings, resourceful Francie struggles against all odds to survive and thrive.

Eragon series by Christopher Paolini Written when Paolini was a teenager himself, this is the story of a teenager who happens upon a dragon’s egg and finds himself, the last of the Dragon Riders, a key player in the war different groups of fantastical creatures.

The Golden Compass series by Philip Pullman This incredibly sophisticated fantasy focuses on Lyra, an orphan growing up in a fantastical alternate-universe version of Oxford University, in which every person has a magical daemon who follows her around.

Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Sixteen year old Katriss Everdeen does all that she can to help her family survive in their post-apocalyptic world, even enticing her sister in The Hunger Games.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner Like The Hunger Games, this is a dystopian adventure in which children must survive in a created environment and figure out how to escape—in this case, from a mysterious maze.

Cartoon Guide to the Environment by Larry Gonick & Alice Outwater [graphic format] Using the ecological collapse of Easter Island as an example of a failing environment, the authors present the historical, scientific, and ethical backgrounds to the environmental challenges faced currently, and in the near future, by all humanity. Nothing less than the fate of life on Earth lies in the balance, which makes for an engrossing plot, made more poignant by the scientific research and data that back it up. Black-and-white cartoons clearly explain, define, and graphically display terms, events, and situations.

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species: A Graphic Adaptation by Michael Keller This graphic adaptation of Darwin’s original breakthrough work also includes some history about the book and some updates about what is now understood about evolution.

Clan Apis by Jay Hosler

The life story of Nyuki the honeybee is a combination of authoritative science; appealing black-and-white drawings; and dialogue replete with humor, pubescent angst, political sloganeering, and more. Nyuki’s colony undertakes migration to a new hive, is beset by a woodpecker, and hibernates through a winter that yields to a revitalizing spring. The bees are nicely individualized, as are the plants and other insects that figure into their lives, and there are a number of clever touches. This is the sort of science book that fiction and comics readers will enjoy.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson Set in NYC at the beginning of the American Revolution, Chains addresses the price of freedom both for the nation and for individuals through the story of Isabel, a slave sold at the age of five to a cruel family.

Leonardo’s Shadow: Or, My Astonishing Life as Leonardo da Vinci’s Servant by Christopher Grey Giacomo has a lot to do: run errands, fend off the merchants who try to collect debts, and try to solve the mystery of why Leonardo refuses to work on his great masterpiece, “The Last Supper.”

To Be a Slave by Julius Lester What was it like to be a slave? Drawn from slave narratives of the 1800s and interviews of ex-slaves conducted in the 1930s, the stories collected in this book describe living conditions under a bondage that negated one’s humanity. Passion and emotion emanate from these passages, as those affected describe slave trade, the auction block, resistance to slavery, plantation life and emancipation. Readers experience slaves as human beings, and while the dehumanizing aspects of slavery are made abundantly clear, the book serves more as a testament to the human spirit of those who endured or survived.

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck With his dog Charley, John Steinbeck set out in his truck to explore and experience America in the 1960s. As he in traveled over 10,000 miles through thirty-eight states, Steinbeck talked with different people, noting the passing of region speech, falling in love with Montana, and chronicling the racism he encountered in New Orleans. Readers will enjoy savoring the vivid details preserved in this memoir.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier "Chevalier is especially adept at character studies: imperious burghers, butchers, biddies and crones. It's as if, after scrutinizing Vermeer's masterworks (and doing the required reading), she began to think and feel like a 17th century Delft." [Time Magazine]

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President by Josh Lieb With plenty of sci-fi, fantastical, and comic elements, this story of Oliver, an overweight 12-year-old from Omaha is set against a realistic backdrop. Oliver fools his family and classmates into thinking that he is slow-witted while in fact he is the third-richest person in the world and is plotting to attain his goal of world domination.

The boy in the striped pajamas by John Boyne Berlin 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

THE Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, 11-year-old Parvana has rarely been outdoors. Barred from attending school, shopping at the market, or even playing in the streets of Kabul, the heroine of Deborah Ellis's engrossing children's novel The Breadwinner is trapped inside her family's one-room home. That is, until the Taliban hauls away her father and Parvana realizes that it's up to her to become the "breadwinner" and disguise herself as a boy to support her mother, two sisters, and baby brother. Set in the early years of the Taliban regime, this topical novel for middle school readers explores the harsh realities of life for girls and women in modern-day Afghanistan. Ellis based The Breadwinner on the true-life stories of women in Afghan refugee camps.

I AM THE MESSENGER by Markus Zusak. If you liked The Book Thief, you might try this one by the same author. Nineteen-year- old Ed Kennedy has little to look forward to. He works as a cabbie and plays cards with his friends. But then he stops a bank robbery and starts receiving anonymous messages, written in code on playing cards. The cards send him on challenging tasks. But who is sending them?

EVVY’S CIVIL WAR by Miriam Brenaman Evvy, oldest of five sisters, is shocked on her fourteenth birthday, when everyone expects her to start acting like a "Southern Lady." Putting up her hair, wearing tight corsets and dainty gloves;however, are soon overshadowed by the horror and death of the Civil War, especially after her father goes to fight in the war, leaving Evvy in charge of the plantation.

NIGHT by Elie Wiesel In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps

present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died. THE ROLLER BIRDS OF RAMPUR by Indi Rana Although Shehla was born in India, she grew up in London and thinks of herself as English. But when her boyfriend drops her because she is Indian, Shehla begins to wonder where she belongs. Since her grandparents live in India, Sheila visits them to learn more about her native land. From karma to Hinduism, Sheila discovers that India is a land of contradiction --and a complex place where she learns about herself, her people, and the incredible challenge of growing up proud of her heritage... Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez Sixteen-year-old Milly Kaufman has always known she was adopted. Her family has always been willing to talk about it, but not Milly. However, when Pablo Bolivar moves to her small Vermont town and she discovers that he and his family are from the same South American country as she, Milly starts to wonder about her country of origin. When she sets off on an adventure to learn more about where she came from, she discovers a history she never knew and learns that family is about more than blood ties.

In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez The four Mirabel sisters were called the Mariposas, or butterflies. Dede, the only survivor, tells the story of courage that helps liberate the Dominican Republic from the dictator Trujillo Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

Lily and Dunkin’ by Donna Gephart

Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you’re in the eighth

grade. Dunkin Dorfman, birth name Norbert Dorfman, is dealing with bipolar disorder and has just moved from the New Jersey town he’s called home for the past thirteen years. One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him. Running. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost.

Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper

When the Ku Klux Klan’s unwelcome reappearance rattles Stella’s segregated southern town, bravery battles prejudice in this depression-era novel. Stella and her little brother see something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella’s community—her world—is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. And she learns that ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

For centuries Love and Death have chosen their players. They have set the rules, rolled the dice. And Death has always won. Always. Meet Flora Saudade, an African-American girl who dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earhart. Meet Henry Bishop, born a few blocks and a million worlds away, a white boy with his future assured—a wealthy adoptive family in the midst of the Great Depression. But when human beings make moves of their own, what happens next is anyone’s guess.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend, Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world

and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, adolescent sexual attraction, and the complex realities of the human condition.

Code name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Oct. 11th, 1943 - A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. And Jo reluctantly agrees.

Classic Literature For Young Teens

20,000 Leagues under the Sea -- Jules Verne Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The -- Mark Twain Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The -- Mark Twain African Queen, The -- C.S. Forester Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -- Lewis Carroll Amos Fortune, Free Man -- Elizabeth Yates Around the World in Eighty Days -- Jules Verne Bell for Adano, A -- John Hersey Ben-Hur -- Lewis Wallace Big Sky, The -- A.B. Guthrie Black Arrow, The -- Robert Louis Stevenson Bridge of San Luis Rey, The -- Thornton Wilder Bridge over the River Kwai, The -- Pierre Boulle Bridges at Toko-Ri, The -- James Michener Christmas Carol, A -- Charles Dickens Cimarron -- Edna Ferber Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A -- Mark Twain Count of Monte Christo, The -- Alexander Dumas Cry, the Beloved Country -- Alan Paton Dandelion Wine -- Ray Bradbury Death Be Not Proud -- John Gunther Deerslayer, The -- James Fenimore Cooper Diary of a Young Girl -- Anne Frank Dracula -- Bram Stoker Drums along the Mohawk -- Walter D. Edmonds Ethan Frome -- Edith Wharton Fahrenheit 451 -- Ray Bradbury Frankenstein -- Mary Shelley Goodbye, Mr. Chips -- James Hilton Gone with the Wind -- Margaret Mitchell Green Mansions -- W.H. Hudson High Wind in Jamaica, A -- Richard Hughes Hiroshima -- John Hersey Hobbit, The -- J.R.R. Tolkien Hornblower series, The -- C.S. Forester Hunchback of Notre Dame, The -- Victor Hugo Illustrated Man, The -- Ray Bradbury Innocents Abroad -- Mark Twain Island of the Blue Dolphins -- Scott O'Dell

Ivanhoe-- Sir Walter Scott Johnny Tremain -- Esther Forbes Journey to the Center of the Earth -- Jules Verne Kim -- Rudyard Kipling King Must Die, The -- Mary Renault King Solomon's Mines -- H. Rider Haggard Kon-Tiki -- Thor Heyerdahl Last of the Mohicans, The -- James Fenimore Cooper Le Morte d'Arthur -- Sir Thomas Malory Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The -- Washington Irving Life on the Mississippi -- Mark Twain Life with Father -- Clarence Day Little Men -- Louisa May Alcott Little Prince, The -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery Lord of the Rings, The -- J.R.R. Tolkien Lorna Doone -- Richard D. Blackmore Lost Horizon -- James Hilton Madame Curie: A Biography -- Eve Curie Martian Chronicles -- Ray Bradbury Member of the Wedding -- Carson McCullers Men of Iron -- Howard Pyle Mutiny on the Bounty -- Charles and J.N. Hall Nordhoff Mysterious Island -- Jules Verne National Velvet -- Enid Bagnold Night to Remember, A -- Walter Lord Northwest Passage -- Kenneth Roberts Old Man and the Sea, The -- Ernest Hemingway Ox-Bow Incident, The -- Walter Clark Pearl, The -- John Steinbeck Pilgrim's Progress, The -- John Bunyan Poems -- Robert Frost Prince and the Pauper, The -- Mark Twain Profiles in Courage -- John F. Kennedy Raisin in the Sun -- Lorraine Hansberry Rebecca -- Daphne Du Maurier Ring of Bright Water -- Gavin Maxwell Robe, The -- Lloyd C. Douglas Robinson Crusoe -- Daniel Defoe Scarlet Pimpernel, The -- Baroness Emma Orczy Sea Wolf, The -- Jack London Separate Peace, A -- John Knowles Shane -- Jack Schaefer Snow Goose, The -- Paul Gallico Stories -- Saki Story of My Life -- Helen Keller

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The -- R. L.Stevenson Thirty-Nine Steps, The -- John Buchan Three Musketeers, The AlexanderDumas Through the Looking Glass -- LewisCarroll Thurber Carnival, The -- James Thurber Time Machine, The -- H.G. Wells To Kill a Mockingbird – HarperLee Tortilla Flat -- John Steinbeck Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A -- Betty Smith Two Years before the Mast -- Richard Henry Dana Up from Slavery -- Booker T. Washington Virginian -- Owen Wister Wall, The -- John Hersey War of the Worlds -- H.G. Wells Wind, Sand and Stars -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery Yearling, The -- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings