Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak Genres: Novel, Young adult fiction, Historical Fiction Narrator: Death Grade Level Interest: 6-12 Summary: The Book Thief is a historical novel by Australian author Markus Zusak and is his most popular work. Published in 2005, The Book Thief became an international bestseller and was translated into several languages. It was adapted into a 2013 feature film of the same name. |
Title: Killing Mr. Griffin
Author: Lois Duncan Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Multiple Perspectives Novel Grade Level Interest: 7-12 Summary: Killing Mr. Griffin is a 1978 suspense novel by Lois Duncan about a group of teenage students at a New Mexico high school who plan to kidnap their strict English teacher, Mr. Griffin. The novel was modernized and republished in 2010. It was adapted into a feature film featuring Mario Lopez. |
Title: The Last Lecture
Author: Randy Pausch Genre: Self-help book Narrator(s): Randy Pausch Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: The Last Lecture is a New York Times best-selling book co-authored by Randy Pausch—a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—and Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal. |
Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green Genre: Novel, Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Miles (Pudge) Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: Looking for Alaska is John Green's first novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile. It won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association. Miles (Pudge) Halter goes to a boarding school in search of "the great perhaps". There he meets Alaska, a young girl with whom he falls in love. In trying to learn all about Alaska, Pudge learns more about himself and the great perhaps. |
Title: Wonder
Author: R. J. Palacio Genre: Novel, Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Multiple Perspectives Grade Level Interest: 5-12+ Summary: WONDER tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time. |
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee Genre: Novel, Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Scout Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. Instantly successful, widely read in high schools and middle schools in the United States, it has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize. |
Title: Small Great Things
Author: Jodi Picoult Genre: Novel, Legal Story Narrator(s): Ruth Jefferson Grade Level Interest: 9-12+ Summary: Small Great Things is a work of fiction by American author Jodi Picoult. Picoult chose the title from the words of Martin Luther King, "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." The book deals with the issue of race in America and revolves around the protagonist, a delivery nurse named Ruth Jefferson. The book is being adapted into a film starring Viola Davis and Julia Roberts. |
Title: Nineteen Minutes
Author: Jodi Picoult Genre: Novel, Thriller, Crime Fiction Narrator(s): Peter, Josie, Alex, and more Grade Level Interest: 9-12+ Summary: Nineteen Minutes, published on March 9, 2007, is a novel by Jodi Picoult. It was her first book to debut at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. This book is about a school shooting, and focuses on the events leading up to and following the incident. |
Title: House Rules
Author: Jodi Picoult Genre: Novel, Mystery, Psychological Fiction Narrator(s): Multiple Perspectives Grade Level Interest: 9-12+ Summary: House Rules is a story by Jodi Picoult about a boy with Asperger's syndrome living in Townsend, Vermont who is accused of murder. The novel shows the struggle between the boy and his family, the law, and his disability. |
Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green Genre: Novel, Bildungsroman, Young adult fiction, Mystery Narrator(s): Quentin Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: Paper Towns is a novel written by John Green, primarily for an audience of young adults, and was published on October 16, 2008, by Dutton Books. The novel is about the coming-of-age of the protagonist, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and his search for Margo Roth Spiegelman, his neighbor and childhood sweetheart. |
Title: Everything, Everyting
Author: Nicola Yoon Genre: Novel, Romance novel, Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Madeline Whittier Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: Everything, Everything is the debut young adult novel by Jamaican-American author Nicola Yoon, first published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers in 2015. The novel centers around 17-year-old Madeline Whittier, who is being treated for severe combined immunodeficiency, also known as "bubble baby disease". |
Title: Walk Two Moons
Author: Sharon Creech Genre: Novel, Children's literature, Young adult fiction, Bildungsroman Narrator(s): Sal Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother. |
Title: Turtles All The Way Down
Author: John Green Genre: Novel,Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Aza Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. |
Title: Crossover
Author: Kwame Alexander Genre: Novel,Young adult fiction Narrator(s): Josh and Jordan Grade Level Interest: 7-12+ Summary: The Bell twins are stars on the basketball court and comrades in life. While there are some differences—Josh shaves his head and Jordan loves his locks—both twins adhere to the Bell basketball rules: In this game of life, your family is the court, and the ball is your heart. With a former professional basketball player dad and an assistant principal mom, there is an intensely strong home front supporting sports and education in equal measures. When life intervenes in the form of a hot new girl, the balance shifts and growing apart proves painful. An accomplished author and poet, Alexander eloquently mashes up concrete poetry, hip-hop, a love of jazz, and a thriving family bond. The effect is poetry in motion. It is a rare verse novel that is fundamentally poetic rather than using this writing trend as a device. There is also a quirky vocabulary element that adds a fun intellectual note to the narrative. |