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Book Choices for Students in grades 9-12
Recommended Books
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Graphic Novels
Problems & Complications
Too True
Family Issues
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Blood Roses 
by Francesca Lia Block
Nine short stories explore magical changes in young women.
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test in the televised survival competition.
The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
Tender Morsels
by Margo Lanagan
A young woman who has endured unspeakable cruelties is magically granted a safe haven apart from the real world.
Wildwood Dancing
by Juliet Marillier
On the night of every full moon, five Transylvanian sisters use a hidden portal in their home to enter the Dancing Glade in the Other Kingdom.
Bonechiller
by Graham McNamee
Four high school students face off against a soul-stealing beast that has been making young people disappear from their small Canadian town for centuries.
The Host
by Stephenie Meyer
Melanie’s mind has been almost completely taken over by an alien named Wanderer.
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X
by James Patterson
Daniel has followed in his parents' footsteps as the Alien Hunter, exterminating beings on The List of Alien Outlaws on Terra Firma.
Graphic Novels
Angel (Volume 1: After the Fall)
by Brian Lynch
Who lived and who died after the climactic battle that ended the fifth season of the TV show?
Watchmen
by Alan Moore; illustrated by Dave Gibbons
Two generations of superheroes try to determine who is methodically killing them.
Problems & Complications
Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.
Paper Towns
by John Green
One month before high school graduation, Quentin’s beautiful, exciting neighbor and classmate, Margo, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.
Feathered
by Laura Kasischke
While on spring break in Mexico, high-school seniors and best friends Anne and Michelle accept the wrong ride, and Michelle is lost—seemingly forever.
Living Dead Girl
by Elizabeth Scott
A fifteen-year-old girl who was abducted when she was ten lives in fear of her captor and hopes for death to free her.
Too True
The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters
by Rose George
Learn about a major public health threat posed by the growth of the world population.
The Bite of the Mango
by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland
During her childhood in Sierra Leone, Kamara had her hands cut off by young rebel soldiers.
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir
by Felicia Pearson
The author describes living on the streets, dealing drugs, and serving time for killing a woman.
Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines
by Nic Sheff
Sheff reveals the mental and physical depths of addiction.
Lost on Planet China
by J. Maarten Troost
This is “the strange and true story of one man's attempt to understand the world's most mystifying nation, or how he became comfortable eating live squid.”
Family Issues
What I Saw and How I Lied
by Judy Blundell
In 1947, with her stepfather back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies.
Kendra
by Coe Booth
Kendra longs to live with her mother who, unprepared for motherhood at age fourteen, left Kendra in the care of her grandmother.
Lock and Key
by Sarah Dessen
After being abandoned by her alcoholic mother, Ruby goes to live with her married, older sister.
Jellicoe Road
by Melina Marchetta
Abandoned by her drug-addicted mother at the age of eleven, high school student Taylor Markham struggles with her identity and family history at a boarding school in Australia.
Last updated: December 9, 2010