The number one reason that people don’t read? They don’t know what to choose. Some places to check for suggestions are the American Library Association website at www.ala.org, where you can search “recommended reading,” or the ALAs www.booklist.com, parts of which are available to non-subscribers. Also useful is the Vancouver Public Library site www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca, which offers annotated suggestions for all kinds of interests and reading levels. Other recommendations to look for include:

ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults
ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
ALA Alex Award Winner
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
National Book Award Winner or Finalist
Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
Kirkus Reviews Editor’s Choice
Reference to a starred review in Kirkus Reviews,Publishers Weekly, Booklist, The Horn Book, or School Library Journal

The following lists offer some more suggestions. Many of the titles on the grade 7-8 lists are perfectly appropriate for older readers as well, and some of the “high school” titles might well appeal to younger readers. The lists have been compiled from student favourites at The Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine (you could check out their website at www.c-t-l.org). We plan to continually supplement the lists from student suggestions here at Magee. In the mean time, happy reading . . .

Gr. 7-8 Boys

Adams, Douglas The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Alexie, Sherman Flight and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Anderson, Laurie Speak
Anderson, M.T. Feed, Thirsty, and The Game of Sunken Places
Banks, Russell Rule of the Bone
Beah, Ishmael A Long Way Gone
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights
Brooks, Kevin Candy
Bryson, Bill A Walk in the Woods
Card, Orson Scott Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide
Cary, Kate The Bloodline trilogy
Coburn, Jake Prep
Cooney, Caroline Code Orange
Cormier, Robert I Am the Cheese, The Chocolate War, The Rag and Bone Shop, We All Fall Down, and other titles
Coy, John Crackback
Crichton, Michael Sphere
Crutcher, Chris Running Loose, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, Painting the Black, Deadline, and Night Hoops
Deuker, Carl Heart of a Champion and High Heat
Eggers, Dave A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Farmer, Nancy The House of the Scorpion and The Sea of Trolls
Flinn, Alex Breaking Point
Gaiman, Neil Interworld, Neverwhere, and Stardust
Galloway, Gregory As Simple as Snow
Gantos, Jack A Hole in My Life
Garland, Alex The Beach
Giles, Gail Playing in Traffic and Shattering Glass
Goldman, William The Princess Bride
Green, John Looking for Alaska
Grogan, J. Marley and Me
Haddon, Mark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Hautman, Pete Godless, Invisible, and Rash
Hickham, Jr., Homer October Sky
Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders
Hornby, Nick Slam
King, Stephen The Shining
Klass, David Danger Zone, Dark Angel, and Home of the Braves
Koertge, Ron Shakespeare Bats Cleanup
Korman, Gordon Born to Rock, Jake, Reinvented, No More Dead Dogs, Schooled, and Son of the Mob
Kretch,Bob Rebound
Krakauer, Jon Into Thin Air, and Into the Wild
Lubar, David Dunk, Hidden Talents, and Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
Lynch, Jim The Highest Tide
Martel, Yann Life of Pi
Martinez, A. Lee Gil's All-Fright Diner
Mass, Wendy Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
McCammon, Robert Boy's Life
McCarthy, Cormac No Country for Old Men and The Road
Mezrich, Ben Bringing Down the House
Moehringer, J.R. The Tender Bar
Morpurgo, Michael Private Peaceful
Mosley, Walter 47
Myers, Walter Dean Autobiography of My Dead Brother, Bad Boy, Fallen Angels, Monster, and Shooter
Nakazawa, Kaji Barefoot Gen, The Day After, and Life After the Bomb
Nancy, Ted L. Letters from a Nut series
Nix, Garth Shade's Children
O'Brien, Tim If I Die in a Combat Zone
Paolini, Christopher Eragon and Eldest
Pfeffer, Susan Beth Life as We Knew It
Prose, Francine After
Rawls, Wilson Where the Red Fern Grows
Runyon, Brent The Burn Journals
Salisbury, Graham Night of the Howling Dogs
Shusterman, Neal The Shadow Club
Simmons, Michael Pool Boy
Sonneblick, Jordan Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, Notes from the Midnight Driver and Zen and the Art of Faking It
Spiegelman, Art Maus I and Maus II
Strasser, Todd Bootcamp, Can't Get There from Here, Give a Boy a Gun and The Wave
Stroud, Jonathan Buried Fire and the Bartimaeus trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate
Swofford, Anthony Jarhead
Truman, Terry Cruise Control and Stuck in Neutral
Vizzini, Ned Be More Chill, It's Kind of a Funny Story and Teen Angst? Naah
Vonnegut, Jr., Kurt A Man Without a Country and Slaughterhouse-Five
Vrettos, Adrienne Maria Skin
Wahl, Matt The Invisible
Westerfield, Scott Peeps
Woolf, Tobias This Boy's Life
Wooding, Chris The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray and Poison
Weaver, Will Memory Boy
Zusak, Markus The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger

Gr. 7-8 Girls

Anderson, Laurie Halse Prom and Speak
Anderson, M.T. Feed, The Game of Sunken Places and Thirsty
Anonymous Go Ask Alice
Arnold, Tedd Rat Life
Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia Hawksong and anything else
Austen, Jane Emma and Pride and Prejudice
Bank, Melissa The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
Banks, Kate Walk Softly, Rachel
Banks, Russell Rule of the Bone
Beale, Fleur I Am Not Esther
Berg, Elizabeth Durable Goods and Joy School
Blackman, Malorie Naughts and Crosses
Block, Francesca Lia Echo
Boyne, John The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Bray, Libba A Great and Terrible Beauty
Brontë, Charlotte Jane Eyre
Brooks, Kevin Candy
Buckhanon, Kalisha Upstate
Bunting, Eve Jumping the Nail
Burgess, Melvin Smack
Cabot, Meg All-American Girl and Avalon High
Chbosky, Stephen The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Christie, Agatha And Then There Were None
Cisneros, Sandra The House on Mango Street
Cormier, Robert After the First Death, The Chocolate War, and I Am the Cheese
Deaver, Julie Reece The Night I Disappeared and Say Goodnight, Gracie
Dessen, Sarah Dreamland, Just Listen, Keeping the Moon, Someone Like You, This Lullaby and The Truth about Forever
Eggers, Dave A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Farmer, Nancy The House of the Scorpion
Flinn, Alex Breathing Underwater, Diva, and Fade to Black
Frederick, Mariah Head Games
Frost, Helen Keesha's House
Galloway, Gregory As Simple as Snow
Garden, Nancy The Year They Burned the Books
Golden, Arthur Memoirs of a Geisha
Goldman, William The Princess Bride
Goldschmidt, Judy The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez
Green, John Looking for Alaska
Grogan, John Marley and Me
Hahn, Mary Deep and Dark and Dangerous
Haig, Matt The Dead Father's Club
Harris, Joanne Chocolat
Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now
Hoffman, Alice At Risk and Practical Magic
Hornby, Nick High Fidelity and Slam
Hughes, Mark I Am the Wallpaper
Hurwin, Davida Wills A Time for Dancing
Johnson, Angela The First Part Last
Johnson, LouAnne Dangerous Minds
Kaysen, Susanna Girl, Interrupted
Kidd, Sue Monk The Secret Life of Bees
Kingsolver, Barbara The Bean Trees and The Poisonwood Bible
Klass, David Dark Angel
Koertge, Ron Boy Girl Boy
Korman, Gordon Jake, Reinvented, Schooled, and Son of the Mob
Koss, Amy Goldman The Cheat and The Girls
Lasky, Kathryn Memoirs of a Bookbat
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
Letts, Billie Where the Heart Is
Lockwood, Cara Wuthering High
Marchetta, Melina Saving Francesca
Mass, Wendy Heaven Looks A Lot Like the Mall
McCammon, Robert Boy's Life
McCormick, Patricia Cut and Sold
McNeal, Laura and Tom Crooked, Crushed, and Zipped
Meyer, Stephenie Eclipse, New Moon, and Twilight
Moriarty, Jaclyn Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, and The Year of Secret Assignments
Myers, Walter Dean Fallen Angels and Monster
Miller, Mary Beth Aimee
Moore, Lorrie Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?
Nix, Garth Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen
Nolan, Han If I Should Die Before I Wake and A Summer of Kings
Oates, Joyce Carol After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away, and Freaky Green Eyes
Osa, Nancy Cuba 15
Ostow, Micol Westminster Abby
Paolini, Christopher Eragon and Eldest
Pascal, Francine The Ruling Class
Pearson, Mary A Room on Lorelei Street
Pennbaker, Ruth Don't Think Twice
Pfeffer, Susan Beth Life As We Knew It
Pierce, Tamora First Test, Page, Squire, and Lady Knight
Plum-Ucci, Carol What Happened to Lani Garver?
Reichl, Ruth Tender at the Bone
Reinhart, Dana A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life and Harmless
Rennison, Louise Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers and others
Rinaldi, Ann In My Father's House and others
Rosoff, Meg How I Live Now
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Satrapi, Marjane Persepolis and Persepolis 2
Scott, Elizabeth Bloom
Showalter, Gena Oh My Goth
Shusterman, Neal The Shadow Club
Simpson, Mona Anywhere But Here
Sittenfeld, Curtis Prep
Smith, Kirsten The Geography of Girlhood
Sones, Sonya One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Stop Pretending, What My Mother Doesn't Know, and What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know
Strasser, Todd Can't Get There from Here and Give a Boy a Gun
Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club
Toews, Miriam A Complicated Kindness
Vail, Rachel Ever After
Vonnegut, Kurt A Man Without a Country
Vrettos, A.M. Skin
Walls, Jeanette The Glass Castle
Weatherby, Lee Kat Got Your Tongue
Weaver, Will Defect
Wittlinger, Ellen Blind Faith, The Long Night of Leo and Bree, Razzle, Sandpiper, and Zig Zag
Wolff, Tobias This Boy's Life
Wooding, Chris The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray and Poison
Zevin, Gabrielle Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
Zusak, Markus The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger

Pleasure Reading for High School Guys

Adams, Douglas The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Alexie, Sherman Flight and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Atwood, Margaret A Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Russell Rule of the Bone
Barker, Pat Regeneration
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights
Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451
Bryson, Bill A Short History of Nearly Everything, The Thunderbolt Kid, and A Walk in the Woods
Bowden, Mark Blackhawk Down
Burgess, Anthony A Clockwork Orange
Carroll, Jim The Basketball Diaries
Chabon, Michael Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and The Yiddish Policeman's Union
Cheever, John The Wapshot Chronicles
Dick, Phillip Man in the High Castle
Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime and The March
Eggers, Dave A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and What Is the What
Fleming, Keith The Boy with a Thorn in His Side
Foer, Jonathan Safran Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Frazier, Charles Cold Mountain
Gaiman, Neil American Gods and Anansi Boys
Galloway, Gregory As Simple as Snow
Garland, Alex The Beach
Gore, Al An Inconvenient Truth
Guest, Judith Ordinary People
Guterson, David Snow Falling on Cedars
Haddon, Mark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Haig, Matt The Dead Fathers Club
Heller, Joseph Catch-22
Herbert, Frank Dune
Hillenbrand, Laura Seabiscuit
Hornby, Nick High Fidelity
Hosseini, Khaled The Kite Runner
Huxley, Aldous Brave New World
Irving, John The Ciderhouse Rules, Hotel New Hampshire, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and The World According to Garp
Ishiguro, Kazuo Never Let Me Go
Joravsky, Ben Hoop Dreams
Kesey, Ken One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Kovic, Ron Born on the Fourth of July
Krakauer, John Into Thin Air and Into the Wild
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
Lehane, Dennis Mystic River
Maclean, Norman Young Men and Fire
McCarthy, Cormac The Crossing and The Road
McEwan, Ian Atonement and Saturday
Mailer, Norman The Naked and the Dead
Martel, Yann Life of Pi
Martinez, A. Lee Gil's All-Fright Diner
Mezrich, Ben Bringing Down the House
Moehringer, J.R. Tender Bar
Mosley, Walter 47
O'Brien, Patrick The Master and Commander series
O'Brien, Tim The Things They Carried
Pausch, Randy The Last Lecture
Rice, Anne Interview with the Vampire
Robbins, Tom Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Roth, Phillip Good-bye, Columbus and The Human Stain
Russo, Richard Empire Falls
Sacco, Joe Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde
Sagan, Carl Contact
Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye
Sedaris, David Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Naked, and Me Talk Pretty One Day
Sharra, Michael The Killer Angels
Shepard, Jim Project X
Spiegelman, Art Maus I and Maus II
Swofford, Anthony Jarhead
Tartt, Donna The Secret History
Trumbo, Dalton Johnny Got His Gun
Updike, John The Centaur, Couples, and the Rabbit trilogy
Vizzini, Ned Be More Chill and It's Kind of a Funny Story
Vonnegut, Kurt Welcome to the Monkeyhouse and Slaughterhouse-Five
Walls, Jeanette The Glass Castle
Wiesel, Elie Night
Wolff, Tobias In Pharaoh's Army, Old School, and This Boy's Life
Wright, Richard The Invisible Man
Zusak, Markus The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger
Zinn, Howard A People's History of the United States

Pleasure Reading for High School Girls

Allende, Isabel The House of the Spirits
Atkinson, Kate Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Atwood, Margaret Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, Cat's Eye, The Handmaid's Tale, Moral Disorder, and Surfacing
Austen, Jane Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park
Bank, Melissa The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing and The Wonder Spot
Banks, Russell The Rule of the Bone and The Sweet Hereafter
Barker, Pat Regeneration
Beattie, Ann Chilly Scenes of Winter
Brontë, Charlotte Jane Eyre
Byatt, A.S. Possession
Chabon, Michael Wonder Boys
Chang, Jung Wild Swans
Cheever, John The Wapshot Chronicles
Colwin, Laurie Happy All the Time, Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss
Doctorow, E.L. The Book of Daniel and Ragtime
Dorris, Michael A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
DuMaurier, Daphne Rebecca
Edwards, Kim The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Eggers, Dave A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Eugenides, Jeffrey Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides
Fitch, Janet White Oleander
Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night
Forster, E.M. Howard's End and A Room with a View
Fowler, Karen The Jane Austen Book Club
Fowles, John The French Lieutenant's Woman
Franzen, Jonathan The Corrections
Frazier, Charles Cold Mountain
Freudenberger, Neil Lucky Girls
Galloway, Gregory As Simple As Snow
Gilbert, Elizabeth Stern Men
Green, Hannah I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Guest, Judith Ordinary People
Haig, Matt The Dead Fathers Club
Harris, Jane The Observations
Harris, Joanne Chocolat
Haddon, Mark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Haruf, Ken Plainsong
Hoffman, Alice At Risk
Hornby, Nick About a Boy and High Fidelity
Hosseini, Khaled, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns
Irving, John Ciderhouse Rules, The Hotel New Hampshire, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and The World According to Garp
Ishiguro, Kazuo Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day
Johnson, Diane Le Divorce
Johnson, Joyce Minor Characters
Karr, Mary Cherry and Liar's Club
Kaysen, Susanna Girl, Interrupted
Kidd, Sue Monk The Secret Life of Bees
Kingsolver, Barbara Animal Dreams, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible
Krauss, Nichole The History of Love
Lamott, Anne Blue Shoe
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
Letts, Billie Where the Heart Is
Levy, Andrea A Small Island
McCarthy, Mary A Charmed Life
McEwan, Ian Atonement
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude
Martin, Steve Shopgirl
Messud, Claire The Emperor's Children
Minot, Susan Evening and Monkeys
Moody, Rick The Ice Storm
Moore, Lorrie Birds of America and Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?
Morrison, Toni Beloved and The Bluest Eye
Munro, Alice Dance of the Happy Shades, Friend of My Youth, Lives of Girls and Women, The Love of a Good Woman, Runaway, and Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You
Nabukov, Vladimir Lolita and Pale Fire
Nafisi, Azar Reading Lolita in Tehran
Oates, Joyce Carol We Were the Mulvaneys
O'Brien, Tim The Things They Carried
Ondaatje, Michael The English Patient
Pausch, Randy, The Last Lecture
Patchett, Anne Bel Canto and Truth and Beauty
Perotta, Tom Election
Pessl, Marisha Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Plath, Sylvia The Bell Jar
Proulx, E. Annie The Shipping News
Robinson, Marilyn Gilead and Housekeeping
Reichl, Ruth Tender at the Bone
Roth, Philip Good-bye Columbus and The Human Stain
Roy, Arundhati The God of Small Things
Russo, Richard Empire Falls
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Sebold, Alice Lovely Bones
Sedaris, David Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty Some Day, and Naked
Shields, Carol Unless
Simpson, Mona Anywhere But Here
Sittenfeld, Curtis Prep
Smiley, Jane The Thousand Acres
Smith, Ali The Accidental
Smith, Alison Name All the Animals
Smith, Zadie On Beauty and White Teeth
Spencer, Scott Waking the Dead
Stewart, Leah The Myth of You and Me
Stegner, Wallace Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety
Strout, Elizabeth Amy and Isabelle
Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club
Tartt, Donna The Secret History
Toews, Miriam A Complicated Kindness
Trillin, Calvin About Alice, Remembering Denny and others
Updike, John The Centaur, Couples, The Witches of Eastwick, and the Rabbit novels
Wall, Jeanette The Glass Castle
Waugh, Evelyn Brideshead Revisited
Wharton, Edith House of Mirth
Woolf, Virginia To the Lighthouse