The Nightingale-Bamford School: Summer Reading List
For students entering
Class VIII in
2017
The books in this list are recommendations from
members of the English department and the librarians
for summer reading.
Students are encouraged to read as many books as
they want, but only one book is required: rising Class
VIII should read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
If you like, keep a record of what you read by writing
down the title and author of each book to share with
your teacher and your classmates in September.
Please do not read any of the following as they are part of
Middle and Upper School English curriculum:
This Boy’s Life, The Crucible, Macbeth, A Feather on the Breath of God,
Annie John, Romeo and Juliet, The Glass Menagerie, The Little Foxes, Great
Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, Twelfth Night, A Doll’s House, The Great
Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and As I Lay Dying.
This list will be available on the Nightingale Library page.
http://www.nightingale.org
*Please note that some of the books on this list may not be at the Book
Fair.
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Fiction
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie
This is the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian
Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled
school on the reservation to attend an all-white farm-town high school where the only
other Indian is the school mascot.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Julia Alvarez
The Garcia family arrives in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their
existence in the Dominican Republic. Papi, a doctor, has to find new patients in the Bronx.
Mami, far from everything she has ever known, must find herself. The girls are trying to
lose themselves by forgetting their Spanish and straightening their hair. For them, it is at
once liberating and excruciating being caught between the old world and the new, trying
to live up to their father’s version of honor while accommodating the expectations of their
American boyfriends.
Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson
A devastating portrait of the extremes of self-deception in this brutal and poetic
deconstruction of how one girl stealthily vanishes into the depths of anorexia. Lia has been
down this road before: her competitive relationship with her best friend, Cassie, once
landed them both in the hospital, but now not even Cassie’s death can eradicate Lia’s
disgust of the “fat cows” who scrutinize her body all day long.
Prom
Laurie Halse Anderson
In her Philadelphia high school who doesn’t care about the prom? It’s pretty much the
only good thing that happens there, and everyone plans to make the most of it—especially
Ash’s best friend, Natalia, who’s the head of the committee and has prom stars in her
eyes. Then the faculty advisor is busted for taking the prom money and Ash finds herself
roped into putting together a gala dance. But she has plenty of help—from her large and
loving (if exasperating) family, from Nat’s eccentric grandmother, from the principal, from
her fellow classmates. And in making the prom happen, Ash learns some surprising things
about making her life happen too.
What Light
Jay Asher
Dividing her life between her family's Oregon Christmas tree farm and the California tree
lot where they spend the holiday seasons, Sierra falls for a boy who lives under the
shadow of a terrible mistake, a relationship that is met with disapproval and suspicion.
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen
Two sisters of opposing temperaments share the pangs of tragic love. Their mutual
suffering brings a closer understanding between the two sisters, and true love finally
triumphs.
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Backwater
Joan Bauer
Ivy Breedlove's family is driving her crazy. Generations of Breedloves have been
prominent lawyers and her relatives expect her to follow suit. "We'll make her a lawyer
yet!" they pronounce at a family reunion. Well, not if Ivy has her say. But how do you
have your say when the voices surrounding you are so loud? Ivy's passion for the past
provides an answer. As she works on completing a history of her illustrious family, she
discovers other Breedlove women who broke the mold, including her father's sister
Josephine. No one will talk about the reclusive Aunt Jo, so when Ivy hires a wilderness
guide to find her, her family is less than thrilled.
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Libba Bray
It's 1895 and after the mysterious death of her mother, sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle is
shipped off from India to a boarding school in England. Lonely and prone to visions of the
future, Gemma is now being followed by a mysterious young Indian man who's been sent
to watch her. But why?
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
This novel is about the passionate love between Jane Eyre, a young girl alone in the world,
and the rich, brilliant, domineering Rochester.
Ask Me No Questions
Marina Budhos
What is it like to be an illegal alien in New York now? Nadira, 14, relates how her family
left Bangladesh, came to the U. S. on a tourist visa, and stayed long after the visa
expired. (Everyone does it. You buy a fake social security number for a few hundred
dollars and then you can work. ) Their illegal status is discovered, however, following
9/11, when immigration regulations are tightened. When the family hurriedly seeks
asylum in Canada, they are turned back, and Nadira's father, Abba, is detained because
his passport is no longer valid. Deportation seems to be the next step.
Graceling
Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces,
Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace of killing and teams up with
another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
Charlie is a freshman and while's he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no
means popular. He's a wallflower—shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years.
We learn about Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of undisclosed name,
age, and gender. Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high
school such as how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, and a first
relationship. He must also deal with his best friend's recent suicide. Charlie's letters take
on the intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts and feelings.
Driver’s Ed
Caroline Cooney
Three teenagers thoughtlessly steal a stop sign from a dangerous intersection on a dare.
The expedition goes without a hitch until they learn that a young mother has been killed in
an accident caused by the missing stop sign. The whole community is up in arms, and the
grieving widower appears on TV with his son, offering a reward for information leading to
the arrest of the vandals. The teenagers are filled with remorse and guilt as they grapple
with the consequences of their prank.
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Whale Talk Chris Crutcher
A varsity letter jacket: it's exclusive, nearly unattainable, revered . . . and everything
that's screwed up about Cutter High, as far as T. J. Jones is concerned. That's why T. J. is
determined to have the Cutter All Night Mermen—the unlikeliest swim team a high school
has ever seen—earn letter jackets of their own. It won't be easy. For one thing, they don't
even have a pool. They will fight for their dignity, they will fight with each other, and
sometimes they will just fight. And then they will realize that a single moment can bring
lifelong heartache or lifelong friendship. For T. J. and his crew of misfits, the quest may be
far more valuable than the reward.
If I Stay
Gayle Forman
In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen year-old Mia has no memory of the
accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body
being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces—to
figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must
make.
Perfect
Natasha Friend
Thirteen-year-old Isabelle Lee's family is reeling from the recent death of her beloved
father when little sister April (aka Ape Face) finds Isabelle purging her dinner in the
bathroom. Isabelle is sent to group therapy for her eating disorder, where she is shocked
to discover that her school's most perfect and popular girl, Ashley Barnum, is also bulimic.
Ashley is delighted to find a likeminded classmate, and she takes the previously unpopular
Isabelle under her wing, inviting her to the exclusive lunch table and to sleepovers where
they consume and then expel mountains of food.
Gone
Michael Grant
In the blink of an eye everyone disappears. Everyone is gone—everyone except for the
young, teens, middle schoolers, and toddlers. There is not a single adult to be found—no
teachers, no cops, no doctors, and no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and
television. There is no way to get help. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature
lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new
talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
"It's not fair," complains 16-year-old Hazel from Indiana. "The world," says Gus, her new
friend from her teen support group, "is not a wish-granting factory." In fact, life is not fair;
Hazel and Gus both have cancer, Hazel's terminal. Despite this, she has a burning
obsession: to find out what happens to the characters after the end of her favorite novel.
An Imperial Affliction by Dutch author Peter Van Houten is about a girl named Anna who
has cancer, and it ends in mid-sentence (presumably to indicate a life cut short), a
stylistic choice that Hazel appreciates but the ambiguity drives her crazy. Hazel has many
questions which she asks via email and Van Houten responds, claiming that he can only
tell her the answers in person. When she was younger, Hazel used her wish—one granted
to sick children from The Genie Foundation—by going to Disney World. Gus decides to use
his to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author.
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Safekeeping
Karen Hess
Radley's parents had warned her that all hell would break loose if the American People's
Party took power. And now, with the president assassinated and the government cracking
down on citizens, the news is filled with images of vigilante groups, frenzied looting, and
police raids. It seems as if all hell has broken loose. Coming back from volunteering
abroad, Radley just wants to get home to Vermont, and the comfort and safety of her
parents. Travel restrictions and delays are worse than ever, and by the time Radley's
plane lands in New Hampshire, she's been traveling for over twenty-four hours.
Exhausted, she heads outside to find her parents―who always come, day or night, no
matter when or where she lands―aren't there. Her cell phone is dead, her credit cards
are worthless, and she doesn't have the proper travel papers to cross state lines. Out of
money and options, Radley starts walking. . . .
That Was Then, This is Now
S.E. Hinton
Sixteen-year-old Mark and Bryon have been like brothers since childhood, but now, as
their involvement with girls, gangs, and drugs increases, their relationship seems to
gradually disintegrate. When Bryon discovers that Mark is a drug pusher, he is faced with
a difficult decision.
The Misfits
James Howe
What do a 12-year-old student who moonlights as a tie salesman, a tall, outspoken girl, a
gay middle schooler and a kid branded as a hooligan have in common? Best friends for
years, they've all been the target of cruel name-calling and now that they're in seventh
grade, they're not about to take it anymore. They are the “misfits.” Overweight Bobby
Goodspeed (the tie salesman), evolves from nerd to hero when he starts speaking his
mind. Addie (the outspoken girl) decides that the four of them should run against more
popular peers in the upcoming student council election. But her lofty ideals and rabblerousing speeches make the wrong kind of waves, offending fellow classmates, teachers
and the principal. It is not until softer-spoken Bobby says what's in his heart about
nicknames and taunts that people begin to listen and take notice, granting their respect
for the boy they used to call "Lardo" and "Fluff."
Heaven
Angela Johnson
At fourteen, Marley knows she has Momma's hands and Pops's love for ice cream, that her
brother doesn't get on her nerves too much, and that Uncle Jack is a big mystery. But
Marley doesn't know all she thinks she does, because she doesn't know the truth. And
when the truth comes down with the rain one stormy summer afternoon, it changes
everything. It turns Momma and Pops into liars. It makes her brother a stranger and Uncle
Jack an even bigger mystery. All of a sudden, Marley doesn't know who she is anymore
and can only turn to the family she no longer trusts to find out.
A Million Shades of Gray
Cynthia Kadohata
Twelve-year-old Y'Tin is brave. No one in his village denies that. It takes a great deal of
courage to deal with elephants the way that Y'Tin does. He is almost the best trainer in
the village and is certainly the youngest. Maybe he’ll even open up his own school
someday to teach other Montagnards how to train wild elephants. That was the plan
before American troops pulled out of the Vietnam War, before his village became occupied
by Viet Cong forces seeking revenge, before Y'Tin watched his life change in a million
terrible ways. His bravery is tested. He can stay in his village, held captive by the Viet
Cong or he can risk his life (and save his elephant’s) by fleeing into the jungle.
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The Secret Life of Bees
Sue Kidd
The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens whose life has been shaped around
the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted
"stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they
should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her
mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who
introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who
presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and
the transforming power of love.
A Separate Peace John Knowles
Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A
Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene
is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete.
What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the
innocence of these boys and their world.
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver
E.L. Konigsberg
While waiting in heaven for divine judgment to be passed on her second husband, Eleanor
of Aquitaine and three of the people who knew her well recall the events of her life.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
E. Lockhart
Frankie Landau-Banks attempts to take over a secret, all-male society at her exclusive
prep school, and her antics with the group soon draw some unlikely attention and have
unexpected consequences that could change her life forever.
Up To This Pointe
Jennifer Longo
Six months in an isolated Antarctic research station give Harper, a recent high school
graduate, time to reflect and heal after the painful end of her ballet aspirations.
Withdrawn Harper Scott arrives at the McMurdo station, having pulled strings because of
her family relationship to the famous Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Her tale of
loss slowly unfolds through flashback chapters describing her life back home in San
Francisco... A moving love letter to dance, dreams, and San Francisco, and a look at how
embracing personal passion leads to fulfillment (even if it wasn't part of the plan).
Heaven Looks a Lot Like a Mall
Wendy Mass
Sixteen-year-old Tessa suffers a shocking accident in gym class and finds herself in
heaven (or what she thinks is heaven), which happens to bear a striking resemblance to
her hometown mall. Tessa starts reliving her life up until that moment. She sees some
things she'd rather forget, learns some things about herself she'd rather not know, and
ultimately must find the answer to one burning question—if only she knew what the
question was.
Crash
Lisa McMann
If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. Jules lives with her family
above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives
their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It's not a recipe for popularity, but she
can handle that. What she can't handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and
over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the
snow. The vision is everywhere-on billboards, television screens, windows-and she's the
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only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving
her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in
one of the body bags, and it's someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for
as long as she can remember. Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from
becoming reality.
The Member of the Wedding
Carson McCullers
Twelve-year-old Frankie is utterly bored until she hears about her older brother's wedding.
He returns from Alaska to Georgia, and Frankie decides she will go, uninvited, on the
honeymoon.
The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind
Meg Medina
Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had
ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl’s
protective powers began. All her life, Sonia has been asked to pray for sick mothers or
missing sons, as worried parents and friends press silver milagros in her hands. Sonia
knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for
solace? Still, her conscience is heavy, so when she gets a chance to travel to the city and
work in the home of a wealthy woman, she seizes it. At first, Sonia feels freedom in being
treated like all the other girls. But when news arrives that her beloved brother has
disappeared while looking for work, she learns to her sorrow that she can never truly
leave the past or her family behind.
An Elephant in the Garden Michael Morpurgo
Lizzie and Karl’s mother is a zoo keeper working in Dresden, Germany, during World War
II. The family has become attached to an orphaned elephant there named Marlene, who
will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don’t run wild
should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay
in their garden instead. When the city is bombed, the family flees with thousands of
others, but how can they walk the same route when they have an elephant in tow, and
keep themselves safe?
Dairy Queen
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
D. J.'s family members don't talk much, especially about the fact that 15-year-old D. J.
does all the heavy work on their Wisconsin dairy farm since her father broke his hip and
her two older brothers left for college. Nor do they talk about why D. J.'s mom, a teacher,
is so busy filling in for the middle-school principal that she's never home. And they never,
ever discuss the reason why her brothers haven't called home for more than six months.
So when D. J. decides to try out for the Red Bend football team, even though she's been
secretly training (and falling for) Brian Nelson, the cute quarterback from Hawley, Red
Bend's rival, she becomes the talk of the town. Suddenly, her family has quite a bit to say.
Heaven is Paved with Oreos
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Fourteen-year-old Sarah Zorn intends to spend the Wisconsin summer with her
“boyfriend” Curtis, waiting for a dead calf named Boris to decompose in time for the
science fair. Her plans upend, however, when her fake-boyfriend strategy goes seriously
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awry just as her hippie Grandma Z invites her on a last-minute Roman holiday. As Sarah
explores Italy’s ancient wonders, she can’t stop “boy-liking” Curtis or puzzling over her
grandmother’s odd behavior.
Monster
Walter Dean Myers
"Monster" is what the prosecutor called 16-year-old Steve Harmon for his supposed role in
the fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner. But was Steve really the lookout who
gave the "all clear" to the murderer, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
In this innovative novel by Walter Dean Myers, the reader becomes both juror and witness
during the trial of Steve's life. To calm his nerves as he sits in the courtroom, aspiring
filmmaker Steve chronicles the proceedings in movie script format. Interspersed
throughout his screenplay are journal writings that provide insight into Steve's life before
the murder and his feelings about being held in prison during the trial.
Riot
Walter Dean Myers
In 1863, fifteen-year-old Claire, the daughter of an Irish mother and an African father,
faces ugly truths and great danger when Irish immigrants, enraged by the Civil War and a
federal draft, lash out against African-Americans and wealthy "swells" of New York City.
Rioting begins and no one is safe—not on the streets and not at home. This is an exciting
and terrifying read – hard to put down.
Trapped Michael Northrop
The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week.
That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of
staying alive. Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their
high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming
for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when
distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes
out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow
piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a
devastating decision. . . .
Animal Farm
George Orwell
The animals of Manor Farm are miserable. Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, is a mean,
heartless man who butchers the pigs and drowns dogs when they get too old. One day, a
prize-winning boar named Old Major encourages the animals to rebel against the humans.
Old Major dies just three days after proposing the rebellion. Three young pigs lead the
resistance. When Mr. Jones gets drunk one night, the animals drive him and his men off
the farm, which they rename Animal Farm. Together, the pigs write the Seven
Commandments of Animalism, the new political philosophy that declares all animals equal.
Can the farm animals do a better job than the humans did of being just?
A Long Walk to Water
Linda Sue Park
Salva Dut is 11 years old when war raging in the Sudan separates him from his family. To
avoid the conflict, he walks for years with other refugees, seeking sanctuary and scarce
food and water. This story depicts the chaos of war and an unforgiving landscape as they
expose Salva to cruelties both natural and man-made. The lessons Salva remembers from
his family keep him from despair during harsh times in refugee camps and enable him, as
a young man, to begin a new life in America. As Salva's story unfolds we learn about
another Sudanese youth, Nya, and how these two stories connect contributes to the
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satisfying conclusion. This story is told as fiction, but it is based on real-life experiences of
one of the "Lost Boys" of the Sudan.
When My Name Was Keoko
Linda Sue Park
Sun-hee and her older brother Tae-yul are proud of their Korean heritage. Yet they live
their lives under Japanese occupation. All students must read and write in Japanese and
no one can fly the Korean flag. Hardest of all is when the Japanese Emperor forces all
Koreans to take Japanese names. Sun-hee and Tae-yul become Keoko and Nobuo.
The Body of Christopher Creed
Carol Plum-Ucci
Chris Creed grew up as the class freak—the bullies' punching bag. After he vanished, the
weirdness that had once surrounded him began spreading. It was as if a darkness reached
out of his void to grab at the most normal, happy people—like some twisted joke or
demented form of justice. It tore the town apart. Sixteen-year-old Torey Adams's search
for answers opens his eyes to the lies, the pain, and the need to blame when tragedy
strikes, and his once-safe world comes crashing down around him.
The Chosen
Chaim Potok
In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders
together. Despite their differences the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship.
Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when
Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs
On the brink of his sixteenth birthday, something terrible happens to Jacob-something so
terrible that it splits his life into two parts: Before and After. Before, he was an ordinary young
man with a peculiar but doting grandfather. After, he discovers he isn't so ordinary after all.
Nor are the "peculiar children" he meets at Miss Peregrine's home. Riggs' debut uses the
framework of a horror novel to tell a more far-reaching tale with symbolic overtones of the
Holocaust.
So Hard to Say Alex Sachez
When Frederick shows up at school, Xio is thrilled. The new boy is shy, cute, and definitely
good boyfriend material. Before long, she pulls him into her lively circle of friends.
Frederick knows he should be flattered by Xio's attention. After all, she's popular, pretty,
and a lot of fun. So why can't he stop thinking about Victor, the captain of the soccer
team, instead?
A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama
Laura Amy Schlitz
In the early twentieth century, young orphan Maud Flynn hopes to finally be loved when
she is adopted by the elderly Hawthorne sisters, but she is instead roped into the family's
crooked séance business. Poor Maud!
Trouble
Gary Schmidt
This is the story of an upper class New England family's privileged life colliding with violent
prejudices against immigrant Cambodians. After a tragic accident, Franklin is hit and killed
by a pickup truck driven by Chay, a Cambodian student in Franklin's prep school. Chay is
not sent to jail, and racial tensions are sparked.
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Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
This classic is about a young Swiss student who uncovers the secret of animating lifeless
matter and, by assembling body parts, creates a monster that vows revenge on his
creator after being rejected from society.
I’ll Be There
Holly Goldberg Sloan
Emily Bell believes in destiny. To her, being forced to sing a solo in the church choir-despite her average voice--is fate: because it's while she's singing that she first sees Sam.
At first sight, they are connected. Sam Border wishes he could escape, but there's
nowhere for him to run. He and his little brother, Riddle, have spent their entire lives
constantly uprooted by their unstable father. That is, until Sam sees Emily. That's when
everything changes. As Sam and Riddle are welcomed into the Bells' lives, they witness
the warmth and protection of a family for the first time. But when tragedy strikes, they're
left fighting for survival in the desolate wilderness, and wondering if they'll ever find a
place where they can belong.
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
Betty Smith
This is a classic about the Nolans who lived in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn from
1902 until 1919. Their daughter Francie and their son Neely know more than their fair
share of the sufferings that are the lot of a big city's poor. Primarily this is Francie's book.
She is an imaginative, alert, resourceful child who grows up right before our eyes.
Peak
Roland Smith
After Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two
choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or to go live with his long-lost father, who runs
a climbing company in Thailand. Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in
him has strings attached. Big strings. He wants Peak to be the youngest person to reach
the Everest summit and his motives are selfish at best. Even so, for a climbing addict like
Peak, tackling Everest is the challenge of a lifetime. It is also one that could cost him his
life.
Shabanu
Suzanne Fisher Staples
When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of
present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring
prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the
consequences of defying her father's wishes.
The Running Dream
Wendelin Van Draanen
Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted
by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about
walking when you live to run? It takes the support of family, friends, a coach, and her
track teammates, to convince Jessica that she may actually be able to run again—but are
they right?
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Climbing the Stairs
Padma Venkatraman
Growing up in a progressive family in Bombay during World War II, 15-year-old Vidya
hopes that college is in her future, though her classmates are preparing for arranged
marriages. After her father is severely injured in a riot, her life suddenly changes. Vidya,
her older brother, and their parents move to Madras to join her grandfather’s traditional
household, where men and women live separately and Vidya’s powerful aunt disdains the
newcomers. Vidya’s life is made miserable by this aunt and uncle. When Vidya finds time
after chores and schoolwork, she escapes upstairs to her grandfather’s library, where she
meets a young man who seems to understand her. The library is off limits to girls of
course and being alone with a young man is unthinkable. Vidya does both.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
A tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, Dorian
Gray is a wealthy Englishman who gradually sinks into a life of dissipation and crime.
Despite his unhealthy behavior, his physical appearance remains youthful and unmarked
by dissolution. Instead, a portrait of him catalogues every evil deed by turning his once
handsome features into a hideous mask.
Make Lemonade (1st in series)
Virginia Euwer Wolff
In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, a bright, compassionate
teen, babysits for a teenage mother named Jolly. Jolly is an abused, 17-year-old single
parent who lives with her two children in squalor. Her only brief role model was a foster
parent, Gram, who died. This is an outstanding story which is part of a trilogy. All are
worth reading.
Wolf Hollow
Lauren Wolk
Betty Glengarry has just arrived from the city to live with her grandparents “because she
is incorrigible.” Betty shakes down twelve-year-old Annabelle for spare change in Wolf
Hollow on the way to school. Betty's crimes quickly escalate into shocking violence, but
the adults won't believe the sweet-looking blonde girl could be responsible and settle their
suspicions on Toby, an unkempt World War I veteran who stalks the hills carrying not one,
but three guns. Annabelle quickly gets caught up in the violence and the mystery. When
she goes missing, who will the people of Wolf Hollow hunt down?
If You Come Softly
Jacqueline Woodson
After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black
and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice
abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with peoples' reactions.
The Queen's Own Fool
Jane Yolen
Called La Jardiniere, a resourceful and clever jester to the queen's court, Nicola was a
most unlikely person to end up "fool" and friend to Mary, Queen of Scots. But Nicola isn't
an ordinary comedian clowning before the court; her sharp tongue is rare amongst the
fawning nobles. As fate takes Mary from France to Scotland, and into confrontations with
rebellious lords and devious advisors, Nicola remains deep in the queen's inner circle. But
when the Scots start to turn on Queen Mary, Nicola struggles to find something—anything
that she, just a fool, can do to save her friend.
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Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
Gabrielle Zevin
After high-school junior Naomi conks her head, she can’t remember anything that
happened since sixth grade. By the time her memories return she is well into living a
second life. Which of her two lives, present or former, represents her most authentic self?
Elsewhere
Gabrielle Zevin
After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is
both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to
"live."
Fantasy/Science fiction
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is
plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an
out-of-work actor. Together this dynamic pair begins a hilarious journey through space.
The book is funny and the movie is funnier.
Feed
M.T. Anderson
In this futuristic world most people have computer implants in their heads to control their
environment. There is a tragic romance between Titus and Violet who become deadly ill
when her “feed” malfunctions.
Illustrated Man
Ray Bradbury
This is a classic science fiction anthology. The unnamed narrator in the introduction
watches the Illustrated Man whose entire body is a living canvas of exotic tattoos that
magically come to life. Each illustration proceeds to unfold its own story, such as "The
Veldt," wherein rowdy children take a game of virtual reality way over the edge or
"Kaleidoscope," a heartbreaking portrait of stranded astronauts about to reenter our
atmosphere—without the benefit of a spaceship, or "Zero Hour," in which invading aliens
have discovered a most logical ally—our own children.
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The Maze Runner
James Dashner
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His
memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself
surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by
stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade.
All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them
have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been
delivered in the lift. But the day after Thomas arrived, a girl is sent up—the first girl to
ever arrive in the Glade. What is going on?
Time and Again
Jack Finney
Did illustrator Si Morley really step out of his NYC twentieth-century apartment one night
right into the winter of 1882? The U.S. Government believed it, especially when Si
returned with a portfolio of brand-new sketches and tintype photos of a world that no
longer existed—or did it?
Cinder
Marissa Meyer
This is a very cool rewriting of Cinderella as a kickass mechanic in a plague-ridden future.
Long after World War IV, with a plague called letumosis ravaging all six Earthen countries,
teenage Cinder spends her days in New Beijing doing mechanical repairs to earn money
for her selfish adoptive mother. Her two sisters will attend Prince Kai's ball wearing
elegant gowns; Cinder, hated because she's a cyborg, won't be going. But then the heartthumpingly cute prince approaches Cinder's business booth as a customer, starting a
chain of events that links her inextricably with the prince and with a palace doctor who's
researching letumosis vaccines. This doctor drafts cyborgs as expendable test subjects;
none survive.
Unwind
Neal Shusterman
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight
the system that would "unwind" them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because
he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs.
Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion.
Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely
companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the
balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed—but
when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone
mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
House of Stairs
William Sleator
One by one, five sixteen-year-old orphans are brought to a strange building. It is not a
prison, not a hospital; it has no walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but endless flights of
stairs leading nowhere except back to a strange red machine. The five must learn to love
the machine and let it rule their lives. But will they let it kill their souls? This chilling,
suspenseful indictment of mind control is a classic of science fiction and will haunt readers
long after the last page is turned.
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One Came Home
Amy Timberlake
Thirteen-year-old Georgie Burkhardt can shoot better than anyone in Placid, Wisconsin.
She can handle accounts and serve customers in her family's general store. What she
can't do is accept that the unrecognizable body wearing her older sister's blue-green gown
is Agatha. Determined to discover what happened after Agatha abruptly left town with a
group of pigeoners, Georgie sets out to follow her route. In return for the loan of a mule,
she reluctantly allows Billy McCabe, one of Agatha's suitors, to accompany her. What did
happen to Agatha and what will happen between Billy and Georgie on the road to the
truth?
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien
The book recounts the adventures of Frodo and the Companions of the Ring as they try to
prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord and thereby foil him
in his evil purpose.
Cat’s Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut
This is an apocalyptic tale of Earth’s ultimate fate, featuring a cast of unlikely heroes. In
the year 2000, a young man discovers ice-nine, which can set off a chain reaction more
deadly than a nuclear bomb and a new prophet whose teachings sweep the world.
Extraordinary
Nancy Werlin
Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new girl at school. Soon
the two become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory’s magnetic older brother, Ryland,
appears. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe — but a dangerous hold, for
she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself. Soon
she’ll discover the shocking, fantastical truth about Ryland and Mallory, and about an ageold debt they expect Phoebe to pay. Will she be strong enough to resist? Will she be
special enough to save herself?
The Secret Hour (series: The Midnighters)
Scott Westerfeld
Upon moving to Bixby, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Jessica Day learns that she is one in a
special group born at the stroke of midnight who can roam the town at a secret hour while
others sleep—and that she must fight the evil creatures who share her power. This is a
very exciting story.
Mysteries
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery Alan Bradley
It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey.
Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time
tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric
great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside
her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen
burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who
can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to
her own devices? With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with
their own pursuits and passions—stamp collecting, adventure novels, and boys
respectively—Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle, Gladys, to catch a murderer.
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Nobody’s Secret Michaela MacColl
When fifteen-year-old Emily Dickinson meets a mysterious, handsome young man who
doesn't seem to know who she or her family is and playfully refuses to divulge his name,
she's intrigued. She enjoys her secret flirtation with "Mr. Nobody"—until he turns up dead
in her family's pond. She's stricken with guilt and is determined to discover who this
enigmatic stranger was before he's buried in an anonymous grave, an investigation that
takes her deep into town secrets, blossoming romance, and deadly danger.
The Killer’s Cousin
Nancy Werlin
After being accused and acquitted in the death of his girlfriend, seventeen-year-old David
is sent to live with his aunt, uncle, and young cousin to avoid the media frenzy. But all is
not well there. His aunt and uncle are not speaking, and twelve-year-old Lily seems intent
on making David’s life a torment. And then there’s the issue of his older cousin Kathy’s
mysterious death some years back. As things grow more and more tense, David starts to
wonder if there something else that his family is trying to hide from?
Biography, Memoirs, & Essays
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally
hard-won independence.
Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me
Condoleezza Rice
The former Secretary of State recounts her life, beginning with her family history and
childhood in Birmingham, AL, during the 1950s and '60s. From extremely supportive
parents she learned that she could become anything she put her mind to, despite the
rampant racism that existed in the South.
Charles and Emma
Deborah Heiligman
When the book opens, Charles Darwin is trying to make a decision, and he is doing so
in time-honored fashion: drawing a line down a piece of paper and putting the pros of
marriage on one side and the cons on the other. As much as Darwin is interested in
wedded life, he is afraid that family life will take him away from the revolutionary work he
is doing on the cousin Emma, who becomes his comforter, editor, mother of his 10
children and sparring partner. Although highly congenial, Charles and Emma were on
opposite sides when it came to the role of God in creation. Heiligman uses the Darwin
family letters and papers to craft a full-bodied look at the personal influences that shaped
Charles' life as he worked mightily to shape his theories. This intersection between religion
and science is where the book shines, but it is also an excellent portrait of what life was
like during the Victorian era, a time when illness and death were ever present, and, in a
way, a real-time example of the survival of the fittest.
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Falling Leaves: Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
Adeline Yen Mah
Adeline Yen Mah was the child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges
during a time of political and cultural upheaval. Wealth and position could not shield
Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel stepmother.
Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and
eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer.
Poetry
Selected Poems
Langston Hughes
Hughes himself selected the poems for this volume, including his most famous poems, and
some that had only previously been privately printed.
Graphic Novels
American Born Chinese
Gene Luen Yang
Jin Wang starts at a new school where he's the only Chinese-American student. When a
boy from Taiwan joins his class, Jin doesn't want to be associated with an FOB like him.
Jin just wants to be an all-American boy, because he's in love with an all-American girl.
Danny is an all-American boy: great at basketball, popular with the girls. But his
obnoxious Chinese cousin Chin-Kee's annual visit is such a disaster that it ruins Danny's
reputation at school, leaving him with no choice but to transfer somewhere he can start all
over again. The Monkey King has lived for thousands of years and mastered the arts of
kung fu and the heavenly disciplines. He's ready to join the ranks of the immortal gods in
heaven. But there's no place in heaven for a monkey. Each of these characters cannot
help himself alone, but how can they possibly help each other? They're going to have to
find a way―if they want to fix the disasters their lives have become.
March – Book Three
John Lewis and Andrew Aydin ; art by Nate Powell
Opening with the bombing of the Birmingham Baptist Church, this volume highlights the
growing violence and tensions among activists in the civil rights movement leading up to
Freedom Summer and Johnson's eventual signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As
protests and marches-and sometimes merely being black-in Alabama became increasingly
dangerous, opinions among activists in the movement were divided. Continue to march
and risk serious harm? Or put their trust in white leaders who were only willing to meet
them partway?
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