Independent Reading

Recommended by Girls

Anderson, Laurie Halse Prom and Speak

Anderson, M.T. Feed, The Game of Sunken Places, and Thirsty

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

Bedder, Frank The Looking Glass Wars

Berg, Elizabeth Durable Goods and Joy School

Bingham, Kelly Shark Girl

Blackman, Malorie Naughts and Crosses

Block, Francesca Lia Echo

Boyne, John The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Bronte, 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

Caletti, Deb The Nature of Jade, Wild Roses, The Fortunes

of Indigo Skye, and Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

Chbosky, Stephen The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Choldenko, Gennifer If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Christie, Agatha And Then There Were None

*Cisneros, Sandra The House on Mango Street

*Cormier, Robert After the First Death, The Chocolate War, The Rag and Bone Shop, We All Fall Down, and I Am the Cheese

Crutcher, Chris Deadline

Deaver, Julie Reece The Night I Disappeared and Say Goodnight, Gracie

Dessen, Sarah Dreamland, Just Listen, Keeping the Moon, Someone Like You, This Lullaby, Lock and Key, and The Truth about Forever

Dye, Dan and Beckloff, Mark Amazing Gracie

Edwards, Kim The Memory Keeper's Daughter

*Farmer, Nancy The House of the Scorpion

Flinn, Alex Breathing Underwater, Diva, and Fade to Black

Foer, Jonathan Safran Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Frederick, Mariah Head Games

Frost, Helen Keesha's House

Gaiman, Neil Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book

Galloway, Gregory As Simple as Snow

Garden, Nancy The Year They Burned the Books

Goldman, William The Princess Bride

Goldschmidt, Judy The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez

Green, John Looking for Alaska

Grogan, John Marley and Me

Haig, Matt The Dead Father's Club

Harris, Joanne Chocolat

Hautman, Pete Invisible

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now

Hoffman, Alice At Risk and Practical Magic

Hopkins, Ellen Impulse

Hornby, Nick High Fidelity and Slam

Hughes, Mark I Am the Wallpaper

Hurwin, Davida Wills A Time for Dancing

James, Brian Zombie Blondes

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 Schooled, Son of the Mob, Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle, and Jake, Reinvented

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

Lubar, David Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

Marchetta, Melina Saving Francesca

Marsden, John The Tomorrow series and Letters from the Inside

Mass, Wendy Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

McBride, James The Color of Water

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

Mezrich, Ben Bringing Down the House

Moriarty, Jaclyn Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, The Spell Book of Listen Taylor, and The Year of Secret Assignments

*Myers, Walter Dean Fallen Angels and Monster

Miller, Mary Beth Aimee

Moehringer, J.D. The Tender Bar

Moore, Lorrie Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?

Moore, Perry Hero

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

Pascal, Francine The Ruling Class

Pearson, Mary A Room on Lorelei Street and The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Pennbaker, Ruth Don't Think Twice

Pfeffer, Susan Beth Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone

Picoult, Jodi Nineteen Minutes, My Sister's Keeeper, Faith

Plum-Ucci, Carol What Happened to Lani Garver?

Rabb, Margo Cures for Heartbreak

Reichl, Ruth Tender at the Bone

Reinhart, Dana A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life, How to Build a House, and Harmless

Rennison, Louise Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers and others

Rhodes-Courter, Ashley Three Little Words

Rinaldi, Ann In My Father's House and others

Rosen, Renee Every Crooked Pot

Rosoff, Meg How I Live Now

Rowling, J.K. The Harry Potter series

Runyon, Brent The Burn Journals

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

Sonnenblick, Jordan Zen and the Art of Faking It and Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Spiegelman, Art Maus I and Maus II

Strasser, Todd Can't Get There from Here and Give a Boy a Gun

Swanson, Julie Going for the Record

Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club

Tinti, Hannah The Good Thief

Toews, Miriam A Complicated Kindness

Vail, Rachel Ever After

Vonnegut, Kurt A Man Without a Country, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Armageddon in Retrospect

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

Wroblewski, David The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Zarr, Sarah Sweethearts

Zevin, Gabrielle Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Zusak, Markus The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger

Recommended by Boys

*Adams, Douglas The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series

*Alexie, Sherman The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Anderson, Laurie Speak

Anderson, M.T. Feed , Thirsty, The Game of Sunken Places,

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Pox Party and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Kingdom on the Waves

Banks, Russell Rule of the Bone

Bauby, Jean Dominique The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Beah, Ishmael A Long Way Gone

Becker, Tom Darkside

Bell, Ted Nick of Time

*Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights

*Bloor, Edward Tangerine

*Bowen, Mark Black Hawk Down

Brooks, Kevin Candy

*Card, Orson Scott Ender's Game

Cary, Kate The Bloodline Trilogy

Chabon, Michael The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay andThe Yiddish Policeman's Union

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, Congo, Next, Airframe, and The Andromeda Strain

Crutcher, Chris Running Loose, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, and Deadline

Deuker, Carl Heart of a Champion, Night Hoops, Painting the Black, and High Heat

Diaz, Junot The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Doctorow, Cory Little Brother

Dye, Dan and Beckloff, Mark Amazing Gracie

*Farmer, Nancy The House of the Scorpion and The Sea of Trolls

Flinn, Alex Breaking Point

Foer, Jonathan Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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, Right Behind You, and Shattering Glass

*Golding, William Lord of the Flies

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

Hartnett, Sonya Surrender

Hautman, Pete All In, Godless, Hole in the Sky, Invisible, No Limit, and Rash

Hickham, Jr., Homer October Sky

*Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders

Hornby, Nick High Fidelity and Slam

Hosseini, Khaled The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

Howe, James The Watcher

*King, Stephen The Shining, The Green Mile, Fire Starter

Klass, David Danger Zone, Dark Angel, and Home of the Braves

Koertge, Ron Shakespeare Bats Cleanup

Korman, Gordon Born to Rock, No More Dead Dogs, Schooled,

Son of the Mob, and Jake, Reinvented

Kretch,Bob Rebound

*Krakauer, Jon Into Thin Air and Into the Wild

Lehane, Dennis Mystic River

Lipsyte, Robert Raiders' Night

Lubar, David Dunk, Hidden Talents, and Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

Lynch, Jim The Highest Tide

Marsden, John The Tomorrow series

Martel, Yann Life of Pi

Martinez, A. Lee Gil's All-Fright Diner

Mass, Wendy Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Matheson, Richard I Am Legend

McCammon, Robert Boy's Life

McCarthy, Cormac Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, and The Road

McNab, Andy Trader

Meyer, Stephanie The Twilight series

Mezrich, Ben Bringing Down the House

Moehringer, J.R. The Tender Bar

Morpurgo, Michael Private Peaceful and Beowulf

Mosley, Walter 47

*Myers, Walter Dean Autobiography of My Dead Brother, Bad Boy, Fallen Angels, Hoops, Monster, The Outside Shot, Sunrise over Fallujah, Shooter, and Game

Nakazawa, Kaji Barefoot Gen, The Day After, and Life After the Bomb

Nancy, Ted L. The Letters from a Nut series

Nix, Garth Shade's Children

Nolan, Han If I Should Die Before I Wake

O'Brien, Robert Z for Zachariah

O'Brien, Tim If I Die in a Combat Zone and The Things They Carried

*Paolini, Christopher Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr

*Pfeffer, Susan Beth Life as We Knew It and The Dead and Gone

Picoult, Jodi Nineteen Minutes, My Sister's Keeper

Prose, Francine After

Pullman, Phillip The Dark Materials Trilogy

Rawls, Wilson Where the Red Fern Grows

Remarque, Erich All Quiet on the Western Front

Rhodes-Courter, Ashley Three Little Words

Runyon, Brent The Burn Journals

Sacco, Joe Safe Area Gorazde

Salisbury, Graham Night of the Howling Dogs

Satrapi, Marjane Persepolis

Sedaris, David Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked

Shusterman, Neal The Shadow Club

Simmons, Michael Pool Boy

*Smith, Roland Peak

Sonneblick, Jordan Notes from the Midnight Driver, Zen and the Art of Faking It, and Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

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

Tinti, Hannah The Good Thief

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, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Welcome to the Monkey House, Armageddon in Retrospect, Timequake, and Slaughterhouse-Five

Vrettos, Adrienne Maria Skin

Wahl, Matt The Invisible

Weaver, Will Memory Boy

Westerfield, Scott Peeps

Woolf, Tobias This Boy's Life

Wooding, Chris The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray and Poison

Wroblewski, David The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

*Zusak, Markus The Book Thief, Getting the Girl, and I Am the Messenger