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High School Reading List

Boy Meets Girl

Dessen, Sarah. This Lullaby. (YA Fic) 345p.
Raised by a mother who's had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, noncommittal relationships until she meets rock musician Dexter.

Korman, Gordon. Son of the Mob. (YA Fic) 262p.
Vince has a complicated love life: his father is a Mafia boss and his girlfriend's father is an FBI mafia hunter.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Beast. (YA Fic) 260p.
An adaptation of Beauty and the Beast told from the point of view of the beast.

Contemporary

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. (Adult Fic) 226p.
A mathematically gifted autistic boy decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog.

Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees. (Adult Fic) 232p.
Driving from to Kentucky to Tucson, Taylor stops in a bar where she inherits a two-year-old Cherokee girl.

Packer, Ann. The Dive from Clausens Pier. (Adult Fic) 369p.
When her fiancé is paralyzed after a diving accident, Callie must decide what to do about their relationship.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. (YA Fic) 220p.
Athletically gifted TJ shuns the organized sports at his high school until he decides to form a swim team of school outsiders.

Greenberg, Joanne. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. (YA Fic) 256p.
A schizophrenic teenage girl fights a three-year battle against the mad alternative world she has created.

Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. (YA Fic) 131p.
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father in charge of his adored baby daughter.

McCormick, Patricia. Cut. (YA Fic) 168p.
Thirteen-year-old Callie is confined to a mental hospital for self-mutilation.

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. (YA Fic) 281p.
While on trial as an accomplice to murder, sixteen-year-old Steve writes a film script about his prison and courtroom experiences.

Nolan, Han. Born Blue. (YA Fic) 277p.
Unwanted foster child Janie has one dream to be a famous blues singer.

Strasser, Todd. Give a Boy a Gun. (YA Fic) 146p.
A night of terror at a high school dance.

Westerfeld, Scott. Peeps: A Novel. (YA Fic) 312p.
Cal Thompson, a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, must hunt down all the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected before they can create more of their kind.

Graphic Novels

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. (Adult 305.40955 SA83P) 153p.
An outspoken Iranian girl resists the headscarf and other restrictions forced upon her during the Islamic revolution. Sequel: Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return.

Barry, Lynda. One Hundred Demons. (Adult 741.5973 B279H) 216p.
Memories of growing up in the sixties from boyfriends to the funny way other people's houses smell.

Vaughan, Brian K. The Runaways. (YA 741.5973 R279H) unpaged.
When six L.A. teenagers discover that their parents are murderous super villains threatening the world, they run away from home in an effort to defeat them.

Historical

Gregory, Philippa. The Other Boleyn Girl. (Adult Fic) 664p.
Anne and Mary Boleyn are sent to the court of Henry VIII. Anne becomes his childless queen, while Mary bears him an illegitimate son.

Hosseini, Kahled. The Kite Runner. (Adult Fic) 324p.
A wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son are friends from the final days of the monarchy to the recent time of atrocities.

Alvarez, Julia. Before We Were Free. (YA Fic) 167p.
Anita's Dominican family is terrorized by the secret police during the 1960?s overthrow of the bloody dictator Trujillo. Sequels: In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Adult Fic).

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. (YA Fic) 552p.
A German girl steals books and tells stories to help sustain the Jewish man her family is hiding during the Holocaust.

Mystery and Adventure

Pullman, Philip. The Ruby in the Smoke. (YA Fic M) 230p.
Recent orphan Sally Lockhart becomes involved in stolen rubies and opium as she searches for her father's killer in nineteenth- century London. Sequel: The Shadow in the North.

Werlin, Nancy. The Killer's Cousin. (YA Fic) 129p.
After he is acquitted of killing his girlfriend, David goes to live with strange relatives to finish high school.

White, Robb. Deathwatch. (YA Fic) 228p.
Ben is guiding a bighorn sheep hunter into the desert when he realizes that he has become the man's real prey.

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Anderson, M.T. Feed. (YA SF) 237p.
Titus and his friends are grateful for their feeds advertising transmitters in their brains that tell them what they want and where to get it until Violet challenges them to think for themselves.

Anthony, Piers. The Magic of Xanth series. (YA SF) 300+p.
In the humorous world of Xanth everyone has a magical talent, from making spots appear on a wall to controlling the weather. Those with Magician caliber talent become King. The first three books should be read in order (A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, and Castle Roogna).

Beagle, Peter. The Last Unicorn. (YA SF) 212p.
A beautiful unicorn leaves the protection of the enchanted forest, hoping to find others of her kind.

Black, Holly. Valiant: a Modern Tale of Faerie. (YA SF) 314p.
When Valerie runs away to New York City she ends up living under the subways in a dark-dealing world of trolls, faeries, and homeless teens.

Brooks, Terry. Shannara series. (YA SF) 450-700p.
An adopted orphan named Shea reluctantly takes up the quest for the Sword of Shannara, a legendary blade that alone can defeat the forces of evil engulfing the world.
Prequel: The First King of Shannara. Sequels: The Heritage of Shannara series.

Pratchett, Terry. Discworld series. (YA SF) 200-400p.
Discworld is a flat world supported by four elephants standing atop an immense turtle swimming endlessly through space. Hilarious and bizarre.

Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials series. (YA SF) 300-400p.
In book one, The Golden Compass, Lyra sets out with her personal shape-shifting daemon (her soul in animal form) to save dozens of kidnapped children from sinister experiments in the Far North. Sequels: The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Wooding, Chris. Poison. (YA SF) 273p.
Poison travels through dark realms to rescue her kidnapped infant sister from the Phaerie Lord.

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JA, 1/07

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