Abandon by Meg Cabot
A near-death experience, a horrible incident at school, and a move from Connecticut to Florida have turned 17-year-old Pierce's life upside-down, but when she needs him most John Hayden is always there, helping but reminding her of her visit to the Underworld.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Abundance of Katherines, An by John Green
Having been dumped for the 19th time by a girl named Katherine, recent high school graduate Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend to find some new direction in life while also trying to create a mathematical formula to explain his relationships.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Airhead by Meg Cabot
Sixteen-year-old Emerson Watts, an advanced placement student with a disdain for fashion, is the recipient of a "whole body transplant" and finds herself transformed into one of the world's most famous teen supermodels. If you like Airhead, read the other two books in the series, Being Nikki and Runaway.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Along for The Ride by Sarah Dessen
When Auden impulsively goes to stay with her father, stepmother, and new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents' divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends and having new experiences such as learning to ride a bike and dating.
Also by Sarah Dessen: What Happened to Goodbye, Lock and Key, Just Listen, That Summer (YAP & audio AUD CD YA FIC Dessen) and This Lullaby
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
This graphic novel alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. (YA GN American)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
When a plane crash strands 13 teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Downham)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
After she dies in a car crash, teenage Samantha relives the day of her death over and over again until, on the seventh day, she finally discovers a way to save herself.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, 15-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil.
Reading Level: 9th grade and up
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Having grown up in a California commune, Bliss sees her aloof grandmother's Atlanta world as a foreign country, but she is determined to be nice as a freshman at an elite high school, which makes her the perfect target for Sandy, a girl obsessed with the occult.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Book Thief, The by Markus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a young German girl, whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Zusak)
Grade Level: 10th-12th grade
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, 16-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Flinn)
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
In 2036 New Jersey, when girls are expected to become fanatically religious wives and mothers or high-priced Surrogettes for couples made infertile by a widespread virus, 16-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony find in one another the courage to believe they have choices.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters
High school student Daelyn Rice, who has been bullied throughout her school career and has more than once attempted suicide, again makes plans to kill herself in spite of the persistent attempts of an unusual boy to draw her out.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Cardturner, The by Louis Sachar
When his wealthy uncle, a champion bridge player who has lost his vision, asks 17-year-old Alton to be a cardturner for him, Alton has no idea how much he will ultimately learn from his eccentric relative. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Sachar)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
An account of Charles Darwin's life and evolutionary theory, this biography examines how his personal life affected his work and vice versa because of his wife's strong religious beliefs. (YA B Darwin) (also available on audio AUD CD YA B Darwin)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, 16-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her. Continue reading about D.J. and her adventures in The Off Season and Front and Center. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Murdock)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until 95 days before her 18th birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Oliver)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The by E. Lockhart
Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks.
Grade Level: 9th-10th grade
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Now on the cusp of manhood, Finnikin, who was a child when the royal family of Lumatere was brutally murdered and their throne was taken over by a usurper, reluctantly joins forces with an enigmatic young novice and fellow exile, who claims that her dark dreams will lead them to a surviving royal child and a way to regain the throne of Lumatere. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Marchetta)
Also by Melina Marchetta: Jellicoe Road and Saving Francesca
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Forest of Hands and Teeth, The by Carrie Ryan
Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead. If you enjoy this zombie tale, be sure to read the other two books in the trilogy, The Dead- Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Ryan)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Cameron Smith, a disaffected 16-year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob's (a.k.a. “mad cow”) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Bray)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Graceling by 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, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Cashore)
Also by Kristin Cashore: Fire (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Cashore) and Bitterblue.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Great and Terrible Beauty, A by Libba Bray
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, 16-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world. Continue this trilogy with Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Bray)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt
When Anna, Emma, and Mariah concoct a story about why they are late getting home one Friday night, their lie has unimaginable consequences for the girls, their families, and the community. (YAP and audio AUD CD YA FIC Reinhardt)
Also by Dana Reinhardt: A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life (YAP & AUD CD YA FIC Reinhardt)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Heist Society by Ally Carter
A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several priceless paintings and save 15-year-old Kat Bishop's father, himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector.
Also by Ally Carter: The Gallagher Girls series
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
When 13-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it.
Grade Level: 9th-10th grade
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Five sixteen-year-old orphans are involuntarily placed in a house of endless stairs where they must learn to deal with each others’ different personalities, lack of privacy and their utter helplessness.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Hunger Games, The by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the 12 districts against one another, 16-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Collins)
Also by Suzanne Collins: Catching Fire and Mockingjay (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Collins)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
After capturing a bank robber, 19-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Zusak)
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, 17-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death. For the continuation of this story, read Where She Went. (If I Stay is also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Forman)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
In the Name of God by Paula Jolin
Seventeen year-old Nadia is an excellent student, daughter and sister, and above all wants to be the best Muslim she can be. But she's conflicted about her Westernized peers, the economic, social and political struggles of her country, and the war raging in Iraq.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Knife of Never Letting Go, The by Patrick Ness
Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony's true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World. Read the other two books in this exciting trilogy: The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men.
Grade Level: 10th-12th grade
Last Summer of the Death Warriors, The by Francisco X. Stork
Seventeen-year-old Pancho is bent on avenging the senseless death of his sister, but after he meets D.Q., who is dying of cancer, and Marisol, one of D.Q.'s caregivers, both boys find their lives changed by their interactions. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Stork)
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Compulsive liar Micah promises to tell the truth after revealing that her boyfriend has been murdered.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
After being abducted when she was ten and abused for five years by her kidnapper, Ray, Alice's only hope of freedom is in death, but her only way to achieve such an escape is to help Ray find the next girl for his collection.
Also by Elizabeth Scott: Love You Hate You Miss You and The Unwritten Rule
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Marcelo Sandoval, a 17-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Stork)
Grade Level: 10th-11th grade
Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
Follow the life story of an exuberant Labrador retriever who gets into perpetual trouble and experiences a range of inspiring adventures, from shutting down an entire beach to guarding a 17-year-old neighbor after a stabbing attack. If you read the book, make sure you check out the movie too! (636.752 Gro and AUD CD 636.752 Gro; DVDC 8563)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Matched by Allyson Condie
All her life, Cassia has never had a choice. The Society dictates everything: when and how to play, where to work, where to live, what to eat and wear, when to die, and most importantly to Cassia as she turns 17, whom to marry. When she is Matched with her best friend Xander, things couldn't be more perfect. But why did her neighbor Ky's face show up on her match disk as well?
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Mockingbirds, The by Daisy Whitney
When Alex, a junior at an elite preparatory school, realizes that she may have been the victim of date rape, she confides in her roommates and sister who convince her to seek help from a secret society, the Mockingbirds.
Grade Level: 9th grad and up
Monstrumologist, The by Richard Yancey
In 1888, 12-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a scientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi. For more adventures with Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop, make sure to check out The Curse of the Wendigo and The Isle of Blood.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
Three teenagers in Boston narrate their experiences of a year of new friendships, first loves, and coming into their own: T.C., who is trying to get Alejandra to fall in love with him; Alejandra, who is playing hard to get and is busy trying to sashay out from under the responsibilities of being a diplomat’s daughter; and T.C.’s best friend Augie, who is gay and in love and everyone knows it but him.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart. Make sure to watch the movie if you read the book. (DVDY 5750)
Grade Level: 10th-12th grade
No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin
Explores life behind bars for teenage prisoners who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting execution on death row, discussing the effects of their past actions on themselves and others, and their personal views on the death penalty itself. (YA 364.66 Kuk)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Num8ers by Rachel Ward
Fifteen-year-old Jem knows when she looks at someone the exact date they will die, so she avoids relationships and tries to keep out of the way, but when she meets a boy named Spider and they plan a day out together, they become more involved than either of them had planned.
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
As the tragedy of a missing girl enfolds in her small town, 15-year-old Samara, who feels emotionally abandoned by her parents, begins to question her faith. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Zarr)
Also by Sara Zarr: Sweethearts, Story of a Girl and How To Save a Life (all also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Zarr)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Paper Towns by John Green
One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.
Grade Level: 10th-12th grade
Peace, Love & Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle
Fifteen-year-old Carly's summer volunteer experience feels more real to her than her life of privilege in Atlanta ever did, but her younger sister starts high school pretending to be what she is not, and both find their relationships suffering.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
A mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennett is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. (FIC Grahame-Smith)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
After graduating from college, Lizzie Nichols sets off to England for the summer to visit her boyfriend Andrew, whom she hardly knows. When Lizzie realizes that Andrew isn’t the man she imagined, she sets off for France, where her best friend, Shari, is working at a chateau in wine country. On the way, she meets Luke, a French American, whose father owns the chateau and would be so easy to fall in love with if he wasn’t already taken. (FIC Cabot)
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
As a Chicano boy living in the unglamorous town of Hollywood, New Mexico, and a member of the graduating class of 1969, Sammy Santos faces the challenges of "gringo" racism, unpopular dress codes, the Vietnam War, barrio violence, and poverty. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Sáenz)
Grade Level: 11th-12th
Shadowland (Book one of the Mediator series) by Meg Cabot
Sixteen-year-old Suze Simon can mediate between the living and the dead, and she hopes her move to California will be a fresh start, but a hot ghost named Jesse haunts her bedroom and another ghost is bent on vengeance at school. (YAP)
Grade Level: 9th-10th grade
Shine by Lauren Myracle
When her best friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, 16-year-old Cat sets out to discover the culprits in her small North Carolina town.
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn, has been watching her with increasing intensity. Continue the series with Linger and Forever.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Skin I’m In, The by Sharon Flake
Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.
Grade Level: 9th-10th grade
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
This is the true story of children’s book illustrator, David Small, told in graphic novel format. At the age of 14, he wakes up voiceless after a supposedly simple operation. He overhears his parents talking and learns he had cancer and had to have his vocal cords removed. Small became a very angry young man at odds with his parents, especially his mother. At age 16, he makes the risky decision of running away and pursuing his dream of becoming an artist. (B Small)
Grade Level: 10th-12h grade
Taken by Edward Bloor
In 2036, kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when 13-year-old Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
A young woman who has endured unspeakable cruelties is magically granted a safe haven apart from the real world and allowed to raise her two daughters in this alternate reality, until the barrier between her world and the real one begins to break down.
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Things I Know About Love by Kate LeVann
Seventeen-year-old Livia Stowe travels from England to Princeton, New Jersey, to visit her brother who is studying there and to celebrate her recovery from a year-long struggle with leukemia. While she is there, she writes a blog about her experiences, which include falling in love.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing 13 cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death. (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Time Traveler’s Wife, The by Audrey Niffenegger
This is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Make sure you watch the movie if you decide to read the book. (FIC Niffenegger and DVDR 7102 & 7103)
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
When 17-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human. If you read the book, make sure you watch the movie! (also available on audio AUD CD YA FIC Meyer; DVDY 5940 & 5961)
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Just before their 16th birthdays, when they will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Wake by Lisa McMann
Ever since she was eight years old, high school student Janie Hannagan has been uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams, but it is not until she befriends an elderly nursing home patient and becomes involved with an enigmatic fellow student that she discovers her true power. Read the two other books in the series, Fade and Gone.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
We Were Here by Matt de la Peña
Haunted by the event that sentences him to time in a group home, Miguel breaks out with two unlikely companions, and together they begin their journey down the California coast, hoping to get to Mexico and a new life.
Also by Matt de la Peña: I Will Save You and Mexican Whiteboy
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome changes her life and that of her family forever.
Grade Level: 9th grade and up
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
An account of the decade-long conflict between humankind and hordes of the predatory undead is told from the perspective of dozens of survivors who describe in their own words the epic human battle for survival. (FIC Brooks)
Grade Level: 11th-12th grade
Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Are you on Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? This anthology provides strong arguments for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the side of zombies. (YA FIC 808.831 Zom)
Grade Level: 10th-12th grade
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