An Incomplete Suggested Reading List
Grade 9-10
Mysteries/Suspence/Thirllers
Sadie by Courtney Summers.
In this tale of revenge, abuse, ineffective policing, poverty and addition, Sadie searches for the man she believes murdered her 13-year-old sister with help from a podcast The Girls set in the future.
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by C. Alan Bradley
Youthful chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce once again brings her knowledge of poisons and her indefatigable spirit to solve dastardly crimes -- but this time, she leaves behind her beloved English countryside, and takes her sleuthing prowess to the unexpectedly unsavoury world of Canadian boarding schools!
The Hate u Give by Angie Thomas.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter’s world is shattered when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. What really went on that night?
The House of One Thousand Eyes by Michelle Barker.
Life in East Germany in the early 1980's is very hard for Lena following the death of her parents and the disappearance and erasure of her uncle's existence by the secret service police, the Stasi. Lena is determined to unearth what happened to her beloved uncle.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival, but the other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
Blood on the Beach by Sarah N. Harvey and Robin Stevenson.
After Alice has a couple of beers too many at a party and Caleb beats up his abusive stepfather, the two find themselves en route to a private island for a week long intervention program with six other “troubled” teens. Day 1 goes as expected with group therapy and a cleansing ritual, but things quickly take a turn on Day 2 when one of the teens goes missing and the adults refuse to radio for help. By Day 3, one of the three program leaders is dead and the other two are no help.
Book Club Favourites
Caraval by Stephanie Garber.
Scarlett and Tella, leave their cruel father to attend Caraval--a faraway once-a-year performance. Tella is kidnapped and Scarlett is aided by a mysterious sailor and finds herself enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic.
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige.
Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas, has been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to stop Dorothy who has found a way to come back to Oz, seizing a power that has gone to her head -- so now no one is safe!
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon, the victim of a sexual assault and murder, looks on from the afterlife as her family deals with their grief, and waits for her killer to be brought to justice.
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos.
Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima and, what's more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations. Her idyllic life is disrupted, however, when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a distant clan.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent has a gift that makes other people's talents stronger. Gansey, one of the Raven boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, has talents of his own. Together their talents are a dangerous mix.
Renegades by Marissa Meyer.
As champions of justice, the Renegades remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone... except the villains they once overthrew.
A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti.
Eighteen-year-old Seattleite Annabelle is hardworking, pretty, and seemingly has it all: good grades, great friends, and a loving family. Following a tragedy, however, Annabelle is wracked with guilt and sets out to run across the nation in an attempt to come to terms with the event perpetrated by a person whom she dubs The Taker.
Winter by Marissa Meyer.
Princess Winter, admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, teams up with cyborg mechanic, Cinder, to defeat Queen Levana and find their happily ever afters.
Diversity /Identity
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Dewar.
A blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie Anderson.
Tina disappears into the streets of Sangui City, Kenya, to train with a gang to exact revenge for her mother’s murder.
The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Behathena.
New girls meets bad girl in this charming and diverse Canadian romance.
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli.
Leah Burke navigates the trials and tribulations of high school whilst coming to terms with her sexuality and deteriorating friendships. Sequel to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens.
Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennet.
Birdie Lindberg, a lover of detective novels, teams up with her one-time hookup Daniel Aoki to solve a mystery at the historic Seattle hotel where they work.
Love Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed.
Soneela tells the tale of a teen caught between parents’ expectations to follow a traditional way of life, and her own dream to study filmmaking in New York
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.
Encouraged by her English teacher to believe in the power of her own words,
the author tells this coming-of-age tale about a Harlem teen whose generational, cultural, religious and emotional worlds are in conflict.
I Am J by Cris Beam.
Finally, a book about a transgender teen that gives its central character a life in which gender and transition matter but do not define his existence!
Science Fiction/Dystopia
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green.
April finds and films a giant sculpture of a massive Transformer. The video showing Carls in dozens of cities brings her to the center of an intense international media spotlight and she must deal with pressure, identity and safety.
Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman.
A dystopian, realistic tale of what happens when water runs out after an environmental catastrophe, and the impact on government, economy and more.
Internment by Samira Ahmed.
A terrifying future where Muslim-Americans are forced into internment camps and 17 year old Layla must lead a revolution against complicit silence.
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.
Nicholas Carter helps Etta Spencer, who’s been sent back in time, to find a powerful object in order to help her get back home, while being chased by the Ironwoods family who want it for themselves.
Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow.
Greta is a duchess and crown princess. She is also a Child of Peace, a hostage held by de facto
ruler of the world, the great Artificial Intelligence, Tails. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give your children as a hostage. Start a war and your hostage dies.
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth.
Upon passing into adolescence, everyone on Thuvhe develops a “currentgift”—sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse. Cyra Noavek, sister of cruel and tyrannical Shotet ruler Ryzek, regularly experiences extreme pain and is able to transfer that pain to others—much to the advantage of Ryzek, who blackmails her into using her currentgift as a method of torture.
The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer.
In 2137, fourteen-year-old Matt is stunned to learn that, as the clone of El Patrón, he is
expected to take over as leader of the corrupt drug empire of Opium, where there is also a hidden cure for the ecological devastation faced by the rest of the world.
The Winnowing by Vikki Van Sickle.
In this gripping exploration of love and loss, the winnowing procedure is now a dangerous
part of adolescence. The new hero, Marivic Stone unravels the horror and intrigue of a world at-once familiar and chilling.
The Rule of 3 by Eric Walter.
A global blackout forces teenager Adam Daley and his neighbors to turn their community into a fortress, defending against countless enemies, but a new danger threatens to destroy them all.
Fantasy
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater.
The Raven boys have taken in Blue Sargent, and she now has friends she can trust and
belong to, but her problems become theirs and their problems become hers.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.
Zelie, a diviner with potential for magic, risks her life and that of her two helpers to restore magic to a new generation of Maji in a world that is under the regime of a brutal Crown prince.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas.
After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.
Six dangerous outcasts engage in an impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand
between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake.
On an island where a set of triplets are born in every generation, three sisters, all equal heirs to the crown and possessor of magic, must now fight for the title in a game of life or death.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.
In this modern fairy-tale, an insouciant, “somewhat heartless” 12-year-old girl from Omaha visits Fairyland and accepts a quest to rescue its inhabitants from the rule-mad Marquess.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.
An epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, who must unlock the powerful magic buried deep inside her.
Real Life
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe.
When Norris, a Black French Canadian, starts his junior year at an Austin, Texas, high school, he views his fellow students as clichés from "a bad 90s teen movie."
The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough.
In Seattle in 1937 Henry and Flora become pawns in a game played by two immortal figures, Love and Death, where they must choose each other at the end, or one of
them will die.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas.
Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral and which is a story about fighting for dreams, and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free.
Lovely, Dark and Deep by Justina Chen.
Viola develops an extreme case of photosensitivity. Determined to maintain a normal life, she meets Josh, but the intensity of their romance makes her take risks, and a rebellion against her parents backfires dangerously.
Odd One Out by Nic Stone.
High school juniors and best friends Courtney and Jupe, and new sophomore Rae, explore their budding attraction for one another.
Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert.
When Danny gets accepted to art school, his future looks clear and exciting but after he finds mysterious documents about his parents, his security is threatened. Intense and suspenseful, this novel has excellent character development.
Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian.
Emily is looking forward to a summer program at the Philadelphia College of Art, but is not sure she is up to the challenges there, including finding herself and learning to balance life and art.
