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In the U!.S!., we teacher American Lit!. in 11th grade!. I'm not sure where you're from, but I'll suggest from that assumption!.

Fun, Easier, but not Fluff:
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Winner of the national book award
about a sci-fi dystopia that takes place between the Mexican/American border!.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers
National Book Award Finalist
about a 16yearold accused of murder during a fatal shooting!. chronicles his thoughts through the court proceedings!.

Tenderness by Robert Cormier
The tale of a 16 serial killer told from his perspective!. Not for the faint of heart!.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
documents the thoughts and objects young American soldiers carried with them while fighting during the vietnam war!.

Tuesdays with Morrie or Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Album
both inspiring stories about life and death

A Prayer for Owen Meeny by John Irving
the movie "Simon Birch" was based off this MUCH BETTER story about a young disabled man's impact on the lives of so many!. Ironic, stirring, and moving

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Often read in the lower grades, I feel this anti-fairy tale is something that applies to all ages!. Hilarious!.


If you want to really impress, and can float through some tough vocab:
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter or The House of Seven Gables
tales of puritan guilt and drudgery

Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence
About love and betrayal during the golden age in NYC just before the Great Depression!.

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Often a part of the AP US History curriculum, a beautiful rendering of the battle at Ghettysburg during the civil war!.

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
A part of the AP English curriculum
tells the story of live, love, and loss in 19th century China!.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
one of the greatest novels in american literature, tells the tale of a mid-western family struggling to survive during the great depression and their eventual migration to California

Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Another great American novel about one man's insane obsession with destroying a murderous great white whale!.

Catcher in the Rye by J!.D!. Salinger
again, another "great American novel" about a young man named Holden who is disillusioned with his life as a prep school student

The Great Gatsby by F!. Scott Fitzgerald
gorgeously woven, tragic tale about the world of wealthy millionaires living it up in the roaring 20s and one man's world of dreams!.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Tells the tragic tale of an African-American woman living and loving and losing in the deep south!.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway
About fighting a war in Spain in the late 1930s

My Antonia by Willa Cather
Living the pioneer life with other immigrants in the 19th century

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
the struggles and joys of growing up black in America

Beloved by Toni Morrison
A haunting tale about life, fear, mystery, and injustice surrounding slavery in the mid 19th century!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Jia: A Novel of North Korea
by:Hyejin Kim

The first novel about present-day North Korea to be published in the West!.
A moving and true-to-life tale of courage in the face of oppression and exile!.
Hyejin Kim’s Jia follows the adventures of an orphaned young woman, Jia, who has the grace of a dancer but the misfortune of coming from a politically suspect family!. In the isolated mining village of her childhood, Jia’s father, a science teacher, questions government intrusion into his classroom and is taken away by police, never to be heard from again!. Now Jia must leave the village where her family has been sent as punishment to carve a path for herself!. Her journey takes her first to Pyongyang, and finally to Shenyang in northeast China!. Along the way, she falls in love with a soldier, befriends beggars, is kidnapped, beaten, and sold, negotiates Chinese culture, and learns to balance cruel necessity with the possibilities of kindness and love!. Above all, Jia must remain wary, always ready to adapt to the “capricious political winds” of modern North Korea and China!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Crank & Glass by Ellen Hopkins!.
Tells the story of the author's daughter's addiction to ctystal meth!. Told in free-verse poetry!. Kind of long, but they are very fast reads!.

Burned by Ellen Hopkins!.
Tells the story of an abused girl raised in an extreme Mormon family!. also told in free-verse, and about the same length as Crank, and is also very fast!.

Sold by Patricia McCormick!.
Told in the form of vignettes, this tells the story of a Nepalese girl who is sold into prostitution in India!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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i have read a few good books this summer, one in particular i would recommend that is far from boring is Dear John buy Nickolas Sparks!. (also wrote "The Notebook" Anyways, it's a really good book!. I'm 22 btw!. This book made me cry several times!. I thought about what was going to happen next all day at work!. LOL I loved it!. Read it, you won't regret it!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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try ellen hopkins:

1!. impulse
2!. burned
3!. crank
4!. glass

and jodi picoult:

1!. my sisters keeper
2!. ninteen minutes
3!. the pact
4 the tenth cirlce ( if you saw the movie on lifetime it sucked!. read the book its wayyy better)

and christopher paolini :

1!. eragon
2!. eldest

:) the best everr !


i dont know if y ou are a boy or girl so im not sure if you want to read any of these!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Here's 6, in case you want to skip one:

River Ghost by B!.R!. Robb!. It's about a bi-racial cop whose parents were murdered right before his eyes, when he was 8!. The man who went to prison for the murders has been cleared by DNA evidence, and the cop has to find out who the real killer is!. It's a great, beautifully written book!.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen!. If you haven't read it, generations of women think Austen is a goddess!. You know how sometimes a guy likes you and you can't stand him until he gives up!? Then, you realize he's totally hot!?!? 'Nuff said!.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway!. It's fairly short, your teacher will be impressed, and there are some hot love scenes!.

Jazz by Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prize winner for literature!. It's about a young black woman who is stabbed by her lover at a party!. She adores him so much that even as she is dying, she refuses to tell anyone who killed her!.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K!. Le Guin!. One of the best fantasy/sci-fi writers out there!. An envoy tries to convince people on the planet Winter to join the empire!.

The first Harry Potter book (HP and the Sorcer's Stone) if you haven't already read it!. A boy wizard is destined for greatness!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Now, of course I can't presume to know exactly what you like to read, but all of my suggestions are highly acclaimed and thought provoking, which I sense is what you're looking for!. Additionally, these are all among my favorites!. :)


The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger: An absolute must-read!. Very unique novel about a teenage boy trying to find himself amidst a society he is disillusioned with!. A truly witty novel stock full of humor and tragedy!.

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess: A disturbing, but thought-provoking read--highly philosophical!. The book takes place sometime in the near future, and chronicles the life, times, incarceration and release of a violent criminal named Alex!. One of the most interesting aspects about the novel is that it is written entirely in a sort of invented slang language (comprised of a great deal of Anglicized Russian words mixed with regular English) called "Nadsat"!. At first, you'll have difficulty understanding the narrator's speech, but after a while, you'll find you've become fluent in Nadsat just from reading the text!.

Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn: This book (oddly enough) is about a man who answers a mysterious ad in the newspaper (Teacher Seeks Pupil: Must have an Earnest Desire to Save the World) and discovers a telepathic lowland gorilla with human intelligence and a variety of insights as to what's wrong with society, and how we go about fixing it!. Don't let the seemingly odd setup scare you off--the dialogue of this book will change your perceptions on society and culture!.

1984, by George Orwell: A terrifying version of the year 1984 in which the government has total control over its citizens, and there is almost no valid form of resistance!. The book is rather glum, but it is also riveting and intellectual!.

The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway: A gripping novella about a Cuban fisherman named Santiago who braves a voyage far from shore to find the ultimate fish that he feels is waiting for him somewhere!. It is!. He hooks an 18-foot marlin, impossibly large and powerful--the likes of which a weak old man could scarcely dream of catching without help!. But Santiago decides that he's not letting go of this fish--no matter what the cost!.


Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury: A highly insightful tale about an eerily believable future, where America's anti-intellectualism intensifies to the point where books are illegal!. Those found possessing them are arrested, and have their houses burned along with all their books, by a branch of censorship police known as "Firemen!." The story centers around a "fireman" who, feeling something is missing from his life, decides to find out what sort of knowledge is contained in books that is so dangerous, it must be destroyed!.!.!.

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Echebe: Considered the greatest African Novel!. Offers a window into a culture that seems to foreigners at times both bizarre and savage, but to those who live it is neither of the two!. It focuses on a "strong man" in an Ibo village in Nigeria, and the great changes that take place as white missionaries arrive, and one culture usurps another, permanently!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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