School House Books, Inc.
Library of Suggested Reading
of Twentieth Century Works
Books for Young Adults
The works
on this School House Books list have appeared on various lists of the greatest
books of the millenium; most have won awards for literary excellence;
all are great books. A concerted effort has been made to represent
women fairly, to represent a wide variety of subject matter, and to represent
all of the diverse cultures of our nation. Most importantly, these
works all deserve scrutiny: their richness of thought and diverse
manipulations of language challenge the reader; and their style is
worthy of emulation.
Adventure/Survival
Joan Aiken,
The
Wolves of Willoughby
Avi, The Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Michael Cadnum, The Book of the Lion
Susan Cooper, Seaward
Dave Duncan, Sir Stalwart
Allan Eckert, Incident at Hawk's Hill
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Quest for a Maid by Frances Mary Hendry
Bearstone by Will Hobbs
Far North by Will Hobbs
The Maze by Will Hobbs
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence
Sparrow Hawk Red by Ben Mikaelsen
The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Zia by Scott O'Dell
Adaline Falling Star by Mary Pope Osborne
The King's Equal by Katherine Paterson
Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen
Foxman by Gary Paulsen
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Rifle by Gary Paulsen
Snowfall by K.M. Peyton
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Free Fall by Joyce Sweeney
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Sniper by Theodore Taylor
Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman, Newbery Honor Book
Deathwatch by Robb White
Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays ; Then There Were Five
Eleanor Estes, Ginger Pye
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy
Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War
Frank Gilbreth, Belles on Their Toes; Cheaper by the
Dozen by
Fred Gipson, Old Yeller
Eric Knight, Lassie Come Home
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Hugh Lofting, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
Little Britches by Ralph Moody
The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit
Trig by Robert Newton Peck
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Jerome David Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Lad, a Dog by Albert Terhune
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, Newbery Honor book
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Anne Frank, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders
William Golding, Lord of the Flies
Judy Blume, Forever...
Paul Zindel, The Pigman
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Alice Childress , A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Emma by Jane Austen
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Fantasy
Historical Fiction (Ancient History)
Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw
The Fated Sky by Henrietta Branford
Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel
Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile by Kristiana Gregory
Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Inside the Walls of Troy by Clemence McLaren
White Stag by Kate Seredy
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff
Historical Fiction (The Middle Ages)
The King's Shadow by Elizabeth Alder
There Will Be Wolves by Karleen Bradford
The Book of the Lion by Michael Cadnum
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite DeAngeli
The Raging Quiet by Sheryll Jordan
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E.L. Konigsburg
The Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff
Spider's Voice by Gloria Skurzynski
The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple
Historical Fiction (The Renaissance and Europe 1500-1800)
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
King of Shadows by Susan Cooper
The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E.L. Konigsburg
Elizabeth I, Red Rose House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky
Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer
Historical Fiction (Colonial America and the Revolution)
The Fighting Ground by Avi
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Bloom
The Arrow Over the Door by Joseph Bruchac
The Beaded Moccasins by Lynda Durrant
April Morning by Howard Fast
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Early Thunder by Jean Fritz
Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell
The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi
Finishing Becca by Ann Rinaldi
A Ride Into the Morning by Ann Rinaldi
The Secrets of Sarah Revere by Ann Rinaldi
Wolf By the Ears by Ann Rinaldi
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
America 1800-1860
Beyond the Western Sea by Avi
North by Night by Katherine Ayres
Freedom Crossing by Margaret Goff Clark
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman
The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
The Borning Room by Paul Fleischman
Saturnalia by Paul Fleischman
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl
(Dear America) by Joyce Hansen
Skullduggery by Kathleen Karr
A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl (Dear America)
by Patricia McKissack
Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen
The American Civil War
Alice Rose and Sam by Kathryn Lasky
Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell
Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen
Across the Lines by Carolyn Reeder
Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi
Amelia's War by Ann Rinaldi
In My Father's House by Ann Rinaldi
America 1865-1900
Navajo Long Walk by Nancy M. Armstrong
Sounder by William Armstrong
Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer Holm
Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan
Europe and Asia 1800-1935
The Robber and Me by Joseph Holub
Under a Changing Moon by Margot Benary-Isbert
Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka
America 1900-1950 (not including the Depression)
Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway? by Avi
San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 by Kathleen Duey
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Stepping on the Cracks by Mary Downing Hahn
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine
Summer Soldiers by Susan Hart Lindquist
Preacher's Boy by Katherine Paterson
The Cookcamp by Gary Paulsen
Amanda Miranda by Richard Peck
Honor Bright by Randall Beth Platt
Foster's War by Carolyn Reeder
I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant
Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen
The Well by Mildred Taylor
Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep
THE GREAT DEPRESSION ERA
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Curtis
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt
Let the Circle Go Unbroken by Mildred Taylor
Mississippi Bridge by Mildred Taylor
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor, Newbery Medal winner
Song of the Trees by Mildred Taylor
A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida
WORLD WAR II AND THE HOLOCAUST
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Dawn of Fearby Susan Cooper
Heroes by Robert Cormier
Tunes for Bears to Dance Toby Robert Cormier
Hindenburg, 1937 by Cameron Dokey
Jacob's Rescue by Malka Drucker
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Hiroshima No Pika by Toshi Maruki
After the War by Carol Matas
Daniel's Story by Carol Matas
Good Night, Maman by Norma Fox Mazer
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, A World War II Soldier by Walter
Dean Myers
Snow Treasure by Mary McSwigan
The Little Riders by Margarthea Shemin
Anna Is Still Here by Ida Vos
So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams
THE 1950s, 1960s, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND VIETNAM
The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks
The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods by Ann Cameron
The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963 by Christopher Curtis, Newbery Honor
book
Just Like Martin by Ossie Davis
My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
The Gold Cadillac by Mildred Taylor
The Road Home by Ellen White
Sweet Creek Holler by Ruth White
Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White, Newbery Honor book
Weeping Willow by Ruth White
Humorous Works
S.O.R. Losers
by Avi
Squashed by Joan Bauer
Superfudge by Judy Blume
Starting School with an Enemy by Elisa Carbone
Frindle by Andrew Clements
The Janitor's Boy by Andrew Clements
Danny, Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger
Hank the Cowdog by John Erickson
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Wagon Train 911 by Jamie Gilson
Cecil in Space by Sid Hite
The Trolls by Polly Horvath
Letters from Camp by Kate Klise
Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry
Extreme Elvin by Chris Lynch
Slot Machine by Chris Lynch
The Boys Start the War, the Girls Get Even by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Almost Starring Skinnybones by Barbara Park
The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park
My Mother Got Married and Other Disasters
Skinnybones by Barbara Park
The Boy Who Owned the School by Gary Paulsen
Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
The Schernoff Discoveries by Gary Paulsen
5 Novels by Daniel Pinkwater
The Whistling Toilets by Randy Powell
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar
Knights of the Kitchen Table by Jon Scieszka
Oddballs by William Sleator
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Non-Fiction for Young Adults
Alicia:
My Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong
Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer
Dark Harvest by Brent Ashabranner
Kids on Strike! by Susan Bartoletti
Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals
Zine Scene by Francesca Lia Block and Hillary Carlip
What's the Deal?: Jefferson, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase by Rhoda
Blumberg
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
Educating Esme by Esme Raji Codell
I Have Words to Spend by Robert Cormier
The World of King Arthur and His Court by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz
When This Cruel War Is Over by Duane Damon
Child of the Dark by Carolina Maria DeJesus
Invisible Enemies by Jeanette Farrell
Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filopovic
The Way Things Never Were by Norman Finkelstein
The Abracadabra Kid by Sid Fleischman
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Ida B. Wells by Judith and Dennis Frannin
Nellie Bly: Daredevil Reporter by Charles Fredeen
Babe Didrikson Zaharias by Russell Freedman
Buffalo Hunt by Russell Freedman
Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz
The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz
You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz
When Plague Strikes by James Cross Giblin
Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie
Gold
Catching Fire by Gena Gorrell
North Star to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad by Gena Gorrell
Chuck Close, Up Close by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Karen by Marie Kililea
To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War by Anita Lobel
West With the Night by Beryl Markham
Terror on the Spanish Main by Albert Marrin
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy
Basher Five-Two by Scott O'Grady
In My Hands:Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke and Jennifer
Armstrong
The Case of the Mummified Pigs by Susan Quinlan
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen
Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
To See With the Heart by Judith St. George
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Threads of Evidence by Herma Silverstein
Living Up the Street by Gary Soto
Leon's Story by Leon Walter Tillage
Night by Elie Weisel
Novels for Young Adults
Science Fiction
Something
Upstairs by Avi
Hermit Thrush Sings by Susan Butler
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Faded Sun by C.J. Cherryh
The City of Gold and Lead John Christopher
The Pool of Fire by John Christopher
White Mountains by John Christopher
Both Sides of Time by Caroline Cooney
Timeline by Michael Crichton
AK by Peter Dickinson
A Bone from a Dry Sea by Peter Dickinson
Eva by Peter Dickinson
Children of the Star by Sylvia Engdahl
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl
The Far Side of Evil by Sylvia Engdahl
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Among the Hidden by Margaret Haddix
Mr. Was by Pete Hautman
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause
Star Split by Kathryn Lasky
Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
A Severed Wasp by Madeleine L'Engle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Cure by Sonia Levitin
The Giver by Lois Lowry, Newbery Medal winner
Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
The Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen
Voices After Midnight by Richard Peck
Knights of the Kitchen Table by Jon Scieszka
Among the Dolls by William Sleator
The Boy Who Reversed Himself by William Sleator
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Interstellar Pig by William Sleator
Into the Dream by William Sleator
Others See Us by William Sleator
Singularity by William Sleator
Building Blocks by Cynthia Voigt
Gulf by Robert Westall
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Poetry
I Am the Darker Brother: An Anthology of Modern Poems by African Americans
edited by Arnold Adoff
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart edited by Robert Bly et al.
Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks
Sing to the Sun by Ashley Bryan
Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins
Selected Poems by Rita Dove
Lyrics, 1962-1985 by Bob Dylan
Autobiography of a Jukebox by Cornelius Eady
I Am Wings: Poems About Love by Ralph Fletcher
Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems by Kristin O'Connell George
Foreign Exchange: A Mystery in Poems by Mel Glenn
Jump Ball: A Basketball Season in Poems by Mel Glenn
Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?: A Mystery in Poems by Mel Glenn
Cool Melons - Turn to Frogs!: The Life and Poems of Issa collected by Matthew
Golub
Opening Days: Sports Poems edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes
The Other Side: Shorter Poems by Angela Johnson
Hummers, Knucklers, and Slow Curves: Contemporary Baseball Poems edited
by Don Johnson
Sleeping on the Wing: An Anthology of Modern Poetry edited by Kenneth Koch
and Kate Farrell
Talking to the Sun: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems for Young People
edited by Kenneth Koch and Kate
Farrell
Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems by Yusef Komunyakaa
Passing Through: The Later Poems New and Selected by Stanley Kunitz
What Work Is by Phillip Levine
A Crack in the Clouds by Constance Levy
Hey World, Here I Am! by Jean Little
The Garden Thrives: Twentieth Century African American Poetry edited by
Clarence Major
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
The Bedbug and Selected Poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky
My Name is Jorge: On Both Sides of the River by Jane Medina
Effort at Speech: New and Selected Poems by William Meredith
A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry edited
by Czeslaw Milosz
Harlem: A Poem by Walter Dean Myers
I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You: A Collection of Her Poems and His Poems
Collected in Pairs edited by
Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul B. Janeczyko
The Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings from the Middle East
edited by Naomi Shihab Nye
What Have You Lost? edited by Naomi Shihab Nye
New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver
Poetry in Motion: 100 Poems from the Subways and Buses edited by Molly
Peacock et al.
The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky
Soda Jerk by Cynthia Rylant
Lunch Money and Other Poems About School by Carol Diggory Shields
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Morrow Anthology of Younger American Poets edited by Dave Smith
No Nature: New and Selected Poems by Gary Snyder
The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems by William Stafford
This Time: New and Selected Poems by Gerald Stern
All the Small Poems and Fourteen More by Valerie Worth
Short Fiction
The Bus People by Rachel Anderson
Tom, Babette, & Simon by Avi
Places I Never Meant to Be edited by Judy Blume
Teller of Tales by William J. Brooke
An Island Like You by Judith Ortiz Cofer
8 Plus 1 by Robert Cormier
Bruce Coville's Book of Aliens by Bruce Coville
Oddly Enough by Bruce Coville
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
The Lion Tamer's Daughter by Peter Dickinson
Graven Images by Paul Fleischman
Sixteen edited by Donald Gallo
Visions edited by Donald Gallo
The Circuit by Francisco Jiminez
Twelve Shots edited by Harry Mazer
The Girl Who Heard Dragons by Anne McCaffrey
The Dark Thirty by Patricia McKissack, Newbery Honor book
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, Newbery Honor book
The Heavenly Village by Cynthia Rylant
The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant
Blue Skin of the Sea by Graham Salisbury
Baseball in April by Gary Soto
Instead of Three Wishes: Magical Short Stories by Megan Whalen Turner