English 9 – Novel Choices April / May 2014
Please pick something you haven’t read before. If you do not see something on this list, make your own selection; however, you must “clear it” with Mrs. Hoover by Thursday, April 10.
Young Adult Literature
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route and Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
The daily class discussions about contemporary issues serve as a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic cry for help.
Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon Draper
Recovering from the recent suicide of her ex-boyfriend, senior class president Keisha Montgomery finds herself attracted to a dangerous, older man.
Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper
Teenage Gerald, who has spent years protecting his fragile half-sister from their abusive father, faces the prospect of one final confrontation before the problem can be solved.
Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper
In one horrifying night, Andy's life changed forever.
Perfect by Natasha Friend
Following the death of her father, a thirteen-year-old uses bulimia as a way to avoid her mother's and ten-year-old sister's grief, as well as her own.
Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg
When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.
Cut by Patricia McCormick
While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.
Chess Rumble by Greg Neri
Branded a troublemaker due to his anger over everything from being bullied to his sister’s death a year before, Marcus begins to control himself and cope with his problems at home and at his inner-city school when an unlikely mentor teaches him to play chess.
Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri
Twelve-year-old Cole’s behavior causes his mother to drive him from Detroit to Philadelphia to live with a father he has never known, but who soon has Cole involved with a group of African American “cowboys” who rescue horses …
Yummy by Greg Neri
A graphic novel based on the true story of Robert “Yummy” Sandifer, an eleven year old African American gang member from Chicago.
A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
Tells the story of a child's abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother
The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer
The author continues the story of his own child abuse, and his experiences being a foster child moving in and out of five different foster homes
Non-Fiction
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
The son of an African father and white American mother discusses his childhood in Hawaii, his struggle to find his identity as an African American, and his life accomplishments.
Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me by C. Rice
The personal story of the former Secretary of State traces her childhood in segregated Alabama, describes the influence of people who shaped her life and pays tribute to her parents' characters and sacrifices.
No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington by Condoleezza Rice
Rice shares her unique perspective on the most consequential political, diplomatic, and security issues of the administration.
Historical Fiction
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty.
Catherine Called Birdie by Karen Cushman
The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the past. A riveting novel.
Hiroshima by John Hersey
Six Hiroshima survivors reflect on the aftermath of the first atomic bomb. A 36-member panel under the aegis of New York University's journalism department judged "Hiroshima" the finest piece of journalism of the 20th century.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Joey the horse recalls his experiences growing up on an English farm, his struggle for survival as a cavalry horse during World War I, and his reunion with his beloved master.
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Unwind by Neale Shusterman In America after the Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement: The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, a parent may choose to retroactively get rid of a child through a process called "unwinding." Unwinding ensures that the child's life doesn’t “technically” end by transplanting all the organs in the child's body to various recipients. Or sequels: UnWholly, UnSouled
Divergent by Victoria Roth In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions. On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. Or sequels: Insurgent, Allegiant
The Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (third book in the The Hunger Games trilogy)
In a final installment in the dramatic trilogy by the author of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, two-time Hunger Games survivor Katniss Everdeen is targeted by a vengeful Capitol that vows to make Katniss and all of District 12 pay.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (sequel to The Maze Runner)
After surviving horrific conditions in the Maze, Thomas is entrapped, along with nineteen other boys, in an experiment designed to observe their responses and gather data believed to be essential for the survival of the human race.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (or subsequent books in the Inheritance Cycle)
In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.