A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen Hawking

Renowned mathematician explains how modern physics attempts to understand how and why the universe exists.

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

In 1905, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest.

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.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury

A pioneering work by an African-American playwright, this play was a radically new representation of black life.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Set at an elite boarding school for boys during World War II, A Separate Peace is the story of friendship and treachery, and how a tragic accident involving two young men forever tarnishes their innocence.

A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

After discovering the secrets that lie in an abandoned house, fourteen-year-old Susan Backstrom, with the help of some new friends, has the ability to make a safe, new life for herself.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

One of the most beloved books of our time--the first book of warm tales of the Yorkshire Dales from the kindly animal doctor.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a grave competition hosted by the Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the death.

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

In his best-selling memoir, filled with poverty and humor, suffering and grace, Frank McCourt traces his childhood in Limerick.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

This is a classic tale of humanity awash in totalitarianism. A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality.

Black Boy by Richard Wright

This incredible bestselling classic is Richard Wright's unforgettable and eloquent autobiography of growing up in the Jim Crow South.

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 of killing and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
 

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.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger

Holden Caulfield, knowing he is to be expelled from school, decides to leave early. He spends three days in New York City and tells the story of what he did and suffered there.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

This is the story of two sisters-one a missionary in Africa and the other a child wife living in the South-who sustain their loyalty to and trust in each other across time, distance, and silence.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is the greatest fictional detective in the world. He is the hero of 56 short stories and four novels.

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Stephen Kumalo, a Zulu pastor, takes the train to Johannesburg in search of his son Absalom, of whom he has heard nothing for many months.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Aliens have attacked Earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To prevent extinction, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses.

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma is bright, pretty, rich, supremely self-assured, and determined to impose her romantic ideals on all those around her. Her well-ordered life is about to change as she embarks on a journey of growth and discovery.

Eragon by Chris Paolini

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.

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

A journalist explores the homogenization of American culture and the impact of the fast food industry on modern-day health, economy, politics, popular culture, entertainment, and food production.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 is set in the future when books forbidden by a totalitarian regime are burned. The hero, a book burner, suddenly discovers that books are flesh and blood ideas that cry out silently when put to the torch.

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly 300 pounds, gets a new perspective on life when a homeless teenager who is a genius on guitar wants Troy to be the drummer in his rock band.

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.

Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe

Presents a true account of the murder of fourteen-year-old, Emmett Till, in Mississippi, in 1955.

Gifted Hands by Ben Carson

This inspiring autobiography takes you into the operating room to witness surgeries that made headlines around the world.

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius ... even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

A Fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her daily struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

A monumental classic considered by many to be not only the greatest love story ever written, but also the greatest Civil War saga.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Young Phillip Pirrip's life is shaped by an act of kindness which raises him from poverty to wealth. One of the greatest works of classic literature, this novel is a timeless tale of love, hope and humanity.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The timeless story of Jay Gatsby and his love for Daisy Buchanan is widely acknowledged to be the closest thing to the Great American Novel ever written.

Having Our Say: The Delany Sister’s First 100 Years by Sarah and Elizabeth Delany

Filled with humorous anecdotes, this memoir offers a glimpse into the birth of black freedom and the rise of the American black middle class.

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Superbly told, with the poet's gift for language and observation, Angelou's autobiography of her childhood in Arkansas.

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black, and Ellie, who is white, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Ellison won the National Book Award for this searing story of a black man's fervent quest for personal identity and social visibility that takes him on a journey through the Southern U.S. and later to New York City.

King of the Mild Frontier by Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher, author of young adult novels, tells of growing up in Cascade, Idaho, and becoming a writer.

It’s Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong

Story of Armstrong's long, hard climb through near-fatal cancer, recovery, and victory in the Tour de France.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A young governess falls in love with her employer in this classic coming-of-age tale set in 19th-century England.

Jefferson’s Children by Shannon Lanier and Jane Feldman

Thomas Jefferson's relationship with his slave Sally Hemmings is at the heart of this book written by a descendent who wanted to tell the story of his ancestors.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul during the final days of the monarchy. When Amir is forced to flee for a new life in California, he leaves behind Hassan, the son of his father's servant. Amir cannot, however, leave the memory of Hassan behind.

Keesha’s House by Helen Frost

Seven teens facing such problems as pregnancy, closeted homosexuality, and abuse each describe in poetic forms what caused them to leave home and where they found home again.

Left For Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice by Pete Nelson

Recalls the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis at the end of WWII, the navy cover-up and unfair court martial of the ship's captain, and how a young boy helped the survivors set the record straight fifty-five years later.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship in the Pacific, one solitary lifeboat remains, carrying a hyena, a zebra, a female orangutan, a Bengal tiger, and a 16-year-old Indian boy named Pi.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A fable of ship-wrecked children turning to primitive savagery which portrays the collapse of social order into chaos.

Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni

Presents a stunning collection of love poems that includes more than twenty new works.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon looks down from heaven after her murder to observe her family as they cope with their loss.

Lucas by Kevin Brooks

On an isolated English island, fifteen-year-old Caitlin McCann makes the painful journey from adolescence to adulthood through her experiences with a mysterious boy, whose presence has an unsettling effect on the island's inhabitants.

Malcolm X by Walter Dean Myers

In this highly praised, award-winning biography, Walter Dean Myers portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and voice of black militancy.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

In the distant future, when cities move about and consume smaller towns, a fifteen-year-old apprentice is pushed out of London by the man he most admires and must seek answers in the perilous Out-Country.

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Against Nebraska's panoramic landscape, Cather recreates the life of an immigrant girl who becomes, in the memories of narrator Jim Burden, the epitome of strong and dignified womanhood.

Night by Elie Wiesel

A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family...the death of his innocence...and the death of his God.

The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis

They made a vow to be there for one another, to encourage each other, until they overcame the odds and became doctors. In The Pact, they share the story of their struggle to keep the pledge they made.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Stephen Covey

In an entertaining style, Covey provides a step-by-step guide to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, get along with their parents, and much more.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

During their first summer apart, four teenage girls stay in touch through a shared pair of secondhand jeans that magically adapts to each of their figures and affects their attitudes to their different summer experiences.

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.

Stories and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe

Includes short stories, poems, and other works by one of the great American writers.

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman

Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The adventures of a mischievous young boy and his friends growing up in a Mississippi River town in the nineteenth century.

The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman

Lyra and Will find themselves at the center of a battle between the forces of the Authority and those gathered by Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her image, her first relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter tells the story of moral isolation in a small Georgia mill town in the 1930s.

The Hobbit by J. R. Tolkien

Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Esperanza Cordero lives in a neighborhood of harsh realities and hard beauty. She is a young girl coming into her power and inventing her own destiny.

The Princess Bride by Alison Goldman

Buttercup loves Westley, but when he is captured by pirates, she is chosen by the evil Prince to be his bride, beginning a series of fantastic efforts to free her.

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

Passionate Eustacia Vye detests her life amid the dreary environs of Egdon Heath and spies her escape when Clym Yeobright comes home from Paris for a visit.

The Robot Series by Isaac Asimov

As humans and robots struggle to survive together - and sometimes against each other - on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Living with her harsh father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory - the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother."

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Depicts the men of Alpha Company, including the character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Two children in a small southern town in the l930s are thrust into an adult world of racial bigotry and hatred when their lawyer father chooses to defend a black man charged with raping a white girl.

The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews

Having lost his job and the will to live, he has been supernaturally selected to travel through time, gathering wisdom for future generations.

True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl by Martha Brooks

A confused seventeen-year-old girl, a single mother and her young son, two elderly women, and a lonely man, with their own individual tragedies to bear, come together in a small Manitoba town and find a way to a better future.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom rediscovered Morrie Schwartz, his mentor from nearly 20 years ago, in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday. Here is a chronicle of their time together.

Uncommon Faith by Trudy Kisher

In 1837-38, residents of Millbrook, Massachusetts, speak in their different voices of major issues of their day, including women's rights, slavery, religious differences, and one fiery girl named Faith.

What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Intellectually and athletically gifted, TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students.

Who Killed My Daughter by Lois Duncan

A true story of a mother’s search for her daughter’s murderer.