Independent Reading Suggested Titles

Independent Reading Suggested Titles

Below is a list of possibilities for your independent reading book. You should plan to purchase or borrow a book for the first month of school. You are not required to choose a book from this list; however, you are required to choose a novel written in first-person narration that deals with coming of age issues. Our first unit is a study of voice and coming of age. To complement our work in the classroom, your book must deal with coming of age issues and have a strong, first person narrative voice. Additionally, you should choose a book that you can reasonably finish in two to three weeks. There are no exceptions to these requirements.

Soldier’s Heart – by Gary Paulson

Dog Song – by Gary Paulson

Notes from the Midnight Driver, by Jordan Sonnenblick

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, by Jordan Sonnenblick

Stuck in Neutral, by Terry Trueman

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, by David Lubar

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan

The Skin I'm In, by Sharon Flake

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

No More Dead Dogs, by Gordon Korman

Anything, by Sandra Cisneros

Crackback, by John Coy

Burned, by Ellen Hopkins

Crank, by Ellen Hopkins

The Highest Tide, by Jim Lynch

Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen

Boot Camp, by Todd Strasser

Tangerine, by Edward Bloor

Monster, by Walter Dean Myers

She’s so Money, by Cherry Cheva

Slam, by Walter Dean Myers

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, by Michael Dorris

Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles