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Recommended Reading, Grades 9-12 The links below contain titles suggested by students, teachers, and alumni. Remember, they are only some of the thousands of titles that a student might choose. We want to encourage responsible freedom of choice. Students are encouraged to visit the library and check out as many titles as they wish, take them home and read some opening chapters. When a title or opening chapter catches a student’s interest, he or she will be encouraged to keep reading—or, come back to media center to keep browsing. Additionally, the school librarian is always available to assist. Please
Note: While movies have
ratings to help parents and students make better decisions about what
material may or may not be appropriate, there are no such ratings in the
publishing world. We trust that our students, with the help of their parents,
can make appropriate choices for their grade levels.
“Voluntary reading is the best predictor of reading
comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling, ability, grammatical usage and
writing style. Access to school library media centers results in more voluntary
reading by students. Having a school library media specialist makes a difference in the amount of voluntary reading done.” 2012 Delsea Enthusiastic Readers Photo 2012 Delsea Enthusiastic Reader Photo Students who were nominated for award given by New Jersey Association of School Librarians and NJ Reading Association for students who are enthusiastic about reading.
Plot: This book is about a destroyed North America which is taken over by people known as The Capital. People are separated into districts and live in harsh conditions. Every year the capital hosts a game called the hunger games where 2 tributes from each district are forced to play in deadly games. Katniss and Peta go into the games where life or death is at stake. They both want to keep each other alive. But only one tribute makes it out. Why read?: This book was suspenseful! It was amazing. I hadn’t read anything about it before. It has every possible theme you can think of including unrequited love. Readers will be hooked after the first chapter.
Catc Plot: Just as Peta and Katniss arrive home from winning the games but with a twist. Life should be great- they are rich and actually have a house. But things turn eerie as President Snow visits Katniss and threatens her. She has to convince him that she is really in love with Peta or a whole rebellion will happen. But what she doesn’t want to face is that she really does love Peta. Then they get the news that there will be a Hunger Games featuring a veteran troupe from each district to participate again in The Hunger Games. Peta and Katniss face all new horrible adventures. Why read?: This is the second book of the Hunger Games. It shows what happens to Katniss and Peta after the games. It is suspenseful and very beautiful.
Plot: This book is the final chapter that explains the conclusion of Katniss and Petas’ life, as well as the rest of Panem. A major rebellion occurs, and Peta is kidnapped by the Capitol. Katniss agrees to be the face of the rebellion. The capital and the districts go to war. (can’t mention anymore or it will ruin the entire story ending) Why Read?: This book is the conclusion book to the Hunger Games novels. It explains what happens to everyone. It is adventurous and it has romance. It is overall amazing. I’m addicted.
Plot: When Staff Sergeant in the US Army, John Tyree comes back to his hometown on leave, he meets the beautiful Savannah Lynn Curtis, a college student on break. It only took two weeks for them to fall in love with each other, but will John's life in the army make their relationship too complicated to pursue? Why Read? : I jumped the bandwagon and got into this book when the movie came out, and it's just so, so, so great! Don't judge the book by the movie, though, because they're different and the book is just ten times better. It's a not only a tragic, but beautiful love story, but it tells the amazing story between a caring but socially awkward father and a disgruntled son who didn't know what he had until it was gone. There were so many tears shed reading this book and I can honestly say it is one of my absolute favorites. Comments: "Again, book > movie. Don't forget that!"
Plot: Gulliver’s Travels is about the adventures of a seafaring man who gets stranded on several different islands and lands where he meets strange creatures and races. Why read? This book is a very exciting read. It contains action and comedy making it a book that once you start reading you cannot put it down. Other comments? One of the best classic books I’ve read.
Plot: Edmond Dantes on his wedding day is accused of being a traitor to France. He is taken to a notorious prison where he eventually escapes. After escaping he is bent on getting his revenge. Why read? : It is a very captivating novel that chronicles the travels of a dejected man who in having lost everything gained something new.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Submitted by Charles Z. Plot: The novel narrated by Watson follows Holmes on his mysteries through London and other parts of the world. Why read? : The mysteries of the book keep you guessing throughout. The style of writing is very interesting and informative.
Plot: The book is about a girl named Miranda whose grandmother has passed but her estate still must be settled. During the summer, Miranda and her doctor mother must fix up the place for selling. Through the process, old friendships are mended and new ones are created. Miranda starts falling in love with a boy that she met from the island and the summer romance begins. Why read?: Sea Change' is a good read and will keep you on your toes. The suspense will keep you up all night reading. Comments: Sea change' starts off a little slow but by the second chapter you are sucked into the story
Plot: This book is a series of memories of a 93 year old man, named Jacob Jankowski. The memories tell the story of him as a young man during the Great Depression while attending veterinary school. Given the notice that his parents have passed away, he drops out of college and finds himself jumping onto a circus train. He learns the life of a circus menagerie as their vet and finds himself falling in love with the boss’ wife. Why Read: This is a heart warming book. There is suspense, history, and a beautiful romance story filled with forbidden love and a clever elephant. This book will be sure to keep readers glued to the pages until the end. Comments: There are great facts and pictures from the research the author did to tell this magnificent story.
Plot: This is an amazing personal story of generations of a family persevering through slavery times. It is both fiction and non-fiction. Tademy develops the plot through research on her own family. What she can't find, she creates. She starts with her great, great, great, great grandmother and tells the story through each successive grandmother down to her mother. The reader will learn about their hardships, their experiences with slavery, and how their families grew and tried to break the chains of slavery, even after they were finally set free. Why Read?: This book is a page turner. Even though it is part fiction, it is mainly based on real lives. The reader gets to see true insight to how slaves lived, were treated, and persevered. Tademy develops it so well, you get pulled in emotionally. The women she writes about become your friends. You laugh with them, and you cry for them. It truly is an amazing piece of fiction.
Plot: The novel is about the lives of W. P. Inman and Ada Monroe. Inman is a deserter of the Confederate Army who is traveling back to his home in Cold Mountain where his sweetheart, Ada resides. He has to travel on foot, facing starvation, capture, and unseen danger. Throughout his perilous journey he discovers things about himself that he never knew before. Ada Monroe was a high-class lady from Charlestown before her preacher father moved them both out to Cold Mountain. Shortly into the novel her father dies, leaving Ada penniless without any skill of how to sustain her. She is assisted by Ruby, an uneducated mountain-woman, who teaches Ada how to run a farm and her own life. The two women toil side by side trying to create a life for themselves. As Inman minimizes the miles between himself and Ada, she is expanding the distance between herself and her past life. Why Read? : The story of Ada and Inman is a tale anyone can sink into and loose themselves in the story. It is a novel about self-growth and prevailing love. You can find a representation of yourself in any character, the strong-willed Inman, the always-evolving Ada, and even the extremely blunt Ruby. Comments: Once you begin reading this novel you will have a hard time putting it down.
Plot: Narrated by Death, the Book Thief follows two teenagers' lives as they live through Nazi Germany during World War II. Liesel, the main character steals books to foster her love of reading and shares them with a Jewish man who is hidden in her basement. Why Read?: This book is written in a way that keeps you reading more. You are on the edge of your seat to find out what happens. The narration by Death makes this book stand out beyond many other historical fiction books. This book is written for teenagers who are interested in history (especially WWII).
Plot: This book is set in 1930's Nazi Germany. Death is the narrator in this book telling about the life of a book thief, Liesel Meminger. Liesel and her brother are being sent to Molching, Germany to live with a foster family. He brother dies along the way, and one of the grave diggers forgot his book. She stole it which was her first act of thievery and many more to come. Hard times occur for her and her family in Germany, she develops a love for reading, and her life changes when her foster parents hide a Jew in their house. Bad things happen as the narrator is death. Why Read?: This book is very interesting. It explains a lot about Nazi Germany through the eyes of the Germans and Jews who had to live during that time. Many reviews tell that this book should be a classic just like A Diary Of Anne Frank. It has a blend of all literary techniques.
Plot: It is about an author who gets into a car wreck in a blizzard and is rescued by his "biggest fan", Annie Wilkes. Little did he know that his biggest fan was someone far more dangerous? Why Read?: If you like sort of gruesome stories or anything with suspense this is a great book to read and there is never really anything in the book that would bore someone. it's always suspenseful and action-packed. Comments: There are curse words and some gruesome, and disturbing scenes for light-hearted people.
Plot: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a book about a young girl who gets separated from her brother and mom while hiking through the forest. The girl stays sane by finding ways to occupy herself, mostly by listening to her radio and finding new sources of food and water. Throughout the book, she is being followed by some sort of monster, but she doesn't know what it is. Why Read?: The book is worth reading because it always keeps you on the edge trying to figure out what the thing might be, a man or beast, that is following the girl. This was very chilling. You feel the need to just reach into the book somehow and help her, but the realization that you cannot just seems to make you more upset for her well-being. Comments: The book isn't full of blood and guts, but you feel a great sorrow for the young girl as she struggles to stay alive and you almost feel like you are next to her whenever something bad happens to her. Comments : Submitted by Ms. M. I read this book, years ago, but the story literally made me afraid to turn the page. It was a good story that keep the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the entire story.
Plot: This is one of a series of mysteries about a French private detective Aimee Leduc. She is investigating the murder of a Haitian scientist and professor who has done the definitive study of Haitian pigs. (Yes, pigs!) There is intrigue when Aimee gets mixed up with a voodoo ceremony and she and her work partner Rene, get shot at. There is mistaken identity when a mysterious woman named Mirielle claims to be Aimee's half sister, and just plain fun as Aimee attempts to ride her Vespa scooter through parks and tunnels. All this is played out against the backdrop of a scandal within the World Bank and Inetrnation Monetray Fund, and the investigation into the death of Princess Diana in the Pont L'Alma tunnel. By the way, the nickname for the Parisian police is "flic". Why Read? : Cara Black has a large series of Aimee Leduc novels. Another one I have read is "Murder in the Marais". A combination of lively writing, engaging characters, and the Parisian setting make this book a worthwhile read! Comments: If you enjoy foreign culture, this book is for you.
H Plot: Hard Love is mainly about a friendship that's pretty awkward and a bit romantic about a boy with a hard life. He's a loner with family troubles and feels backed into a corner. To get over a lot of things he writes his own 'zines' and acts like he has every care in the world. He ends up meeting a young girl with whom he starts developing feelings and it's all downhill from there. Why Read?: This book is worth reading because its shows how many people actually cover their issues up and hide it away deep in their gut. Many young adults don't understand what to do about it. This boy found a way. Comments: This book the first few pages are a bit slow, but turns into a great book. Keep reading!
Plot: In the story, The Last Song, a young rebellious teen named Ronnie Miller is angry with her father for leaving her and her little brother Jonah. Ronnie also hates her father for leaving her mother. This story brings the meaning of love, trust, respect and the power to forgive. You learn that people make mistakes even the people that we love. Why Read?: This book is worth reading because it shows the meaning of true love, the power to heal, and the power to forgive. Comments: I really enjoyed reading this book, it is really worth reading.
Plot: Ronnie is a bitter teenager who doesn't have a close relationship with her dad because he lives down in North Carolina. Her mom decides that Ronnie and her brother should spend the summer with her dad. Ronnie has to find a way to make the summer bearable and finds what would end up being her first love. While having the summer of her life, she is slowly connecting back with her father and finds the love she has for him. Why Read? : It's worth reading because it relatas to a lot of people. It is also a great story that you won't be able to put down.
Plot: This book was absolutely amazing. I loved every second of it. This book Is about a girl named Kate who has now become an orphan along with her sister Georgia. They then move to Paris to live with their grandparents. She feels like her shattered upside down world will never be the same again until she meets a guy named Vincent. He sweeps her off her feet and just as she's about to let go of her past and begin a normal life again.. She starts to feel like something is a little off.... Why Read? : I loved every second of it and I could barely put it down. I felt it was well worth reading.
Plot: This book is
about a girl named Clary. She lived a life of secrets that have been
kept from her. Her mom went missing and she a murder. Determined to find her mother, she meets a cute boy named Jace who is a shadow hunter. She is pulled into his life, falls for him, and then learns that she has the Sight. She can see things that other people can’t such as faeries and demons, etc. She learns of the shadow world and encounters various adventures. Encountering death and very dangerous demons. Piecing answers to her life she doesn’t even remember. Why Read?: This book is mysterious and adventurous. It will keep you flipping pages, wanting more. It incorporates various genres such as romance, mysteries, adventures, and fantasy. It has a very good and detailed story. It will keep readers reading. It is a series of books. Over all this book is amazing and you encounter events and people you haven’t read before.
Plot: A story within a story, The Night Circus is about an amazing circus filled with intriguing characters. Within the tents and circus acts is another plot that focuses on a competition between two magicians which is a mystery that unfolds as the story plays out. Why Read?: The Night Circus has it all...action, adventure, mystery, romance, vivid details, a magical setting... It makes you want to visit this circus, playing out like a movie in the mind.
makes fun of a girl and gets a spell put on him which turns him into a hairy beast. His dad abandons him and leaves servants to look after him. He meets a girl names Linda, who has to stay with him because of a bad deal with her father. He has to fall in love with someone to break the curse but he is really in love with Linda. Why read?: This book is very heart warming. It teaches you not only to look at how beautiful the outside of a person is, but to look deep on the inside. It is a love story between- a beauty and a beast. It is not like the movie Beauty and the Beast but has its own mash up.
Plot: This book continues on the mystery of the deaths of young vampires. Schuyler travels to Italy to find her grandfather she has never met before. He doesn’t have the answers she needs. She returns and attends a massive masquerade ball- which the one and only is hosting- Jack Force. Schuyler is secretly in love with him but things happen that pull them apart and her family. She is trying her best to learn how to control her vampire powers. But that only leads to more chaos. Why read?: This book is amazing. It’s very hard to stop reading it. It incorporates the Battle of Roanoke in it and the missing tribe that was there. It shows the life of rich vampires living in New York- Blue Bloods.
with the military. Her family is the richest family in their part of the nation. Then her brother gets killed by someone from the other nation. As prodigy bounty hunter tracks down this murderer, something happens when they meet and it became the start of the legend in their nations that will change things forever! Why Read?: It is worth reading because it isn't your normal fiction book that only girl or only boys would like. It's something that both girls and boys would enjoy reading.
Plot: Sixteen year old Nick Dunmore is curious about the mysterious package that has been traveling around in his school. Nobody speaks of this package, but soon students began skipping school, getting lack of sleep, and constantly whispering all the time. Nick secretly gets his hands on the package which contains a mysterious computer game, Erebos. Players of the game must obey strict rules: always play alone, never talk about the game, and never tell anyone your nickname. Nick quickly becomes addicted to the game because of the realistic graphics and interesting quests. Erebos knows everything about the players and begins manipulating their lives. When Erebos sends Nick on a dangerous deadly assignment, he makes a difficult decision and is banished from the game. Nick goes to a friend for help in finding out who controls the game and what the controller of the game is planning. They set off on a long dangerous mission in which the border between reality and the virtual world come together. Why Read? : This book is a suspenseful thriller in which you know very little about Erebos and the players. This book will keep you guessing about the main controller and the players till the end.
Plot: After many hearing many childhood stories and seeing photographs of children with peculiar abilities; such as levitation, invisibility, etc., Jacob embarks on a journey to a remote island after his grandfather dies. His grandfather told him all these stories of peculiar children which Jacob thought were fake, but are they? As he reaches the island he explores the abandoned orphanage and finds answer to questions he never thought he would. Why Read?: This is a compelling story and will grab readers in the first few chapters. It has incredible photography and photos also incorporated in the story. It is mysterious and very unordinary. People will be sure to love it. Non-Fiction
Plot: This true story tells of one man's journey to understanding the true meaning of life. After meeting weekly with one of his past college professors, Mitch Albom begins to understand the beauty of life from a perspective of a wise and elderly professor. The memoir takes the reader on an emotional roller-coaster as past stories are retold and the undeniable beauty of life slowly emerges. Why Read?: This book is an emotional and inspiring read that will leave all readers deep in thought. The lessons taught within this book are applicable to all and truly can provide the reader with a different perspective on life. Comments: This is a great book!
Plot: " a beautiful glimpse into heaven will encourage those who doubt and those who believe." "will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child."
Why Read?: What a wonderful book! If you’re "on the fence" about whether or not there exists a heaven..? THEN READ THIS BOOK! I have always felt that children are innocent and pure and the words that come out of this little boy’s mouth are truly inspiring. They have given me a new found belief in my religion.
A Man Called Dave by Dave Peltzer Submitted by Mrs. S. Plot: Great read about a man and his traumatic abusive childhood and how he rises above it and empowers his life and those of others. Why Read?: Just such a great read about the true human spirit and to read about someone so admirable, who after having such a hellacious childhood has risen above it to become a strong man, husband, father and now motivational speaker.
Plot: This book has no real plot, but is a book of data organized in an interesting fashion in which the authors talk about economics while comparing it to historical events that show how money effects everything whether you know it or not. Why Read: If you are interested in money, history, or anything in between this book is for you. From real estate, to day-cares, to sumo-wrestling, this book covers a vast amount of information, covering both the economy and sociology.
Information on page adapted from East Brunswick High School Media Center, East Brunswick, NJ, January 2012. http://ebnet.org/departments.cfm?subpage=675 |
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Sea Change by 
Cane
River by Lalita Tademy Submitted by Mrs. D 
Misery by Stephen King Submitted by Sierra 
witnesses 
The Night Circus
by Submitted by MW 
Plot: This book is
about a popular boy who has everything- looks, money, and power. He rules the
school. Then one day he
Plot: The United States of
America became two unique nations instead of one. A fifteen- year old girl is
a prodigy bounty hunter involved
