I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson
Despite differences in race and economics, Lena and Marie become friends when they discover that neither of them has a mother at home. Lena's mother is dead and Marie's has left for the lure of greater individual freedom. As their friendship grows, Lena trusts Marie with a secret that both shames and enrages her.
Themes: friendship, race relations, family life, abuse


The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 
Seconds before Earth is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect. Together, they journey through the galaxy.
 

Themes: science fiction, adventure, humor 
You may instead read The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.


And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten people are invited to a lonely mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear - ten people who have something to hide and something to fear.
Themes: murder mystery, suspense
If you prefer, you may instead choose to read Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express.


Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Based on the fairy tale Rapunzel, the story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Zel, her mother, and the nobleman who pursues her, and delves into the psychological motivations of each of the characters. 
Themes: fairy tales, psychological identity, relationships


The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 
Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who only wanted to be left alone, is drawn by a wizard and a band of homeless dwarves into a quest where he confronts evil orcs, savage wolves, and the great dragon, Smaug the Magnificent. 
Themes: fantasy, adventure
You may instead read any of the books in The Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, or The Return of the King.


On the Devil's Court by Carl Deuker
Struggling with his feelings of inadequacy and his failure to make the basketball team in his new school, seventeen-year-old Joe Faust finds himself willing to trade his soul for one perfect season of basketball.
Themes: basketball, self-acceptance 


Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In a graphic story, 17-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.
 
Themes: Vietnam War, survival 


In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais
Finally, after five straight years of disappointments on the basketball court, the Amherst Lady Hurricanes found they just might have what it took to go all the way. This is a fierce, funny, and intimate look into their minds and hearts during one very special season.
Themes: basketball, perseverance, non-fiction 


Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca has been dead for several months, but her sinister influence is still very much alive at Manderly, as Maxim de Winter's second wife soon comes to realize.
Themes: mystery, love, adult themes


First Test by Tamora Pierce 

Keladry (known as Kel) is the first girl to take advantage of a decree that permits girls to train for knighthood. The only thing that can stop her is Lord Wyldon, the training master of pages and squires. He does not think girls should be knights and puts her on probation for one year. But Kel is not someone to be underestimated. . .
Themes: fantasy, knights


The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank, Otto Frank (Ed.), Miriam Pressler (Ed.)
Autobiography of Anne Frank who, with her family, fled the horrors of Nazi occupation and hid in the back of an Amsterdam warehouse for two years. She was thirteen when she went into the Secret Annex with her family.
Themes: autobiography, World War II, Jewish Holocaust, family relationships


I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
A young boy desperately tries to unlock his past yet knows he must hide those memories if he is to remain alive.
Themes: identity, suspense 

 


My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
A book for every dog lover and every Paulsen fan. A perfect combination that shows vividly the joy and wisdom that come from growing up with man's best friend.

Themes: dogs, coming of age, autobiography, recreational reading

 


The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
Themes: science fiction, adventure, cloning

 


 
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
An unusual, fresh view of the Holocaust as seen through the eyes of a child who struggles to understand the world around him. In Warsaw in 1939, a boy wanders the streets and survives by stealing what food he can. He knows nothing of his background: Is he a Jew? A Gypsy? Was he ever called something other than Stopthief? Befriended by a band of orphaned Jewish boys, he understands very little of what is happening when the Nazi "jackboots" march into town.
Themes: historical fiction, World War II, the Holocaust, survival


Like Sisters on the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia
When 14-year-old Gayle gets pregnant for the second time, Mama sends her south to live with her aunt and uncle, a minister. They hardly let her out of the house and she doesn't like her cousin Cookie. Then Gayle meets Great, the family matriarch. Gayle's life begins to change - perhaps she can make her own place in the world.
Themes: families, relationships

 


Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The author relates his experience of climbing Mount Everest during its deadliest season and examines what it is about the mountain that makes people willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense.
Themes: Mount Everest, mountain climbing, personal accounts, danger


The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The long-awaited sequel to His Dark Materials trilogy started in The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. Here, 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. Fans of the first two books will not be disappointed!
Themes: fantasy, science fiction, adventure
You may read any of the books in His Dark Materials trilogy.


Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Two boys, best friends in a small town, finally come to understand that of all the terrors threatening them from Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show, the greatest menace exists within themselves.
Themes: fantasy, suspense, horror

You may instead read The Illustrated Man.


The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson confront one of their most difficult cases ever: is there truly a curse on the old Baskerville estate? Is there truly a ghostly beast lurking on the dark, eerie moors? A masterful concoction of plot and mood, this story is guaranteed to give you the shivers. 
Themes: mystery, Sherlock Holmes, historical fiction


It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong
Armstrong, a four-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor, covers his early life, his rise through the sport world and his medical difficulties in this riveting memoir.
Themes: endurance, courage, athleticism, cycling, adult themes


Hoop Dreams by Ben Joravsky
A study of the struggles of Arthur Agee and William Gates to win college scholarships and positions on professional teams follows the stories of their families, relationships, and personal aspirations. 
Themes: non-fiction, identity, urban themes


Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, Anne Greenberg
Follows the courageous story of Melba Pattilo, one of the nine brave African-American teens who was chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education.
Themes: non-fiction, recreational reading


The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
Fictional biography set in rural southern Louisiana. This is the story of Jane Pittman, who was born a slave and witnessed 100 years of American history, including the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. 
Themes: slavery, human dignity, African American culture


Dracula by Bram Stoker
A young Englishman is bound for the remote castle of an obscure count whose estates are folded deep in the mountains of Transylvania. He travels by carriage, staying the nights at rustic inns. This is the classic, hypnotic story of the undead creatures of the night. A Gothic novel of immense proportions. 
Themes: horror, adult themes

Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
By the author of Chinese Cinderella, a memoir of growing up in mainland China after the 1949 revolution. 
Themes: Chinese Revolution, traditional Chinese culture, adult themes

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
By one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, this book was written to help non-scientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? 
Themes: science, physics, adult themes


Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. 
Themes: high school social issues, individuality, courag


The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Explores the tender and tenacious bond between four daughters and their mothers. The daughters know one side of their mothers, but they don't know about their earlier lives in China. The mothers want love and obedience from their daughters, but they don't know the gifts that the daughters keep to themselves. 
Themes: mother-daughter relationships, adult themes, Chinese and Chinese American culture

 
 

Taking Sides by Gary Soto
Eighth-grader Lincoln Mendoza and his mother have just moved from a San Francisco barrio to a wealthy, predominantly white suburb. He misses his old friends and neighborhood. Having made first string on the basketball team, he finds that the coach dislikes him for no good reason. Lincoln must decide where his loyalty lies as an upcoming game between his new school and the old one approaches. 
Themes: cultural differences, basketball, moving, Hispanic culture
 
 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Carmen decides to discard an old pair of jeans, but Tibby, Lena, and Bridget think they are great and decide that whoever the pants fit best will get them. When the jeans fit everyone perfectly, a sisterhood and a memorable summer begin.  
Themes: realistic fiction, friendship, life lessons

You may read any of the books in the series.


Monster by Walter Dean Myers
"Monster" is what the prosecutor called 16-year-old Steve Harmon for his supposed role in the fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner. But was Steve really the lookout who gave the "all clear" to the murderer, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? In this innovative novel by Walter Dean Myers, the reader becomes both juror and witness during the trial of Steve's life. To calm his nerves as he sits in the courtroom, aspiring filmmaker Steve chronicles the proceedings in movie script format.  
Themes: urban life, African Americans, screenwriting, crime, court proceedings