9 th Grade Recommended Reading List

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Lorena Wade
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1 9 th Grade Recommended Reading List General Fiction! Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt!their paternal grandmother's Maryland farm, in search of a place to call home. After the Rain by Norma Fox Mazer!After discovering her grandfather is dying, fifteen-yearold Rachel gets to know him better than ever before and finds the experience rewarding and bittersweet. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis. Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer!When sixteen-yearold Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with a political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily Owens, 14, is an emotionally abused white girl living with her cold, uncaring father on a peach farm in rural South Carolina. The memory of her dead mother haunts her constantly. Despite

2 society s racial tension, she finds comfort amid a group of caring black women. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe's first novel portrays the collision of African and European cultures in an Igbo village. Okonkwo, a great man in Igbo traditional society, cannot adapt to the profound changes brought by the British conquest of Nigeria. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present. The story details the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers Seventeen-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. Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers Instead of heading to college as his father wishes, Robin leaves Harlem and joins the army to stand up for his country after 9/11. While stationed in Iraq, he begins writing letters home to his parents and to his Uncle Richie. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

3 Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED) Biography/Autobiography/Memoir Black Boy by Richard Wright The autobiography of a black American, recounting his early years and the harrowing experiences he encountered drifting from Natchez to Chicago to Brooklyn. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED) The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X and Alex Haley If there was any one man who articulated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malcolm X. His autobiography expresses like none other the crucial truth about race and racism during the Civil Rights era. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED) Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers In this highly praised, award-winning biography, Walter Dean Myers portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and

4 voice of black militancy. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Sent by their mother to their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya Angelou and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local powhitetrash. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED) Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes Langston Hughes, long recognized as a major American poet and an influential force in African- American literature, reflects upon the joys and hardships of an African-American boy growing to manhood. My Losing Season by Pat Conroy Pat Conroy describes his 1967 basketball season at the Citadel, a now famous military college, in South Carolina. Throughout the story, we see the author s love of basketball and how crucial the role of athlete is to young men who are struggling to find their own identity and their place in the world. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie A budding cartoonist leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school as he attempts to break away from the life he seems destined to live.

5 When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago When her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda Santiago, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually take on a new identity. Horror Carrie by Stephen King Unaware that she possesses a terrifying power, Carrie White creates much destruction in a small, quiet New England town. Unpopular and repressed, the young girl uses her supernatural powers of telekinesis to inflict revenge on her classmates. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED) Futuristic Fiction The Handmaid s Tale by Margaret Atwood Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile. (PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED)

6 Fantasy Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll Nothing s more magical than going down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass with Alice. There, in worlds unlike any others ever created, conventional logic is turned upside down and wrong-way round to enchanting effect. Non-Fiction The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey Sean Covey asks, Why did I write this book? I wrote it because life for teens is no longer a playground. It's a jungle out there. And if I've done my job right, this book can be like a compass to help you navigate through it... These problems are real, and you can't turn off real life. So I won't try. Instead, I'll give you a set of tools to help you deal with real life. Never Cry Wolf : The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves by Farley Mowat In an informative and entertaining story, Mowat records his observations of wolf behavior in the arctic region and his experiments concerning wolf diet, which result in the recipe for "Souris a la Creme," otherwise known as Creamed Mouse. Adventure Fiction

7 Call of the Wild by Jack London Buck, a physically impressive dog, is living the good life in California when he gets stolen and put into dog slavery. For him, this means pulling a ridiculously heavy sled through miles and miles of frozen ice with little or nothing to eat and frequent beatings. As the definition of a domestic dog, Buck is out of his element until he begins to adapt to his surroundings, and learn from the other dogs.

Why read on summer break?

Why read on summer break? A 2010 study of ACT results showed that what makes some students ready for college (and others not ready) is an ability to understand difficult literature. At RAHS, we want all