New Paltz High School

 Books Reluctant Readers Love to Read

Coming of Age/Peer Pressure/Relationships

The Bluford series, Paul Langan. Life in an inner city school.

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak. Death narrates this story of a young girl who finds solace in books during the Holocaust.

Cut, Patricia McCormick. Callie, a fifteen-year old, is a “cutter” who
seeks help for her self-destruction.


Dark Angel, David Klass. A family has a dark secret that is about to emerge.

Dreamland, Sarah Dessen. This book explores the consequences of
having an abusive boyfriend.

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature, Robin Brande. Mena knew her first day of
high school would be bad, but this bad? Examines the evolution of debate in high school.

Gossip Girl series, Cecily Von Ziegesar. Life in side a New York City jet set private school.

I am the Messenger, Markus Zusak. A botched bank robbery changes a nineteen-year-old’s life.

I Love You, Beth Cooper, Larry Doyle. Denis’s life changes when he blurts out at his graduation speech that he loves Beth Cooper.

Invisible, Pete Hautman. Doug, 17, has come to terms with a tragic past.

 It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini.  A teen seeks counseling in a psychiatric hospital.

Just Listen, Sarah Dessen. An incident at a high school party has far-reaching consequences.


The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini. Two young boys in 1970s Afghanistan take very different paths.

Lemonade Mouth, Mark Peter Hughes.  Five outcasts in detention form a bond.


Looking for Alaska, John Green. Miles, 16, is an outcast sent to a boarding school.

Madapple, Christina Meldrum. A girl raised in isolation must learn to cope with the world after her mother dies.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, Gabielle Zevin. A teenager loses her memory after a bad fall.

My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult. Examines the difficult choices a family must make when one of the children is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult. Another delicate topic: the consequences of a
high school shooting.

The Pact, Jodie Picoult. A teenage suicide has devastating consequences for two families.

 The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky. Charlie, a freshman, tries to find his way in a high school.

 Rooftop, Paul Volponi. A shooting becomes a focal point for social justice.


The Rules of Survival, Nancy Werlin. The story of three siblings struggling to overcome child abuse.

 Running Out of Time, Margaret Peterson Haddix.  Jessica, who thinks it is 1840, is more than surprised to find out it is
really 2006.


The Skin I’m In, Sharon Flake. An adolescent navigates an inner-city school.


Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, Davis Lubar. Scott Hudson hopes to survive his freshman year.


Snitch, Allison van Diepen. A teen tries to navigate between rival gangs.


Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, Peter Cameron. James, 18, is trying to find his way in the world after high school graduation. For mature readers.


Someone Like You, Sarah Dessen. Two best friends lean on each other when a
calamity occurs.


A Step from Heaven, An Na. The trials and tribulations of a Korean
family’s journey to America.


Strays, Ron Koerge. Ted’s parents are killed in a car crash, and
his troubles are just beginning.


Street Pharm, Allison van Diepen. A teenager takes over his father’s drug
dealing business but must decide if it’s worth it.


That Summer, Sarah Dessen. A teenage girl
deals with her parents’ divorce.


Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher. A teenager receives haunting audiotapes after
a suicide.


This Lullaby, Sarah Dessen. A modern-day teen romance.


The Truth about Forever, Sarah
Dessen. A teen has to cope with her
father’s death.


Twisted, Laureie Halse Anderson. Tyler, busted for tagging, tries to find his
way through his senior year.


Tyrell, Coe Booth.
Tyrell is determined to stay clean despite a father in jail and a mother
who is involved in welfare fraud.


Upstate, Kalisha Buckhanon. Two lovers are separated by a horrendous
crime.





FANTASY/
SCIENCE FICTION/ VAMPIRE/DYSTOPIA


The
Alfred Kropp Series, Rick Yancey.
Fifteen-year-old Alfred has a series of adventures after finding a magic
sword.


A Certain Slant of Light, Laura Whitcomb. Helen died 130 years ago, but she’s still
around.


Cirque
du Freak series, Darren Shan. There is
more to a traveling freak show than meets the eye.


The
Demonata series, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.
The adventures of a 300-year old night stalker.


Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zebin. Liz is getting younger, not older, every day.


The
Gemma Doyle trilogy, Libba Bray. Gemma,
who has visions, travels to other worlds.


A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray. The School Library journal calls this novel
“an interesting combination of fantasy, light horror, and historical fiction, with a dash of romance
thrown in for good measure.”


The Host, Stephanie Meyer. N The human
race is infiltrated by a species of parasites.


House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer. In the future, a scientist brings a number of
clones to life.


How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff. A world war breaks out in the twenty-first
century.2. 52. Life as
We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfefs, A meteor collides with the moon, with
disastrous results for Earthlings.


Mother’s Helper, A. Bates. A most unusual babysitting experience.


Rash, Pete Hautman. Life in 2076 is not easy.


.Rebel Angels, Libba Bray. A sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty.


Remember Me, Christopher Pike. Shari is
dead, and she is determined to find out who killed her.


The
Twilight Saga series. Stephen Meyer. A teenage romance with a vampire twist.


The
Uglies series, Scott Westerfeld. Life in
a futuristic society where everyone is “ugly.

Walk of the Spirits, Richie
Tankersley Cusick. Seventeen-year-old
Miranda hears voices at night.


Wheel
of time series, Robert Jordan. The world has been broken by a phenomenal power
in this series that is reminiscent of J.R.R. Tolkien.


World War Z: An Oral History of
the Zombie War,
Max Brooks. The world is threatened by a zombie invasion.

The Hunger Games Series – Suzanne Collins





MEMOIR
AND NONFICTION





Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., Luis Rodriguez.
Memoirs of an East L.A. gang member.


Come Back: A Mother and
Daughter Journey to Hell and Back,
Claire and Mia Fontaine. A riveting account of a mother’s fight to rescue her
daughter from drugs.


Getting Away with Murder, Chris Crowe. The story of
Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African American boy murdered for
“inappropriately” talking to a white woman.


Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen. A
sixteen-year old is hospitalized in a
psychiatric hospital.


The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls. Another account of growing up in an
eccentric, dysfunctional family.


Kick Me: Adventures in
Adolescence,
Paul Feig. A series of stories about the
rigors of high school survival.


A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a
Boy Soldier,
Ishmael Beah. A twelve-year-old’s account of surviving civil war in Sierra
Leone.


Monster: The Autobiography of
an L.A. Gang Member,
Sanyika Shakur. The personal account of an L.A. gangbanger.


Phineas Gage: A Gruesome
but True Story About Brain Science, John Fleischman. The
incredible story of a recovery from severe trauma, and what it taught the
scientific community.


Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs. An account of growing up in an eccentric,
dysfunctional family.


True Notebooks, Mark Salzman. The author
tries to reach convicts through the formation of a writing group.


Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose. Meriwether Lewis overcomes disease,
starvation, hostile Native Americans, and an unforgiving environment as he
explores the American West.


74. U.S.
Army Survival Handbook, Department of the Army. How to survive under the most adverse
conditions.


Young Men and fire, Norman Maclean. The courageous story of Forest Service smoke
jumpers.





SPORTS


Ball Don’t Lie, Matt De La Pena. Stick, 17,
is determined to make it out of the neighborhood through basketball.


Black and White, Paul Volponi. Two boys, “Black” and “White” try to make it
to big-time basketball.


Crackback, John Coy. The trials and tribulations of teenage life,
woven through the lens of a high school football team.


Gym Candy, Carl Deuker. Mick Johnson, high school football star,
considers using steroids.


Knights of the Hill Country, Tim Tharp. Readers who liked Friday Night Lights will
like this football drama.


Three days in August, Buzz Bissinger. An in-depth, behind the scenes look at
three-game series between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.





MYSTERY

Crazy Little Things, Adam P.
Knave. Twelve very strange tales.


The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time,
Mark Haddon. A poodle, Wellington, has been murdered. Christopher, who is autistic, is on the case.


Fake IE,, Walter Sorrells. Chase, 16, only has six days to figure out
why his mother disappeared.


Falling, Christopher Pike. FBI agent Kelly Feinman is on the trail of
the “Acid killer.

The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold. Susie Salmon recalls her murder from heaven
(10th grade curriculum)


The Perfect Shot, Elaine Marie Alphin. A triple homicide is not what it seems.





GRAPHIC
NOVELS


300, Frank Miller. Only a few
hundred warriors stand against a huge army.


Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller. Gotham is falling apart, and Batman has not
been seen for ten years.


The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen,
Alan Moore. A group of adventurers are
pulled together ot protect the Empire.


Sin city: The Hard Goodbye, Frank Miller. Tough guy Marv hunts the back streets to find
the murderer of his girlfriend.


V Is for
Vendetta, Alan Moore. Rebellion
under authoritarian British government.


Watchmen, Alan Moore. Time calls this
story of Crimebusters a “masterpiece.”