Ninth Grade Reading List

Fiction

After by Francine Prose.
In the aftermath of a nearby school shooting, a grief and crisis counselor takes over Central High School and enacts increasingly harsh measures to control students, while those who do not comply disappear.
YA FIC Prose (330p)

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and unexpected death.
YA FIC Anderson (265p)
 
Claws by Will Weaver
Jed and Laura, two popular Minnesota high school students, find their seemingly perfect lives suddenly in chaos when they discover that each has a parent who is having an affair with the other.
YA FIC Weaver (232p)

A Cool Moonlight by Angela Johnson
Eight-year-old Lila, born with xeroderma pigmentosum, a skin disease that makes her sensitive to sunlight, makes secret plans to feel the sun's rays on her birthday.
YA FIC Johnson (133p)

Feed by M.T. Anderson
In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.
YA SF Anderson (237p)

Friction by E. R. Frank
When a new girl at the private school Alex attends starts rumors about Alex's favorite teacher, Alex and her eighth-grade classmates are not sure how to act around him or with each other.
YA FIC Frank (197p)

Harley Like a Person by Cat Bauer
Fourteen-year-old Harley, an artistic teenager living with her alcoholic father and angry mother, suspects that she is adopted and begins a search for her biological parents.
YA FIC Bauer (248p)

Inside Out by Terry Trueman
A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens that eventually hold him hostage.
YA FIC Trueman (117p)

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiancé, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.
YA FIC Donnelly (389p)

Paradise: Based on a True Story of Survival by Joan Elizabeth Goodman
In 1542, sixteen-year-old Marguerite escapes her French Huguenot household, sailing to the New World, where she is left alone on an island with only her young Catholic lover and her chaperone to help her survive.
YA FIC Goodman (209p)

Pig Tale by Verlyn Flieger
A foundling, no longer able to endure the abuse of the villagers, leaves at age fifteen and is drawn to three mysterious strangers who help her discover her true self and where her destiny lies.
YA FIC Flieger (321p)

Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov.
YA FIC (264p)

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants.
YA FIC Brashares (294p)

Straydog by Kathy Koja
Rachel, a teenager with a healthy dose of both aptitude and attitude, begins to feel at home volunteering at an animal shelter.
YA FIC (105p)

Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood by Meredith Ann Pierce
Hannah, a healer with unusual powers, leaves the wizard she has always served and, along with her animal companions, begins a journey that uncovers the truth about her real nature.
YA FIC Pierce (241p)

Waiting for Christopher by Louise Hawes
Shortly after moving with her mother to Florida, a lonely, fourteen-year-old bibliophile is reminded of her infant brother who died and decides to care for an abused, abandoned child with help from a new friend.
YA FIC Hawes (224p)

Zipped by Laura & Tom Mc Neal
At the end of their sophomore year in high school, the lives of four teenagers are woven together as they start a tough new job, face family problems, deal with changing friendships, and find love.
YA FIC McNeal (283p)

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Nonfiction

After the Holocaust by Howard Greenfield
Eight Jewish men and women who survived the Holocaust as children talk about their experiences immediately following the war.
YA 363.25 F913W (139 p) 2001

At the End of Words a Daughter's Memoirs by Miriam Stone
The author records her feelings and experiences as she realizes that her mother is dying of cancer.
YA 362.196994 ST72A (55 p) 2003

Can You Relate? Real-world Advice for Teens on Guys, Girls, Growing Up, and Getting Along by Annie Fox
Answers letters received by Talk City's "The In Site" and provides advice about topics important to teens.
YA 305.235 F83C (245 p) 2000

Chocolate for a Teen's Heart: Unforgettable Stories for Young Women about Love, Hope, and Happiness compiled by Kay Allenbaugh
Want to be inspired? Read on!
YA 305.235 C451H (219p) 2001

Every Girl Tells a Story: A Celebration of Girls Speaking Their Minds by Carolyn Jones in collaboration with Girl Scouts of America
Self-portraits of a diverse group of girls living across the United States through portraits and their own words.
YA 305.235 J712E (86p) 2002

Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
Find out what really went on to make Emmett Till "the boy who triggered the civil rights movement."
YA 364.1523 C886G (128p) 2003

Girlwonder: Every Girl's Guide to the Fantastic Feats, Cool Qualities, and Remarkable Abilities of Women and Girls edited by Holly Hartman
Bits of all kinds about everything to do with females from history to right now!
YA 305.235 G443H (234p) 2003

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
The author tells how he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.
YA 928.1G158H (199p) 2002

If High School is a Game, Here's How to Break the Rules, A Cutting Edge Guide to Becoming Yourself by Cherie Carter-Scott
A book with tools to help you play the game your way and wind up with a pretty cool person at the end: YOU!
YA 305.235 C247I (163p) 2001

In My Hands, Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke 
Recounts the experiences of the author who, as a young Polish girl, hid and saved Jews during the Holocaust.
YA 940.5318438 OP1I (276p) 1999

Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis by Pete Nelson
Recalls the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis at the end of World War II, the navy cover-up and unfair court martial of the ship's captain, and how a young boy helped the survivors set the record straight fifty-five years later.
YA 940.545973 N336L (201p) 2002

Life Lists for Teens: Tips, Steps, Hints, and How-Tos for Growing Up, Getting Along, Learning, and Having Fun by Pamela Espeland
Hundreds of lists provide guidance in areas of young adult life as diverse as selecting a book or a hair color to selecting a mentor.
YA646.7 ES64L (264p) 2003

No Body's Perfect, Stories By Teens About Body Image, Self-Acceptance, and the Search for Identity by Kimberly Kirberger
Stories by teenagers about positive body image, staying true to oneself, self- acceptance and forgiveness.
YA158.10835 K631N (289p) 2003

PROM! The Complete Guide to a Truly Spectacular Night by Nancy Krulik 
Everything you need to know to prepare for and enjoy that night to remember!
YA 305.235 K939P (96p) 2002

Ultimate Spy by H. Keith Melton
A guide to the world of espionage that covers everything from the daily life of a special agent to the complex world of international agencies.
YA 363.25 F913W (208p) 2002

What Have You Lost? Poems selected by Naomi Shahib Nye 
A collection of poems that explore all kinds of loss from the mundane to the mighty and magical.
YA 808.819353 W556N (205p) 1999

When Objects Talk: Solving a Crime with Science by Mark P. Friedlander, Jr. and Terry M.Phillips
First there is blood, a few clues, puzzle pieces are gathered; the victim tells her story. More objects begin to talk: a search, fingerprinting and DNA testing -- When all of the objects speak together: the crime is solved.
YA 363.25 F913W (120p) 2001

Compiled by Pat Drake 12/03; Holdings checked 7/06 KRL

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