Recommending Books for Highschoolers

[Xondoure]

Specifically those who have very little interest in reading. I'm working on a project with the school library to try and get more students picking up books outside of the classroom.

We therefore need:

Books that are easy to read:
This doesn't necessarily have to do with vocabulary. A good writing style can drag the reader along. Others (some good, some bad) can kill interest with a glance, especially for people who have little in the first place.

Books of varied genres:
The librarian is asking for mostly urban fiction. I'm of the opinion that even out of people who don't read a lot there might be quite a diversity in reading taste (shocking I know.) So while branching away from fantasy and sci fi would certainly be nice, a good book is a good book so if it fits the other criteria I'll add it to the list.

Books with protagonists that are not caucasian males:
This is where I begin to need your help. Were it just the two above I could probably come up with a decent list, but I don't know enough books with varied protagonists and personally I find that incredibly frustrating. As above, a good book is a good book so this isn't necessary but if anyone had some suggestions I would be extremely grateful.

So yeah, that's the gist of it. Hope you guys can help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions offered. If you could go a bit into detail on why this book would be a good choice and what the content is like that would be fantastic. And on a more general note I think this would be a useful list to have drifting around the internet. (if it isn't already.)

[Serpentine]

I made a list of books with strong female protaganists suitable for young people around 8-14 using these forums for advice. Here it is:

A Little Priness, Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell
Deltora Quest
Ronia the Robber's Daughter
The Children of Noisy Village, Kajsa Kavat
Enchanted Forest Chronicles
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket
The Wizard of Oz (esp. after #1)
Mistborn trilogy and Elantris, Brandon Sanderson
Winding Circle series, Tamora Pierce
Old Kingdom trilogy, Garth Nix
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Momo/The Grey Gentlemen, Michael Ende
The Dreaming Place and The Blue Girl, Charles de Lint
The Ordinary Princess
Cry of the Icemark, Stuart Hill
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass
Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett
The Dragon Chronicles, Susan Fletcher
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
Tortall series, Tamora Pierce
Redwall series, Brian Jacques
The Unexpected Dragon, Mary Brown
The Tanaquil Series, Piratica and The Claidi Journals, Tanith Lee
Un Lun Dunn, China Mievelle
Abarat, Clive Barker
Ella Enchanted
The Silver Crown and Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien
The Girl With The Silver Eyes, Willo Davis Roberts
Nicobobinus, The Knight and the Squire, Terry Jones
A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind In The Door, Madeleine L'Engle
The Menace From Earth, Heinlein
The Last Dragonslayer, Jasper Fforde
Coraline, Neil Gaiman
My Brother Michael, Mary Stewart
Little Women
7 Little Australians
Jerry Was A Man and Friday, Heinlein
Monstrous Regiment, Unseen Academicals, Sourcery and Maskerade, Witches books, Terry Pratchett
Z for Zachariah, Robert C. O'Brien
Animorphs, K.A. Applegate
Graceling and Fire, Kristin Cashore
Earthsea series, Ursula K. Le Guin
A Swift Pure Cry, Soibhan Dowd
The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffery
She's Fantastical
Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls
Witch Child and Sovay, Celia Rees
The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffery
The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, Robin Mckinley
The Banned and the Banished, James Clemens
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
Davita's Harp, Chaim Potok
Tanglewreck, Jeanette Winterson
Uglies Trilogy, Scott Westerfield
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
Heralds of Valdemar, Vows & Honour and The Mage Winds, By the Sword, Oathbound Oathbreakers and Oathblood, Mercedes Lackey
Acorna, Anne McCaffery
Chaos Walking Trilogy, Patrick Ness
I, Robot and Robot Dreams, Isaac Asimov
Boneshaker and Dreadnought, Cherie Priest
Crystal Singer series, Anne McCaffery
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon
Keeping It Real, Justina Robson
Tales of the Otori, Lian Hearn
The Hungry City Chronicles, Phillip Reeve
Dreamsnake, Vonda McIntyre
John Marsden
A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. MartinThe list is approximately in very rough order from "youngest" to "oldest" - but an advanced younger reader could read the higher ones, and anyone can read the lower ones.

Based on your description, I will extra-recommend John Marsden.

- He's easy to read, and I believe they're at least reasonably well written.
- I think he counts as "urban fiction"; his famous series, the Tomorrow... series (starting with Tomorrow, When The War Began) is about a bunch of kids who are out in the bush when another country invades Australia, and they go all guerrilla. He mostly writes about teenagers in not-entirely-unrealistic situations, and handles them as though his teenage readers are - shock! - mature enough to handle serious topics.
- He's said before that he has trouble writing main characters that aren't female, and he's at least somewhat racially diverse. I believe different sexualities comes up, as well.

So yeah. I recommend checking him out.
My other go-to suggestion is Tamora Pierce.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Well, sex-wise, people identify a LOT more with someone of the same gender. Well, with someone well-written in the same gender. Also, for males, the more suspense the better: books that are all about personal growth do just not interest teenage boys. (This is why so many guys fail English class so hard: the books all appeal to women MUCH more than to men)

[Serpentine]

I hated most of my high school English texts. A story about a woman dying of cancer who may or may not have killed herself, whee...

Most of the movies were great, though...

[Hazzardevil]

I would recommend the Demotia series by Darren Shan or Time Riders by Alex Scarrow.
Both good series, Demontia would more likely appeal to boys, but Time Riders could be read by both quite easily. Time Riders won an award last year from high school aged children.

[Togath]

The mortal instruments trilogy could be good, the main protagonist is female and several side characters are of varied ethnicities, it's a fantasy genre book but takes place in modern times and with modern technology, though the 2nd and 3rd books have a few scenes that may or may not be implied sex scenes(no sex happens in the book itself, but it is possibly implied that it may have occurred, if I remember correctly), and the female main does end up with what appears to be love for her older brother(of the incest sort rather than standard love between family members).
though this is mainly due to not having known he was her brother for most of the first book.

For other books with main protagonists other than caucasian males I'm at somewhat of a loss, nothing immediately comes to mind atm, but I will speak up if I remember anything.

[Grinner]

I hated most of my high school English texts. A story about a woman dying of cancer who may or may not have killed herself, whee...

What's the book's name?

[Serpentine]

I really don't remember. It was made into a movie, though, with one of those terribly dignified older (middle-agedish) female actresses.
The other one I hated was The Divine Wind. Urgh.

[Dienekes]

I hated most of my high school English texts. A story about a woman dying of cancer who may or may not have killed herself, whee...

Most of the movies were great, though...

That still sounds more interesting than Ethan Frome, the Awakening, and Romeo and Juliet.

Anyway, easy to read non-traditional hero. I'm not 100% certain if Animal Farm counts but the main characters aren't white males, or even human. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic with a female lead. I'm not sure if Invisible Man was easy to read or not, or even interesting, but I vaguely remember reading it in high school and enjoying it mildly more than Beloved.

[Hazzardevil]

Whatever you do, don't let them read anything with Dorian Grey written on it, those are soul destroying monstrosities.

[Yora]

I hated most of my high school English texts. A story about a woman dying of cancer who may or may not have killed herself, whee...
Sounds just like what German teachers pick for their classes around here. With the additional criteria of not being written any later than 1976. Taking place in a society completely different what the students can comprehend seems to be important for some reason. Just dealing with issues they can't relate to isn't enough apparently.

[Hazzardevil]

Sounds just like what German teachers pick for their classes around here. With the additional criteria of not being written any later than 1976. Taking place in a society completely different what the students can comprehend seems to be important for some reason. Just dealing with issues they can't relate to isn't enough apparently.

In England GCSE tests must be classical literature written for people who lived before World War 1 and therefore incredibly boring to modern teenagers.

[Serpentine]

That still sounds more interesting than Ethan Frome, the Awakening, and Romeo and Juliet.I wish I'd done Romeo and Juliet. I haven't once studied a single Shakespeare through the whole of my education, and I really want to.

[Yora]

In 12th and 13th grade, we finally did get to interesting books. Those also took place in societies different from ours and where about issues we couldn't relate to, but 18 year olds who are getting the highest school degree are a very much different crowd than 14 year olds who are forced to endure it, wheter they want to or not.

[Mercenary Pen]

I wish I'd done Romeo and Juliet. I haven't once studied a single Shakespeare through the whole of my education, and I really want to.

Shakespeare is legally required to be part of any GCSE English literature syllabus here in the UK, so you definitely get exposed to it... What you don't want on the other hand is to go through what happened to one of my sisters, who ended up studying Romeo and Juliet for five years in a row due to changes in English teacher, required texts for examinations, etc.

I, on the other hand, got the joys of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and Macbeth as well as Romeo and Juliet- but that was the highlight of texts set for English Literature, the rest being dull literary fiction and, to finish off, "The Lord of the flies", which I found okay as a quick read, but which became tediously dull by the time it had to be dissected, line by line...

[Dienekes]

I wish I'd done Romeo and Juliet. I haven't once studied a single Shakespeare through the whole of my education, and I really want to.


Shakespeare is legally required to be part of any GCSE English literature syllabus here in the UK, so you definitely get exposed to it... What you don't want on the other hand is to go through what happened to one of my sisters, who ended up studying Romeo and Juliet for five years in a row due to changes in English teacher, required texts for examinations, etc.

I, on the other hand, got the joys of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and Macbeth as well as Romeo and Juliet- but that was the highlight of texts set for English Literature, the rest being dull literary fiction and, to finish off, "The Lord of the flies", which I found okay as a quick read, but which became tediously dull by the time it had to be dissected, line by line...

Don't get me wrong here, I've taken 3 Shakespeare courses (or at least courses that involved Shakey in one way or another), I love his work. But Roms and Jules is his least interesting work by far. It has 2 scenes worth mentioning in it, that's it.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

On the Shakespeare subject: It's a terrible thing to make any highschool student read Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare. I've read loads of his work and taken dozens of courses on the same. In College. High School students just aren't ready for the material, not intellectually nor critically. Start small, then work up to the Bard.

As to books, I'd always recommend Discworld. It's mostly light reading (not too dense a vocabulary), is written fantastically, and is quite funny. There are many, many books with female protagonists (some of the best written in fiction by my reckoning) and with non-Caucasian protagonists (Discworld doesn't have a caucasus :smalltongue:). Any one of them is simply wonderful.

[Weezer]

One book which I read in High School, that may be for the more advanced readers in this category, was Snow Crash. The protaganist is half-black, half-Japanese, so certainly not Caucasian, also there is a definite urban feel to it (thoug future, distopian urban).

[thubby]

"the hunger games". technically sci-fi but it's more 10 minutes in the future than anything (at least the first book anyway). female protagonist but shes entirely relate-able.
the only thing that might turn them off is that its a bit slow to start.

"the hatchet" and "holes" are 2 I'd always recommend to younger people. easy to read, keeps your attention,

one thing that makes all 3 of them grab you as they do is how easy it is to put yourself in the situation.

edit: ender's game if its not already on the reading list.

[pita]

re-recommending "Holes". It's about a camp for juvenile delinquents where they're forced to dig one hole each day. It may be a little immature for more grown up audiences, but I still love it.
As far as "easy to read" goes, I don't think you get better than Brandon Sanderson. His books are 600+ pages, but they feel so much lighter when read... Definitely recommended.

[Terraoblivion]

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya might not be a bad pick. While it is kinda science fiction, the heart of the story lies in the characters and their relationships. Not to mention that the science elements are so purposefully silly that it really comes off more like the main character took a left turn from a realistic novel and went into magical realism he struggles to make sense of. It does, however, avoid being about white, male characters since everyone is Japanese, the main character is still male, though.

It's basically the story of a Japanese guy starting in high school who prides himself on his normalcy and maturity, traits that to me at least comes off as cynicism and disillusionment at the mundanity of life in suburban Japan. Sitting behind him is the title character, a superficially perfect girl who shares his disillusionment, but went to the opposite extreme and has convinced herself that the stuff of sci-fi and fantasy is out there and it's just a matter of finding it. She also has a rather disturbing distegard for everything she condiders too normal, such as property rights and most people. Turns out that she's right and at the heart of it all, but must not find out. Lots of crazy revelations, strange interactions and a fight between two sufficiently advanced aliens follow, along with exploration of both the main character and the title character and what makes then tick. Is followed by a series of books, but the first one can stand on its own quite well.

[Balain]

I would add the myth series. It's a mix of fantasy and sci fi and comedy, so it won't appeal to everyone but most people I showed it to liked it. Each book is short and an easy read, but the whole series is long.

[An Enemy Spy]

DISCWORLD!!! DISCWORLD!!! BLARRRG!!!
I discovered Discworld in my senior year of High School and a couple months later, had read the entire series. If you can't get kids to read with Discworld, then you might as well send them to the Soylent Green factories(we have those where I live) because they simply have no hope.
Poodle.

[The_Admiral]

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. I read and loved it at ten, teens can take it.

[Caesar]

As far as sci-fi goes, all the Hugo and Nebula Awards short story collections, and similar collections. These are great for dealing with social (and technological) themes, while at the same time being short and easy reading. There is a wide range of often exciting story types, and the student will not feel like they are failing or missing out, if they read in a few pages and decide to skip the one story for whatever reasons; there are plenty more in the book. Best of all, they expose the reader to some of the genres literary giants; Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc.. Before you know it, they might be reading full on novels or even trilogies.

[fergo]

I made a list of books with strong female protaganists suitable for young people around 8-14 using these forums for advice. Here it is:

A Little Priness, Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell
Deltora Quest
Ronia the Robber's Daughter
The Children of Noisy Village, Kajsa Kavat
Enchanted Forest Chronicles
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket
The Wizard of Oz (esp. after #1)
Mistborn trilogy and Elantris, Brandon Sanderson
Winding Circle series, Tamora Pierce
Old Kingdom trilogy, Garth Nix
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Momo/The Grey Gentlemen, Michael Ende
The Dreaming Place and The Blue Girl, Charles de Lint
The Ordinary Princess
Cry of the Icemark, Stuart Hill
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass
Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett
The Dragon Chronicles, Susan Fletcher
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
Tortall series, Tamora Pierce
Redwall series, Brian Jacques
The Unexpected Dragon, Mary Brown
The Tanaquil Series, Piratica and The Claidi Journals, Tanith Lee
Un Lun Dunn, China Mievelle
Abarat, Clive Barker
Ella Enchanted
The Silver Crown and Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien
The Girl With The Silver Eyes, Willo Davis Roberts
Nicobobinus, The Knight and the Squire, Terry Jones
A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind In The Door, Madeleine L'Engle
The Menace From Earth, Heinlein
The Last Dragonslayer, Jasper Fforde
Coraline, Neil Gaiman
My Brother Michael, Mary Stewart
Little Women
7 Little Australians
Jerry Was A Man and Friday, Heinlein
Monstrous Regiment, Unseen Academicals, Sourcery and Maskerade, Witches books, Terry Pratchett
Z for Zachariah, Robert C. O'Brien
Animorphs, K.A. Applegate
Graceling and Fire, Kristin Cashore
Earthsea series, Ursula K. Le Guin
A Swift Pure Cry, Soibhan Dowd
The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffery
She's Fantastical
Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls
Witch Child and Sovay, Celia Rees
The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffery
The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, Robin Mckinley
The Banned and the Banished, James Clemens
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
Davita's Harp, Chaim Potok
Tanglewreck, Jeanette Winterson
Uglies Trilogy, Scott Westerfield
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
Heralds of Valdemar, Vows & Honour and The Mage Winds, By the Sword, Oathbound Oathbreakers and Oathblood, Mercedes Lackey
Acorna, Anne McCaffery
Chaos Walking Trilogy, Patrick Ness
I, Robot and Robot Dreams, Isaac Asimov
Boneshaker and Dreadnought, Cherie Priest
Crystal Singer series, Anne McCaffery
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon
Keeping It Real, Justina Robson
Tales of the Otori, Lian Hearn
The Hungry City Chronicles, Phillip Reeve
Dreamsnake, Vonda McIntyre
John Marsden
A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. MartinThe list is approximately in very rough order from "youngest" to "oldest" - but an advanced younger reader could read the higher ones, and anyone can read the lower ones.



Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and His Dark Materials: cannot agree enough.

Animorphs: ah, the nostalgia! I used to love them.

Also, thank you so much for reminding me of the Tales of the Otori books. I read them years ago and had almost completely forgotten about them :smallbiggrin:. Very good books, or at least so I thought back then.

I also might recomend the Noughts and Crosses series by (if I recall correctly) Malorie Blackman?

[pita]

With all of the fantasy and scifi being thrown around, even though you specifically asked to branch out, I feel obliged to throw in another something to the contrary.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.
Oh yeah, I went there.

[Togath]

while the main protagonist is a caucasian male, the septimus heap series could be good, and it does often describe some parts of the plot from the viewpoint of other characters.
Also despite the fact that the main protagonist is an 11 year old boy who finds out he's a wizard it is not at all like harry potter other then the fact that it has magic(of a very different variety from the harry potter series).
and the fact that it is different is the main reason I'm reading it(I'm currently halfway through book four but the series looks very good so far).