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Book TitleAuthorRecommended For Grades:
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A Thousand Splendid SunsHosseini, Khaled9-10Mariam, an illegitimate teenager from Herat, is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul after a family tragedy. Laila, born a generation later, lives a relatively privileged life, but her life intersects with Mariam's when a similar tragedy forces her to accept a marriage proposal from Mariam's husband.
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Ace of SpadesÀbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah
9-12Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully.
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All The Bright PlacesNiven, Jennifer9-10A compelling and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die.
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All The Light We Cannot SeeDoerr, Anthony11-12A beautiful and stunningly ambitious story about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
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Almost American GirlHa, Robin9-12A powerful and moving teen graphic novel memoir about immigration, belonging, and how arts can save a life—perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo.
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the UniverseSáenz, Benjamin Alire9-10Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime.
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Catcher In the RyeSallinger, J.D.11-12An all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.
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Children of Blood and BoneAdeyemi, Toni9-10Blood and Bone follows a young girl, Zélie, who lives in Orïsha, a mythical world filled with magic, monarchy, and the problems often associated with them: class discrimination, abuse of power, and violence.
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Court of Thorns and RosesMass, Sarah J.9-12This is the story of Feyre (who is a huntress) and how her life changes when she is impisoned in the kingdom of her enemy, much to her shock and despair. Thus begins the love/hate type relationship between the two main characters, Feyre and Tamlin.
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Darius The Great is Not OkayKhorram, Adib9-12This is the personal journey of Darius Kellner, an Iranian–American teenager with clinical depression, as he makes a best friend for life, reconnects with his grandparents, and repairs his relationship with his father.
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Dear JustyceStone, Nic9-10An incarcerated teen writes letters to his best friend about his experiences in the American juvenile justice system. An unflinching look into the tragically flawed practices and silenced voices in the American juvenile justice system.
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Dear MartinStone, Nic9-10Dear Martin tells the story of an Ivy League-bound African American student named Justyce who becomes a victim of racial profiling. He struggles to reconcile the fact that he's a "good kid" with suddenly being in police handcuffs.
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Dumplin'Murphey, Julie9-10The plus-size, teenage daughter of a former beauty queen signs up for her mum's pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow in her footsteps, revolutionising the pageant as well as their small Texas town.
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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely FineHoneyman, Gail11-12The story centres on Eleanor Oliphant, a social misfit with a traumatic past who becomes enamoured with a singer, whom she believes she is destined to be with. The novel deals with themes of isolation and loneliness, and depicts Eleanor's transformational journey towards a fuller understanding of self and life.
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Ender's GameCard, Orson Scott9-10A 1985 military science fiction novel set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the story presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub "the buggers".
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Everything I Never Told YouNg, Celeste11-12Family, secrets, and longing create a gripping page-turner within a sensitive family portrait; uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle to understand one another.
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly CloseFoer, Jonathan Safran 9-12Oskar who lost his father in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, is convinced that his dad left a final message for him somewhere in the city. Upon finding a mysterious key in his father's closet, Oskar sets out in search of the lock it fits.
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Far From The TreeBenaway, Robin9-10Three siblings learn of each other’s existence, then journey together to find their birth mother. They are forced to grapple with the truth about their pasts and their futures.
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Felix Ever AfterCallendar, Kacen9-12In his final year of school before college, Felix is struggling somewhat with his identity – as a trans, Black, queer boy he worries he's too complicated to find love.
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Firekeeper's DaughterBoulley, Angeline9-10Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother.
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For EveryoneReynolds, Jason11-12Reynolds writes an encouraging letter to dreamers of all ages in four short chapters. From the beginning, he lets us know that his own dreams are yet to be realized, and so this is not a self-help or how-to manual, but a letter from an aching heart to all fellow dreamers.
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HomegoingGyasi, Yaa11-12Homegoing is a historical novel that traces the descendants of two half-sisters Effia and Esi, born into different villages in Ghana. The sisters' lives follow different paths: Effia marries a wealthy Englishman and lives in Cape Coast Castle, while Esi is captured during a raid and sold into slavery.
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Just MercyStevenson, Bryan11-12After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence.
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The Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini11-12The Kite Runner is the story of Amir, a Sunni Muslim, who struggles to find his place in the world because of the aftereffects and fallout from a series of traumatic childhood events.
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Letters To A Young BrotherHarper, Hill11-12Bombarded with messages from music and the media, Harper set out to dispel the stereotypical image of success that young people receive today and instead emphasizes alternative views of what it truly means to be a successful male, such as educational and community achievements and self-respect.
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Letters To A Young PoetRilke, Rainer Maria9-12This book consists of ten letters, written by famed poet Rainer Maria Rilke, to a Young Poet who initially sought him out for writing advice, but ended up learning a great deal about life. The letters encourage the Young Poet to develop an understanding of, and connection, to his inner creative soul.
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Long Way DownReynolds, Jason9-10A 15-year-old must make a crucial decision after the murder of his brother, all in the time it takes for an elevator to travel 60 seconds to the ground floor.
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Mad HoneyPiccolt, Jodi11-12Mad Honey tells the story of two women who have fled abusive pasts to make a new life in the small town of Adams, New Hampshire. When one is found dead, and the other finds her son accused of the murder, the tense courtroom drama that unfolds shines light on the true cost of secrets kept for love.
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Monday's Not ComingJackson, Tiffany D.9-10Monday's Not Coming follows Claudia, a young Black girl living in Washington D.C. whose best friend Monday goes missing. The story describes Claudia's sorrow about Monday's disappearance and her search for the truth about how her friend vanished.
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The NightingaleHannah, Kristin11-12The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France–a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit
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On The Come UpThomas, Angie9-10It tells the story of Bri, a sixteen-year old rapper hoping to fill the shoes of her father and "make it" as an underground hip-hop legend. Overnight, Bri becomes an internet sensation after posting a rap hit which sparks controversy. As Bri defeats the odds to "make it" she battles controversy to achieve her dreams.
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Paper TownsGreen, John9-12Young and shy Quentin is in for the night of his life when Margo, the most popular student in high school, recruits him to help her play mischievous pranks on the friends who betrayed her. The next day, however, the mysterious Margo is nowhere to be found.
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PetEmezi, Akwaeke9-12Pet is set in a utopian city, Lucille, where evil people, also called “monsters” no longer exist, but have been replaced by “angels”, good people who try to establish justice and peace. Pet explores a world which may look peaceful and perfect on the outside, but is in fact full of monsters.
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Purple HibiscusAdichie, Chimamanda Ngozi11-12Purple Hibiscus explores the themes of religious hypocrisy, finding one's voice, and the persistence of love through the story of Kambili Achike, a young Nigerian woman struggling to find her way in a world beset with conflict and strife.
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Small, Great ThingsPiccolt, Jodi11-12"Small Great Things" tells the story of an African American labor and delivery nurse and the racism surrounding her care of a white supremacist couple's newborn son.
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Sing, Unburied, SingWard, Jesamyn11-12The story follows Jojo as he travels with Leonie, Leonie's friend Misty, and Kayla, to pick up his white father, Michael, from Parchman, the Mississippi plantation-style state prison from which he was recently released.
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SlayMorris, Brittany9-10By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY.
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Solito: A MemoirZamora, Javier11-12Solito is an incredibly detailed chronicle of Zamora's 3,000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador — where he spent his childhood without his mom and dad, who had already made their way to the U.S. — through Guatemala and Mexico, and eventually across the U.S. border.
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SoloAlexander, Kwame9-10Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess is the story of seventeen-year-old Blade, a musician, whose mother has died, and whose rock star father struggles with addiction. While Blade's sister, Storm, is able to remain hopeful in the face of all this adversity, Blade has a more difficult time
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Stamped
Kendi, Ibram X. and Jason Reynolds
9-12Stamped explains how anti-Black racist ideas and policies have shaped U.S. history since colonial times and argues that young people ought to learn about this history in the 21st century.
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Symptoms of Being HumanGarvin, Jeff9-12The book tells the story of young Riley Cavanaugh, a gender fluid adolescent who writes a blog about their experiences and identity. The story evolves around Riley's life and their eventual decision to come out as gender fluid to the world.
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The Art of Racing In the RainStein, Garth11-12Denny Swift is a Formula One race car driver who understands that the techniques needed on the racetrack can also be used to successfully navigate everyday life. Besides his career, Denny has three loves of his life -- his beautiful wife, their young daughter and his best friend, which is a dog that wants to be reincarnated into a human.
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The Color PurpleWalker, Alice11-12The Color Purple documents the traumas and gradual triumph of Celie, an African American teenager raised in rural isolation in Georgia, as she comes to resist the paralyzing self-concept forced on her by others. Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeHaddon, Mark9-10A murder mystery like no other, this novel features Christopher Boone, a 15 year-old who suffers from Asperger's syndrome. When he finds a neighbour's dog murdered, he sets out on a journey which will turn his whole world upside down.
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The Five People You Meet in HeavenAlbom, Mitch9-12The story follows the life and death of a ride mechanic named Eddie (inspired by Albom's uncle) who is killed in an amusement park accident and sent to heaven, where he encounters five people who had a significant impact on him while he was alive.
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The Gilded OnesForna, Namina9-10The Gilded Ones', an action-packed new fantasy series follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, in which women live to be of service to men, and their roles in everyday life are grounded in misogyny.
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The Glass CastleWells, Jeanette9-12A remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly.
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The God of Small ThingsRoy, Arundahti11-12A story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the "Love Laws" prevalent in 1960s Kerala, India. The novel explores how small, seemingly insignificant things shape people's behavior and their lives.
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The Last Lecture
Zaslow, Jeffery and Randy Pausch
11-12The Last Lecture is a college professor's final message to the world before his impending death of cancer at a relatively young age, offering meaningful life advice, significant words of wisdom, and a great deal of optimism and hope for humanity.
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The Other Wes MooreMoore, Wes9-10Two men named Wes Moore but with two very different lives. The book tells the tale of the author, who grew up to be very successful in his life, accomplishing many things, while the other is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison for the murder of Sergeant Prothero.
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The Poet XAcevedo, Elizabeth9-10A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother's religion and her own relationship to the world.
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The Secret Life of BeesKidd, Sue Monk9-12Set in South Carolina during 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of a fourteen year old white girl, Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.
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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective PeopleCovey, Stephen11-12The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the proven individual effectiveness operating system. Participants develop increased maturity, greater productivity, and the ability to manage themselves. They will come away with the ability to execute critical priorities with laser-like focus and careful planning.
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The Tipping PointGladwell, Malcolm11-12The Tipping Point explains how ideas spread like epidemics and which few elements need to come together to help an idea reach the point of critical mass, where its viral effect becomes unstoppable.
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The True Confessions of a Part-Time IndianAlexie, Sherman9-10The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is the story of 14-year-old aspiring cartoonist Arnold Spirit `Junior`. Narrated by Junior, this book is about his life on the Indian reservation of the Spokane people and then when he decides to leave the reservation to join a white-dominated school, Reardan High School.
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Tuesdays With MorrieAlbom, Mitch9-12Morrie is an extremely lovable college professor who—in his late sixties—finds out that he is dying. The story of his last few weeks on earth is told by Mitch, one of Morrie's former students, who happens to bump into him during his final days.
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Under The Feet of JesusViramontes, Helena Maria 11-12A story of loss and survival, Under the Feet of Jesus is a lyrical, powerful novel about the lives of the children, women, and men who endure a difficult existence and labor under dangerous conditions as migrant workers in California's fields.
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We Deserve MonumentsHammonds, Jas11-12Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery's mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about.
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Where The Crawdads SingOwens, Delia9-12"Where the Crawdads Sing" is a coming-of-age story of a young girl raised by the marshlands of the south in the 1950s. When the town hotshot is found dead, and inexplicably linked to Kya, the Marsh Girl is the prime suspect in his murder case.
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With The Fire on HighAcevedo, Elizabeth9-10In With the Fire on High, protagonist Emoni has a baby at the end of her freshman year of high school and makes some life-changing choices.
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You Should See Me In My CrownJohnson, Leah9-10Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.
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