The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Sports and poetry turns out to be a great mix. The clash between Josh and Jordan as they grow apart and cope differently with changing family dynamics is the heart of the book.”

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Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher

High school student Clay Jensen receives a box in the mail containing seven cassette tapes recorded by his crush, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide, and spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Recommended by a UHS student: “I watched the show, and I know the book is different. I want to read why!”

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Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen #1)

In a world divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities—Mare, a Red, discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. But Mare risks everything and uses her new position to help the growing Red rebellion, even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Reading this book felt like reading The Hunger Games for the first time.”

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Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Hilarious book about what it means to be a girl. No matter what you’re expecting from this book, it will subvert your expectations.”

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores the dilemmas of growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an unknown receiver.

Recommended by Mr. MacKenzie, English Teacher.

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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #1)

Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

Recommended by a UHS student: “This is an interesting book in a series that I find interests a lot of people. Many of my friends have expressed interest in this book, too!”

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This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Raised by a mother who's had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, no-commitment relationships until she meets Dexter, a rock band musician.

Recommended by a UHS student: “All Sarah Dessen’s books are so good!”

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The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

Teenaged Quinn, an aspiring screenwriter, copes with his sister's death while his best friend forces him back out into the world to face his reality.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Funny and sweet, but it also hits serious, real life problems as Quinn copes with his grief.”

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If I Stay by Gayle Forman (If I Stay #1)

While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.

Recommended by a UHS student: “I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel!”

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Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Astrid Jones, who realizes that she is a lesbian, deals with the gossip and rejection she faces by sending love up to the people on airplanes as they pass over her.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Astrid is the kind of character you just wish the best for when the book is over.”

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March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (March Trilogy #1)

Presents in graphic novel format events from the life of Georgia congressman John Lewis, focusing on his youth in rural Alabama, his meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “An important book. The last book in the trilogy just came out."

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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from stories, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin, a High Lord of the faeries. As her feelings toward him transform from hostility to a firey passion, the threats against the faerie lands grow. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose Tamlin forever.

Recommended by a UHS student.

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Cinder, a gifted mechanic and a cyborg with a mysterious past, is blamed by her stepmother for her stepsister's illness while a deadly plague decimates the population of New Beijing, but when Cinder's life gets intertwined with Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

Recommended by a UHS student: “It's a great sci-fi adaptation of a classic fairy tale, many of the characters in the book (and series overall) are minorities. It’s engaging and funny, and it's extremely insightful.”

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Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Cycle #1)

In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

Recommended by a UHS student.

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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)

Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Recommended by a UHS student: “Anything Rick Riordan is good!”

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Just beautifully written. While this is ultimately a love story, it’s one of my favorite depictions of friendship in a book as well.”

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Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin

A great American sport and Native American history come together in this true story of how Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner created the legendary Carlisle Indians football team.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “There is nothing about sports that I enjoy, but even I have to admit that the early days of football are fascinating. The story of the Carlisle Indian School’s role in making football the sport it is today is the most interesting part.”

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Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter (White Rabbit Chronicles #1)

Alice Bell must learn to fight the undead to avenge her family and learn to trust Cole Holland, who has secrets of his own.

Recommended by a UHS student: “Fun book, extremely interesting and captivating!”

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Firstlife by Gena Showalter (Everlife #1)

Ten Lockwood has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she'll live—after she dies.

Recommended by a UHS student.

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Ghosts of War: The True Story of 19-Year-Old GI by Ryan Smithson

Ryan Smithson recounts the experiences he had serving his first tour of duty as an Army engineer in Iraq when he was only nineteen.

Recommended by Ms. Charpentier, Librarian: “Ryan is very open about what led him to enlist in 2003, and what his life was like in the army, as well as his struggles when he returned to the U.S.”

Learn more on Goodreads.