Book List
When you have a high reading level, it can be hard to find books in your lexile range that are appropriate for your age. The most important thing is that you keep reading and enjoy the process. However, if you are looking for ideas, I’ve listed some below.
While these may be considered generally appropriate for your age group, I encourage parents to discuss the books with their student in order to ensure that the books are also appropriate for your family’s values. Although some books have a lower lexile level, the themes and strategies require a more experienced reader to truly understand all the pieces of the story.
Happy reading!
Fiction
Abhorsen Trilogy—Abhorsen, Sabriel, Lirael by Garth Nix
Bartimaeus Trilogy—The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem’s Eye, Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud
Beauty (a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast) by Robin McKinley
Blue Bloods--Melissa de la Cruz
Deathwatch by Robb White
Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Fire Star Trilogy—Fire Within, Ice Fire, Fire Star by Chris D’lacey
Frenchtown Summer by Robert Cormier
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Christopher Wooding
Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series (The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse)--Rick Riordan
Perfect Storm by Junger Sebastian
Poison by Christopher Wooding
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Storm Thief by Christopher Wooding
Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks
Ten Great Mysteries by Edgar Allen Poe
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (New Moon, Eclipse)
Uglies Trilogy—The Uglies, The Pretties, The Specials by Scott Westerfield
Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman by Louise Plummer
Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan
Winter Room by Gary Paulsen
Non-fiction
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial by Penny Colman
George Washington: Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen
Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
Hidden Secrets: A Complete History of Espionage and the Technology Used to Support It by David Own & Antonio J. Mendez
Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Gilbin
Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island Wilborn Hampton
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong
Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II by Amy Nathan
Historical Fiction
Of course what you are reading at home for History can be the same thing you are using for your Reading Response in English! Due to repeated requests for Historical Fiction titles, I’ve compiled this list. Lexile levels have not been taken into account and none of the books have been screened. I encourage parents to discuss the books with their student in order to ensure that the books are appropriate for your family’s values.
Prehistoric Times
Hope of Earth (Piers, Anthony)
T. Rex and the Crater of Doom (Alvarez, Walter)
Dinosaurs: Stories by Ray Bradbury and Others (Greenberg, Martin editor)
Ancient Greece & Rome
Aphrodite's Blessings (Clemence McLaren)
Ariadne, Awake! (Doris Orgel)
The Courtesan's Daughter (Patricia Galloway)
Goddess of Yesterday (Caroline B. Cooney)
The Great God Pan (Donna Jo Napoli)
Heaven Sent (Clea Hantman)
Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons (Jane Yolen)
Inside the Walls of Troy (Clemence McLaren)
Ithaka (Adele Geras)
Lost in the Labyrinth (Patrice Kindl)
Odysseus in the Serpent Maze (Jane Yolen)
Quiver (Stephanie Spinner)
Singer to the Sea God (Vivian Alcock)
Sirena (Donna Jo Napoli)
The Thieves of Ostia (Caroline Lawrence)
Troy (Adele Geras)
Waiting for Odysseus (Clemence McLaren)
Biblical Times
Alphabet of Dreams (Susan Fletcher)
Bronze Bow (Elizabeth G. Speare)
The Deeper Song (Patricia Curtis Pfitsch)
Escape from Egypt (Sonia Levitin)
The Garden (Elsie V. Aidinoff)
In the Shadow of the Ark (Anne Provoost)
Masada: The Last Fortress (Gloria D. Miklowitz)
Many Waters (Madeleine L’engle)
Miriam (Beatrice Gormley)
Not the End of the World (Geraldine McCaughrean)
The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
Salome (Beatrice Gormley)
Song of the Magdelene (Donna Jo Napoli)
Rachel and Leah: Women of Genesis (Orson Scott Card)
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Rebekah:Women of Genesis (Orson Scott Card) |
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Sarah: Women of Genesis (Orson Scott Card)
Dark Ages & Middle Ages
The King's Shadow (Elizabeth Alder)
Catherine, Called Birdy (Karen Cushman)
The Midwife's Apprentice (Karen Cushman)
Black Horses for the King (Anne McCaffrey)
In Pursuit of the Green Lion (Judith Merkle Riley)
The Shining Company (Rosemary Sutcliff)
The Ramsay Scallop (Frances Temple)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Mark Twain)
Colman (Monica Furlong)
Dragons from the Sea (Judson Roberts)
Edge on the Sword (Rebecca Tingle)
The Fated Sky (Henrietta Branford)
I am Mordred (Nancy Springer)
I am Morgan le Fay (Nancy Springer)
Juniper (Monica Furlong)
The Lantern Bearers (Rosemary Sutcliff)
The Lost Years of Merlin (T.A. Barron)
The Shining Company (Rosemary Sutcliff)
Viking Warrior (Judson Roberts)
The Winter Prince (Elizabeth Wein)
Wise Child (Monica Furlong)
The Young Merlin Trilogy (Jane Yolen)
Adam of the Road (Elizabeth Gray Vining)
Anna of Byzantium (Tracey Barret)
The Door in the Wall (Marguerite di Angeli)
An Earthly Knight (Janet McNaughton)
The Legend of Lady Ilena (Patricia Malone)
Pagan's Crusade (Catharine Jinks)
Peregrine (Joan Elizabeth Goodman)
The Perilous Gard (Elizabeth Marie Pope)
Queen's Own Fool: A Novel of Mary Queen of Scots (Jane Yolen)
The Ramsay Scallop (Francess Temple)
There Will Be Wolves (Karleen Bradford)
17th Century
A Break with Charity (Ann Rinaldi)
Beyond the Burning Time (Kathryn Lasky)
Burning Issy (Melvin Burgess)
The Minister's Daughter (Julie Hearn)
The Raging Quiet (Sherryl Jordan)
Tituba of Salem Village (Ann Petry)
Wise Child (Monica Furlong)
Witch Child (Celia Rees)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elisabeth G. Speare)
18th & 19th Century
The Bloody Country (Collier, James Lincoln and Christopher Collier)
Ballad of Lucy Whipple (Karen Cushman)
Beyond the Divide (Kathryn Lasky)
Blood Gold (Michael Cadnum)
Down the Yukon (Will Hobbs)
Jason’s Gold (Will Hobbs)
The Journal of Wong Ming Chung (Laurence Yep)
Mountain Light (Laurence Yep)
Seeds of Hope: Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild (Kristiana Gregory)
A Great and Terrible Beauty (Libba Bray)
Both Sides of Time (Caroline B. Cooney)
Curse of the Blue Tatoo (L. A. Meyer)
The Grand Tour (Patricia Wrede)
The Grave (James Heneghan)
Lyddie (Katherine Patterson)
Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman (Eleanor Updale)
Pirates! (Celia Rees)
The Pirate's Son (Geraldine McCaughrean)
Piratica (Tanith Lee)
The Ruby in the Smoke (Philip Pullman)
This Vast Land: A Young Man's Journal of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (Stephen Ambrose)
The Traitor's Gate (Avi)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple (Kathryn Lasky)
Roanoke: A Novel of the Lost Colony (Sonia Levitin)
The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare)
The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane)
20th Century
A Long Way from Chicago (Richard Peck)
Borrowed Children (George Ella Lyon)
Horse Thief (Robert Newton Peck)
Ivy Larkin (Mary Stolz)
Nowhere to Call Home (Cynthia DeFelice)
Out of the Dust (Karen Hesse)
Treasures in the Dust (Tracey Porter)
I Had Seen Castles (Rylant, Cynthia)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Mildred D. Taylor)