Reading List

I read so many fictional books each year that I often can't remember the titles of books I would recommend.  Here is a list of what I recommend to my reading students.  I'm constantly adding to this list, so keep checking back.

Divergent, Veronica Roth

If you teach teenagers (or even just watch popular movies), you know that Divergent is the next big Hunger Games.  In a futuristic America, sixteen-year-old citizens have to decide which faction of society they would like to live with.  Factions are based off of personality characteristics, so citizens should select their faction based upon what they have an aptitude for.  Many citizens, however, are not perfect fits for one faction, making them divergent. Like The Giver, this novel asks coming of age readers to consider what happens when society is streamlined and choices are removed.  I recommend this series of three books to any teen who enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy and for teens who enjoy science fiction dystopia or romance.  The novel is slow to start, so students need to give the book at least 60 pages before they decide to put it down.

Monument 14, Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 is going to be made into a movie; the trailer was just released this past week.  In this book, Dean, a sixteen-year-old, is riding the bus to school when the bus is besieged by massive chunks of hail.  The students make it into a Greenway store, which is much like a WalMart Superstore, where they have to survive for many days by themselves.  The students discover that an airborne chemical spill occurred during the storm.  The air outside of the superstore is dangerous, so the students find themselves trapped and searching for a way to find their families.  This is a great read and is instantly gripping for readers.  By page four, most students are hooked! 

Legend, Marie Lu

Legend is set in a futuristic United States in San Francisco, California.  In this futuristic society, teens are tested in all areas of development by a testing board and then categorized according to ability.  Teens with the highest score are sent to military schools to train as officers.  Teens with lower scores are sent to do jobs like housework or meat packing.  When the action begins, June is training to become an officer at the academy.  She received a perfect score and is considered a prodigy by her society.  Dare, on the other hand, is a criminal who seems to evade detection at every turn.  June's first assignment is to capture Dare, but while doing so she uncovers the dirty secrets of her society.  This book is a great read told from both Dare and June's perspectives.  The rest of the trilogy continues to unravel the supposed utopia presented in the first book, asking readers to question the role of government in society.