My personal Top 20

These are my personal favourites. Students as young as thirteen may enjoy them, but most of them will appeal more to those who are 14+, and some should be saved until later.

You can find short descriptions of them on my Booklist (PDF). Amazon.com will also provide good descriptions and reviews by other readers.

Kate Chopin, The Awakening

Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

John Hersey, Hiroshima

Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Jack London, The Sea-Wolf

Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country

Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

Mary Renault, The King Must Die

Gabrielle Roy, The Road Past Altamont

J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Alexander Solshenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave

Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Voltaire, Candide

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

Edith Wharton, Summer

Elie Wiesel, Night

Richard Wright, Black Boy

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