High School Booklist (9th-12th Grade)

Favorite picks and great reads for high schoolers (9th thru 12th grade) readers selected by our teen librarians. The Young Adult Collection is made up of books for a wide age range (12-18 years old) and includes a variety of different topics and interests. Not all titles will be appropriate for all readers.

Showing 1 - 20 of 26  There are a total of 26 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Ace of spades"
Star rating for Ace of spades
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
At Niveus Private Academy, Devon and Chiamaka are the only students chosen to be Senior Prefects who are also black, which makes them targets for a series of anonymous texts revealing their secrets to the entire student body. Both students were on track toward valedictorian and bright college futures, but this prank quickly turns into a very dangerous game and they are at more than one disadvantage as it looks like things could turn deadly.
Book cover for "As you walk on by"
Star rating for As you walk on by
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
After a disastrous promposal at a party, seventeen-year-old Theo has an existential crisis in an empty bedroom, but as the night progresses, various classmates also seek refuge from the party, and Theo finds he is not as alone as he thinks he is.
Book cover for "The bodyguard unit"
Star rating for The bodyguard unit
Description:
"In the early 20th century, English suffragist group the Women's Social and Political Union formed an all-women security unit. Trained by Edith Garrud, these "jujitsuffragettes" fought against abuse and arrest while pursuing long overdue rights"--
Book cover for "Daughter of smoke & bone"
Star rating for Daughter of smoke & bone
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters--the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known. Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague,...
Book cover for "The fall of Whit Rivera"
Star rating for The fall of Whit Rivera
Description:
Seventeen-year-old Whit, a plus-sized Puerto-Rican girl, is forced to plan the school's Fall Formal with her handsome ex.
Book cover for "Firekeeper's daughter"
Star rating for Firekeeper's daughter
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
Daunis, who's part Ojibwe, defers attending the University of Michigan to care for her mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths.
Book cover for "The forest of stolen girls"
Star rating for The forest of stolen girls
Author:
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
In 1426 in Joseon, a year after her father vanishes while investigating the disappearance of thirteen girls, eighteen-year-old Min Hwani returns to the island of Jeju to pick up his trail with the help of her estranged sister.
Book cover for "The gilded ones"
Star rating for The gilded ones
Series:
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity-and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death. Then a mysterious woman comes to...
Book cover for "The girl from the other side"
Star rating for The girl from the other side
Author:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
In a land far away, there were two kingdoms: the Outside, where twisted beasts roamed that could curse with a touch, and the Inside, where humans lived in safety and peace. The girl and the beast should never have met, but when they do, a quiet fairy tale begins. This is the story of two people--one human, one inhuman--who linger in the hazy twilight that separates night from day.
Book cover for "Himawari House"
Star rating for Himawari House
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths. The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends. But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heart breaks,...
Book cover for "Long way down"
Star rating for Long way down
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.
Book cover for "Me (Moth)"
Star rating for Me (Moth)
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted--until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots. If he knows more about where he comes from, maybe he'll be able to understand his ongoing depression. And if Moth can help him feel grounded, then perhaps she too will discover the history she carries in her bones"--
Book cover for "Only a monster"
Star rating for Only a monster
Author:
Series:
Only a monster volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
"Don't forget the rule. No one can know what you are. What we are. You must never tell anyone about monsters. Joan has just learned the truth: her family are monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And the cute boy at work isn't just a boy: he's a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to destroy her family. To save herself and her family, Joan will have to do what she fears most: embrace her own monstrousness. Because in this story...she...
Book cover for "Queen of the tiles"
Star rating for Queen of the tiles
Author:
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
Fifteen-year-old Najwa Bakri is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend and Scrabble Queen, Trina, a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.
Book cover for "Queer ducks (and other animals)"
Star rating for Queer ducks (and other animals)
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"A research-based exploration of queer behavior in different animal species is interspersed with personal anecdotes and interviews with scientists"--
Book cover for "The racers"
Star rating for The racers
Description:
"In the years before World War II, Adolf Hitler wanted to prove the greatness of the Third Reich in everything from track and field to motorsports. The Nazis poured money into the development of new race cars, and Mercedes-Benz came out with a stable of supercharged automobiles called Silver Arrows. Their drivers dominated the sensational world of European Grand Prix racing and saluted Hitler on their many returns home with victory. As the Third Reich...
Book cover for "She is a haunting"
Star rating for She is a haunting
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
Seventeen-year-old bisexual Jade Nguyrn is spending the summer in Vietnam at the French colonial house her estranged father is fixing up as a vacation rental, but unbeknownst to her family, the house and its ghosts have other plans.
Book cover for "Ship breaker"
Star rating for Ship breaker
Average Rating:
3.6 stars
Description:
In a futuristic world, teenaged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.
Book cover for "Six crimson cranes"
Star rating for Six crimson cranes
Series:
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
The exiled Princess Shiori must unravel the curse that turned her six brothers into cranes, and she is assisted by her spurned betrothed, a capricious dragon, and a paper bird brought to life by her own magic.

20. Squire

Book cover for "Squire"
Star rating for Squire
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
"Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It's the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the subjugated Ornu people, Knighthood is her only path to full citizenship. It's not how she imagined it, though. Aiza must navigate new friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the unyielding General Hende, all while hiding her Ornu background. As the pressure mounts, Aiza realizes that the "greater good"...