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 - 16 of 16  There are a total of 26 valid entries on the list.
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 "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 "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:
4.3 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 "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 "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.
Book cover for "The Sunbearer Trials"
Star rating for The Sunbearer Trials
Series:
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Description:
Transgender demigod Teo is unexpectedly selected for the Sunbearer Trials, a fierce competition among demigod heroes where the winner sacrifices the loser to Sol, their blood fueling the Sun Stones that protect Reino del Sol.
Book cover for "Those pink mountain nights"
Star rating for Those pink mountain nights
Description:
"Overachievement isn't a bad word--for Berlin, it's the goal. She's securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side? Dropping out of high school wasn't smart--but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki's disappearance, it's hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten...
Book cover for "Where you see yourself"
Star rating for Where you see yourself
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Effie Galanos' goals for her senior year include her navigating her way through her high school that is not really wheelchair-friendly, getting into the perfect college, and getting her crush Wilder to accompany her to the prom--but by spring she is beginning to see herself entirely differently.
Book cover for "The words in my hands"
Star rating for The words in my hands
Description:
"Part coming of age, part call to action, this fast-paced #ownvoices novel about a Deaf teenager is a unique and inspiring exploration of what it means to belong. Smart, artistic, and independent, sixteen year old Piper is tired of trying to conform. Her mom wants her to be "normal," to pass as hearing, to get a good job. But in a time of food scarcity, environmental collapse, and political corruption, Piper has other things on her mind--like survival....
Book cover for "You should see me in a crown"
Star rating for You should see me in a crown
Average Rating:
3.9 stars
Description:
Liz Lighty has always done her best to avoid the spotlight in her small, wealthy, and prom-obsessed midwestern high school, after all, her family is black and rather poor, especially since her mother died; instead she has concentrated on her grades and her musical ability in the hopes that it will win her a scholarship to elite Pennington College and their famous orchestra where she plans to study medicine--but when that scholarship falls through...