Recommended Books for Young Adult Readers and Younger
Fantasy Short Stories Mythology Nonfiction
The Little Princess and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
A Wrinkle in Time and series by Madeline L'Engle
Patricia C. Wrede
THE ENCHANTED FOREST CHRONICLES
'Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One'
'Searching for Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Two'
'Calling on Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Three'
'Talking to Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Four'
THE CECELIA AND KATE BOOKS
'Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of
Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the
Country'
'The Grand Tour : Being a Revelation of Matters of High Confidentiality and
Greatest Importance, Including Extracts from the Intimate Diary of a Noblewoman
and the Sworn Testimony of a Lady of Quality'
by Patricia C. Wrede (Paperback)
by Patricia Wrede (Paperback)
'The Song of the Lioness Quartet'
This series is about Alana, a young girl who wants to become a knight. The
only problem is only boys can become knights. To get around this rule she and
her twin change places, and he goes to school to become a sorcerer while she
becomes a page. The series is four books long (what a surprise, it being a
quartet), and goes in this order:
'Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness (Paperback))'
'In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness (Paperback))'
'The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness (Paperback))'
'Lioness Rampant (Song of the Lioness (Paperback))'
'The Immortals'
This quartet involves a girl named Diane who has magic that makes her very
good (and able to communicate) with animals. Diane is forced to leave her home
when raiders come and kill her family, and thereby start her journey. She
joins a woman delivering horses to Tortall, and has many adventures. The
series goes as follows:
'Wild Magic (Immortals (Paperback))'
'Wolf-Speaker (Immortals (Paperback))'
'Emperor Mage (Immortals (Paperback))'
'The Realms of the Gods (Immortals (Paperback))'
Daughter of the Lioness
This series currently consists of two books. The main character here is
Alana's eldest daughter, Alianne, or Aly. The first book has a more mysterious
feel to it than the others and is very good.
'Trickster's Choice (Daughter of the Lioness Book 1)'
'Trickster's Queen'
Robin McKinley
'Beauty : A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast'
'The Hero and the Crown'
'The Blue Sword'
Anne of Green Gables and its sequels by L. M. Montgomery
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and sequels by C.S. Lewis
The Wizard of Oz and its many amazing sequels by L. Frank Baum
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
Anything by Jane Yolen, Tamora Pierce, Guy Gavriel Kay, Terry Pratchett, Juliet Marillier, Robin McKinley, Madeline L'Engle
Here are a few alternatives to reading classic novels:
Greek Myths Short stories Short Nonfiction Movies
Greek myths are easy and fun to read. They even count as classics, though they're easy as kids' stories.
I recommend Online Mythology
Other mythology collections online include the following:
The Internet Sacred Text Archive
Regional Folklore and Mythology
Many short stories count as classics, and they're only a few pages long! Here are some of my favorites:
World English Many many classic short stories
Classic Shorts Many many classic short stories
The Lady or the Tiger? Frank Stockton. Would you have your sweetheart eaten by a tiger or married to your rival?
To Build a Fire Jack London. Survival in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.
Araby James Joyce. A boy dreams of journeying to an exotic place.
Science Fiction by HG Wells (quite a list)
Many short stories by Mark Twain A fun, light, American style of writing.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Fun, exciting mysteries, from the greatest detective pair ever.
Many stories by Edgar Allen Poe Creepy, Gothic horror stories
Tales from Shakespeare: A classic book summarizing the stories of all Shakespeare's plays.
The Adventures of Ulysses A classic book summarizing the adventures of the Greek hero.
The Declaration of Independence-- Believe it or not, wonderful as an example on essays. And it's only a page long!
The Gettysburg Address is just a paragraph.
Also, the lesser-known Senneca Falls Convention wrote their own Declaration of Rights for Women.
Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Space Shuttle "Challenger" Tragedy Address by Ronald Reagan
The Space Shuttle "Columbia" Tragedy Address by George W. Bush
American Rhetoric offers the most famous American speeches.
More books are
available free in the
International Children's Digital Library
Read Henry Potty and the Pet Rock: The Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody