A Separate Peace
by John Knowles
Year Published: 1959
Contemporary Literature

Coming of Age: Boarding school, teenage boys, WWII, secret societies, and the poisonous power of jealousy.

To learn more about the book:

• A Separate Peace - Trailer

Life o f Pi
by Yann Martel
Year Published: 2003
Contemporary Literature

A young boy must survive a shipwreck on a small lifeboat. His only companion is a tiger...

To learn more about the book:

• Life of Pi - Book Trailer
• Author Interview - Yann Martel

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Pox Party
by M.T. Anderson
Year Published: 2006
Contemporary Literature
*Mature Content 

Young Octavian, a black boy in pre-Revolution America,  is being raised by a group of rational philosophers (scientists) known only by numbers, but it is only after he opens a forbidden door that learns the hideous nature of their experiments and his own chilling role.

To learn more about the book:

• NPR Interview with M.T. Anderson
• Book Trailer

The Bean Trees
by Barbara Kingsolver
Year Published: 1988
Contemporary Literature
*Mature Content

Taylor does not want to get pregnant and be stuck forever in her poor, rural Kentucky town like the other girls in her high school, so she buys an old clunker and sets off across America hoping for something more.

To learn more about the book:

• The Bean Trees - Trailer
• Talking Volumes: Barbara Kingsolver on Being a Writer

Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
Year Published: 1869
Classic Literature

The story of four sisters experiencing life, love and hardship as they grow up during the American Civil War.  A classic coming-of-age novel addressing issues of love, war, social class, feminism, and morality. 

To learn more about the book:

• Little Women - Book Trailer
• Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women

The Once and Future King
by T.H. White
Year Published: 1958
Classic Literature
*Mature Content

Classic retelling of the Arthurian Legend.

Magic, fantasy, legend? Sign up here.

To learn more about the book:

• Author Review by Cornelia Funke

• Click here for a PDF of the Honors English 9 2023 Summer Reading Assignment and Book Choices