The right book at the right age can change how a child sees the world. What follows is a carefully curated list of twenty books that are commonly taught in schools from elementary through high school. It includes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, spanning ages ten to eighteen, and it highlights the kinds of lessons teachers use these works to convey—English, history, global studies, social justice, environmental education. Some are timeless classics, others contemporary works shaping today’s young readers, and a few are favorites that Ms. Libby loves to teach in her classrooms because they ignite curiosity and conversation.
Naya Nuki: The Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma is often taught to readers ages ten to twelve in English, American history, and geography courses. It tells the story of a young Shoshone girl who escapes captivity and journeys over a thousand miles back to her people, and its power lies in the fact that it is based on a true account from the Lewis and Clark era. Ms. Libby has long called it a favorite to teach. Holes by Louis Sachar, another favorite Ms. Libby loves to teach, is usually read between the ages of ten and thirteen in English or social studies classrooms. It follows Stanley Yelnats at a Texas detention camp where boys dig endless holes under the sun, and the book itself won both the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award in 1999.
Moving into middle school, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton appears most often in English or social studies programs for students aged twelve to fifteen. The novel chronicles class conflict and loyalty between rival teen groups, and it carries the distinction of having been written when Hinton was still a teenager herself. Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, usually assigned to readers between ten and thirteen, is found in English, U.S. history, and social studies classrooms. It portrays the struggles of a wealthy Mexican girl rebuilding her life in the migrant labor camps of California during the Great Depression, and the narrative is rooted in the life story of the author’s grandmother.
For slightly older students, The Giver by Lois Lowry is common in English, ethics, and government courses for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds. The book introduces Jonas, who inherits memories of the past world from the community’s Receiver, and its 1994 Newbery Medal win remains a milestone in the history of young adult literature. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, a favorite Ms. Libby teaches to students ages fifteen to eighteen, is used in English, environmental education, and geography courses. It is Krakauer’s personal account of the tragic 1996 Everest expedition, and it remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year.
Holocaust education in middle and high school almost always includes The Diary of Anne Frank, assigned between the ages of twelve and sixteen in English and history classrooms. It captures the inner life of a Jewish girl in hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, and its history is underscored by the fact that Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the sole immediate family member to survive. For older students, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is another favorite Ms. Libby teaches and a fixture in English and history courses for fourteen- to eighteen-year-olds. Narrated by Death, the story of Liesel Meminger in Nazi Germany captivated so many readers that it stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for over 230 weeks.
Teachers also continue to introduce Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor to eleven- to fourteen-year-olds in English and civil rights history classes. It follows the Logan family’s struggle against racism and injustice in 1930s Mississippi, and it earned the 1977 Newbery Medal. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, often assigned to high schoolers aged fourteen to eighteen in English and American history classrooms, examines friendship and survival among migrant ranch workers, and despite frequent challenges, it has remained central to secondary curricula.
High schools often assign Night by Elie Wiesel in English and world history classes for fifteen- to eighteen-year-olds. It recounts Wiesel’s harrowing experience as a teenager in Nazi concentration camps, and it has been translated into more than thirty languages. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a fixture for students aged fourteen to eighteen in English and ethics courses, traces childhood, justice, and racial prejudice in the American South. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and has shaped countless conversations about literature and society.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston enters syllabi for older high school students, sixteen to eighteen, in English and African American literature courses. Janie Crawford’s search for independence and self-realization carried the book into a new life when it was rediscovered and republished in 1978. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is another cornerstone for high schoolers in English, government, and media studies classes, typically read at fourteen to eighteen. The dystopian novel about censorship takes its name from the temperature at which paper burns.
More contemporary works have reshaped what is considered central reading. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, taught to students between fourteen and eighteen in English and social studies courses, is written in verse and follows a teenage boy deciding whether to seek revenge after his brother’s death. The book was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, aimed at ages fourteen to eighteen in English and poetry programs, tells the story of Xiomara Batista, a Dominican American teenager finding her voice through slam poetry, and it won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2018. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, often taught in English and global studies courses to high school students, examines police violence and racial injustice through the alternating perspectives of two teens, and it was one of the first YA novels co-authored by a Black and white writer to address systemic racism directly.
Poetry also finds a place in classrooms through Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, usually introduced in English and American poetry courses to students sixteen and older. Whitman’s celebration of human life and American identity has influenced generations, and the poet self-published the first edition in 1855, revising it throughout his life. In a more contemporary vein, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is often read between the ages of ten and fourteen in English and African American studies classes. This memoir in verse captures Woodson’s childhood in the 1960s and 70s, and it won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2014.
Finally, I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai is taught to students thirteen to seventeen in English, global studies, and human rights courses. It recounts Malala’s fight for girls’ education and her survival after being shot by the Taliban, and her story is made even more remarkable by the fact that she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate at seventeen.
Every child gravitates toward different kinds of stories, and the genres they love are the ones that will keep them reading, thinking, and questioning long after school assignments are done. Supporting a young reader means giving them access to a variety of books, listening to their opinions, and letting them explore without judgment. Ms. Libby’s Lab offers programs and resources designed to guide that exploration—helping students discover new authors, experiment with genres they’ve never tried, and find stories that truly engage and inspire them.
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