Ultimate Summer Reading List 2024 – High School Years

Summer is here and in full swing for us! Which is the perfect time for high school students to dive into the world of books. Whether you’re looking to help your student get ahead academically, discover new interests, or simply enjoy a great story, a well thought out summer reading list can make all the difference. In this ultimate summer reading list, I’ve compiled in this blog post, a list of must-read books, which are either on our personal summer reading lists and/or we’ve already started making our way through. These books will inspire, challenge, and entertain your high school students all summer long!

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Find the book list below for each grade!

Ultimate Summer Reading List

9th Grade:

• To Kill a Mockingbird – By Harper Lee
• Mere Christianity – By C.S. Lewis
• Great Expectations – By Charles Dickens
• Animal Farm – By George Orwell
• Kidnapped – By Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Innocence of Father Brown – By G. K. Chesterton
• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage – By Alfred Lansing
• Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin – By Benjamin Franklin
• Why Can’t We Wait – By Martin Luther King Jr.
• Through Gates of Splendor – By Elisabeth Elliot
• Hidden Figures – By Margot Lee Shetterly
• The Catcher in the Rye – By J.D. Salinger
• Little Women – By Louisa May Alcott
• The Odyssey – By Homer
• Of Mice and Men – By John Steinbeck
• Night – By Elie Wiesel

10th Grade:

• The Once and Future King – By T. H. White
• The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe – By Daniel Defoe
• The Hiding Place – By Corrie Ten Boom
• The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
• A Chameleon, a Boy, and a Quest – By Jennifer Myhre
• A Tale of Two Cities – By Charles Dickens
• The Three Musketeers – By Alexandre Dumas
• Pride and Prejudice – By Jane Austen
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream – By William Shakespeare
• The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis
• Out of the Dust – By Karen Hesse
• The Book Thief – By Markus Zusak
• The Glass Castle – By Jeannette Walls
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower – By Stephen Chbosky

11th Grade:

• The Call of the Wild – By Jack London
• The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis
• Jane Eyre – By Charlotte Bronte
• The Old Man and the Sea – By Ernest Hemingway
• Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
• God’s Smuggler – By Brother Andrew
• Henry V – By William Shakespeare
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin – By Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Emma – By Jane Austen
• The Things They Carried – By Tim O’Brien
• Outliers – By Malcom Gladwell
• Einstein’s Dreams – By Alan Lightman

12th Grade:

• The Grapes of Wrath – By John Steinbeck
• Orthodoxy – By G.K. Chesterton
• Fahrenheit 451 – By Ray Bradbury
• The Great Gatsby – By F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Call – By Os Guiness
• 1984 – By George Orwell
• All Creatures Great and Small – By James Herriot
• Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass – By Fredrick Douglass
• The Four Loves – By C.S. Lewis
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – By Betty Smith
• Hamlet – By William Shakespeare
• The Fault in our Stars – By John Green
• The Count of Monte Cristo – By Alexandre Dumas
• All The Light We Cannot See – By Anthony Doerr
• Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

In conclusion, having a thoughtful summer reading list for high school students offers more than just an academic exercise; it opens the door to new worlds, promotes critical thinking and futures a life long love of learning & reading. Encourage your teen to dive in to books of all genres, authors and styles. High School is meant to be a season of growth and discovery, let it start with great books.

If you have younger children, be sure to check out my summer reading lists for elementary grades and middle school grades as well.