AP Reading List (Titles Used on the AP Exam)

 Most Frequently Cited Books in AP Lit Exam 1970-2014

California Reading List (CRL)

Why this list?

This site has been developed to assist parents and students in selecting books written at a level of difficulty that corresponds with a child's ability to read based on a single test score. Drawn from California's recommended literature lists for students in kindergarten through grade twelve, the reading lists on this site have been specifically tailored to match the achievement level of each student who participated in the statewide assessment program during the previous spring.

This site will be updated and refreshed periodically to include new titles written for children and young adults or to delete other titles that may no longer be available or appropriate.

For the California Reading List website click on the following link and access the CALIFORNIA READING LIST(level 7)

Some popular novels:
*NOTE:  While popular novels, some of these titles may not qualify for "P.R.I.D.E." Book Reports due to movies or AR Quiz availability.  Please confirm choices with your instructor.

Salinger,   J.D.
Catcher in the Rye
214 p.
Holden Caulfield underground in New York City, searching for truth.

Blume,   Judy
Forever
220 p.
Two high school seniors believe their love to be so strong that it will last forever.

Anonymous,   
Go Ask Alice
159 p.
The chronicles of a 15-year-old drug user, struggling to get clean.

Cormier,   Robert
The Chocolate War
191 p.
Refusing to sell boxes of school chocolates can be very dangerous.

Frank,   Anne
Diary of a Young Girl
335 p.
Anne's innermost feelings, written in her secret hiding place.


Angelou,   Maya
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
289 p.
An African American writer's painful youth.

Lee,   Harper
To Kill a Mockingbird
281 p.
A sleepy Southern town is awakened by tragedy and changed forever.

Lowry,   Lois
The Giver
180 p.
Entrusted with his society's memories, Jonas discovers some terrible secrets.

Golding,   William
Lord of the Flies
208 p.
A group of schoolboys, stranded on a deserted island without grownups, are forced to fend for themselves and create a society of their own.

Block,   Francesca Lia
Weetzie Bat
113 p.
The wild adventures of Weetzie and her cool L.A. friends - Dirk, Duck and My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man.

L'Engle,   Madeleine
A Wrinkle In Time
211 p.
After an atomic physicist disappears, his children and their friend go on an interplanetary search through time and space to find him.
View this book in the catalog

Paulsen,   Gary
Hatchet
195 p.
When his plane crashes in the wilderness, 13-year-old Brian must survive on his own, with only a hatchet to aid him.

Potok,   Chaim
The Chosen
271 p.
Two Jewish boys with different religious traditions become friends and grow up together in Brooklyn, New York.

Walker,   Alice
The Color Purple
295 p.
In letters to God, Celie, an African American woman who has suffered abuse and despair, talks about her past sorrows and her positive outlook for the future.

Knowles,   John
A Separate Peace
196 p.
In a New England boys high school at the beginning of World War II, a pair of close friends face a life-altering experience.

Daly,   Maureen
Seventeenth Summer
291 p.
For Angie Morrow, it would be a summer she'd never forget.

Spiegelman,   Art
Maus
159 p.
The son of a Holocaust survivor tells his father's story in comic book form.

Tolkien,   J.R.R.
The Hobbit
304 p.
Bilbo Baggins, a happy and comfortable Hobbit, is drawn into a fantastic adventure by Gandalf the Wizard.

Zindel,   Paul
The Pigman
158 p.
Two unhappy high school sophomores and their intriguing relationship with an elderly man.

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Top Teen Series
*NOTE:  While popular novels, some of these titles may not qualify for "P.R.I.D.E." Book Reports due to movies or AR Quiz availability.  Please confirm choices with your instructor.

Among the best series for teens. Most are classics with lasting power. For instance, Nancy Drew books and books by Lois Duncan are classic teen book series dealing with mystery and suspense. Newer book series with a teenage heroine are Buffy, Queen B Superheroine, and Alias. These new series are now available as ebooks and paperback so the hip high-tech teen can download the ebooks and read them on the go, or they can be traditional and read the paperback version. Other teen favorites are the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot and Fearless. Strong young female leads, a colorful supporting cast, and intriguing story lines are what make these series TOPS.

'Darkest Hour (The Mediator) (Mediator)'

'Reunion'

'Wired (Fearless)'

'Fake (Fearless)'

'On The Edge: Stories At The Brink'

'CHRONICALLY CRUSHED CLUELESS (Clueless)'

'Bad Dreams (Fear Street)'

'The WRONG NUMBER (FEAR STREET ) : THE WRONG NUMBER'

'Surprise Party (Fear Street)'

'Goodnight Kiss (Fear Street Super Chiller)'

'The CHEATING HEART (NANCY DREW FILES 99) : THE CHEATING HEART'

'Out of Control Nancy Drew Hardy Boys Supermystery'

'Two of a Kind? (Alias)'

'Authorized Personnel Only (Alias)'

'Reborn (Queen B Superheroine, No. 1)'

'QUEEN B'S GUIDE TO BEING A SUPERHEROINE'

'Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Slayers Handbook (Buffy RPG)'

'Skinny-dipping (Au Pairs)'

'Money Matters Workbook for Teens (ages 15-18)'
Money matters such as savings and investing.

'IF... Questions for Teens'
Not a bad book handling sensitive questions.

'Changing Bodies, Changing Lives: Expanded Third Edition: A Book for Teens on Sex and Relationships'
In case you don't know, here's a book about the birds and the bees.

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Top Teen Series

*NOTE:  While popular novels, some of these titles may not qualify for "P.R.I.D.E." Book Reports due to movies or AR Quiz availability.  Please confirm choices with your instructor.

1.  Darkest Hour (The Mediator) (Mediator)
 by Jenny Carroll
 

2.  Reunion
 by Jenny Carroll
 

3.  Wired (Fearless)
 by Francine Pascal
 

4.  Fake (Fearless)
 by Francine Pascal 
 

5.  On The Edge: Stories At The Brink
 by Lois Duncan, Wayne McLoughlin (Illustrator)
 

6.  CHRONICALLY CRUSHED CLUELESS (Clueless)
 by Randi Reisfeld
 

7.  Bad Dreams (Fear Street)
 by R.L. Stine
 

8.  The WRONG NUMBER (FEAR STREET ) : THE WRONG NUMBER
 by R.L. Stine
 

9.  Surprise Party (Fear Street)
 by R.L. Stine
 

10.  Goodnight Kiss (Fear Street Super Chiller)
 by R. L. Stine
 

11.  The CHEATING HEART (NANCY DREW FILES 99) : THE CHEATING HEART
 by Carolyn Keene
 

12.  Out of Control Nancy Drew Hardy Boys Supermystery
 by Carolyn Keene


13.  Two of a Kind? (Alias)
 by Greg Cox, J. J. Abrams (Creator)
 

14.  Authorized Personnel Only (Alias)
 by Paul Ruditis, J. J. Abrams (Creator)
 

15.  Reborn (Queen B Superheroine, No. 1) [Download: Adobe Reader]
 by Kailin Gowle



16.  QUEEN B'S GUIDE TO BEING A SUPERHEROINE [Download: Adobe Reader]
 by Queen B, Kailin Gow



17.  Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Slayers Handbook (Buffy RPG)
 by Various 
 

18.  Skinny-dipping (Au Pairs)
 by Melissa de la Cruz
 

19.  Money Matters Workbook for Teens (ages 15-18)
 by Larry Burkett, Todd Temple
 

20.  IF... Questions for Teens
 by Evelyn Mcfarlane, James Saywell
  

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But wait....there's more...for teens

*NOTE:  While popular novels, some of these titles may not qualify for "P.R.I.D.E." Book Reports due to movies or AR Quiz availability.  Please confirm choices with your instructor.

1.  Changing Bodies, Changing Lives: Expanded Third Edition: A Book for Teens on Sex and Relationships
 by Ruth Bell
 
 
2.  Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth
by J.V. Hart  and Brett Helquist
Describes the youthful adventures of J.M. Barrie's classic character, Captain Hook, from his days at Eton to his voyages on the high sea.
 
 
3.  Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
by James Patterson
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

 
4.  Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan
by John Flanagan
When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger.


5.  The Riddles of Epsilon
by Christine Morton-Shaw
After moving with her parents to a remote English island, fourteen-year-old Jess attempts to dispel an ancient curse by solving a series of riddles, aided by Epsilon, a supernatural being.

 
6.  Tiger
by Jeff Stone
Five young warrior-monk brothers survive an insurrection and must use the ancient arts to avenge their Grandmaster.


7.  Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld
Tally is almost 16, the age when residents of Uglyville have their unattractive physical attributes replaced to make them drop-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, Tally?s friendship with renegade Shay may disrupt Tally?s dream of physical beauty.
 
 
8.  Looking for Normal
by Betty Monthei
Twelve-year-old Annie and her younger brother, Ted, try to cope with their turbulent emotions, as well as with their grandmother's terrible anger and grief, after their father kills their mother and then commits suicide.
 
 
9.  Shakespeare's Secret
by Elise Broach
Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.
 
 
10.  The Cryptid Hunters
by Roland Smith
Twins, Grace and Marty, along with a mysterious uncle, are dropped into the middle of the Congolese jungle in search of their missing photojournalist parents.


11.  The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch
by Joseph Delaney
Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties."
 
 
12.  The Last Universe
by William Sleator
When her desperately ill older brother insists that she take him into their mysterious backyard garden, designed by their quantum physicist great uncle, fourteen-year-old Susan discovers that things are not always what they seem.

 
13.  The Witch's Boy
by Michael Gruber
An ugly baby boy, raised by a wise woman, nursed by a bear, and tutored by a djinn, causes great unhappiness for himself and others in this elegant, literary fairytale filled with twists on familiar stories.

 
 
14.  Wolf Brother
by Michelle Paver
6,000 years in the past, twelve-year-old Tarak and his guide, a wolf cub, set out on a dangerous journey to fulfill an oath the boy made to his dying father--to travel to the Mountain of the World Spirit seeking a way to destroy a demon-possessed bear that threatens all the clans.

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Review it!
The DaVinci Code  by Dan Brown                                        Average
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown                                          Average
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown                                   Average
Deception Point by Dan Brown                                                Average
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason          Challenging

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson         Challenging
Dracula by Bram Stoker         Challenging
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley         Challenging
Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde         Challenging
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein         Average
The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkein         Average
The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein         Average
The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkein         Average
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling         Easy Reading
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling         Easy Reading
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling         Easy Reading
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling         Easy Reading
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling     Easy Reading

 

 

Check back often for new additions to the list of books.