Saturday, July 23, 2022

Book Talk: High School Fiction Part 2

These are the fiction books I bought for the high school library, most of which I have not read. Yet.

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee--Despite the above disclaimer, I did read this one already. It's about a young girl who becomes part of a female spy agency in Victorian London. Some of the obvious shoehorning of modern attitudes into a historical setting annoyed me a bit, but I still enjoyed it enough that I'd like to read the other three in the series. And I know 14-year-old me would not have cared a bit about those inconsistencies. 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

The Wishing Day Trilogy by Lauren Myracle

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver--I have read this before, which is why I bought it for the library. Such a good book.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Cosima by Grazia Deledda--A. recommended this book. It's the story of the author's own growing up in rural Sardinia. I read this one already, too, and it was a fascinating glimpse into a place and culture I knew nothing about.

My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather--I love My Antonia. I haven't read Death Comes for the Archbishop yet, but it's set in New Mexico, so I feel like I have to. And I also felt like we really should have it in our school library. So now we do.


And here is a photo of the actual high school library in progress. It's on the stage in the old gym, because that's the only place there was room.

Dune by Frank Herbert--According to A., the greatest science fiction novel of all time. And so of course, I bought it for the library. I got the next three in the series, as well. There are a bunch more, but A. told me the first four are the best, anyway.

Garden Spells and First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen--These were actually my copies that I donated to the school libary. They're easy to read books, with wonderful characters and a sort of overlay of magic that affects the otherwise ordinary lives of those characters.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristof--A science fiction novel told through a series of documents. Cubby read this and really liked it, although he said it was a little disturbing, because it was such a plausible scenario.

Lost on the Prairie--by MaryLou Driedger

The Luck Uglies trilogy--This was recommended a couple of times by Jody here, and I'm looking forward to reading them.

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forester--Another science fiction recommendation from A. He feels about this the way that Cubby felt about Illuminae.

Moon Moth and Other Stories by Jack Vance--And yet another science fiction recommendation from A. He's read a lot of them.

The Night Gardener by Jonathon Auxier

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

The Professional by W.C. Heinz

True Grit by Charles Portis

We Fed Them Cactus by Fabiola Cabeza de Baca--This is the story of the author's childhood growing up only a couple of hours from my own home in New Mexico. She was raised in the traditional Spanish way, but witnessed the beginning of the homesteader era, as well. It's a fascinating book.

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

What would you add to this list of high school fiction? Or have you read any of these and would recommend them?

16 comments:

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  2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott card
    Good Omens by prachett and gaiman

    Ethan frome

    For the Anglophile, Johnson's Life of London

    Turtles All the Way Down by green

    The Golem and the Jinni

    The Mill on the Floss

    For someone who likes western/mysteries,
    The earlier and later Longmire mysteries.(I found the middle ones a bit outlandish).

    Shakespeare- comedies like taming of the shrew and tragedies like Macbeth.

    Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea together.

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

    A Ring of Endless Night



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    1. Code Name Verity was amazing. Highly recommend.

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    2. If you are going to get any horror books, I Am Not A Serial Killer trilogy and I Hunt Killers trilogy are really good. I don't read horror stories usually but these have strong story lines sbout trying to choose good in the face of evil.

      Caroline cooney's Face on thr Milk Carton series (though the last one isn't consistent withe the characters in my opinion).

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  3. @mbmom11, "a bit outlandish" — same! The new one coming out in September seems like it's possibly going to be a bit too otherworldly for me as well, but I will read it. Discovered Johnson when Cold Dish came out when I was working at the library and eventually he spoke at our library's annual author thing. He's a tremendous speaker and his wife is a treasure. I like Cold Dish, Junkyard Dogs and Western Star the most.

    This reminds me that one of Craig Johnson's inspiration authors is Tony Hillerman. These are also law enforcement stories, set mostly in New Mexico in the Four Corners reservations area. I have read and re-read them and they would be great for high school. The oldest ones are the best (the posthumous ones with the same characters but written by his daughter are terrible, so don't bother with them).

    I feel like I'm forever recommending The Princess Bride, but for good reason; it's a great book. William Golding.

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  4. Karen.: There were lots of Tony Hillerman books already in the school, so we're covered there, along with many of the classics. But I forgot about The Princess Bride. I'll put that on the list for the next time I order books.

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  5. Oh,you have some good ones on your list, particularly The Bean Trees and The Alice Network! You might also try some William Kent Krueger, perhaps start with Iron Lake or go to This Tender Land. Mary in MN

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  6. Oh, see, Bill Bryson is not fiction. d'oh

    But he's good.

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  7. Jonathan Auxier is an excellent writer (according to what I've read so far); those a bit younger than high school may like him, too.

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  8. A couple of older titles that impressed the young me: The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter; Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag. Mil

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  9. Death Comes for the Archbishop is a gem and accessible to teens who don't demand a lot of action. I heartily endorse mbmom's suggestion of The Curious Incident... The autistic narrator is so good. In my years as a high school librarian I found a surprising number of kids who checked out poetry books. No specific suggestions, but the collection was mostly the old standbys.

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  10. Becky: We do have a few books of poetry--Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, a collection for middle schoolers--but I would like to get some more.

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  11. I think I'd put To Kill a Mockingbird on the list. I read it for the first time in high school and was surprised how much I loved it.

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  12. Mary Oliver is a poet I can recommend for high schoolers and beyond. Mil

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  13. The boys might respond to the WWI poets, who published powerful stuff. Your BIL read them. Mil

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