Contemporary Youth Fiction

1. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley* (fantasy)
2. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine* (fantasy)
3. The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper (fantasy)
4. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt* (realism)
5. Redwall by Brian Jacques (realistic fantasy)
6. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede (fantasy)
7. The Sisters Grimm Series by Michael Buckley (mystery, fantasy)
8. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (fantasy)
9. The View from Saturday by EL Konigsburg* (realism)
10. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (realism)
11. The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood (historical fiction)
12. The Giver by Lois Lowry* (dystopian fiction)
13. The Island of Blue Dolphins by Scott O’dell (survival)
14. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen* (survival)
15. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George* (survival)
16. Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (historical fiction)
17. The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (historical fantasy)
18. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
19. Wonder by Raquel J. Palacio (realism)
20. The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (fantasy)
21. A Wrinkle in Time  by Madeleine L'Engle (fantasy)
22. Chasing Vermeer
23. *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
24. *The Lightning Thief
25. The Watsons Go To Birmingham
26. The Graveyard Book
27. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

“Classic” Youth Fiction   

1. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (fantasy, travel)
2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (travel, survival)
3. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald* (fantasy)
4. The Secret Garden by  Frances Hodgson Burnett* (fantastical realism)
5. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (fantasy)
6. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne* (science fiction, adventure)
7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (realism)
8. Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain* (adventure)
9. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (adventure)
10. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (adventure)
11. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (fantasy, adventure)
12.  Heidi by Johanna Spyri (realism)
13. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum* (fantasy, adventure)
14. The Call of the Wild by Jack London* (adventure, realism)
15. Anne of Green Gables  by LM Montgomery* (realism)
16. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder* (realism)
17. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (fantasy, adventure)
18. Charlotte’s Web by EB White (fantastical realism)
19. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl* (adventure, fantastical realism)

Challenge “Classic” Fiction

1. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (historical fiction)
2. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens* (realism)
3. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas* (adventure)
4. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (mystery)
5. Flatland by Edwin A. Abbot (science fiction)
6. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (fantasy)
7. Watership Down by Richard Adams (fantastical realism, adventure)
8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo* (realism)

  *Consider also exploring other works by these authors