Suggested Reading for the College Board
FICTION
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle
The brilliant, analytical detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Dr. Watson, put Scotland
Yard to shame as they outwit the villainous Moriarty.
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
Owen Meany has an important task to accomplish which determines the entire course of
his life.
Animal Dreams, Barbara Kingsolver
Codi Noline learns secrets about her past that change her future when she returns home to
care for her ailing father and to teach high school biology.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Anna forsakes her husband for dashing Count Vronsky and brief happiness.
Another Marvelous Thing, Laurie Colwin
A series of eight interconnected stories.
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Ernest J. Gaines
This fictional autobiography tells the story of a remarkable African American woman born
in slavery on a Louisiana plantation who is freed after the Civil War and lives another one
hundred years to see the second emancipation.
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Preferring death over slavery for her children, Sethe murders her infant daughter, Beloved,
who later mysteriously returns as a young woman and almost destroys her mother’s and
sister’s lives.
Black Boy, Richard Wright
The unforgettable story of what it means to grow up black in the Jim Crow South, by one of
America’s most powerful writers.
The Blessing Way, Tony Hillerman
The first of the Joe Leaphorn mystery series, set in the Navajo reservations of New Mexico
and Arizona. The story pits Leaphorn, a Navajo tribal policeman, against the mysterious
forces of evil.
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
In this chilling vision of the future, babies are produced in bottles and exist in a mechanized
world without soul.
Bride Price, Buchi Emecheta
Aku-nna, a very young Ibo girl, and Chike, her teacher, fall in love despite tribal custom
forbidding their romance.
A Cup of Tea: A Novel of 1917, Amy Ephron
Little did wealthy Rosemary Fell realize, when she took the penniless and mysterious
Eleanor Smith out of the rain, what terrible consequences her good deed would have.
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
Tayo, a young American Indian who has been a prisoner of the Japanese during World War
II returns to his native Laguna Pueblo reservation and undergoes a spiritual quest.
The Chosen, Chaim Potok
The story of a friendship between an Orthodox Jewish boy and a boy from a prominent
Hasidic Jewish family in post-war Brooklyn.
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
In a series of letters to God and her sister, Celie reveals her struggle to overcome the
violence and brutality of her life.
Coma, Robin Cook
Some traceless error in anesthesia has caused irreparable brain death, leaving hospital
patients victims on the operating table.
Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
Relates the personal tragedy of a humble Zulu parson seeking his son and sister in
Johannesburg.
Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler
A fictional critique of the ruthlessness of modern revolutionary procedures, a penetrating
study of revolutionary psychology and the compulsions which lead to the catharsis of
confession.
Daughters of the House, Indrani Aikath-Gyaltsen
In a novel of contemporary India, eighteen-year-old tomboy Chchanda tells of her
household of three generations of self-sufficient women.
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
An autobiographical novel reflecting the life of English in the early nineteenth century.
Deerskin, Robin McKinley
A full-length modern treatment of Charles Perrault’s story “Donkeyskin.” This is a fairy tale
for adults, one you’ll never forget.
Dune, Frank Herbert
A desert planet is the exotic scene of a richly detailed space fantasy in which the “freemen”
of Dune battle the emperor of the known universe.
East of Eden, John Steinback
The lives of two California families intertwine as good clashes against evil.
Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
After an experiment on a mouse named Algernon triples its intelligence, the same
operation is performed on Charlie, a thirty-two-year old man.
Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
Franny, a young college student, suffers a mental breakdown, her brother Zooey takes her
under his somewhat rough and unwilling wing to show her how to cope.
A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest J. Gaines
More than a dozen aging African American men claim to be the sole murderer of a Southern
white farmer and welcome a chance to confound the law after lifetimes of oppression.
Going After Cacciato: A Novel, Tim O’Brien
Private Cacciato takes off from the Vietnam War to walk to Paris, and his company follows
him in a real and surreal journey.
Good Scent from a Cold Mountain, Robert Olin Butler
A collection stories told from the vantage point of Vietnamese immigrants to America.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
The Story of Offred, a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. Atwoods’ shocking futuristic fable
of life in a Fascist state – an allegory of what results from a politics based on misogyny,
racism, and anti-Semitism.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
The deaf-mute John Singer becomes the talisman for the dreams and yearnings of four
people in a small southern town.
How Green Was My Valley, Richard Llewellyn
A young Welsh miner watches his idyllic village become of a scene of tragedy.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, Julia Alvarez
The four Garcia girls face a strange new life in America when they are forced to flee the
Dominican Republic.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Joanne Greenberg
A sixteen-year-old girl struggles out of the seductive kingdom of her madness and reenters
the world.
In Country, Bobbie Anne Mason
Sam Hughes, whose father was killed in the Vietnam War, comes to grips with the impact
the war has on her life when she visits the Vietnam War Memorial.
Inherit the Wind, Jerome Lawrence
A dramatic rendering of the famous Scopes “monkey” trial of the 1920’s.
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
A young African American seeking identity during his high school and college days, and
later in New York’s Harlem, relates his terrifying experiences.
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Find out what happens when Jane falls in love with Rochester, but beware the madwoman
in the attic!
Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
A young Chinese American woman realizes her mother’s early life in China is an important
reason for the rift between them.
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
This gritty description of urban life at the turn of the century shows the moral and physical
degradation of a “jungle” in which humans barely live better than animals.
Killer Angels, Michael Shaara
A great battle looms over Gettysburg as the Rebels face the Yanks.
The Kitchen God’s Wife, Amy Tan
By the author of The Joy Luck Club, this is a novel about secrets, class differences
(especially in China), and the ways in which male-dominated cultures operate.
Lord Grizzly, Frederick Manfred
The agony, courage, and strange revenge of a nineteenth-century mountain man deserted
and left to die by his companions.
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Chaos prevails when British school boys get stranded on a deserted island.
Lucy Gayheart, Willa Cather
A young girl from an American village leaves home, goes to Chicago, falls in love with a
middle-age singer.
The Lying Days, Nadine Gordimer
Helen Shaw, daughter of white middle-class parents in a small gold-mining town in South
Africa, comes of age in the anti-aparteid life that surrounds her.
Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers
A young Southern girl is determined to be the third party on a honeymoon despite all the
advice.
The Middleman & Other Stories, Bharati Mukherjee
Parables about the nature of cultural change and the overwhelming disruption it can entail
for the individual member or “soul” of a particular culture.
Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathanael West
The story of Miss Lonelyhearts, the author of an advice-to-the-lovelorn column in a large
newspaper.
Native son, Richard Wright
For Bigger Thomas, an African American man accused of crime in the white man’s world,
there could be no extenuating circumstances, no explanations – only death.
Night Flight, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A short novel that captures the excitement of pioneer aviation. Thrills and terrors early
pilots experienced who flew mail, by night, across the treacherous and largely uncharted
Andes.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Stephen King
A collection of short stories by the master of gothic fiction.
Obasan, Joy Kogawa
Autobiographical novel of Japanese-Canadian Nisei writer Kogawa, the story of what
happened to her, her family, and her life in Canada during WW II.
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Kerouac’s masterpiece of the Beat Generation, a portrait of underground America in the
Fifties.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
An inmate lives one day at a time in the Siberian prison camp.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
An irrepressible rebel leads fellow inmates of a mental hospital in a struggle with
tyrannical Nurse Ratched.
Painted Bird, Jerzy N. Kosinski
An abandoned dark-haired child wanders alone through isolated villages of Eastern Europe
in World War II.
Palace Walk, Najib Mahfouz
Nobel Prize-winner Mahfouz re-creates the daily life of three generations of a Cairo middle-
class family in the first half of the twentieth century. There’s a focus on the torments of
adolescent love as well as on the banked passions of an established marriage.
Passage to India, E.M. Forster
East and West clash in India when an Englishwoman accuses an Indian man of attacking
her.
Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
A handsome young man’s portrait becomes a mirror, increasingly grotesque, of his true
inner self.
The Plague, Albert Camus
A small group of people react to the catastrophe of bubonic plague at the Algerian fort of
Oran.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
A young Irish student struggles to become a writer.
Rebecca, Daphne DuMaurier
The timid new mistress of Manderley is haunted by the shadow of her predecessor, the
vibrant Rebecca.
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
Against the backdrop of World War II, the rivalry of two roommates at a boys’ school turns
into a private war.
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
Emerging from a kaleidoscope of eperiences and tasted pleasures, Siddhartha transcends
to a state of peace and mystic holiness.
Slaugtherhouse Five; or, The Children’s Crusade, Kurt Vonnegut
Billy Pilgrim shuttles between the cellars of Dresden, smoldering from Allied
bombardment, and a luxurious zoo on the planet Tralfamdore.
Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
Set in northwest Washington state at the end of World War II, Kabuo Miyamoto is on trial
for murdering a citizen of the town.
Summer, Edith Wharton
A psychological portrait of a young woman coming of age, the forces that move her from
childhood into adulthood.
Taming the Star Runner, S.E. Hinton
By the author of The Outsiders, the story of Travis, a tough, cool city kid already in trouble
with the law, who is sent to stay with his uncle on a Western ranch.
Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald bases this story on his real life marriage to Zelda who suffered from mental
illness.
The Tiger’s Daughter, Bharati Mukerjee
Tara returns to India after several years in the West to discover a country quite unlike the
one she remembered. Memories of genteel Brahmin lifestyle are usurped by new
impressions of poverty and political unrest.
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
European missionaries and colonial officials disrupt the patterns and rituals of traditional
Nigerian Ibo society at the end of the nineteenth century.
The Wall, John Hersey
The doomed Jews of the Warsaw ghetto turn and face their oppressors.
To the Hilt, Dick Francis
Summoned to the bedside of his dying stepfather, Alexander Kinloch, the fourth son of an
earl, becomes entangles in deadly affairs, and must struggle to save his own life and the
honor of the Kinlochs.
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
A story of intense and frustrated love, of hate and revenge, that takes place in the wild
moors of England.
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, Michael Dorris
Three generations of Native American women tell their stories in their search for self-
identity.
War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells
You may remember hearing stories of this actual broadcast. Listeners believed the events
were real, and not fictional.
BIOGRAPHY
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family,
Miep Gies with Alison Leslie Gold
At great risk to their own lives, the Gies family hides the family of Anne Frank in their
warehouse attic in Amsterdam, during World War II.
Biko, Donald Woods
Woods, editor of the leading anti-apartheid newspaper in South Africa, smuggled out the
contents of this book about life, imprisonment, and unsatisfactory inquest into the death of
Stephen Biko, the charismatic South African leader.
Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic
An all-American boy joins the Marines, goes to Vietnam, is gravely wounded, and becomes
an antiwar activist.
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, James McBridge
The story of “a rabbi’s daughter, born in Poland and raised in the South, who fled to
Harlem, married a black man, founded a Baptist church, and put twelve children through
college.”
Days of Grace: A Memoir, Arthur Ashe
A highly respected tennis star and citizen of the world dies of AIDS.
I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu
Born in Guatemala into abject poverty marked by violence and lack of education, this Nobel
Peace Prize winner has become one of the world’s foremost fighters for human rights.
Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’ Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa, Mark
Mathebane
A teenager comes of age under apartheid in South Africa.
Lakota Woman, Mary Crowdog and Richard Erdoes
Mary Crowdog stands with two thousand other Native Americans at the site of the
Wounded Knee, South Dakota, massacre, demonstrating for Native American rights.
Life and Death in Shanghai, Nien Cheng
Nien Cheng tells the story of seven harrowing years in solitary confinement during China’s
Cultural Revolution.
Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America, Linda Atkinson
Some call her dangerous; a tough union organizer who was still active and outspoken at age
ninety.
To Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family, Joan D. Criddle and Teeda
Butt Mam
After the Communists take over Cambodia in 1975, Teeda Butt Mam’s upper-class
existence is reduced to surviving impossible conditions.
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston
A remarkable account of growing up female and Chinese-American in California.
Yeager: An Autobiography, Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos
U.S. Air Force General Chuck Yeager – World War II ace and the first man to break the
sound barrier candidly shares the drama of his life and career.
NONFICTION
All the President’s Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Two Washington Post reporters lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the Nixon
administration’s Watergate cover-up.
Blue Highways: A Journey into America, William Least Heat Moon
Traveling miles along the small back roads of the United States allows the author to
introduce a series of diverse and unique Americans.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown
A narrative of the white man’s conquest of the American land as the Native American
victims experienced it.
Broken Cord, Michael Dorris
Dorris shares the triumphs and difficulties of life with his adopted child, a victim of fetal
alcohol syndrome.
Catherine, Called Birdy, Karen Cushman
A wonderfully funny diary from the year 1290. Catherine’s father is determined to marry
her off to a rich man, and the one he has chosen is old, ugly, and revolting. What is a clever
young maiden to do?
China Men, Maxine Hong Kingston
A description of the lives of several generations of Chinese males contributes to an
understanding of the experiences of Chinese immigration.
Daughter of Persia, Sattareh Farman Farmaian
Though Farman Farmaian was born and raised in a traditional Muslim family, her father
was passionately committed to education and chose to ignore many of the Muslim
restrictions for girls.
Gideon’s Trumpet, Anthony Lewis
One determined convict changes the American legal system.
Hiroshima, John Hersey
John Hersey comes to Hiroshima, Japan, in 1946 to report on the first city to be destroyed
by an atomic bomb and returns forty years later to tell what happening since his first visit.
Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World, Jack Weatherford
Among the gifts of Native Americans are: enormous quantities of gold and silver – much of
the wealth of the world; some 60% of the foods we eat today.
Living by the Word: Selected Writings 1973-1987, Alice Walker
Walker’s essays on race, politics, women, and life are collected in this volume.
Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours, Marian Wright Edelman
A child advocate shares her thoughts on values, raising families, and the future of our
country.
Our House Divided: Seven Japanese American Families in World War II, Tom Kaizawa
Knaefler
The United States is a place of neither shelter nor freedom for Japanese Americans during
WW II.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: A Mystical Excursion into the Natural World, Annie Dillard
“I am an explorer, I am also a stalker…the instrument of the hunt itself. I am the arrow
shaft, carved along my length by unexpected lights and gashes from the very sky, and this
book is the straying trail of blood.”
Soul on Ice, Eldridge Cleaver
Through essays and open letters written while in prison, Cleaver expresses the inner
feelings and drives of the outraged African American man.
Stephen Hawking’s Universe, John Boslough
Hawking presents his theories on the universe in general, and black holes in particular.
Thinking Out Loud: On the Personal, the Political, the Public, and the Private, Anna Quindlen
Op-ed pieces from the New York Times underscore Quindlen’s thoughts on human rights,
abortion, and justice.
The World of the Druids, Miranda Green
A lively introduction -- authoritative but not stuffy and extravagantly illustrated -- to the
Druids, the ancient Celtic order of priests, healers, and bards systematically exterminated
by the Romans.
DRAMA
All My Sons, Arthur Miller
What good can come of Joe Keller’s placing family above social obligations and selling
defective airplane parts to the Army?
Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
Nora steps off her pedestal and enters the real world.
Elephant Man, Bernard Pomerance
Victorian society exploits John Merrick, a grotesquely deformed man.
Equus, Peter Shaffer
A psychiatrist helps a juvenile delinquent who has blinded six horses and, in the process,
finds himself facing complex and disturbing questions.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, When the Rainbow is Enuf, Ntozake Shange
The inner feelings of young African American women are captured in this passionate
feminist spellbinder.
Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
“Et tu, Brute?” Will Caesar beware the Ides of March as conspirators tempt his best friend,
Brutus?
Man for All Seasons, Robert Bolt
As a result of his controversy with Henry VIII, Sir Thoms More, a devout Catholic, goes to
his death rather than violate his conscience.
Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
Professor Higgins bets a friend he can turn common Eliza Doolittle into a duchess.
Rhinoceros, Eugene Ionesco
The subject is conformity. The treatment is comedy and terror.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard
Two bit players from Shakespeare’s Hamlet are thrust into a terrifying new situation.
Soldier’s Play: A Play, Charles Fuller
An African American sergeant’s 1944 murder in Louisiana army camp is investigated by his
white captain and a black outsider, with shocking results.
The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
The battle of the sexes begins when Petrucchio attempts to woo this shrew.