Besides the popular titles available in the bookshops like the fantasy and dystopian novels that have saturated the shelves, why not try these other novels?
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Orphan Anne Shirley was sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert who wanted to adopt a boy. They were planning to teach their new son to help them in their farm.
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Jackie’s father Jack doesn’t like Greenville, South Carolina because of the discrimination. His wife Mary Ann later left with the three children, including Jackie, to live with their grandparents.
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss were looking for a human test subject. They were successful in increasing the intelligence of the mouse Algernon. Charlie Gordon, who had an IQ of 68, was picked as the subject.
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Brian Robeson was on his way to visit his father when the plane pilot had a heart attack and Brian had to crash-land. He has to try surviving in the forest with only a hatchet given by his mother.
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
When an airplane crashed at a remote Pacific island, the only survivors were boys. They tried to live together, but first they had to elect a chief.
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Arnold Spirit Jr. wants to become a cartoonist. His family lives at the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington where he detailed his everyday struggles in a diary for a year.
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Liesel Meminger’s life during World War II in Germany is narrated by Death. When her brother died, she was taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann who later helped a Jew named Max. He taught her how to read.
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
Jonas lives in a society where pain and even happiness have been eliminated. The residents live in a tightly-controlled community where everyone plays a specific role. Jonas was to become the next Receiver of Memory, but his training opened his eyes to a world alien to his own.
- The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The novel is set in a country called Opium located between Aztlan and the United States. Drug lord Matteo Alacran had lived in it for over a hundred years and has a clone with the same name.
- The House of Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Esperanza Cordero’s family lived in many other places before settling at the house on Mango Street. She wanted to get away from her experiences so she started writing a book.
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Ponyboy Curtis of the Greasers met Cherry from the rival group Socs. This caused an uproar between two groups, resulting to the death of one of the members.
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
The home of the group of civilized rabbits, the Sandleford warren, is threatened. A group sets out to find a new home, but first they have to overcome more obstacles.