Description
The list of book titles that follows was compiled from the results of an informal survey conducted by the Department and distributed by the New York State English Council and the New York State Reading Association. Teachers were asked to suggest books they felt were “appropriate and successful with readers in the K-12 curriculum.” These titles represent a sample of those submitted. The list is not inclusive, nor is it intended as a recommended reading list; rather, it is a list of books that English Language Arts teachers in New York State suggest have literary merit, are representative of the genres, and are being read by students in today’s classrooms. Some are appropriate for all students, some for advanced readers. Titles include folklore, fantasy, science fiction, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Selected magazine titles are included in recognition of the importance of using magazines to meet informational and recreational needs.
Following the New York State English Language Arts teacher selections are two lists— “Notable Children’s Books, 1995” and “Best Books for Young Adults, 1995”—published by the American Library Association and representative of the many distinguished published lists of books that teachers rely on as they help students select reading material. The concluding example of reading selections is provided by the New Standards Project “Performance Standards: English Language Arts.” The three lists suggest acceptable titles for student readers at elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Website(s)
To view the complete English Language Arts Resource Guide: Instructional Materials document, please click the link below.
Fiction and Nonfiction
Selected Titles
Title........................................................................................................... Author
Watership Down......................................................................................Adams, Richard
Little Women ...........................................................................................Alcott, Louisa May
Sounder....................................................................................................Armstrong, William
Tuck Everlasting ......................................................................................Babbitt, Natalie
Stories of Gods & Heroes .........................................................................Benson, Sally
Cross Sections ..........................................................................................Biesty, Stephen
Tiger Eyes ................................................................................................Blume, Judy
Histories of Immigrant Teens...................................................................Bode, Janet
The Moves Make the Man .......................................................................Brooks, Bruce
The Secret Garden....................................................................................Burnett, Frances H.
Summer of the Swans ..............................................................................Byars, Betsy
White Mountains.....................................................................................Christopher, John
House on Mango Street ...........................................................................Cisneros, Sandra
AGirl from Yamhill .................................................................................Cleary, Beverly
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes..................................................Coerr, Eleanor
My Brother Sam is Dead .........................................................................Collier, James and Christopher
Face on the Milk Carton ..........................................................................Cooney, Caroline
Catherine, Called Birdie...........................................................................Cushman, Karen
D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.............................................................D’Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar
The Courage of Sara Noble ......................................................................Dalgliesh, Alice
Great Expectations...................................................................................Dickens, Charles
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass .............................................Douglass, Frederick
April Morning .........................................................................................Fast, Howard
Zlata’s Diary............................................................................................Filipovic, Zlata
Biography of a Young Girl .......................................................................Frank, Anne
Johnny Tremain........................................................................................Forbes, Elizabeth
The Wright Brothers................................................................................Freedman, Russell
Eleanor Roosevelt : ALife of Discovery...................................................Freedman, Russell
Photobiography of Abraham Lincoln.......................................................Freedman, Russell
My Side of the Mountain.........................................................................George, Jean Craighead
Summer of My German Soldier...............................................................Greene, Bette
Phoebe and the General............................................................................Griffin, Judith
M. C. Higgins the Great..........................................................................Hamilton, Virginia
The Trouble With Lemons........................................................................Hayes, Daniel
Eye of the Beholder...................................................................................Hayes, Daniel
The Old Man and the Sea ........................................................................Hemingway, Ernest
Hiroshima ................................................................................................Hersey, John
The Outsiders...........................................................................................Hinton, S. E.
Thank You, Ma’am...................................................................................Hughes, Langston
Charles .....................................................................................................Jackson, Shirley
Phantom Tollbooth...................................................................................Juster, Norton
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler...............................Konigsburg, E.L.
21 Great Stories .......................................................................................Lass, Abraham
To Kill a Mockingbird..............................................................................Lee, Harper
The Call of the Wild .................................................................................London, Jack
Number the Stars.....................................................................................Lowry, Lois
Skylark .....................................................................................................MacLachlan, Patricia
Anne of Green Gables ..............................................................................Montgomery, Lucy Maud
Owls in the Family ..................................................................................Mowat, Farley
Scopes Trial ..............................................................................................Murphy, Jim
Fallen Angels ...........................................................................................Myers, Walter Dean
Shiloh .......................................................................................................Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Island of the Blue Dolphins......................................................................O’Dell, Scott
Animal Farm............................................................................................Orwell, George
Lyddie.......................................................................................................Paterson, Katherine
Hatchet.....................................................................................................Paulsen, Gary
The Foxman .............................................................................................Paulsen, Gary
The Giver .................................................................................................Paulsen, Gary
*See Original Document For More Titles
Folklore
Selected Titles
The Crest and the Hide and Other African Stories .................................Cowlander, Harold
The People Could Fly ..............................................................................Hamilton, Virginia
Three Strong Women...............................................................................Stamm, Claus
Favorite Folktales from Around the World..............................................Yolen, Jane
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Selected Titles
Book of Three............................................................................................Alexander, Lloyd
I, Robot.....................................................................................................Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Series .............................................................................Asimov, Isaac
Fahrenheit 451 .........................................................................................Bradbury, Ray
Martian Chronicles..................................................................................Bradbury, Ray
Moss Flower.............................................................................................Brian, Jacques
Monster’s Ring ........................................................................................Coville, Bruce
George’s Marvelous Medicine..................................................................Dahl, Roald
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm.................................................................Farmer, Nancy
Mythical Monsters ..................................................................................Gould, Charles
Phantom Tollbooth...................................................................................Juster, Norton
Swiftly Tilting Planet..............................................................................L’Engle, Madeleine
The Giver .................................................................................................Lowry, Lois
Dragonquest.............................................................................................McCaffrey, Anne
The Hobbit ...............................................................................................Tolkien, J. R. R.
War of the Worlds....................................................................................Wells, H. G.
Great Grandfather’s Dragons Tale...........................................................Yolen, Jane
Poetry
Selected Titles
The Sun is On..........................................................................................Barron, Linda Michelle
Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle .............................................Dunning, Stephen
Joyful Noise..............................................................................................Fleischman, Paul
You Come Too...........................................................................................Frost, Robert
Inner Chimes............................................................................................Goldstein, Bobbi
Dreams.....................................................................................................Hughes, Langston
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere .......................................Longfellow, William Wadsworth
The Highwayman.....................................................................................Noyes, Alfred
Drama
Selected Titles
The Story Machine...................................................................................Asimov, Isaac
The Hitchhiker .........................................................................................Fletcher, Lucille
The Diary of a Young Girl ......................................................................Frank, Anne
The Miracle Worker .................................................................................Gibson, William
Inherit the Wind ......................................................................................Lawrence and Lee
Julius Caesar ............................................................................................Shakespeare, William
AMidsummer Night’s Dream.................................................................Shakespeare, William
I Remember Mama...................................................................................Van Druten, John
Our Town.................................................................................................Wilder, Thornton
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the Moon Marigolds..................Zindel, Paul
Periodicals
Selected Titles
Cobblestone Magazine
National Geographic
New Moon
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