I didn't get an answer to age so though I would post the reading list I gave to my kids this year. They range in age from 13-17, boys and girls, some more skilled readers than others. They are loving them, there have been no complaints or books left unfinished. This is all modern literature, I won't be starting them on classics until they finish these. And of course over the last year they read the Twilight series, a couple of the Uglies and they really like The Hunger Games. Sorry that the list is long, it does contain most of the ones mentioned on here. I think it is a fairly comprehensive list of what should be covered in the teen years. The order is very thought out to keep interest and style moving in different directions. Funny thing is my husband who had never been exposed to literature before is plowing through the list along with the kids and really really appreciating it.
Happy Reading!
THE LESTER'S 2009 READING LIST
1. Drop City TC Boyle
2. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
3. The Education of Little Tree Forest Carter
4. Mutant Message Down Under Marlo Morgan
5. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
6. Animal Farm George Orwell
7. The DaVinci Code Dan Brown
8. Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
9. Walk Across America - Peter Jenkins -
10. Watch For Me on the Mountain Forest Carter
11. Watership Down - Richard Adams
12. The Call of the Wild Jack London -
13. The Power of One Bryce Courtney
14. The Woman and the Ape - Peter Hoeg
15. The Red pony John Steinbeck
16. Tortilla Curtain TC Boyle
17. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
18. To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee
19. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora
20. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
21. The Pearl John Steinbeck
22. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbra Kingsolver
23. Illusions Richard Bach -
24. 100 Years of Solitude Garcia Marquez
25. Jitterbug Perfume Tom Robbins
26. 1984 George Orwell
27. The World According to Garp - John Irving-
28. The Color Purple Alice Walker
29. Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
30. The Fifth Child Doris Lessing