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Browse ArticlesThese 185 books are from the official UWCSEA Grade 2 to 12 Core Collections, including the IBDP recommended reading list. Use the filters to find books by genre, English difficulty level (CEFR), or grade.
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185 books
The Inquisitor's Tale
Adam Gidwitz
Set in 1242 France, three children with miraculous powers flee persecution and save sacred texts. A Newbery Honor winner told like a medieval Canterbury Tales.
Holes
Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats is sent to a desert detention camp where boys dig holes all day. Three timelines interweave in this Newbery Medal winner about justice, friendship, and fate.
New Kid
Jerry Craft
Jordan Banks navigates being one of the few kids of color at a prestigious private school. A Newbery Medal-winning graphic novel about identity and belonging.
The Radium Girls (Young Readers' Edition)
Kate Moore
The true story of young women poisoned by radium paint in early 20th-century America. Their fight for justice changed labor laws forever.
The Blackbird Girls
Anne Blankman
After the Chernobyl disaster, two Ukrainian girls flee to Leningrad and uncover secrets spanning two generations of prejudice and resilience.
Ghost Boys
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by police. As a ghost, he meets other ghost boys whose stories echo across American history.
The Giver
Lois Lowry
In a seemingly perfect community without pain or choice, Jonas discovers his utopia is built on a terrible lie. A Newbery Medal cornerstone.
A Short, Hopeful Guide to Climate Change
Oisín McGann
A straightforward illustrated guide to climate change that empowers young readers with what they can actually do about it.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Maryam Master
Twelve-year-old Ana is dying of cancer and narrates the last year of her life with fury and jokes. A debut about living hard against the clock.
Hatchet
Gary Paulsen
Thirteen-year-old Brian survives a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness armed only with a hatchet. A raw, classic survival story.
American Born Chinese
Gene Luen Yang
Three stories braid together: the Monkey King, a Chinese-American boy who wishes he were someone else, and a cousin who is a walking stereotype. Printz Award winner.
Doll Bones
Holly Black
Three friends discover a bone china doll that may contain real human bones. A Newbery Honor journey about growing up and imagination.
Amari and the Night Brothers
B.B. Alston
Amari discovers her missing brother was part of a secret supernatural agency. A blockbuster fantasy debut called 'Men in Black meets Harry Potter.'
Refugee
Alan Gratz
Three children flee danger in three eras - Nazi Germany 1939, Cuba 1994, Syria 2015. Their stories interweave toward a devastating, hopeful conclusion.
The Bletchley Riddle
Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin
Summer 1940. Jakob is already a codebreaker at Bletchley Park when his fourteen-year-old sister Lizzie arrives, refusing to believe their mother is dead.
No Fixed Address
Susin Nielsen
Twelve-year-old Felix and his mom live in a van while he dreams of competing on a TV quiz show. Heartbreaking and hilarious.
The Apple Tart of Hope
Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
When Oscar disappears, only his neighbor Meg refuses to give up hope. A lyrical novel about depression, friendship, and small things that keep us going.
Legend
Marie Lu
In a dark future LA, the Republic's most wanted criminal and its brightest prodigy collide. A high-octane dystopian thriller with dual perspectives.
Half Brother
Kenneth Oppel
When Ben's parents bring home a baby chimpanzee for a language experiment, Ben becomes its older brother. Based on real 1970s primate experiments.
Little Monarchs
Jonathan Case
In a post-apocalyptic world where sunlight is deadly, a girl and her guardian follow monarch butterflies across America. A gorgeous graphic novel.
Orchards
Holly Thompson
After her classmate Ruth dies by suicide, Kana is sent to her mother's family's mikan orchards in Japan. A verse novel about guilt, cultural identity, and healing.
Free Lunch
Rex Ogle
A raw memoir of growing up on free school lunches. Honest about poverty, shame, and a boy's fight to keep his dignity.
I Must Betray You
Ruta Sepetys
In 1989 communist Romania, Cristian is forced to spy on his family for the secret police. A thriller about surveillance, courage, and revolution.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Earth is demolished for a hyperspace bypass. Arthur Dent hitchhikes across the galaxy. The pinnacle of sci-fi comedy.
The Bodyguard Unit
Clément Xavier & Lisa Lugrin
True story of Edith Garrud and the suffragettes who learned jiu-jitsu to fight for women's voting rights in early 20th century Britain.
The Everest Files
Matt Dickinson
Ryan, eighteen and volunteering in Nepal, is asked to find out why a local girl's friend never came back from Everest. Gripping high-altitude thriller.
Red Queen
Victoria Aveyard
In a world divided by blood color, Mare discovers she has impossible powers. A fantasy epic of power, betrayal, and revolution.
Never Fall Down
Patricia McCormick
True story of Arn Chorn-Pond surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide through music. A devastating historical novel.
The Inheritance Games
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Avery inherits billions from a stranger, but the dead man's grandsons want answers. A puzzle-filled mystery thriller.
Almond
Won-pyung Sohn
Yunjae has alexithymia -- he cannot feel emotions. A Korean novel about learning to connect with others.
The Princess Bride
William Goldman
The classic tale of Westley and Buttercup -- adventure, romance, and wit in perfect balance.
Challenger Deep
Neal Shusterman
Caden's mind splits between reality and a fantastical sea voyage. A National Book Award winner about schizophrenia.
We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
A wealthy family, a private island, and a summer Cadence can't remember. Devastating twist ending.
When the Ground Is Hard
Malla Nunn
In 1960s Swaziland, two girls from different social classes form an unlikely friendship.
Dragon Hoops
Gene Luen Yang
A graphic memoir: Yang, a teacher at an Oakland high school, follows his school's basketball team through a championship season. Printz Honor.
The Lemon Tree
Sandy Tolan
True story of an Israeli and a Palestinian connected by the same house and lemon tree.
Maybe He Just Likes You
Barbara Dee
Mila deals with boys who won't stop touching her. A novel about boundaries, courage, and standing up for yourself.
The House in the Cerulean Sea
TJ Klune
A caseworker is sent to inspect an orphanage of magical children and discovers the meaning of family. Warm, healing fantasy.
In the Wild Light
Jeff Zentner
Cash's best friend discovers a project that could change medicine, but leaving Appalachia means leaving everything behind.
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness
In a world where everyone can hear each other's thoughts, Todd discovers a spot of silence. Dystopian sci-fi classic.
The Night Raven
Johan Rundberg
Stockholm, 1880. Mika, a twelve-year-old orphan, is asked by a police detective to help him work out whether an executed killer has somehow returned.
Runt
Craig Silvey
Annie and her rescue dog Runt must win a dog show to save their farm. Warm, funny, and full of heart.
Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice
Amanda Foody
Barclay has hated Beasts since one destroyed his village, so when he accidentally bonds with one he is exiled, and sets out to find someone who can break the bond.
Lessons from Our Ancestors
Raksha Dave
Ancient wisdom from cultures around the world, beautifully illustrated. Connecting past to present.
Finn Jones Was Here
Simon James Green
Finn Jones is dead when the book opens. His best friend Eric starts getting messages that seem to come from Finn, a famous prankster, and follows where they lead.
Unstoppable Us, Volume 1
Yuval Noah Harari
The Sapiens author explains how humans conquered the world, written for young readers.
The Fourteenth Goldfish
Jennifer L. Holm
Ellie's grandfather discovers the secret to eternal youth and shows up as a teenager. Fun science-meets-growing-up story.
Heart of a Samurai
Margi Preus
Based on the true story of Manjiro, a Japanese boy shipwrecked and taken to America in 1841. Newbery Honor.
El Deafo
Cece Bell
A Newbery Honor graphic memoir about growing up deaf and finding your superpower.
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
Dusti Bowling
Aven was born without arms. At her new school, she discovers friendship and a mystery.
Evie and Rhino
Neridah McMullin
1891, coastal Victoria. Evie, ten and silent since her parents drowned, finds a rhinoceros washed ashore from a shipwreck and takes him home, until the zoo comes to claim him.
City of Ghosts
Victoria Schwab
Cassidy can pull back the Veil between the living and the dead. A spooky Edinburgh adventure.
The Good Thieves
Katherine Rundell
Vita assembles a crew of pickpockets and acrobats in 1920s New York to reclaim her grandfather's home.
Prisoners of Geography (Young Readers Edition)
Tim Marshall
Why the world works the way it does, explained through 12 simple maps. Geopolitics for young readers.
The Honest Truth
Dan Gemeinhart
Mark is dying and decides to run away to climb Mount Rainier with his dog. A moving story of courage and friendship.
The City of Ember
Jeanne DuPrau
In an underground city running out of light, two kids race to find a way out. Classic dystopian adventure.
Max in the House of Spies
Adam Gidwitz
After Kristallnacht, eleven-year-old Max is sent out of Berlin to London on the Kindertransport. He works out that his foster family runs spies, and talks his way into becoming one.
When Stars Are Scattered
Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
True story of two Somali brothers growing up in a refugee camp, told as a graphic novel. National Book Award finalist.
Out of My Mind
Sharon M. Draper
Melody has cerebral palsy and is the smartest kid in school, but no one knows it. A novel about the power of being seen.
Howl's Moving Castle
Diana Wynne Jones
Sophie is cursed into an old woman and moves into the wizard Howl's magical walking castle. Classic fantasy masterpiece.
How to Eat in Space
Helen Taylor
Fun facts about eating in space. A great non-fiction starter for young readers.
Mercy Watson to the Rescue
Kate DiCamillo
A toast-loving pig has hilarious adventures. Classic humor from a Newbery-winning author.
Sporty Kids: Basketball
Felice Arena
Jessica is a basketball all-star who is sure she cannot play without her lucky shoes, and the clock is running down. A short story for new readers.
Little Olympians: Zeus, God of Thunder
A.I. Newton
Young Zeus lets off lightning whenever he sneezes, so he is sent to a camp where little gods learn to control their powers. An original story, not a myth retelling.
Franny K. Stein: Lunch Walks Among Us
Jim Benton
A young mad scientist tries to fit in at school. Funny and quirky chapter book.
Surfing in the Dark
John Dickson
True story of a blind surfer who chases waves. About courage and determination.
Sona Sharma: Looking After Planet Earth
Chitra Soundar
Sona learns to care for the environment in India. A warm eco-story.
Flipflopi
Linda Ravin Lodding & Dipesh Pabari
A true story from the Kenyan coast: Juma and his boat-builder grandfather collect discarded flip-flops from the beach and build a working sailing boat out of them.
Daisy Dreamer and the Totally True Imaginary Friend
Holly Anna
Daisy's imaginary friend might actually be real. An imaginative, heartwarming story.
Aven Green: Sleuthing Machine
Dusti Bowling
Aven is eight, was born without arms, does everything with her feet, and is certain her brain makes her a great detective. She works three cases at once.
The Alien Next Door: The New Kid
A.I. Newton
An alien kid tries to blend in at a new school. Fun sci-fi chapter book.
Free Kid to Good Home
Hiroshi Ito
Fed up with her new baby brother, a girl sits in a cardboard box marked FREE KID and waits for a better family. A lost dog, a stray cat and a turtle join her.
The Very Best Doughnut
Randa Abdel-Fattah
Friday is doughnut day at Adam's house, but this week the family is fasting for Ramadan until sunset. Adam decides to fast too, and the doughnut waits.
Sherlock Bones and the Case of the Crown Jewels
Tim Collins
The crown jewels vanish from Buckingham Kennel. An interactive puzzle book: over thirty mazes and searches to work through alongside the dog detective.
Pugly Solves a Crime
Pamela Butchart
A pug detective with a nose for trouble. Funny pet mystery.
Dinosaurs Before Dark
Mary Pope Osborne
Magic Tree House series opener - time travel to the dinosaur era. Classic kids' fantasy adventure.
The Magnificent Makers: How to Test a Friendship
Theanne Griffith
Science adventures that test friendship. Perfect blend of STEM and storytelling.
The Wolf Suit
Sid Sharp
Bellwether is a sheep who is terrified of wolves, so he sews himself a wolf costume to pick blackberries in peace. A graphic novel about what the wolves turn out to be like.
Bad Kitty Gets a Bath
Nick Bruel
Bad Kitty does NOT want a bath. Hilarious chaos ensues. NYT bestselling series.
Dragon Masters: Rise of the Earth Dragon
Tracey West
A boy discovers he can connect with a dragon. Scholastic bestselling fantasy series.
The Naughtiest Unicorn and the School Disco
Pip Bird
Mira and her unicorn Dave are at Unicorn School when a classmate takes over the end-of-term disco committee, turns bossy, and puts everyone in danger.
Ivy + Bean
Annie Barrows
Two very different girls become unlikely best friends. Classic friendship chapter book series.
The Last Firehawk: The Ember Stone
Katrina Charman
A young owl and friends search for a magical ember stone. Scholastic fantasy adventure series.
Stick & Fetch Investigate: The Wrong End of the Stick
Philip Ardagh
Stick is a girl, Sally Stick, and Fetch is her shaggy dog. The two of them blunder their way through a run of small-town mysteries.
Wigglesbottom Primary: The Classroom Cat
Pamela Butchart
Three short stories about Class 2R: a stray cat on the teacher's keyboard, an argument about whether a dropped crisp gives you Puddle-pox, and an imaginary friend who gets the blame.
A to Z Mysteries: Detective Camp
Ron Roy
Kids solve mysteries at detective camp. Classic children's mystery series.
The One and Only Ivan
Katherine Applegate
A gorilla performing in a mall dreams of a better life. Newbery Medal winner.
Ninja Kid: From Nerd to Ninja!
Anh Do
A nerdy kid wakes up with ninja powers. Hilarious illustrated chapter book series.
Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle
The first Sherlock Holmes story, retold for young readers: Watson meets Holmes, they take rooms at 221B Baker Street, and investigate a murder in an empty Brixton house.
WeirDo
Anh Do
Weir Do is the new kid at school, saddled with the weirdest name, the weirdest family and the weirdest haircut. Laugh-out-loud school comedy.
The Secret of the Magic Pearl
Elisa Sabatinelli
An underwater adventure to find a magical pearl. Imaginative fantasy story.
Galaxy Zack: Hello, Nebulon!
Ray O'Ryan
In 2120 Zack's family moves from Texas to the planet Nebulon. He is the homesick new kid at Sprockets Academy, and makes his first Nebulite friend.
Rex: Dinosaur in Disguise
Elys Dolan
Rex thaws out of a glacier sixty-five million years late, lodges with Bigfoot the yeti in his city flat, and is coached to pass as human while he looks for work.
Oliver's Great Big Universe
Jorge Cham
Oliver starts middle school and wants to be an astrophysicist. A cartoon-filled diary that explains black holes and the Big Bang between notes on his teachers and his annoying sister.
Secrets of Singapore: Changi Airport
Lesley-Anne & Monica Lim
Discover the secrets behind Singapore's famous Changi Airport. Local non-fiction.
The Boy Who Grew Dragons
Andy Shepherd
A boy discovers dragon fruit that grows real dragons. Fun fantasy adventure.
Dragon Storm: Tomas and Ironskin
Alastair Chisholm
In Draconis everyone believes dragons are extinct. Tomas, an orphan working at an inn, is recruited into the secret Dragonseer Guild and finds he can summon a dragon of his own.
The Secret Explorers and the Rainforest Rangers
SJ King
Kids explore and protect the rainforest. Science meets adventure.
Lola Levine Is Not Mean!
Monica Brown
Lola loves soccer and writing, but some kids think she's mean. A story about misunderstanding and friendship.
The Underdogs: Catch a Cat Burglar
Kate & Jol Temple
The failing Underdog Detective Agency in Dogtown hires its first ever cat detective, a one-eyed street cat, to go undercover among the sceptical dogs.
Brain Freeze
Tom Fletcher
Ice cream from her late grandad's old ice-cream van lets a girl travel through time, and she uses it to go back and see him again.
Game Day!: Patty Hits the Court
Patty Mills & Jared Thomas
A junior novel: young Patty takes up basketball expecting to be instantly brilliant like his uncle, and has to learn practice, teamwork and how to handle a bullying teammate.
Too Small Tola
Atinuke
Tola may be small but she's mighty. Warm stories from Lagos, Nigeria.
Rescuing Titanic
Flora Delargy
The true story of bravery during the Titanic disaster, told for young readers.
Zanzibar
Catharina Valckx
Zanzibar is a crow. When a lizard journalist comes looking for someone remarkable to write about, Zanzibar sets off to lift a dromedary with one wing.
Marvellous Mammals: A Wild A to Z of Southeast Asia
Debby Ng & Darel Seow
An illustrated A to Z of lesser-known Southeast Asian mammals: colugo, dhole, siamang and the rest, each with its habitat, behaviour and food. By Singapore authors.
Real Pigeons Fight Crime
Andrew McDonald
Pigeons are secretly crime-fighting superheroes. Seriously. Non-stop laughs.
Legends of Lotus Island: The Guardian Test
Christina Soontornvat
A girl discovers her magical abilities on a mysterious island. Exciting fantasy adventure.
Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters
Andrea Beaty
Rosie visits the Blue River Riveters, women who built aeroplanes in the war. When one of them breaks both wrists before an art contest, Rosie invents a way for her to paint.
Daisy and the Trouble with Space
Kes Gray
Daisy's class catches space fever, and she sets about turning her bedroom ceiling into the universe with glow-in-the-dark stars and superglue.
Inside Out & Back Again
Thanhha Lai
A Vietnamese girl's journey to America as a refugee. Newbery Honor verse novel.
Foxlight
Katya Balen
Twin sisters Fen and Rey, foundlings raised at the edge of the Wildlands, follow a fox out into them to search for the mother who left them.
The Boy at the Back of the Class
Onjali Q. Raúf
A refugee boy joins a school and his classmates hatch a plan to help him. Warm school story.
Kid Normal
Greg James & Chris Smith
The only kid without superpowers at a school for heroes. Hilarious adventure.
Space Case
Stuart Gibbs
Moon Base Alpha's first murder mystery. Sci-fi meets whodunit.
Bronze and Sunflower
Cao Wenxuan
A city girl and a mute boy form a deep bond in rural China. Award-winning Chinese literature.
Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo
A girl and a scruffy dog bring a small town together. Newbery Honor.
The Bubble Boy
Stewart Foster
A boy who lives in a hospital bubble dreams of the outside world. Deeply moving.
Wolf Girl: Into the Wild
Anh Do
Separated from her parents as her family flees a bombing raid, Gwen survives alone in the forest with a pack of stray dogs that she comes to lead.
The Last Musketeer
Stuart Gibbs
Greg watches his parents pulled through a painting into the Paris of 1615, follows them, and finds they have been framed for treason. He teams up with the teenage Musketeers.
The 13-Storey Treehouse
Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
An insane treehouse with a bowling alley, shark tank, and more. Non-stop laughs.
Belly Up
Stuart Gibbs
A hippo dies at FunJungle zoo and a kid suspects foul play. Zoo mystery.
Spaceboy
David Walliams
Ruth, a lonely orphan on a Kansas farm in the early 1960s, sees a flying saucer crash in the field and hides its pilot, whom she names Spaceboy.
Operation Frog Effect
Sarah Scheerger
Eight fifth-graders keep a journal through one school year. When their handling of the class pet frog goes wrong it costs their teacher her classroom, so they organise to put it right.
Brother's Keeper
Julie Lee
Two siblings flee North Korea during the Korean War. Tense historical fiction.
Sal & Gabi Break the Universe
Carlos Hernandez
Sal can pull things from other dimensions. Chaos and hilarity follow.
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Chris Grabenstein
Kids trapped in a high-tech library must solve puzzles to escape.
Pax
Sara Pennypacker
A boy and his fox are separated by war. A powerful story of love and loyalty.
The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo
A brave little mouse, a princess, and a quest. Newbery Medal winner.
The Many Meanings of Meilan
Andrea Wang
After her grandmother dies, a family feud breaks up the Boston Chinatown bakery and Meilan moves to Redbud, Ohio, where school renames her Melanie.
Kensy and Max: Disappearing Act
Jacqueline Harvey
Kensy and Max, agents-in-training with the covert Pharos network and still without their missing parents, go on a school trip to Rome that turns into real work.
The World's Worst Children
David Walliams
Deliciously naughty stories about the world's most badly behaved kids.
Keeper of the Lost Cities
Shannon Messenger
Sophie discovers she's an elf with special abilities. Epic fantasy series opener.
The Lost Whale
Hannah Gold
A boy connects with a whale in the wild and fights to protect it.
Billionaire Boy
David Walliams
The richest boy in the world discovers money can't buy friends. Funny and warm.
Wonder
R.J. Palacio
Auggie was born with facial differences. His first year at school changes everyone. A modern classic.
The Letter with the Golden Stamp
Onjali Q. Raúf
Ten-year-old Audrey is a secret young carer for her seriously ill mam in Wales. To pay for treatment she builds a scheme out of her stamp collection and the postal system.
When the Sea Turned to Silver
Grace Lin
Pinmei's grandmother, the village storyteller, is seized by the Emperor's soldiers. Pinmei and the boy Yishan set out to find the stone that will ransom her. National Book Award finalist.
Murder Most Unladylike
Robin Stevens
Two schoolgirls start a detective agency and investigate a real murder at their 1930s boarding school.
The Mona Lisa Vanishes
Nicholas Day
The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, interleaved with Leonardo's life, and how the theft is what made the painting world-famous. Sibert Medal winner.
A Rover's Story
Jasmine Warga
A Mars rover develops feelings and a sense of purpose. Heartwarming sci-fi.
Flunked
Jen Calonita
Gilly, a cobbler's daughter who steals to feed her family, is sentenced to Fairy Tale Reform School, where the staff are reformed villains and the pupils are delinquent kids.
We Are Wolves
Katrina Nannestad
Three children survive alone in a WWII forest after losing their mother. Powerful historical fiction.
Other Words for Home
Jasmine Warga
Jude leaves Syria with her pregnant mother as the war reaches their city, and goes to live with relatives in Cincinnati. A verse novel and a Newbery Honor.
What Elephants Know
Eric Dinerstein
Nandu was found as a toddler and raised in the King's elephant stable in Nepal. At twelve he has to save the stable itself, which the government plans to close.
The Wild Robot
Peter Brown
Roz the robot washes up on a wild island after a shipwreck, learns the animals' language in order to survive, and raises an orphaned gosling.
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
Lisa Yee
Maizy spends a summer at the Golden Palace, her grandparents' restaurant in Last Chance, Minnesota, and uncovers her ancestor's story. Newbery Honor and National Book Award finalist.
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks
Katie Kirby
Lottie's diary of social disasters. Hilarious illustrated journal format.
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell
Chris Colfer
Twins fall into a book of fairy tales and must find their way home. Epic fantasy adventure.
City Spies
James Ponti
Five kids recruited as spies by MI6. Fast-paced international thriller.
The War That Saved My Life
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ada escapes her abusive mother during the WWII London evacuation and discovers freedom. Newbery Honor.
October, October
Katya Balen
October lives wild in the woods with her dad until an accident changes everything. Carnegie Medal.
Spy School
Stuart Gibbs
Ben is recruited to spy school but discovers a mole inside. Funny and suspenseful.
Stuntboy in the Meantime
Jason Reynolds
Portico lives in a building full of quirky neighbors and secretly believes he's a superhero.
Allies
Alan Gratz
Multiple perspectives from D-Day, 1944. Intense WWII historical fiction.
Born Behind Bars
Padma Venkatraman
A boy born in an Indian prison must survive on the outside for the first time.
Because of Mr. Terupt
Rob Buyea
Seven kids' lives change when a new teacher arrives. Then something terrible happens.
The Final Year
Matt Goodfellow
A boy's final year of primary school amid family struggles. Raw and honest.
Masterminds
Gordon Korman
Kids in a perfect town discover their whole lives are a lie. Thrilling conspiracy.
New From Here
Kelly Yang
When Covid reaches Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox is moved with his mother and siblings to California while his father stays behind. Based on Kelly Yang's own experience.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
Angelou's account of her childhood between Stamps, Arkansas, St Louis and San Francisco: racism, a childhood sexual assault, and the slow recovery of her own voice. The first of seven autobiographies.
West with the Night
Beryl Markham
Markham grew up in Kenya, trained racehorses, flew the bush, and in 1936 became the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo east to west. A memoir that reads like a novel.
Stay True
Hua Hsu
Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir about friendship, identity, and loss. Hua Hsu writes about his best friend Ken, murdered in a carjacking in 1998.
The Complete Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi
Satrapi's graphic memoir in two parts: growing up in Iran through the revolution and the war, then the years alone in Vienna and the hard return to Tehran.
Shoe Dog
Phil Knight
Knight's memoir of the shoe-import business he started in 1964 and built with his old track coach into Nike: the near-bankruptcies, the fights with banks, the people around him.
Babel
R.F. Kuang
Robin is brought from Canton to Oxford to study translation and discovers the British Empire runs on magic powered by gaps between languages. Fantasy and devastating critique of colonialism.
The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga
Balram writes a letter to the Chinese Premier explaining how he murdered his employer and became an entrepreneur. Man Booker Prize winner — darkly comic and savage.
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver
A modern retelling of David Copperfield set in opioid-ravaged Appalachia. Pulitzer Prize winner — funny, furious, and heartbreaking.
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo
Twelve characters — mostly Black British women — whose lives intersect across decades. Joint Booker Prize winner with a form that breaks every rule.
Accountable
Dashka Slater
The true story of a racist Instagram account at a California high school, and what happened afterwards to the student who ran it, the followers who said nothing, and the classmates it targeted.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
Piranesi lives in a House with infinite halls full of statues and tides. He suspects his world is not what it seems. A philosophical novel about knowledge, wonder, and invisible prisons.
The Ministry of Time
Kaliane Bradley
The British government develops time travel and brings historical figures to the present. A civil servant helps a Victorian explorer adjust to modern life. Love story, spy thriller, and meditation on empire.
Little Eyes
Samanta Schweblin
In a near-future world, people buy networked toy animals. A cute premise becomes a deeply unsettling exploration of surveillance, intimacy, and control.
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
Ken Liu
Liu's first collection gathers fifteen stories across science fiction, fantasy and alternate history. The title story was the first work of fiction to win the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy awards.
Harvest
Manjula Padmanabhan
In a dystopian future, a family sells organ rights to a wealthy Western buyer. A play about globalisation and bodily autonomy — written in 1997, more relevant every year.
The Culture Map
Erin Meyer
How do you give feedback to a Dutch vs Japanese colleague? Erin Meyer maps cultural differences across eight dimensions. Essential for students entering international environments.
Doughnut Economics
Kate Raworth
Kate Raworth argues economics should aim for a sweet spot between human needs and planetary boundaries — shaped like a doughnut. Influenced policymakers worldwide.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks' cancer cells were taken without consent and became one of medicine's most important tools. Her family didn't know for decades. A book about race, science, and ethics.
The Price of Life
Jenny Kleeman
What is a human life worth? Kleeman reports from the places where a cash figure actually gets put on one, from the price of hiring a hitman to the compensation paid to terrorism victims.
Love Triangle
Matt Parker
Parker's case that triangles run through everything, from engineering and navigation to computing and design. Proof that maths is far more interesting than textbooks suggest.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Milan Kundera
Four characters navigate love, politics, and philosophy in the shadow of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. One of the great European novels of the 20th century.
Call Me by Your Name
André Aciman
Elio, seventeen, falls in love with Oliver, a graduate student staying at his family's Italian villa for the summer. A novel about desire, identity, and the memory of a single season.
Boy Swallows Universe
Trent Dalton
Eli grows up in 1980s Brisbane with a heroin-dealing stepfather, a mother in prison, and a mute brother who writes messages in the air. One of the best Australian novels in decades.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman
A man returns to his childhood home and remembers three women who might be goddesses and the terrifying events of his seventh year. A dark fairy tale about memory and childhood.
The Wind Knows My Name
Isabel Allende
Two displacement stories across eighty years: a Jewish boy in 1938 Vienna and a Salvadoran girl at the US-Mexico border in 2019. War, music, and migration woven into enduring love.
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