Harvard Classics
The fifty volumes Charles W. Eliot chose in 1909 as a liberal education on a five-foot shelf. Old, Western, and unapologetically canonical.
126 books in the catalog stand on this list. The list itself (opens the list's own website) ↗
A reader aged
4 of these books cover age 12. The 98 that name no age at all are left off rather than guessed at — choose any age to bring them back.
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David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens, 1850 · ages 12–15 · Lexile 1070L · AR 9.5
also on Deep Roots Grade, TJEd Youth Recommended
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Lives
by Plutarch, 80 · ages 9–12 · Lexile 1690L
also on St. John's College, TJEd Adult Recommended
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Pride & Prejudice
by Jane Austen, 1813 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1070L · AR 12.0
also on Deep Roots Grade, Mensa Kids, St. John's College, The Good & The Beautiful, TJEd Adult Recommended
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Rip Van Winkle
by Washington Irving, 1819 · ages 9–14 · Lexile 1280L · AR 11.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
also on Mensa Kids, TJEd Early Recommended