Treasury · Merit

Halsted - Best Friends

The reading recommended at the back of Judith Wynn Halsted's award-winning guide for gifted readers, Some of My Best Friends Are Books — her own bibliography, marked by age.

239 books in the catalog stand on this list.

A reader aged

58 of these books cover age 15. The 3 that name no age at all are left off rather than guessed at — choose any age to bring them back.

• A Good Courage by Stephanie S. Tolan, 1998 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 700L
  Remember
• Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence by Marion Dane Bauer, ed., 1995 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 760L
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• Anthem by Ayn Rand, 1938 · ages 14–18 · Lexile 880L · AR 9.1 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist, 1989 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 870L
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• Beyond the Burning Time by Kathryn Lasky, 1996 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 970L · AR 5.6
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• Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, 1988 · ages 14–17
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• Bronstein's Children by Jurek Becker, 1986 · ages 14–17
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• Building Blocks by Cynthia Voigt, 1994 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 680L · AR 4.2
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• California Blue by David Klass, 1996 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 820L · AR 5.0
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• Celine by Brock Cole, 1993 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 720L
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• Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth by Hermann Hesse, 1999 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 1010L
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• Eva by Eva Dickinson, 1990 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 930L · AR 6.3
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• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, 1969 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 890L · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  also on Mensa Kids
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• Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter, 1987 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 650L · AR 4.7
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• Guiding the Gifted Child by James T. Webb, Elizabeth A. Meckstroth, and Stephanie S. Tolan, 1989 · ages 14–17
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• I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier, 1991 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Ironman by Chris Crutcher, 1996 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 980L · AR 5.5
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• Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt, 1995 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 790L · AR 4.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt, 1995 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 840L · AR 5.6
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• JumpStart: Ideas to Move Your Mind by Beatrice Ely, 2000 · ages 14–17
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• Lila: An Inquiry into Morals by Robert M. Pirsig, 1992 · ages 14–17
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• Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 1954 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 770L · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  also on Mensa Kids, Time Magazine 1923-2005
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• Madame Curie by Eve Curie, 1986 · ages 14–17
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• Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy by Viktor E. Frankl, 2000 · ages 14–17
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• Marked by Fire by Joyce Carol Thomas, 1999 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 770L · AR 5.2
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• Narrative on the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, 1845 · ages 15–18 · Lexile 920L
  also on Beautiful Feet, Mensa Kids, TJEd Youth Recommended
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• Perfectionism: What's Bad about Being Too Good? by Miriam Adderholdt and Jan Goldberg, 1999 · ages 14–17
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• Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas, 1996 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 900L · AR 7.4
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• Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, 1991 · ages 14–17
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• Remembering the Good Times by Richard Peck, 1986 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 690L · AR 4.5
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• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 850L · AR 6.0 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  also on Time Magazine 1923-2005
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• Smart Girls: A New Psychology of Girls, Women, and Giftedness by Barbara Kerr, 1997 · ages 14–17
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• Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr, 1989 · ages 14–17
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• Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, 1990 · ages 14–17
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• The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel, 1984 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 1000L · AR 7.0
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• The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade, 1970 · ages 14–17
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• The Contender by Robert Lipsyte, 1991 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 690L · AR 4.5
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• The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan, 1989 · ages 14–17
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• The Drowning of Stephan Jones by Bette Greene, 1997 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 1050L · AR 7.3
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• The Dynamics of Faith by Paul Tillich, 1986 · ages 14–17
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• The Goats by Brock Cole, 1992 · ages 14–17 · AR 3.9
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• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, 1995 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 930L · AR 7.1 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  also on Davidson Gifted
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• The Language of Goldfish by Zibby Oneal, 1990 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 580L · AR 3.9
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• The Loon Feather by Iola Fuller, 1967 · ages 14–17
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• The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt, 1992 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 1070L · AR 5.6
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• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, 1995 · ages 14–17
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• The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds, 1997 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 910L · AR 5.4
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• The Return by Sonia Levitin, 1987 · ages 14–17 · AR 4.5
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• The Runner by Cynthia Voigt, 1997 · ages 14–17 · AR 5.0
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• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, 1929 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 800L · AR 4.4 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  also on Mensa Kids, Time Magazine 1923-2005
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• The Watcher by James Howe, 1999 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 830L · AR 4.8
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• The Wave by Todd Strasser, 1981 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 770L · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• The World's Religions by Huston Smith, 1992 · ages 14–17
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• This Boy's Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff, 2000 · ages 14–17 · AR 5.6 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Utz by Bruce Chatwin, 1999 · ages 14–17
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• Welcome to the Ark by Stephanie S. Tolan, 2000 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 850L · AR 5.3
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• Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, 1998 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 760L · AR 4.9
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• William by Irene Hunt, 1984 · ages 14–17
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