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Treasury · Merit

The lists themselves

Fifteen lists, made by different people for different reasons, none of them trying to agree with the others. This door shows them as they are, and then the small overlap where two or more of them name the same book.

15
lists
2,828
books on them
334
on two or more
490
with no age given

Don't miss these

The books on at least two of these lists, the ones on the most lists first. This is the only place the page lets the lists outvote each other — and it is agreement, not a ranking of quality.

40 books are on that many lists; these are the 12 on the most.

The lists, one by one

Fifteen different ideas about what is worth reading, in alphabetical order because putting a favourite first would be a judgement of a different kind. Each one is folded shut; open it to see the books the catalog holds from it.

ALSC Notables nothing in the catalog yet

The Association for Library Service to Children's notable children's books, chosen and annotated by librarians every year since 1940. The list itself ↗

A history curriculum taught entirely through literature — this is the reading it assigns, book by book. The list itself ↗

See all 13

The Davidson Institute's reading list for profoundly gifted young readers; the hardest list here for its ages. The list itself ↗

See all 7

A grade-by-grade book list, with the grade each book is filed under kept alongside it.

See all 17

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.

See all 2

The fifty volumes Charles W. Eliot chose in 1909 as a liberal education on a five-foot shelf. Old, Western, and unapologetically canonical. The list itself ↗

See all 14

Reading lists from Mensa for Kids, graded by age band; the band each book is filed under is kept alongside it. The list itself ↗

See all 32

The American Library Association's annual medal for the most distinguished contribution to American children's literature, awarded since 1922. The list itself ↗

See all 1

NY Public Library nothing in the catalog yet

The New York Public Library's staff picks for children — a large library system's answer to what a child should read next. The list itself ↗

The Great Books list of St. John's College in Annapolis and Santa Fe — the same books read by every student through all four years of its undergraduate program. The list itself ↗

See all 17

A homeschool curriculum publisher's book list, filed by grade. The list itself ↗

See all 17

TIME's all-time hundred novels: the best English-language novels published between TIME's first year, 1923, and 2005, when the list was made. The list itself ↗

  • 1984 by George Orwell, 1949 · ages 14–18 · Lexile 1090L · AR 8.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
    also on Mensa Kids, TJEd Adult Recommended
  • All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, 1946 · ages 14–18 · Lexile 1060L · AR 6.8 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  • An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, 1981 · ages 14–18 · Lexile 1170L · AR 8.5 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  • A Passage to India by E. M. Forster, 1924 · ages 14–18 · Lexile 950L · AR 7.7 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
    also on Mensa Kids
  • Atonement by Ian McEwan, 2001 · ages 14–18 · AR 7.5 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison, 1987 · ages 14–18 · Lexile 870L · AR 6.0 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)

See all 12

A Thomas Jefferson Education is Oliver and Rachel DeMille's home-education method. It recommends three reading lists by the age of the reader — Early, Youth and Adult — and these are the adult ones. The list itself ↗

See all 23

A Thomas Jefferson Education is Oliver and Rachel DeMille's home-education method. It recommends three reading lists by the age of the reader — Early, Youth and Adult — and these are the earliest. The list itself ↗

See all 1

A Thomas Jefferson Education is Oliver and Rachel DeMille's home-education method. It recommends three reading lists by the age of the reader — Early, Youth and Adult — and these are the ones for young readers. The list itself ↗

See all 17