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What are the best books for students to read? What types of books are recommended for middle school students vs. college undergraduates?
School can be tough to get through. With all the papers, tests, and subjects to pass, a few books outside of your curricula may come in handy, no matter what grade you’re in.
We’ve compiled a list of the best books for students of middle school, high school, and college levels.
Books for Middle School Students
Reading is particularly crucial in middle school when you’re developing core skills and learning about important events in history. You also grow socially during school hours, so you could use advice on how to befriend fellow students and deal with conflict. Here are the best books for students at a middle school level.
Middle school isn’t easy to navigate. Your peers are divided into cliques, the school work is harder, and your body is changing. With veteran teacher Luke Reynolds’s Surviving Middle School, you’ll walk through those school doors with your chin up, ready to face any challenges coming your way. This hilarious guide to surviving middle school employs Reynolds’s real-life experiences as a student and teacher to cover topics like peer pressure, bullying, academics, and young love.
Do you have a pile of reading material you’ve been assigned at school? Do you feel you could learn more if only you could read faster? In 10 Days to Faster Reading, Abby Marks Beale and the Princeton Language Institute offer a variety of strategies to help you reach your reading goals. By practicing their speed-reading techniques, you can learn new information more efficiently, rid yourself of unhelpful reading habits, and understand the things you read on a deeper level.
Middle school students would benefit from learning about women’s roles in the US space program and the battles Black women had to fight to achieve these roles. Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race tells the story of a group of African-American women who, over a period of over 25 years, made major contributions to the US space program. Working in the American South during the Civil Rights Era, they overcame both race- and gender-based discrimination to launch brilliant and storied careers as mathematicians and engineers. These women were the unsung protagonists who shaped America’s destiny, playing a major role in the great drama of the nation’s history.
The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most acclaimed works of the 20th century. Written by Anne Frank from 1942 to 1944, the diary reveals the humanity of those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands. Anne wrote about her experiences with anger, love, puberty, and fear as she and her family hid from an occupying force that wished to see her and her Jewish counterparts dead. Tight quarters, limited food, and the inability to go outside took an emotional toll on Anne and her fellow residents. This led to tensions that reflected the raging war taking place outside of their hiding place.
Middle school is a confusing time: the mounds of homework, the excitement of crushes, and the changes of puberty. Imagine that, on top of all of this, a face-first tumble onto the pavement has lodged your two front teeth higher into your mouth and you’ll need years of dental work to correct it. This is what happened to comic artist Raina Telgemeier, who recounts her middle school years in her autobiographical graphic novel, Smile. Through her exploration of adolescence, self-consciousness, and the horrors of dental work, Telgemeier sends an uplifting message to children: You can achieve confidence by focusing less on your appearance and more on your interests.
Books for High Schoolers
During high school, teenagers become more independent and are preparing for the real world. Some students are also working hard to get into a good college that will help them with their future careers. These are the best books for students who want to get the most out of their high school experience.
The Only Study Guide You’ll Ever Need
School is one of the biggest stressors that young people face. Receiving good grades impacts career success, and, as a result, the education system expects school to be students’ top priority despite their non-academic obligations. This pressure often makes young people chronically overwhelmed, and they consequently struggle to perform well in school. However, in The Only Study Guide You’ll Ever Need, Jade Bowler explains that school doesn’t have to be this way. If you learn how to effectively manage your mindset, study habits, and time, you can minimize your stress and live a balanced life while excelling in school.
Elite colleges and universities in the US typically accept less than 10% of applicants, but their influence stretches far beyond this small group. In Excellent Sheep, author and former Yale professor William Deresiewicz makes the case that these institutions’ influence is negative. He argues that they’re so selective and profit-oriented that they contribute to social inequality and deprive students of high-quality learning. This book explores how governments, schools, and parents can collectively overhaul US higher education so students can fairly get into the college they deserve. By reading this book as a high school student, you can take away important information that will help you narrow down colleges, especially when it comes to the elite Ivy League schools that are incredibly selective.
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