Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 9-12

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To encourage the joy of reading, the Mensa Foundation has developed the Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Program, a year-round challenge to kids of all ages based on the NEH's "Summertime Favorites" reading list, with some alterations.

Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
by Carl Sandburg

The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The AeneidThe Aeneid
by Virgil

Against all HopeAgainst all Hope
by Armando Valladares

The Age of InnocenceThe Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton

All Quiet on the Western FrontAll Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Remarque
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

All the King’s MenAll the King’s Men
by Robert Penn Warren

An American TragedyAn American Tragedy
by Theodore Dreiser
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Animal FarmAnimal Farm
by George Orwell
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
Also: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

Anna KareninaAnna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy

The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
by Benjamin Franklin

BabbittBabbitt
by Sinclair Lewis
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Barchester TowersBarchester Towers
by Anthony Trollope

BeowulfBeowulf
Anonymous
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Brave New WorldBrave New World
by Aldous Huxley
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
Also: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

The Caine MutinyThe Caine Mutiny
by Herman Wouk

CandideCandide
by Voltaire
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Catcher in the RyeThe Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Cherry OrchardThe Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The ChosenThe Chosen
by Chaim Potok

Collected Short StoriesCollected Short Stories
by Eudora Welty
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Concise Columbia Book of Poetry: The Top 100 Poems in EnglishThe Concise Columbia Book of Poetry: The Top 100 Poems in English
Edited by William Harmon

Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The CrucibleThe Crucible
by Arthur Miller
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
Also: Former Sonlight Books

The Cruel SeaThe Cruel Sea
by Nicholas Monsarrat

Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Darkness at NoonDarkness at Noon
by Arthur Koestler
Also: Former Sonlight Books

A Death in the FamilyA Death in the Family
by James Agee
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy
by Dante

Doctor ZhivagoDoctor Zhivago
by Boris Pasternak
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

A DollA Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Don QuixoteDon Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Fathers and SonsFathers and Sons
by Ivan Turgenev
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Dr. FaustusDr. Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe

For Whom the Bell TollsFor Whom the Bell Tolls
by Ernest Hemingway
Also: Former Sonlight Books

The Forsyte SagaThe Forsyte Saga
by John Galsworthy

The FountainheadThe Fountainhead
by Ayn Rand

Go Tell It on the MountainGo Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Good EarthThe Good Earth
by Pearl Buck

Great ExpectationsGreat Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Also: Former Sonlight Books

The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Gulliver’s TravelsGulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

HamletHamlet
by William Shakespeare
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

A Handful of DustA Handful of Dust
by Evelyn Waugh

The Heart is a Lonely HunterThe Heart is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullers

How Green Was My ValleyHow Green Was My Valley
by Richard Llewellyn

I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou

I, ClaudiusI, Claudius
by Robert Graves

Inherit the WindInherit the Wind
by Jerome and Robert E. Lee Lawrence

Invisible ManInvisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The IliadThe Iliad
by Homer
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Jane EyreJane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The JungleThe Jungle
by Upton Sinclair
Also: Former Sonlight Books

King LearKing Lear
by William Shakespeare

Les MisérablesLes Misérables
by Victor Hugo

Long Day’s Journey into NightLong Day’s Journey into Night
by Eugene O’Neill
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Look Homeward, AngelLook Homeward, Angel
by Thomas Wolfe

Lord of the FliesLord of the Flies
by William Golding
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Lord of the Rings TrilogyThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Also: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

Madame BovaryMadame Bovary
by Gustave Flaubert
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Magic MountainThe Magic Mountain
by Thomas Mann
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

A Man for All SeasonsA Man for All Seasons
by Robert Bolt

Moby-DickMoby-Dick
by Herman Melville

Moll FlandersMoll Flanders
by Daniel Defoe

The MoonstoneThe Moonstone
by Wilkie Collins

Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare

Murder in the CathedralMurder in the Cathedral
by T.S. Eliot

My ÁntoniaMy Ántonia
by Willa Cather

Native SonNative Son
by Richard Wright
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

NightNight
by Elie Wiesel

The Nine TailorsThe Nine Tailors
by Dorothy Sayers

19841984
by George Orwell
Also: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

The OdysseyThe Odyssey
by Homer
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Oedipus RexOedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Of Human BondageOf Human Bondage
by Somerset Maugham

Of Mice and MenOf Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck

The Once and Future KingThe Once and Future King
by T.H. White
Also: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books

One Day in the Life of Ivan DenisovichOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Our TownOur Town
by Thornton Wilder

A Passage to IndiaA Passage to India
by E.M. Forster

The Picture of Dorian GrayThe Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The Power and the GloryThe Power and the Glory
by Graham Greene

Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Profiles in CourageProfiles in Courage
by John F. Kennedy

PygmalionPygmalion
by George Bernard Shaw
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Rabbit, RunRabbit, Run
by John Updike

The Red Badge of CourageThe Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
Also: Former Sonlight Books

The Scarlet LetterThe Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The School for ScandalThe School for Scandal
by Richard B. Sheridan

Short Stories and Tales, CompleteShort Stories and Tales, Complete
by Edgar Allan Poe
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Silas MarnerSilas Marner
by George Eliot

Lord JimLord Jim
by Joseph Conrad

A Single PebbleA Single Pebble
by John Hersey

Sonnets (all 154)Sonnets (all 154)
by William Shakespeare

Sons and LoversSons and Lovers
by D.H. Lawrence

The Sound and the FuryThe Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

SteppenwolfSteppenwolf
by Hermann Hesse

The Best Short Stories of O. HenryThe Best Short Stories of O. Henry
by O. Henry

The StrangerThe Stranger
by Albert Camus
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams

Tess of the D’UrbervillesTess of the D’Urbervilles
by Thomas Hardy
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

A Town Like AliceA Town Like Alice
by Nevil Shute

Their Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Things Fall ApartThings Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

To Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

To the LighthouseTo the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Tom JonesTom Jones
by Henry Fielding
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

The TrialThe Trial
by Franz Kafka

The Turn of the ScrewThe Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Uncle TomUncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Vanity FairVanity Fair
by William M. Thackeray
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

VilletteVillette
by Charlotte Brontë

WaldenWalden
by Henry David Thoreau
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Wuthering HeightsWuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers

Category: Top Book Lists
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