9th Grade World Literature

Next year, I’ll be home schooling high school. What! I made things up as I went for most of my son’s eighth grade year, but for ninth grade, I feel the need to plan ahead. Here is what my son will be reading in the 9th Grade World Literature course that I’m creating for him.

• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
• Endangered by Eliot Schefer
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• Scythe by Neal Schusterman
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta
• Land of Lost Borders by Kate Harris
• Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
• Revolution is not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine
• I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agetha Christie
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
• Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
• The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
• Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl
• Endurance by Alfred Lansing
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

In addition to reading all these books, my son will be writing weekly essays about his assigned reading. I’m also planning to have my son continue with the Writeshop program that he began in eighth grade. He will be completing Writeshop Level 2 as a part of his 9th grade language arts.

For history, my son will be studying world history from early humans to 1850. He will also be taking a Geography and World Cultures class as an elective. The titles that I selected for language arts are all books I sincerely believe my son will enjoy reading. They also correspond to either the place he’s studying in geography or the time period he’s learning about in history whenever possible.

I understand that requiring a ninth grader to read 25 books for English class may seem like a lot. This particular student has always been a veracious reader. I personally typically read 10-15 books per month. When I was in high school, I read just as much as I do now, even though the vast majority of the books I read were not assigned by my teachers. As I mentioned before, I hand selected these titles with my son in mind and sincerely believe he is going to enjoy all of these books. He will likely have 1-2 hours of required reading per day to get through this reading list. Not only do I know he can handle it, I fully expect him to enjoy it.

Putting together this reading list was really fun for me. Hopefully, it can also give you some ideas of titles to have your high school student read.