# 12th grade reading list — Common Core, AP, IB & state curricula

**71** books commonly assigned to 12th grade students in US schools. Sourced from Common Core exemplars (Appendix B), AP Course Audit, IB Diploma Programme, Cambridge Assessment International, and 50 state department-of-education curriculum guides.

Of these, **71** have a verified curriculum citation at the 12th grade level. 

**Grade level:** 12th grade
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/grade/12
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.
**Primary source — Common Core ELA exemplars:** https://achievethecore.org/page/2699

## 12th grade reading list

- [1984](https://readinglist.school/book/1984) by George Orwell _(1090L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1949)_
- [A Doll's House](https://readinglist.school/book/a-dolls-house) by Henrik Ibsen _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1879)_
- [A Lesson Before Dying](https://readinglist.school/book/a-lesson-before-dying) by Ernest J. Gaines _(750L · Grades 8–12 · pub 1993)_
- [A Midsummer Night's Dream](https://readinglist.school/book/a-midsummer-nights-dream) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 8–12 · pub 1600)_
- [A Raisin in the Sun](https://readinglist.school/book/a-raisin-in-the-sun) by Lorraine Hansberry _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1959)_
- [A Streetcar Named Desire](https://readinglist.school/book/a-streetcar-named-desire) by Tennessee Williams _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1947)_
- [A Tale of Two Cities](https://readinglist.school/book/a-tale-of-two-cities) by Charles Dickens _(1170L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1859)_
- [All Quiet on the Western Front](https://readinglist.school/book/all-quiet-on-the-western-front) by Erich Maria Remarque _(830L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1929)_
- [American Born Chinese](https://readinglist.school/book/american-born-chinese) by Gene Luen Yang _(530L · Grades 7–12 · pub 2006)_
- [Anthem](https://readinglist.school/book/anthem) by Ayn Rand _(880L · Grades 8–12 · pub 1938)_
- [Antigone](https://readinglist.school/book/antigone) by Sophocles _(Grades 9–12 · pub -441)_
- [Beloved](https://readinglist.school/book/beloved) by Toni Morrison _(870L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1987)_
- [Black Boy](https://readinglist.school/book/black-boy) by Richard Wright _(950L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1945)_
- [Brave New World](https://readinglist.school/book/brave-new-world) by Aldous Huxley _(870L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1932)_
- [Death of a Salesman](https://readinglist.school/book/death-of-a-salesman) by Arthur Miller _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1949)_
- [Fahrenheit 451](https://readinglist.school/book/fahrenheit-451) by Ray Bradbury _(890L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1953)_
- [Fences](https://readinglist.school/book/fences) by August Wilson _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1985)_
- [Frankenstein](https://readinglist.school/book/frankenstein) by Mary Shelley _(1170L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1818)_
- [Great Expectations](https://readinglist.school/book/great-expectations) by Charles Dickens _(1150L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1861)_
- [Hamlet](https://readinglist.school/book/hamlet) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1603)_
- [Heart of Darkness](https://readinglist.school/book/heart-of-darkness) by Joseph Conrad _(1070L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1899)_
- [I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings](https://readinglist.school/book/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings) by Maya Angelou _(1070L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1969)_
- [Invisible Man](https://readinglist.school/book/invisible-man) by Ralph Ellison _(950L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1952)_
- [Jane Eyre](https://readinglist.school/book/jane-eyre) by Charlotte Brontë _(890L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1847)_
- [Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults)](https://readinglist.school/book/just-mercy-young-adult) by Bryan Stevenson _(1130L · Grades 9–12 · pub 2018)_
- [King Lear](https://readinglist.school/book/king-lear) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1606)_
- [Life of Pi](https://readinglist.school/book/life-of-pi) by Yann Martel _(830L · Grades 9–12 · pub 2001)_
- [Long Way Down](https://readinglist.school/book/long-way-down) by Jason Reynolds _(720L · Grades 7–12 · pub 2017)_
- [Lord of the Flies](https://readinglist.school/book/lord-of-the-flies) by William Golding _(770L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1954)_
- [Macbeth](https://readinglist.school/book/macbeth) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1623)_
- [Maus: A Survivor's Tale](https://readinglist.school/book/maus) by Art Spiegelman _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1986)_
- [Much Ado About Nothing](https://readinglist.school/book/much-ado-about-nothing) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1599)_
- [My Ántonia](https://readinglist.school/book/my-antonia) by Willa Cather _(1010L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1918)_
- [Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave](https://readinglist.school/book/narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass) by Frederick Douglass _(1080L · Grades 8–12 · pub 1845)_
- [Night](https://readinglist.school/book/night) by Elie Wiesel _(590L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1960)_
- [Oedipus Rex](https://readinglist.school/book/oedipus-rex) by Sophocles _(Grades 9–12 · pub -429)_
- [Othello](https://readinglist.school/book/othello) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 10–12 · pub 1603)_
- [Our Town](https://readinglist.school/book/our-town) by Thornton Wilder _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1938)_
- [Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood](https://readinglist.school/book/persepolis) by Marjane Satrapi _(Grades 9–12 · pub 2000)_
- [Pride and Prejudice](https://readinglist.school/book/pride-and-prejudice) by Jane Austen _(1100L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1813)_
- [Purple Hibiscus](https://readinglist.school/book/purple-hibiscus) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie _(920L · Grades 10–12 · pub 2003)_
- [Pygmalion](https://readinglist.school/book/pygmalion) by George Bernard Shaw _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1913)_
- [Salt to the Sea](https://readinglist.school/book/salt-to-the-sea) by Ruta Sepetys _(560L · Grades 8–12 · pub 2016)_
- [Slaughterhouse-Five](https://readinglist.school/book/slaughterhouse-five) by Kurt Vonnegut _(850L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1969)_
- [Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You](https://readinglist.school/book/stamped-racism-antiracism-and-you) by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi _(1000L · Grades 7–12 · pub 2020)_
- [The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn](https://readinglist.school/book/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn) by Mark Twain _(980L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1884)_
- [The Awakening](https://readinglist.school/book/the-awakening) by Kate Chopin _(960L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1899)_
- [The Bluest Eye](https://readinglist.school/book/the-bluest-eye) by Toni Morrison _(920L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1970)_
- [The Catcher in the Rye](https://readinglist.school/book/the-catcher-in-the-rye) by J.D. Salinger _(790L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1951)_
- [The Color Purple](https://readinglist.school/book/the-color-purple) by Alice Walker _(670L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1982)_
- [The Crucible](https://readinglist.school/book/the-crucible) by Arthur Miller _(Grades 10–12 · pub 1953)_
- [The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time](https://readinglist.school/book/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time) by Mark Haddon _(1090L · Grades 8–12 · pub 2003)_
- [The Fault in Our Stars](https://readinglist.school/book/the-fault-in-our-stars) by John Green _(850L · Grades 9–12 · pub 2012)_
- [The Glass Menagerie](https://readinglist.school/book/the-glass-menagerie) by Tennessee Williams _(Grades 11–12 · pub 1944)_
- [The Grapes of Wrath](https://readinglist.school/book/the-grapes-of-wrath) by John Steinbeck _(680L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1939)_
- [The Great Gatsby](https://readinglist.school/book/the-great-gatsby) by F. Scott Fitzgerald _(1070L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1925)_
- [The Handmaid's Tale](https://readinglist.school/book/the-handmaids-tale) by Margaret Atwood _(750L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1985)_
- [The Hate U Give](https://readinglist.school/book/the-hate-u-give) by Angie Thomas _(590L · Grades 9–12 · pub 2017)_
- [The Importance of Being Earnest](https://readinglist.school/book/the-importance-of-being-earnest) by Oscar Wilde _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1895)_
- [The Joy Luck Club](https://readinglist.school/book/the-joy-luck-club) by Amy Tan _(930L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1989)_
- [The Kite Runner](https://readinglist.school/book/the-kite-runner) by Khaled Hosseini _(840L · Grades 10–12 · pub 2003)_
- [The Odyssey](https://readinglist.school/book/the-odyssey) by Homer _(1130L · Grades 9–12 · pub -700)_
- [The Old Man and the Sea](https://readinglist.school/book/the-old-man-and-the-sea) by Ernest Hemingway _(940L · Grades 8–12 · pub 1952)_
- [The Perks of Being a Wallflower](https://readinglist.school/book/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower) by Stephen Chbosky _(720L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1999)_
- [The Poet X](https://readinglist.school/book/the-poet-x) by Elizabeth Acevedo _(800L · Grades 8–12 · pub 2018)_
- [The Scarlet Letter](https://readinglist.school/book/the-scarlet-letter) by Nathaniel Hawthorne _(1420L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1850)_
- [The Tempest](https://readinglist.school/book/the-tempest) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1611)_
- [The Things They Carried](https://readinglist.school/book/the-things-they-carried) by Tim O'Brien _(880L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1990)_
- [Their Eyes Were Watching God](https://readinglist.school/book/their-eyes-were-watching-god) by Zora Neale Hurston _(1080L · Grades 10–12 · pub 1937)_
- [Things Fall Apart](https://readinglist.school/book/things-fall-apart) by Chinua Achebe _(890L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1958)_
- [Twelfth Night](https://readinglist.school/book/twelfth-night) by William Shakespeare _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1602)_

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_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/grade/12._