If you’re enrolled in a LPA English course for the 2026-2027
school year:
Required to read either The Bletchley Riddle or Between Shades of Gray: The Graphic Novel by Ruta Sepetys (visiting author)
Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys (Rūta Šepetys) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Considered a “crossover” novelist, her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal and honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Ruta is renowned for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it.
The Bletchley Riddle
by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The story follows siblings Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie as they find themselves at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers working to decrypt the Nazi's Enigma cipher, where the two struggle to unravel a mystery surrounding their mother's disappearance against the backdrop of the Battle of Britain and Hitler's feared invasion.
Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family, includes a historical note.
LPA High School students are NOT required to read a choice book. But can if they would like to.
Graphic Novel
This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki
At Wilberton Academy, few students are more revered than the members of the Wilberton Theatrical Society and no one represents that exclusive club better than Elizabeth Woodward. Breathtakingly beautiful, beloved by all. But when she's found dead the morning after opening night, the school is thrown into chaos. Abby Kita was one of the last people to see Elizabeth alive, and when local authorities deem the it-girl's death a suicide, Abby's not convinced.
Champion: A Graphic Novel by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s work as a social justice advocate comes to life in a graphic novel about Monk Travers, a high school basketball player who completes a report on the NBA basketball star, awakening a passion for social justice of his own.
Realistic
Ask Me How Do I Feel by Jon Fishman
In this tale of friendship and acceptance, Ty, Mia, and their friends learn about love, loss, life's surprising twists, and the strength that comes with forgiveness.
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
It's the 50th annual Hunger Games and as the games begin, District 12 tribute Haymitch Abernathy realizes he's been set up to fail, but something in him wants to fight, in the fifth book in the Hunger Games series.
Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston
Celeste is optimistic for the Titan’s maiden voyage from Earth to Mars, while Dominic feels trapped on his dad’s ship, and ancient aliens displayed for entertainment are released through an act of sabotage, in a science fiction horror story.
Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only... one morning he wakes up and the house isn't where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed... somewhere else.
Romance
Audre & Back Are Just Friends
by Tia Williams*
In need of inspiration for her self-help book, sixteen-year-old straightlaced Audre hires seventeen-year-old easygoing Bash to be her fun consultant for a summer full of daring experiences and undeniable romance.
*Please Note: This title contains mature language best suited for 11th-12th Grade.
Horror
The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala
Seventeen-year-old Ollie fights to survive a deadly summer on an island off the coast of Maine after it is placed under quarantine due to a long-sunken horror rising from the sea.
Mystery/Thriller
I Don't Wish You Well by Jumata Emill
A teen investigative podcaster decides to dig into the truth behind a grisly murder spree that rocked his hometown five years ago, but soon discovers that this cold case is still hiding deadly secrets.
The Wilde Trials by Mackenzie Reed
High school senior Chloe Gatti enters the Wilde Trials to earn money to help her sister. She must partner with her brooding ex-boyfriend, whose brother died in a past trial, and together they discover something isn't right about the competition.
Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet
Told in multiple perspectives, the March sisters discover Beth's body in the woods and work together to identify her killer, until they start to suspect each other.
Codebreaker by Jay Martel
Seventeen-year-old Mia Hayes' world shatters when her mother is killed and her father disappears, leaving behind a coded message that sends her and a rebellious hacker on a high-stakes race through D.C. to uncover government secrets and stop a devastating attack.
Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson
In an alternate London in 1932, a girl breaks a truce between dragons and humans, and to save her family she must work at Bletchley Park as a codebreaker, in a story about language, loyalty, love and redemption.
The Farawy Inn by Sarah Beth Durst
A teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn—only to discover that the fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret.
The House of Saphir by Marissa Meyer
Mallory Fontaine is hired by the handsome, wealthy Armand to rid his ancestral home of a ghost, but when murder comes again, she finds herself at the center of the investigation.
Non-Fiction
Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming
A chronicle of one of American history’s most notorious cults, a book including first-person accounts follows Jim Jones from humble origins to “Jonestown” in Guyana, South America, and traces his transformation of Peoples Temple into a nefarious experiment in mind control.
Pushing Hope by Raymond Santana
In this illustrated memoir, Santana reflects on his wrongful conviction and tireless fight for his exoneration. After being accused of the 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park, which was pinned on 14-year-old Raymond Santana and four other young teens-now called the Exonerated Five -- a tragedy that would change their lives forever.
Choose Your Own Adventure!
Find your own book to read this summer. Just make sure it is considered a YA/Teen or Adult book.
OR
Read a book from the new Florida Teens Read List.
If you have any questions about this, please email LC@nbps.org.