Pennsylvania 12th grade reading list

Books with a Pennsylvania citation for 12th grade include The Hate U Give, Firekeeper's Daughter and The Fault in Our Stars. This list has 427 total books, 21 of them with a Pennsylvania-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 530L to 1420L.

Top Pennsylvania 12th grade pick: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — on 1 Pennsylvania list

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Total books427Lexile530L–1420LSourcePA Core Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the High (9–12) titles appearing in the most states are The Hate U Give (4 states), Their Eyes Were Watching God (3 states), and The Great Gatsby (2 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Full curriculum guides: Common Core State Standards (ELA) · IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature · Cambridge IGCSE English Literature (0475) · AP English Language & Composition · AP English Literature & Composition · AP European History · AP Psychology

Our pick to start — most-cited for Pennsylvania 12th grade

These are the 21 titles named in Pennsylvania’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. The Hate U Give

    Angie Thomas

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document and 4 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers police violence, race and code-switching. At 590L it reads well below the 1185–1385L band for this grade.

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  2. Firekeeper's Daughter

    Angeline Boulley

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  3. The Fault in Our Stars

    John Green

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mortality, grief and love. At 850L it reads well below the 1185–1385L band for this grade.

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  4. Check & Mate

    Ali Hazelwood

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers new york times bestseller, romance and contemporary.

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  5. Dairy Queen

    Catherine Gilbert Murdock

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers football, farm life and football stories.

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  6. Divine Rivals

    Rebecca Ross

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers love, war and courage.

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  7. Eleanor & Park

    Rainbow Rowell

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 9.

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  8. Everything, Everything

    Nicola Yoon

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers chronically ill children, parent and teenager, love.

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  9. I Must Betray You

    Ruta Sepetys

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  10. Matched

    Ally Condie

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

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  11. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

    Ransom Riggs

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers orphanages, graphic novels and supernatural.

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  12. My Sister's Keeper

    Jodi Picoult

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers jodi picoult, movie tie-in and adult.

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  13. Patron Saints of Nothing

    Randy Ribay

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers murder, fiction, family life, fiction and family, fiction.

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  14. Perfect Chemistry

    Simone Elkeles

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers gangs, family problems and dating (social customs).

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  15. The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers authoritarianism, survival, media and spectacle. At 810L it reads well below the 1185–1385L band for this grade.

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  16. The Inheritance Games

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers new york times bestseller.

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  17. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

    Ann Brashares

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers conduct of life, female friendship and best friends.

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  18. The Sun is Also a Star

    Nicola Yoon

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers deportation, social issues and immigrants.

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  19. Those Who Wish Me Dead

    Michael Koryta

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  20. Truly Devious

    Maureen Johnson

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers schools, mystery and detective stories, boarding schools.

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  21. Twilight

    Stephenie Meyer

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers series:luz_e_escuridão, series:twilight and new york times bestseller.

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21 books cited for Pennsylvania 12th grade

Assignments tied directly to Pennsylvania’s PA Core Standards with a Pennsylvania-specific citation.

406 additional grade-appropriate books for 12th grade readers

The 427-book total above includes 21 titles with direct Pennsylvania citation; these 406 additional titles cover 12th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Pennsylvania-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 406 titles

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Other Pennsylvania grades

11th grade · 10th grade · 9th grade · 8th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

11th grade · 10th grade · 9th grade · 8th grade

Same 12th grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 12th grade reading by theme

About the Pennsylvania 12th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in PA Core Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 12th grade: AP English Literature & Composition, IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature, Cambridge AS & A-Level English Literature (9695) and the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award. ReadingList currently tracks 427 titles for 12th grade in Pennsylvania, of which 21 carry a direct Pennsylvania citation and 406 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 12th grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 530L–1420L.

12th grade sits in the 9-12 grade band, where students are high-school readers. At this stage the emphasis is on close reading, literary analysis, rhetoric, and preparing for AP, IB, and college coursework. Assigned reading skews toward canonical literature, drama, poetry, and AP/IB set texts, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 900L to 1300L. Measured against that 1185–1385L range, of the 43 titles here with a Lexile score 0 are grade-level, 42 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 1 is a stretch text that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 12th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Pennsylvania’s English Language Arts requirements are set by PA Core Standards (education.pa.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 12th grade list below blends Pennsylvania-specific assignments with widely taught national titles. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 12th grade unit can pair a Pennsylvania-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

What books do 12th grade students read in Pennsylvania?
Books with a Pennsylvania-specific citation for 12th grade include The Hate U Give, Firekeeper's Daughter, The Fault in Our Stars, Check & Mate and Dairy Queen. Individual schools and districts choose their own titles, so check with your child's teacher for the exact list.
How many books are assigned to 12th grade students in Pennsylvania?
This list has 427 books for 12th grade students in Pennsylvania. 21 of them have a Pennsylvania-specific citation; the other 406 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 12th grade reading in Pennsylvania?
Lexile measures across the 12th grade Pennsylvania reading list range from 530L to 1420L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Pennsylvania-specific entries reference PA Core Standards (published at www.education.pa.gov). The other books come from national sources that list books for 12th grade: AP English Literature & Composition, IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature, Cambridge AS & A-Level English Literature (9695) and the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction, the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

Reading guides for parents

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State-specific entries sourced from www.education.pa.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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