Virginia 12th grade reading list

Books with a Virginia citation for 12th grade include Children of Blood and Bone, The Fault in Our Stars and Every Day. This list has 450 total books, 45 of them with a Virginia-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 530L to 1420L.

Top Virginia 12th grade pick: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi — on 1 Virginia list

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Total books450Lexile530L–1420LSourceVirginia Standards of Learning✓ 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 Virginia 12th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Virginia’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. Children of Blood and Bone

    Tomi Adeyemi

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  2. The Fault in Our Stars

    John Green

    Cited in 1 Virginia 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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  3. Every Day

    David Levithan

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 5 to 12.

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  4. I'll Give You the Sun

    Jandy Nelson

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 9 to 12.

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  5. A Door Near Here

    Heather Quarles

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers alcoholics, alcoholism, brothers and sisters.

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  6. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

    Louise Rennison

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers humorous stories, teenage girls and diaries.

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  7. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul

    Jack Canfield

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers conduct of life and teenagers.

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  8. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

    Rachel Cohn

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers treasure hunt (game), identity and identity (philosophical concept).

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  9. Daughter of the Stars

    Phyllis A. Whitney

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers women, families and west virginia, fiction.

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  10. Divine Rivals

    Rebecca Ross

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

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  11. Don't Look Behind You

    Lois Duncan

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers detective and mystery stories, mystery and detective stories, household moving.

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  12. Everless

    Sara Holland

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers fantasy, social classes and weddings.

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  13. Fake ID

    L. R. Giles

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers witnesses, detective and mystery stories, conspiracies.

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  14. Four for the Road

    K.J. Reilly

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers grief, friendship and healing.

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  15. How to Survive Your Murder

    Danielle Valentine

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mystery, survival and family.

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  16. If You Come Softly

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers african americans, family life and interracial dating.

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  17. Izzy, Willy-Nilly

    Cynthia Voigt

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers amputees, people with disabilities and friendship.

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  18. Jumping the Nail

    Eve Bunting

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers peer pressure, california, fiction and peer pressure, fiction.

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  19. Just Like Martin

    Ossie Davis

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers fathers and sons, afro-americans, civil rights movements.

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  20. Learning to Swear in America

    Katie Kennedy

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

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  21. Murder Among Friends

    Candace Fleming

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers crime, justice and history.

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  22. My Sister's Keeper

    Jodi Picoult

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

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  23. Now Let Me Fly: A Portrait of Eugene Bullard

    Ronald Wimberly

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers history, courage and identity.

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  24. One of Us Is Lying

    Karen M. McManus

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mystery and detective stories, murder, fiction, schools, fiction.

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  25. Plague Year

    Stephanie S. Tolan

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers high schools, prejudices and schools.

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  26. Say Goodnight, Gracie

    Julie Reece Deaver

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers actors and actresses, death, friendship.

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  27. Tears of A Tiger

    Sharon M. Draper

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers death, high schools and schools.

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  28. That's Not My Name

    Megan Lally

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mystery, identity and survival.

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  29. The China Garden

    Liz Berry

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers mothers and daughters, extrasensory perception, england, fiction.

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  30. The Face at the Edge of the World

    Eve Bunting

    Cited in 1 Virginia curriculum document, taught from grade 9 to 12. Covers suicide, african americans and suicide, fiction.

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45 books cited for Virginia 12th grade

Assignments tied directly to Virginia’s Virginia Standards of Learning with a Virginia-specific citation.

Show all 45 titles

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405 additional grade-appropriate books for 12th grade readers

The 450-book total above includes 45 titles with direct Virginia citation; these 405 additional titles cover 12th grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Virginia-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 405 titles

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Other Virginia 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 · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 12th grade reading by theme

About the Virginia 12th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Virginia Standards of Learning 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 450 titles for 12th grade in Virginia, of which 45 carry a direct Virginia citation and 405 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 44 titles here with a Lexile score 0 are grade-level, 43 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.

Virginia’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Virginia Standards of Learning (doe.virginia.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 12th grade list below blends Virginia-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 Virginia-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 Virginia?
Books with a Virginia-specific citation for 12th grade include Children of Blood and Bone, The Fault in Our Stars, Every Day, I'll Give You the Sun and A Door Near Here. 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 Virginia?
This list has 450 books for 12th grade students in Virginia. 45 of them have a Virginia-specific citation; the other 405 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 12th grade reading in Virginia?
Lexile measures across the 12th grade Virginia 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?
Virginia-specific entries reference Virginia Standards of Learning (published at www.doe.virginia.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.

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

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