(all lists alphabetical by author's last name)

Not Recent, but Essential to Know

• At least one Roald Dahl – to understand his sense of humor
• At least one Paula Danziger – also for the sense of humor
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
• Old Yeller by Fred Gipson or Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls – the archetypal boy-and-his-dog novels
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg and/or The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin – the archetypal puzzle novels; a more recent example is Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
• At least one Katherine Paterson, probably Bridge to Terabithia or Jacob Have I Loved
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen or My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George – the archetypal boy-survival stories
• At least one Richard Peck
• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli - Many of Spinelli’s books focus on a near-untouchable Christlike or Holy Fool figure who comes into the narrator’s or another character’s life and changes it forever; Stargirl is probably his best-known YA like this.
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - the prime example of the fable genre in children's lit
• Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

Modern Children’s Classics

• Frindle by Andrew Clements – a great school story that deals with everyday kid problems; I also love The School Story for a funny and smart guide to publishing
• Bud, Not Buddy or The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• At least one Sharon Creech, probably Walk Two Moons or Love That Dog
• At least one Karen Cushman – for historical fiction
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo – a quiet book that became a breakout hit for the sweetness of its story and the purity of its voice
• Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
• Holes by Louis Sachar

Modern YA Classics

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
• At least one Meg Cabot
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - the MTV heir to The Catcher in the Rye
• Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan – there were gay-teen novels before this and there have been gay-teen novels after (and hopefully there will be more), but this is one of the very best of the genre
• ttfn by Lauren Myracle – the prime example of an emerging genre:  the novel written entirely in digital communication (e.g. IMs, e-mails, text messages)
• At least one Walter Dean Myers, probably Monster
• Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison and/or Gossip Girl by Cecily van Ziesegar – two books that launched a thousand chick-lit imitators, as well as very successful series. The first one focuses on the heroine’s very self-conscious and funny trials of adolescence; the second is all about the glamour and outrageousness of its protagonists’ lives.
• True Believer by Virginia Wolff – I'm putting this on here to represent the free-verse genre, and also because I love it - a wonderful novel about an ambitious, unsure Anygirl wrestling with her changing life

Extra credit:  anything by M.T. Anderson, Sarah Dessen, Kevin Brooks, Carolyn Mackler, or Joan Bauer, and Very Far Away from Anywhere Else by Ursula K. LeGuin

(I’m a little surprised by how few boy novels are on that list. Hmm. Maybe Looking for Alaska by John Green will earn its way on there, or more likely I've forgotten something important.)

Fantasy

• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo – an original fairy tale that works because of its enormous bravery and empathy; people disagree about the “Dear Reader” voice, but it’s beloved nonetheless.
• At least one of Brian Jacques’s Redwall books – the archetypal animal fantasy series; also Russell Hoban’s The Mouse and His Child for a more philosophical approach to the same genre.
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin (and preferably the rest of the series) – Beyond the beauty of LeGuin’s writing, the magic serves a serious purpose and has serious consequences in the world, which is not true of all magical fantasy.
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – a very fine fairy-tale retelling
• The Giver by Lois Lowry – If you’re doing a kid-finds-out-his-dystopian-society’s-big-dark-secret novel, it has to be at least as good as this one.
• At least one Robin McKinley or Tamora Pierce – the archetypal female-fantasy-heroine writers; Kate Constable is also in this tradition.
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien or Eragon by Christopher Paolini – the archetypal sword-sorcery-elves-dragons-invented-language-etc. fantasy, and a modern derivation/imitation/variation
• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (and preferably the rest of the series; actually, I admire people who are physically able to stop at The Golden Compass, because I sure couldn’t)
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (and preferably the rest of the series; ditto)

Extra credit:  Sabriel by Garth Nix and its sequels; The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud and its sequels – very clever, funny and fast-paced; at least one Diana Wynne Jones; John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began and its sequels