Bored? Not sure how to spend your school holidays? Then this Year 9 reading list is just for you!
We’ve put together a reading (and watching!) list that’s sure to have something for you to dig into. Spending your time reading is a brilliant way to learn new things about the world, the English subject and most importantly, about yourself!
So take a look at a more in-depth summary via the links, and if any catches your eye, head to your local or school library catalogue!
This Year 9 reading list has been put together on the recommendations of NESA, which you can find here.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s dive right in!
Fiction
Picture Books and Graphic Novels
Poetry
Film
Non-fiction
Looking for reading lists for other year groups?
If you have a child in a different year group to Year 9, we’ve also got reading list for them! Check them out:
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 | Year 7 & 8 | Year 10
Fiction
| Text | Author | About |
|---|---|---|
| All I Ever Wanted | Vicki Wakefield | Adolescence, growing up and resilience |
| Blue Noise | Debra Oswald | Music, bands and lovable characters |
| Deadly, Unna? | Phillip Gwynne | The Australian landscape and growing up with racism |
| Dogs | Bill Condon | Dog racing and coming-of-age |
| Eon | Alison Goodman | Dragons, magic and Asian mythology |
| Graffiti Moon | Crowley Cath | Four teenagers discovering love |
| Jinx | Margaret Wild | Grief, family and growing up |
| Sabriel | Garth Nix | Magic, action and a whole new world |
| The Bridge | Jane Higgins | War and action in a dystopian setting |
| The Wrong Boy | Suzy Zail | A girl living through the Holocaust |
| Wolf on the Fold | Judith Clarke | A collection of short stories about the cycle of life |
Picture Books and Graphic Novels
| Text | Author | About |
|---|---|---|
| Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel | Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin | A 12-year-old criminal mastermind and his adventures |
| A Tale of Two Cities | David Zane Mairowitz | Drama amidst the French revolution |
| Memorial | Gary Crew & Shaun Tan | War and the importance of preserving memories |
| The Rabbits | John Marsden & Shaun Tan | The impacts of man on the environment |
| Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes | Eleanor Coerr | Illness, Japanese culture and a young girl’s courage |
| Where the Forest Meets the Sea | Jeannie Baker | The environment and the beauty of nature |
Poetry
| Text | Author | About |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Skin | Steven Herrick | Murder and mysteries in a small mining town |
| Poetry Speaks Who I Am | Elise Paschen & Dominique Raccah | A collection of poetry on love, family, death and more |
| Remembrance | Emily Brontë | A sad, yet hopeful, love poem |
| Tapestry: Poetry for Secondary Students | Michelle Williams | A range of poems concerning adolescents |
| Toppling | Sally Murphy | Dominoes and heartwarming friendship in the face of illness |
| Thirty Australian Poets | Felicity Plunkett | An anthology of Australian poems |
Film
| Film | Director | About |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo 13 (PG) | Ron Howard | NASA working to save the lives of three astronauts |
| Birthday Party (PG) | Sejong Park | A boy living during the Korean War |
| Baraka (PG) | Ron Fricke | Life and religion |
| Careful He Might Hear You (PG) | Carl Schultz | A young boy whose life is upended by his aunt |
| Bride and Prejudice (PG) | Gurinder Chada | A modern take on Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ set in India |
| Finding Neverland (PG) | Marc Forster | The life of the author of ‘Peter Pan’ |
| Stand and Deliver (PG) | Ramón Menéndez | A maths teacher and the unruly students he teaches |
| The Cup (G) | Khyentse Norbu | A young Tibetan refugee with a love for soccer |
| The Importance of Being Earnest (G) | Oliver Parker | Secret identities, romance and hilarity |
| Together (Chinese Film) (PG) | Chen Kaige | A young violin protégé’s struggle |
| Whale Rider (PG) | Niki Caro | Family drama and whales |
Non-fiction
| Text | Author | About |
|---|---|---|
| Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage | Alfred Lansing | British explorer, Ernest Shackleton’s journey to reach the South Pole |
| From Kinglake to Kabul | Neil Grant & David Williams | Students from Kinglake and Kabul share stories of resilience, courage and hope in the face of adversity |
| Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Everest Disaster | Jon Krakauer | A thrilling account of the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy |
| Mao’s Last Dancer | Li Cunxin | A boy raised in rural China and his journey through ballet and life |
| Tea with Arwa | Arwa El Masri | A memoir of a Muslim girl growing up in Australia |
| Spellbound (G) | Jeffrey Blitz | Eight teenagers as they compete to win the National Spelling Bee |
| This Accursed Land | Lennard Bickel | A journey of survival in the Antarctic |
| Wrong about Japan | Peter Carey | A father and son as they journey through Japan |
And that wraps up our Year 9 reading list! We hope this list helps you get started on your reading journey!
Don’t be afraid to give these texts a try — you’ll never know just what you might learn. Happy reading!
Want to get a head start on acing studying for Year 9 English? Check out our guide here!
Want more? Check out our Year 10 reading list here!
Looking for some extra help with English?
We pride ourselves on our inspirational English coaches and mentors!
We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at our state of the art campus in Hornsby!
To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!
Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on Facebook!
Millicent Tai hopes to one day become a full-time teacher and is currently studying a Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science at UNSW. She enjoys tutoring students at Art of Smart in English and Maths and has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. In her spare time, you can find her avidly reading Christian biographies or fishing in Animal Crossing.
