General

look up the catcher in the rye if I'm not mistaking its from an american author

Not sure if this counts, but it'll be awesome if you can slide this by.

Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini. He wrote it in America, technically, and he has American citizenship. Out of all the crap I may or may not have read in high school English class, this was the only book I enjoyed and read ahead in. Scarlet Letter? Sucks. Great Gatsby? Sparknote that crap. This? Friggin' awesome.

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is a must if you like sci-fi.

[i]Catcher in the Rye.[/i] My favorite book.

A Wrinkle in Time is so bad...

The Great Gatsby

@Isiwen Just American authors, not necessarily classics. The Mysterious Benedict Story looks interesting and I've read most of the classics you mentioned (I personally loved The Great Gatsby, even though I don't normally like those types of books). I also love to read, but just never have enough time to stay on a book.

Thank you and everyone else who's recommended so far!

Are there certain requirements for the books?
If you aren't required to read classics, I definitely recommend

The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (relatively short, extremely meaningful, covers discrimination)
Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan (author has Hispanic roots, covers Hispanic community in California as workers)
The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart (super creative, adventure-ish type book)
Each Little Bird That Sings - Deborah Wiles (dealing with death and differences)
Homeless Bird - Gloria Whelan (set in India)

But...if you have to read classics:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
The Scarlet Letter (always a good choice lol)
The Great Gatsby (I found it "meh", but hey you might like expatriat stuff) - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (not Jane Austen-y at all. Lots of the guys in my class enjoyed it)
A Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (a bit twisted)
A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (autobiography of a slave)

I loved the Wrinkle in Time / Hunger Games series as well! Arghhh I just love books so much but never have time to read them <3

@Arios I hated East of Eden so much. lol.
*Edit: Personally I really disliked Catcher in the Rye. But I guess a lot of people love it...

@darkorbit6: I've read To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and they were both great ^^
Though, The Catcher in the Rye also looks good, and I think my teacher might have a copy.

The night of the iguana
things fall apart

East of Eden

@ShadeCaro: I've heard a lot about Maximum Ride, but never knew it was by him. I'll see if my library has it, thanks!

@NonSonoFronz: We're actually going over transcendentalism starting this week. It's some trippy stuff. Over-soul and all that..

War and Peace

@SeeMeTwice: Since you are in highschool, I recommend Maximum Ride. It's a series with eight books, but if you read the first one (And the pacing is pretty quick, so it's simple to read) then you get a feel of the series.

-trying to remember books read in 11th grade-
the things they carried
the crucible

honeslty i dont remember i used sparknotes a lot

Death of a Salesman, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby

If you want to look real deep to your classmates, talk about transcendentalism through reading Walden.

@ShadeCaro: Yes! I love the depth in everything she writes. It's so easy to get lost in it. Would you have any specific Patterson books you'd suggest?

@yubin C, sorry haha

A Wrinkle in Time is fabulous. Hell, you could try some of James Patterson's works.