Starter High/Low Books for Teens

Lexile Level for all titles below is a max of 540L (about 3rd Grade).

These books feature simpler sentence structures, frequent word repetition, and commonly used vocabulary, resulting in Lexile levels typically associated with younger readers. However, they address mature, age-appropriate themes that resonate with older youth and teens. Hi-Lo books are engaging in their own right, but they are especially valuable for motivating reluctant readers, supporting struggling readers in building confidence and fluency and providing dignified, age-respectful reading options that avoid stigmatization.

Updated June 20, 2026
B
Buffalo and Erie County Public Library
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Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe
Sáenz, Benjamin Alire.
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture starring Max Pelayo, Reese Gonzales, and Eva Longoria! A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) The award-winning, internationally renowned book that is a "tender, honest exploration of identity" (Publishers Weekly) and...
Blood red road
Young, Moira.
Paper Book
Winner of the Costa Children's Book Award 2011. "I ain't afeared of nuthin." Saba's twin is golden. She is his living shadow. He is strong and beautiful. She is scrawny and dark. Nothing will separate them... Raised in isolated Silverlake, Saba is ignorant of the harsh and violent world beyond her...
Don't even think about it
Mlynowski, Sarah
Paper Book
This is the story of how we became freaks. It's how a group of I's became a we. When Class 10B got their flu shots, they expected some side effects. Maybe a sore arm. Maybe a headache. They definitely didn't expect to get telepathy. But suddenly they could hear what everyone...
For black girls like me
Lockington, Mariama
Paper Book
In this lyrical coming-of-age story about family, sisterhood, music, race, and identity, Schneider Family Book Award and Stonewall Honor-winning author Mariama J. Lockington draws on some of the emotional truths from her own experiences growing up with an adoptive white family.
I am the weapon
Zadoff, Allen
Paper Book
They needed the perfect assassin. Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his...
Light it up
Magoon, Kekla
Paper Book
Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength--as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel How It Went Down. A girl walks home from school. She's...
Shelter
Coben, Harlan
Paper Book
The first in an exciting series of YA thrillers from the master of the hook-and-twist. When tragic events tear him away from his parents, 15-year-old Mickey Bolitar is sent to live with his estranged uncle, Myron. For a while, it seems his train wreck of a life is finally improving...

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