10 Free Online Books For High School Students

Are you a high school student and a bookworm? Then gather here. This article offers a list of free online books for high school students who are book lovers. These books include adventure, horror, thriller, and varieties of genres that will appeal to your taste.

I’ve always loved books. Their smell, the way it feels in your hand, and the content within. You never know what a bulky-looking novel contains until you open the first page then you won’t stop till the 100th page. I grew up as a bookworm and an avid reader, a moment I enjoyed the most as a high school student.

Reading has always been a huge part of me and it particularly helped me in becoming a content writer. That is just one of the many benefits that come with being an avid reader. English classes are my favorite because, of course, there is either William Golding’s Lord of the Flies or Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus to read which I’ve already read countless times before that class. But then, it is still thrilling to read again with the rest of the class.

A year before I became a high school graduate, a new library was built and filled with more books. Oh, the joy and sadness I felt because I have just one more year to spend with those lovelies. But even with one more year left, I did have the time of my life reading as many books as possible from the library.

However, before the advent of the school library, I spent nearly all of my pocket money on books. I had to buy my favorite novels to keep living life and in those days, the internet and smart devices were not as popular as they were now. These days, you can easily go on the internet using a smartphone and get as many books as you want. No stress, no hassle.

With the invention of the internet and smartphones came electronic books (e-books) that you can download onto your device within minutes and start reading. And it even gets better. There are some websites that offer free e-books you can read online on the go and of course, they cover a wide range of genres. There is also a wide collection of free books for students including textbooks available on the internet.  

The ones I even find most intriguing are sites where you can read comics for free and it intrigues me this much because I could remember spending so much on comics as a kid. And now it can be read completely for free? From the comfort of my home? Wow! Just Wow!!

With a smartphone or tablet or a computer with a stable internet connection, high school students may probably never buy a book they want to read because they can just go off to the internet and get it. There are free e-book download sites that offer such services.

As a fellow avid reader and book lover, I can tell you that searching for a book to read on the World Wide Web can be confusing. There are so many juicy stories that make it hard to pick one, well, unless on a recommendation. Good thing you have me.

I have carefully constructed a list of free online books for high school students in this article which will make it easy for you to find a book you will enjoy reading. And given my book-reading history, you already trust I’d be recommending the best. Without any further ado, let’s see these books.

free online books for high school students

Free Online Books For High School Students

The following are free online books for high school students to read in their leisure:

  • Hidden Library: The Second Spell Book by Stephanie Van Orman
  • Merry Christmas, Mrs. Macabre by Austin Ray Bouse
  • Lisa Star and the Solstice Academy by R. Hunter Gough
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  • Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
  • The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
  • Second Thoughts by Carol Monore
  • Homeland by Cory Doctorow
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

1.     Hidden Library: The Second Spell Book by Stephanie Van Orman

This book is authored by Stephanie Van Orman and it is available for free download on Obooko – one of the popular sites to download any book PDF for free. High school students whose book choices are in magic spells, witches, and romance then this is the one for you. This adventure-filled book combines all four genres into one to produce something heavenly.

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2.     Merry Christmas, Mrs. Macabre by Austin Ray Bouse

This is a thriller book by Austin Ray Bouse based on witches, magic, magical creatures, and other supernatural. The story centers around identical twins Jane and Catherine Gracey with Mrs. Macabre their witch friend. The adventure begins when one of the twins got kidnapped and the other must seek the help of their witch friend and other creatures to help bring back her twin sister.

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3.     Lisa Star and the Solstice Academy by R. Hunter Gough

Lisa Star and the Solstice Academy is about a girl, Lisa, who found out she has supernatural powers of moving from one far place to another in just a matter of minutes. It happened when she went from Albuquerque to New York in a few minutes to get a birthday present for her dad. Her powers attracted the Solstice Academy, a place for gifted children like her, and thus where her adventure begins.

This book is written by R. Hunter Gough and offered for free download on Obooko.

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4.     The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

This is a popular novel, so you must have already read it or at least heard about it. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is written by Mark Twain who is regarded as the father of American literature. It is a classic about Huck Finn who faked his own death to escape his drunken father. He meets a runaway slave and the two begin their journey on a raft down the Mississippi River.

This book is a controversial novel when it first came out and got banned in many states in the US. It is still found to be controversial to this day but nonetheless a great read. The book is available for free download on Project Gutenberg and comes in different download formats.

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5.     Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Yes, the same Frankenstein you know. You must have seen it referenced in movies and maybe in a few novels. Wherever you see it used all came from this 1818 novel titled Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus written by English author Mary Shelley.

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6.     The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

I remember reading this book as a high school student and let me tell you this it was worth every dime. However, for you, it is completely free to read. It is written by Ernest Hemmingway and it is his last work of fiction which made the author become popular.

The Old Man and the Sea is a novel about the struggles of an old fisherman and the greatest catch of his life after going for more than 80 days without catching a single fish.

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7.     Second Thoughts by Carol Monore

Second Thoughts by Carol Moore is a science fiction novel that doesn’t just center around the typical future science tech and life forms. It goes further to demonstrate human nature and the results of interacting with other cultures.

The book is like something out of a sci-fi action movie that will keep your blood racing and your heart pounding in excitement.

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8.     Homeland by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow is the author of Homeland but you can download the book for free or read it online at Obooko.  The novel is about Marcus Yallow, a teenage hacker who gets caught up in a terrorist attack and gets arrested by the government where he suffers brutality. Although he was later released after being found not guilty of the suspected crimes.

Homeland is a sequel to Doctorow’s 2008 novel Little Brother.

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9.     The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is a book that every high school student should read, whether a book lover or not. It is a classic portrait of the Jazz Age recognized as the 2nd best novel of the last century by The Modern Library. The story tells of the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, his journey to becoming a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, the love of his life.

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10.   The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter is often considered as a masterpiece of American literature and a classic moral study. It was published in 1850 and tells the story of a woman, Hester Prynne who conceived a daughter out of wedlock and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.

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This wraps up the list of free online books for high school students. The books discussed here are some literary works that either changed or contributed to modern-day literature.

Reading books helps develops and improve students’ imagination, grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, concentration, and memory. It also helps them learn more about the world around them and get answers to fill their curiosity. As a parent of an older sibling, always encourage your child or younger sibling to read.

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