Intriguing tales of mystery and mayhem set within the shadows of the sprawling gothic architecture of elite boarding schools. Dark underbellies and sinister stories abound in this teen reading list. To place a hold, select the title link.
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The Castle School / Alyssa Sheinmel
When Moira Dreyfuss’s parents announce that they’re sending her to an all-girls boarding school deep in the Maine woods, Moira isn’t fooled. She knows her parents are punishing her; she’s been too much trouble since her best friend, Nathan, died. At the Castle School, isolated from the rest of the world, Moira will be expected to pour her heart out to the odd headmaster, Dr. Prince. But she isn’t interested in getting over Nathan’s death or befriending her fellow students. Strange things start happening once she arrives and she learns of another, very different, Castle School nearby—this one filled with boys whose parents sent them away, too.Moira is convinced that the Castle Schools and the doctors who run them are hiding something. But exploring the schools will force her to confront her overwhelming grief―and the real reasons her parents sent her away.
Available on hoopladigital.com.
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The Forest Demands Its Due / Kosoko Jackson
Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into leaders, but its history is far more nefarious. Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent’s king-making; he’s just trying to survive. But then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers the victim having existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper’s son, Everett Everley. In his determination to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens a horror hidden within the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. A vengeful creature wants blood as payment for a debt more than 300 years in the making—or it will swallow all of Winslow in darkness. And for the first time in his life, Douglas might have a chance to grasp the one thing he’s always felt was missing: power. But if he’s not careful, he will find out that power has a tendency to corrupt absolutely everything. -
The Ivies / Alexa Donne
The Ivies, five prep school elites who would kill to get into the colleges of their dreams, have a showdown after Liv gets into Harvard and queen bee Avery does not. -
A Language of Dragons / S. F. Williamson
A girl breaks a truce between dragons and humans, and to save her family she must work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. Set in 1932 in an alternate London, this is a story about language, loyalty, love, and redemption. -
A Lesson in Vengeance / Victoria Lee
Felicity Morrow returns to the Dalloway School after her girlfriend’s tragic death, only to meet Ellis Haley—a new student and a teenage literary prodigy—who enlists Felicity’s help in researching the school’s bloody, occult history for her new book. -
The Library of Shadows / Rachel Moore
Radcliffe Prep. The third most haunted school in the country, where a student disappearance isn’t uncommon and no one dares stay in the library after dark. Este Logano enrolls with the hopes of finding her dead father. But then she meets Mateo, who is maybe—probably—definitely—a real ghost. And an annoying one at that. When Mateo frames Este for the theft of a rare book from the library’s secret spire and then vanishes, Este will have to track him down or risk being expelled and leaving Radcliffe early just like her father did. Except following in her father’s footsteps might be more dangerous than she anticipated. As she investigates the library with its secret passageways, hidden tunnels, and haunted halls, she learns that the student disappearances aren’t just myth. And if she isn’t careful, she’ll be next. -
The Mary Shelley Club / Goldy Moldavsky
A deliciously twisty thriller about a mysterious club with an obsession for horror. -
They’re Watching You / Chelsea Ichaso
When high school junior Maren’s best friend goes missing after receiving an invitation from their private school’s most enigmatic club, Maren sets out to find out what happened, but as the stakes increase, she must decide if discovering the truth is worth her life. -
The Wilde Trials / Mackenzie Reed
Chloe Gatti will do whatever it takes to win her elite boarding school’s annual competition, the Wilde Trials. In the two weeks leading up to graduation from Wilde Academy, a dozen seniors are chosen to compete in a series of seven ultimate physical and mental tests, and the winner will take home over half a million dollars—money that Chloe needs to help her sick sister. But the competition is fierce and includes her brooding ex-boyfriend, Hayes Stratford, whose brother was the only student to die during the trials a few years ago. When someone starts blackmailing Chloe during the competition, she’s forced to strike a deal with Hayes—if he helps her discover who is sabotaging her, she’ll help him solve the mystery his brother left behind. Following clues from Hayes’s brother, the unlikely allies discover that something isn’t right about the Wilde Trials. With a life-changing prize looming over her head and her buried feelings for Hayes rising to the surface, Chloe will have to decide what’s really worth fighting for, and if the cost of competing outweighs the potential consequences, even if that includes ending up like Hayes’s brotherdead.
JJ:10/2026
