AP English Literature & Composition

AP English Literature & Composition references 61 books assigned across applicable K-12 grade levels in US schools. College Board AP Literature course. Students read representative works from multiple genres and time periods in the AP Course Audit reading list.

Primary source: apcentral.collegeboard.org

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61 books referenced

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Lord of the Flies · William Golding
Macbeth · William Shakespeare
Maus: A Survivor's Tale · Art Spiegelman
Much Ado About Nothing · William Shakespeare
Night · Elie Wiesel
Oedipus Rex · Sophocles
Othello · William Shakespeare
Our Town · Thornton Wilder
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood · Marjane Satrapi
Pride and Prejudice · Jane Austen
Purple Hibiscus · Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Pygmalion · George Bernard Shaw
Slaughterhouse-Five · Kurt Vonnegut
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn · Mark Twain
The Awakening · Kate Chopin
The Bluest Eye · Toni Morrison
The Catcher in the Rye · J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple · Alice Walker
The Crucible · Arthur Miller
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time · Mark Haddon
The Glass Menagerie · Tennessee Williams
The Grapes of Wrath · John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby · F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Handmaid's Tale · Margaret Atwood
The Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde
The Joy Luck Club · Amy Tan
The Kite Runner · Khaled Hosseini
The Old Man and the Sea · Ernest Hemingway
The Scarlet Letter · Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Secret Life of Bees · Sue Monk Kidd
The Tempest · William Shakespeare
The Things They Carried · Tim O'Brien
Their Eyes Were Watching God · Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart · Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird · Harper Lee
Twelfth Night · William Shakespeare
Twelve Angry Men · Reginald Rose

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About the AP Course Framework

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are college-level curricula administered by the College Board for US high-school students. Each AP English course publishes a Course and Exam Description (CED) that defines learning objectives, skill categories, and the structure of the May AP exam. Reading lists are not centrally mandated — individual AP teachers select texts that align with the CED's skill targets and the course's literary or historical scope.

AP English Literature and Composition (the literature-focused course) draws across British, American, and world literature from the 16th century forward, with strong representation of canonical novels, drama, and poetry. AP English Language and Composition (rhetoric-focused) draws across non-fiction prose, speeches, journalism, and argumentative essays. The two AP English courses overlap by under 20% in typical reading selection.

AP students earn college credit at participating universities by scoring 3 or higher on the May AP exam (1-5 scale). The reading list on this page reflects titles commonly cited in approved AP syllabi as catalogued by the College Board's syllabus audit process. Specific titles vary by teacher; this list aggregates the most-frequently-assigned across audited syllabi.

External references: College Board AP English Course Pages

How to use this AP English Literature & Composition reading list

The book list above represents titles ReadingList has confirmed as referenced by AP English Literature & Composition— either through the framework’s own published documentation, through audited classroom syllabi citing the framework, or through US state and district curriculum guides that map their reading expectations to it. Each book’s detail page links the specific primary source so parents, teachers, and students can verify the citation and locate the official document.

Reading lists evolve. AP English Literature & Composition citations on ReadingList are reviewed on a rolling basis as primary sources publish updates. If you teach or learn under this framework and a title on this page is no longer used (or you know of one that should appear), the ReadingList methodology page explains how to submit a correction with a citation.

Frequently asked questions

What books does AP English Literature & Composition include?

61 books are referenced by AP English Literature & Composition across applicable K-12 grade levels. Each book page cites the primary source assignment (the official curriculum standard, exemplar list, or syllabus where the title appears).

What grades does AP English Literature & Composition cover?

AP English Literature & Composition is a ap curriculum spanning applicable K-12 grade levels via the standards framework. Browse by grade using the grade-filter links on this page or visit /grade for the full grade index across all curricula.

Where does AP English Literature & Composition data come from?

Primary source: apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-composition. Cross-referenced with Common Core exemplars at achievethecore.org. Every book page on ReadingList.school cites the standards origin for that assignment.

Is AP English Literature & Composition required reading?

AP English Literature & Composition provides exam-syllabus references — required for students sitting the exam. Always check with your school's English department for the specific required vs recommended list at your grade level.