Books you just OUGHT to read

(This is pretty much the exact same post that I have in the non-fiction group, but I'm repeating it so I can have some fiction recommendations)

Hello folks,
I'm a high school student, and I enjoy reading. However, ever since I have entered high school, the amount I've had to spend reading non-required books has vastly decreased. I'm going to the beach for a couple weeks soon (the perfect place to get lots of reading done!), and I want to put together a collection of books to work on. What are some books that you just ought to read? And I'm looking for a variety of books, so not just classics. I also don't want to read something that's super incredibly long (so not War and Peace) because of time constraints. Any suggestions?

I'm game to look at pretty much anything. Right now I'm reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, and before that I read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Though I'd be interested in all sorts of books.

Thanks in advance :)

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Hunger Games bu Suzanne Collins
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Outsiders S. E. Hinton
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Holes by Louis Sachar

Some of these will be repeats.

The Card by Arnold Bennett
Chi's Sweet Home (unless you hate cats) by Konami Kanata
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente
Trickster edited by Matt Dembicki
Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw
A Mango-shaped Space by Wendy Mass
The Saga of the Volsungs
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (the series - it consists of five fairly short books and the first and third make excellent beach reading material)
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Libyrinth by Pearl North
The People of the Sea by David Thomson
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

And I'm going to hush now. Totally random selection with a leaning towards fantasy. ^-^ I hope there's something that catches your fancy in there!

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut (or anything else by him)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci (a sequel's coming out in September)
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

More recent releases:
The Map of Time by Felix Palma (it's a big book, but I read it in two or three days)
Tighter by Adele Griffin
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy
The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

I second Speak.

Have fun with your summer reading! I always love getting to pick a pile of books to read after a year of school and homework.

1984 by George Orwell
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (this might be a bit longer than your looking for)
The Ladies Number One Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (again, maybe to long)
The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

So many suggestions! I really wanted to read speak, but all the copies my library has are out :(. I've taken a whole bunch of these and put it on my list of books to take out. Thank you all! I'll be up to my ears in books :D.

I repeat the recommendation I left in non-fiction (since it seemed to include both): Cory Doctorow's Little Brother.

I read almost exclusively sci-fi / fantasy, so it may not be your thing:

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. (I know someone else mentioned it, but for me, I don't see how it could be surpassed and therefore needs to be mentioned again.)
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Dispossessed by Urusla K. LeGuin
A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

By P.C. & Kristin Cast - Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, Burned, Awakened

By Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver, Linger, Forever

By Jackson Pearce - As You Wish, Sisters Red

By Brad Gallagher - Escape from Zobadak

By Aprilynne Pike - Wings, Spells, Illusions