The 16 Best Boarding School Novels

Victorian playing fields, gothic finishing schools and gossip-soaked modern prep campuses share one shelf here. Some are taught in classrooms, others get passed around a dorm until the spine cracks.

1. 1
   Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

   J.K. Rowling's 1997 novel that sends an orphaned boy to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Looking for Alaska

   John Green's 2005 debut about a teenager's first year at Culver Creek, an Alabama boarding school.
   622pts
3. 3
   Never Let Me Go

   Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel about three friends who grew up at Hailsham, an English boarding school hiding a dark purpose.
   551pts
4. 4
   A Separate Peace

   John Knowles's 1959 novel of friendship and rivalry between two boys at a New Hampshire prep school during World War II.
   551pts
5. 5
   Truly Devious

   Maureen Johnson's 2018 mystery set at Ellingham Academy, where a student reopens a decades-old kidnapping case.
   466pts
6. 6
   Picnic at Hanging Rock

   Joan Lindsay's 1967 novel about schoolgirls from an Australian boarding college who vanish on a Valentine's Day outing.
   466pts
7. 7
   Cat Among the Pigeons

   Agatha Christie's 1959 Hercule Poirot mystery set at Meadowbank, an exclusive English girls' school.
   466pts
8. 8
   The Academy

   Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham's 2025 novel of scandal and privilege at the Tiffin School, a New England boarding school.
   363pts
9. 9
   Prep

   Curtis Sittenfeld's 2005 debut following a scholarship girl through four years at Ault, an elite Massachusetts boarding school.
   363pts
10. 10
    Old School

    Tobias Wolff's 2003 novel about a scholarship boy at a 1960s prep school where visiting writers judge a student contest.
    363pts
11. 11
    Anna and the French Kiss

    Stephanie Perkins's 2010 romance about an American girl sent to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year.
    363pts
12. 12
    A Great and Terrible Beauty

    Libba Bray's 2003 gothic novel set at Spence Academy, a Victorian finishing school with a magical secret.
    363pts
13. 13
    Vampire Academy

    Richelle Mead's 2007 fantasy set at St. Vladimir's Academy, a hidden boarding school for vampires and their guardians.
    363pts
14. 14
    The Thoroughbreds

    Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham's 2026 sequel to The Academy, following the Tiffin School seniors through their final year.
    0pts
15. 15
    Tom Brown's School Days

    Thomas Hughes's 1857 novel of a boy's years at Rugby School, the book that launched the school story genre.
    0pts
16. 16
    The Secret Place

    Tana French's 2014 Dublin Murder Squad mystery set at St Kilda's, a girls' boarding school outside Dublin.
    0pts

Comments