Minneapolis-born Shahidi, 15, may play a teenager more interested in parties on ABC's "Black-ish" (which returns Wednesday), but in real life she's an extremely well-read, curious young woman. Check out her recent list of favorites.

Neal Justin

" 'Catcher in the Rye.' Oh, my goodness. Just the idea of this kid and his hesitancy in becoming an adult is fascinating to me. When I first started 'East of Eden,' I was like, 'When is this story going to start?' There's a lot of background. But once I got through it, I realized if the author had left out the smallest detail, it wouldn't have been as intriguing. I also liked 'Their Eyes Were Watching God.' That was great."