Re:"e": The Story of A Number (Score 1)

I second this recommendation; Eli Maor's book one of the best math books I've ever read. The specifics of some of the math presented are going to be beyond the skills of most HS students, but understanding the math is not critical to enjoying the history. I've found that math history is a good way to get students engaged in math. So often, concepts in math are presented in a way that makes them seem like they were handed down to us by the gods at the dawn of time. My experience is that students become a little more interested when they realize there was a real person (or persons) behind any given concept, and sometimes, the skills they're learning, were completely unknown to anyone on earth 500 years ago.

In this vein, I would also recommend Charles Seife's "Zero". The math in this book is much more accessible (should prove no problem for HS students), yet it drives home some very important ideas that are crucial to understanding higher math.