Great Books for Teens

 

Gentle Reads

Abbott, Hailey. The Bridesmaid.

Picture
Having vowed as children to never marry after witnessing many disastrous weddings and obnoxious brides in their parents' wedding planning business, fifteen-year-old Abby is dismayed when her older sister Carol suddenly gets engaged and turns into Bridezilla.


Bauer, Joan. Hope Was Here.

Picture
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks.

Picture
When the Penderwicks—four motherless girls and their lovable but untrained dog Hound—lose the cottage that they usually rent for summer vacation, they go to the caretaker’s cottage on the grounds of a beautiful mansion, complete with magnificent gardens. A young boy lives in the mansion and when they discover each other, much adventure follows.


Cabot, Meg. All-American Girl

Picture
A sophomore girl stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed Teen Ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son.

Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen

Picture
Bobby wakes one morning, stumbles to the bathroom to brush his teeth, looks in the mirror, and sees nothing. What has caused him to become invisible and how will he possibly get on with his life?

Creech, Sharon. Bloomability

Picture
Having lived in 13 states in 12 years, Domenica Santolina Doone, Dinnie for short, has been traveling all her life; but it's still a shock when her parents suddenly hand her over to Uncle Max and Aunt Sandy, and she finds herself headed for the American School in Lugano, Switzerland, where Max is headmaster.

Love That Dog
Jack lets his teacher know right away that he does not care for poetry—in his own free-verse poem. But his clever teacher, through use of well-known poems, draws him in. 

Curry, Jane Louise. The Black Canary

Picture
As the child of two musicians, twelve-year-old James has no interest in music until he discovers a portal to seventeenth-century London in his uncle's basement, and finds himself in a situation where his beautiful voice and the fact that he is biracial might serve him well.


Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Double Identity

Picture
Thirteen-year-old Bethany's parents have always been overprotective, but when they suddenly drop out of sight with no explanation, leaving her with an aunt she never knew existed, Bethany uncovers shocking secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.


Hobbs, Will. Leaving Protection

Picture
Sixteen-year-old Robbie Daniels, happy to get a job aboard a boat fishing for king salmon off southeastern Alaska, finds himself in danger when he discovers that his mysterious captain is searching for long-buried Russian plaques that lay claim to Alaska and the Northwest.


Levine, Gail Carson. The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Picture
Shy and fearful Princess Addie must face the monsters of Bamarre--ogres, specters, gryphons, and dragons--as her sister's fate hangs in the balance.


Lubar, David. Dunk

Picture
While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend's serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.


Ed. by Paulsen, Gary. Shelf Life: Stories by the Book

Picture
This book contains ten short stories in which the lives of young people in different circumstances are changed by their encounters with books.


Schindler, Nina (translator, Rob Barrett). An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries

Picture
Through e-mails and letters, scratchings on take-out containers, and scrawlings on news clippings, seventeen-year-old Tim tries to contact the girl of his dreams.


Spinelli, Jerry. Eggs

Picture
David has recently lost his mother to a freak accident, his salesman father is constantly on the road, and he is letting his anger out on his grandmother while Primrose lives with her unstable, childlike, fortuneteller mother, and the only evidence of the father she never knew is a framed picture. Despite their age difference (David is 9, Primrose is 13), they forge a tight yet tumultuous friendship, eventually helping each other deal with what is missing in their lives.


Tolan, Stephanie. Surviving the Applewhites

Picture
Jake is sent to the Applewhite family’s Creative Academy as a last resort after he is expelled from school for starting a fire and his parents end up in jail. Jake doesn’t know how to act with the free-spirited Applewhites, who pay no attention to his black clothes, body piercings, and spiked hair.


Van Draanen, Wendelin. Flipped

Picture
In this charming romance, two eighth-graders tell, in alternating chapters, how they feel about each other. Julianna has been head-over-heels in love with Bryce since the second grade while Bryce, on the other hand, has only just noticed how wonderful Julianna is.