Teen Reading List
Holiday Gift Ideas from the American Library Association
Click here * for books suggested by the ALA for holiday gifts for kids age 2 through 8th grade.
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Genre Books
Reading Guides
Book Spot
http://www.bookspot.com/youngadultfeature.htm
Outstanding Books for the College Bound
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/obcb
Reading Rants
http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/jen/index.html
YASLA Booklists
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists
Non-Fiction selections from Teen Read Week: October 16-22, 2005
The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander
George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas Allen
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Bartoletti
With Courage and Cloth: Winning the Fight for a Woman’s Right to Vote by Ann Bausum
Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Beals
The Secret Family: Twenty-four hours inside the Mysterious Worlds of Our Minds and Bodies by David Bodanis
Wake Up Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists by Tonya Bolden
Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima by James Bradley
All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by David Breashears
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks by Michael Capuzzo
Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn by Larry Colton
Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America by Rebecca Carroll
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year by Esme Codell
Out of Harm’s Way: The Extraordinary True Story of One Woman’s Lifelong Devotion to Animals by Terri Crisp
Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography by Chris Crutcher
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander Newfoundland by Jim Defede
Needles by Andie Dominick
An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi by William Doyle
Who Killed My Daughter by Lois Duncan
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science by John Fleischman
Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop by Jan Greenberg
September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City by Wilborn Hampton
Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Hart
World s Afire: The Hartford Circus of 1944 by Paul Janeczko
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa’s Wildlife by Kobie Kruger
Fields of Fury: The American Civil War by James McPherson
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
Inside the Alamo by Jim Murphy
Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices by Walter Dean Myers
How Angel Peterson Got His Name and Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports by Gary Paulsen
Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson
To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue by Ted Rall
Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
It’s a Bird by Steven Seagle
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker
King Arthur
Here are some fiction titles for young adults
The Merlin Effect
by T.A. Baron
When she joins her father and several others investigating a strange whirlpool and
possible sunken treasure ship off the coast of Baja California, thirteen-year-old Kate is drawn into a
centuries-old conflict between Merlin and the evil Vagar.
Seven Songs of Merlin
by T.A. Baron
Having stumbled upon his
hidden powers, the young wizard Merlin voyages to the Otherworld in his quest to
find himself and the way to the realm of the spirit.
The Wings of Merlin
by T.A. Baron
Merlin's fragile home on
the isle of Fincayra is threatened by the attack of a mysterious warrior with
swords for arms and by the escape of Stangmar from his imprisonment, as Merlin
continues to move toward his ultimate destiny.
Over Sea, Under stoneby Susan Cooper
Three children on a
holiday in Cornwall find an ancient manuscript which sends them
on a dangerous quest for a grail that would reveal the true story of King
Arthur.
At the Crossing Places
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
In late twelfth-century England, the thirteen-year-old Arthur goes to begin
his new life as squire to Lord Stephen at Holt, where crusaders ready
themselves. Sequel to The Seeing Stone.
The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland
In late twelfth-century England, a thirteen-year-old boy named Arthur
recounts how Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone which shows him images of
the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose life seem to have many parallels
to his own.
King of the Middle
March by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Arthur de Caldicot, on
his way to becoming a man, witnesses the horrors of the Fourth Crusade in Venice
and Zara, as well as the downfall of King Arthur's court, in his seeing stone.
Legend of Lady Ilena by Patricia Malone
In sixth-century Great Britain, a fifteen-year-old girl seeking knowledge of
her lineage is drawn into battle to defend the homeland she never knew, aided by
one of King Arthur's knights.
Black Horses for the
King by Anne McCaffrey
Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King
Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and
care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.
The Ballad of Sir
Dinadan by Gerald Morris
Though he would rather pursue his talent as a musician, eighteen-year-old Dinadan is forced to follow
his older brother Tristram's path and become a knight. Set at the time of King
Arthur.
Parsifal’s Page by Gerald Morris
In medieval England, eleven-year-old Piers' dream comes true when
he becomes page to Parsifal, a peasant whose quest for knighthood reveals
important secrets about both of their families.
The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight by
Gerald Morris
Determined to find the knight responsible for the terrible deaths of her mother and the Jewish peddler
who had given them a home, thirteen-year-old Sarah is helped in her quest by a
strange old woman, a magical sword, a young faery, and an unkempt knight with
little armor and no horse.
The Squire’s Tale
by Nancy Springer
In medieval England, fourteen-year-old Terence finds his tranquil
existence suddenly changed when he becomes the squire of the young Gawain of
Orkney and accompanies him on a long quest, proving Gawain's worth as a knight
and revealing an important secret about his own true identity.
I am Mordred by Nancy Springer
When Mordred learns the identity of his father, he struggles with feelings of hatred, but also fights
the fate which determines that he kill the good and gracious king.
I am Morgan le Fay
by Nancy Springer
In a war-torn England where her half-brother Arthur will eventually
become king, the young Morgan le Fay comes to realize that she has magic powers
and links to the faerie world.
The Light Beyond the
Forest by Rosemary Sutcliff
A retelling of the adventures of King Arthur's knights, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and
Sir Percival, as they search for the Holy Grail.
The Road to Camlann by Rosemary Sutcliff
The evil Mordred, plotting against his father King Arthur, implicates the Queen and Sir Lancelot
in treachery and brings about the downfall of Camelot and the Round Table.
The Sword and the
Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff
Retells the adventures of
King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, Sir Lancelot, and the other knights of the Round
Table.
The Dragon’s Son by Sarah Thompson
Based on the Mabinogion,
a collection of medieval Welsh tales, as well as later legends, tells of family
members and servants important in the life of King Arthur, featuring Nimue,
Morgan le Fay, Luned, and Mordred.
The Winter Prince
by Elizabeth Wein
Medraut, the bitter,
illegitimate son of King Artos, is tempted into joining Morgause, the king's
treacherous sister, in a plot against Lleu, the legitimate Prince of Britain.
Coalition of Lions by Elizabeth Wein
After the death of Artos,
High King of Britain, and his sons, his daughter Princess Goewin journeys to Aksum to meet Constantine, her intended husband,
but finds the country in political turmoil. Sequel to The Winter Prince.
Have You Read Fantasy Fiction Lately?
CARD, ORSON SCOTT. Seventh Son. Alvin, born seventh son of a seventh son, is destined for greatness, but something evil is trying to keep him from growing up.
JORDAN, ROBERT. Eye of the world. Three teenagers take on a classic fantasy quest in this epic struggle between good and evil.
MCKILLIP, PATRICIA. Fool's Run. Masked musician The Queen of Hearts and her band entertain in an orbiting prison and create an intergalactic emergency.
MCKINLEY, ROBIN. Blue Sword. Harry Crewe, bored with her dull and sheltered life, finds new magic, love, and her destiny as a woman warrior when kidnapped by a handsome king who has mysterious powers.
NAPOLI, DONNA JO. The Magic Circle. When the Ugly One succumbs to the demons' trickery and is changed from good sorceress to evil witch, she flees to a remote forest, but her destiny lies in the arrival of two children, Hansel and Gretel.
NIX, GARTH. Sabriel. Sabriel makes a desperate quest through the Gates of Death to free her necromancer father from the strengthening powers of the spirits of the dead.
PULLMAN, PHILIP. The Golden Compass. With the aid of friends, witches, and armored polar bears, twelve-year-old Lyra fights the evil that is stealing children and conducting horrible experiments on them.
SPRINGER, NANCY. I Am Mordred: a Tale from Camelot. Mordred struggles to escape a fate that will lead him to kill his own father.
STEWART, MARY. The Crystal Cave. Merlin, the base-born son of royalty in fifth-century Britain, uses magic to outwit his enemies until he sets the stage for the birth of Arthur, the future king.
WREDE, PATRICIA C. Dealing with Dragons . Unconventional Cimorene, fed up with her dull life as a princess, runs away to join the dragons in this fun book that turns fairy tales upside down.
Have You Read Historical Fiction ?
Auel, Jean. Clan of the Cave Bear. A Cro-Magnon girl-child, adopted by a tribe of Neanderthals, struggles to subdue her strong feminine creativity while growing up in their mystical and instinctive male-dominated society.
Bess, Clayton. Tracks. Eleven year- old Blue Roan persuades his older brother to take him on the rails in Depression-era Oklahoma, where their adventures range from vicious attacks by a hobo to an almost fatal encounter with the Ku Klux Klan.
Clapp, Patricia. Witches' Children: A Story of Salem. A frightening tale of the Salem witchcraft trials, based on historical fact and told from the perspective of one of the ten "afflicted girls."
Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy. Fighting fleas, unsuitable suitors, and her mother's attempts to make a lady of her, Catherine writes in her diary about her frustrations with her life as a young noblewoman in medieval times
Gaines, Ernest J. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Born a slave in Louisiana before the Civil War, Jane Pittman lives to witness the struggle in the 1960s for civil rights in this fictional autobiography that reflects the courage and fortitude of African Americans.
Gedge, Pauline. Child of the Morning. Reared by her Pharaoh father to assume his throne upon his death, Hatshepsut, a real historical figure---has to contend with her weak half-brother before she can realize her dream.
Paterson, Katherine. Lyddie. Unable to pay off the debt on the family farm, feisty, single-minded Lyddie survives the dangers of the textile mills in 1840s Massachusetts, determined not to forfeit her dreams.
Paton Walsh, Jill . Parcel of Patterns. Vividly and dramatically, Mall Percival writes in her journal of the tragic events that befell her and the other villagers of Eyam during the disastrous plague of the 1660s in England.
Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago. Grandma Dowdel creates more fun and surprises for Joe and Mary Alice during their summer visits to her small Illinois town.
Salisbury, Graham. Under the Blood-Red Sun. Tomi, a Japanese American teen living in Hawaii, must become the man of his family when his father and grandfather are interned after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Temple, Frances. The Ramsay Scallop. Betrothed, though they barely know each other, fourteen-year-old Elenor and eighteen-year-old Thomas are sent by their castle priest on a pilgrimage from their English village through France to Spain in 1299.
Have You Read a Good Mystery Lately?
Avi. Wolf Rider. When fifteen-year old Andy gets a crank call from a man claiming to have murdered a woman, his life turns into a psychological nightmare.
Davis, Lindsey. Silver Pigs. The murder of a senator's daughter forces Marcus Didius Falco (Bogey in a toga) to investigate a possible attempt to overthrow the emperor of ancient Rome.
Freeman, Suzanne. Cuckoo's Child. In Beruit, Mia longed for a normal American life, but after her parents are lost at sea, she finds life in Tennessee a real challenge.
Hillerman, Tony. Dance Hall of the Dead. When Navajo police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is called upon to investigate the murder of the young fire god, he becomes involved in the world of Zuni religious beliefs.
King, Laurie R. The Beekeeper's Apprentice; or the Segregation of the Queen. Sherlock Holmes meets an intellectual equal, fifteen-year-old Mary Russell, who challenges him to investigate yet another case.
Martin, Valerie. Mary Reilly. Intrigued by the mysterious Dr. Jekyll, housemaid Mary Reilly finds life taking a different twist as she learns more about his late-night prowling in Victorian England.
Pullman, Philip. Ruby in the Smoke. Sally, sixteen and an orphan, must find her way through a maze of nineteenth-century villains to claim her inheritance and her independence.
Wells, Rosemary. When No One Was Looking. Fourteen-year-old Kathy thrives on pressure to become a tennis star until the death, possibly murder, of a competitor forces her to question her ambition and her future.
Have You Read Survival Literature Lately?
Elder, Lauren, and Shirley Streshinsky. And I Alone Survived. The true story of a courageous young woman, who, as sole survivor of a plane crash in the High Sierras, spends a grueling ordeal in the mountains
Callahan, Steven. Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea. When his small sailboat sinks in the Atlantic, Steve Callahan spends seventy-six days in a five-foot inflatable raft, drifting 1,800 miles before rescue.
Cormier Robert. I Am the Cheese. A victim of amnesia, and under the influence of drugs administered by mysterious and unidentified questioners, teenager Adam searches through haunting memories that must not be recalled or revealed if he is to survive.
Dickinson, Peter. Tulku. Surviving a Boxer massacre at a Christian mission in China, Thirteen-year-old Theodore accompanies an eccentric British plant collector and her guide lover through danger-laden territory to Tibet and a Buddhist monastery.
Gibbons, Shiela. Ellen Foster. After her mother's untimely death, young Ellen must survive despite her abusive father and other relatives who want no part of her.
Holman, Felice. Slake's Limbo. A loser and loner picked on by everyone, Slake finds refuge in a subway that becomes his home for 121 days.
Read, Piers Paul. Alive. The Story of the Andes Survivors. A compassionate account of sixteen young rugby players who survive a plane crash in the Andes and live for ten weeks on faith, finally choosing to use the bodies of their dead comrades for sustenance.
Have You Read Friendship or Romance Fiction ?
Garden, Nancy. Annie on My Mind. Lisa and Annie meet at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, fall in love, and then find that a public declaration is too threatening to their friends and relatives.
Hahn, Mary Downing. The Wind Blows Backward. High school seniors Lauren and Spencer try to return to their innocent days of reading fantasies together, but fantasy worlds and Lauren's love cannot save Spencer from the insistent, disturbing memories of his father.
Bennett, James. I Can Hear the Mourning Dove. Struggling to recover from her father's death and her own suicide attempt, Grace meets rebellious Luke, a fellow patient and her first real friend.
Peck, Richard. Remembering the Good Times. Meeting at a time of change in their lives, Kate, Buck, and Trav develop a special friendship‹but even their mutual caring can't keep the gap from widening or avert the tragedy of Trav's suicide.
Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. Two Jewish boys growing to manhood in Brooklyn discover that differences can strengthen friendship and understanding.
Uhlman, Fred. Reunion. Thirty years later, the Jewish narrator recalls his doomed friendship with the son of a nobleman in Nazi Germany. A poignant and provocative novella.
Wharton, William. Birdy. In a VA hospital, Birdy is prompted by his friend Al to review his bird-obsessed youth, and discovers freedom without flight.
Have You Read Anything Humorous Lately?
Adams, Douglas, and Mark Carwardine. Last Chance to See. Adams, author of the Hitchhiker trilogy, and zoologist Carwardine embark on a personal journey filled with humor, irony, and frustrations as they attempt to observe some of the earth's exotic endangered species.
Gilmore, Kate. Enter Three Witches. Sixteen-year-old
Bren finds living with witches hard enough, but how can he prevent his
girlfriend from discovering their existence?
Goldman, E.M. Getting Lincoln's Goat. When
Lincoln High's beloved mascot‹an old goat‹disappears before the big
football game, Elliot has the perfect opportunity to excel in a class assignment
to learn about the world of private detectives.
Greenberg, Joanne. Simple Gifts. A simple, poor family of engaging misfits turns their ranch into a place where visitors pay to sample "authentic" 1880's homestead life.
Koertge, Ron. Arizona Kid. Working one summer at a racetrack, living with his gay uncle, and falling madly in love make wimpy, short, tenth-grader Billy Kennedy more self-confident and wiser in the ways of the world.
Lipsyte, Robert. One Fat Summer. Overweight Bobby Marks confronts the ridicule of friends and sheds his excess pounds in a comical story of his last fat summer.
Macaulay, David. Motel of the Mysteries. "Plastic is forever" illustrates the wonderful things discovered by archaeologists in the year 4022, when they excavate the ruins of the Toot 'n' C'mon Motel.
Paulsen, Gary. Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered. The narrator and his cousin share adventures (often with both painful and hilarious results) in this short, action-packed story of one summer spent on a farm.