Great Nonfiction for Teens Contemporary Novels Great Books in a Series

Hypenated-American and Contemporary World Literature Writers

Great Novels for Teens Classics Plus Great Contemporary Titles

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Lists Updated May 2009

ADVENTURE

SPORTS

Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for all 604 Holes of his Most Spectacular Year by Bob Smiley
The author provides an account of the people he met and the events he experienced while following Tiger Woods through every game of the 2008 golf season.

The Oldest Rookie: Big-League Dreams from a Small-town Guy by Jim Morris
Jim Morris departs from the minor leagues becomes a high school physics teacher, and eventually makes the majors.

The Boys of Winter: the Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team by Wayne Coffey
The Boys of Winter, the United States hockey team, faces the top ranked Soviets in the 1980 winter Olympics.

All Around the Track: Oral Histories of Drivers, Mechanics, Officials, Owners, Journalists and Others in Motorsports Past and Present
by Anne B. Jones and Rex White
Jones and White profiles over 60 men and women from stock car and drag racing history.

Cheer!: Three Teams on a Quest for College Cheerleading's Ultimate Prize by Kate Torgovnick
Torgovnick chronicles the ups and downs of a single season in the lives of three college cheerleading squads from tryouts to the National Championships.

It’s Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong
Olympian Lance Armstrong talks about his life as a cyclist and his horrific battle with cancer.

Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, A Dream by H.G. Bissinger
Bissinger spent 1988 in Odessa, Tex., a town obsessed with its champion high-school football team, the Permian Panthers.

First and Long: A Black School, A White School, and their Season of Dreams by Greg Borowski
Two high schools, one suburban and predominantly white, the other Catholic and predominantly black, joined forces to field a football team in 2001.

Have Board, Will Travel: The Definitive History of Surf, Skate, and Snow by Jamie Brisick
Brisick shows how surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding developed, each one feeding off the advancements and buzz of the others.

Snowboarding Skills: The Back-to-Basics Essentials for all Levels by Cindy Kleh
How to snowboard plus choosing and taking care of equipment.

MEMOIRS/WORLD LITERTURE

Glass Castles: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls
This is a memoir of a dysfunctional family in the late 50s and 60s. As the parents slip further away from reality their children learn how to survive on their own.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
The author describes his childhood growing up in Iowa during the 1950s, recalling country fairs, playing hockey, paper routes, church suppers, and other nostalgic memories.

Kabul Beauty School: an American Woman goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez, with Kristin Ohlson
Soon after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian aid group and ends up opening a beauty school for Afghan women. .

My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid
Kincaid recounts the death of her brother at age thirty-three from AIDS, and recalls incidents from his life, and the lives of other family member on the island of Antigua. (A)

In the Company of Heroes: A True Story by Michael J. Durant
The 1993 battle in Mogadishu between American soldiers and Somali militiamen gets a human-scale retelling in this jaunty but harrowing memoir.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
While fleeing rebel soldiers, Ishmael is coerced to join the government army and become a “boy soldier.”

Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
Marina Nemat describes the torture and pain she suffered as a political prisoner in Iran's notorious Evin prison.

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
Santiago recounts her childhood of poverty in rural Puerto Rico and her teenage years with her grandmother in New York City.

The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey by Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara chronicles his 1952 adventure on motorbike throughout South America with friend Alberto Granado.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES/WEATHER

The Green Book: the Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen
Provides suggestions on living environmentally friendly; contains comments by celebrities including Will Ferrell, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, and Tiki Barber.

True Green: 100 Everyday Ways You Can Contribute to a Healthier Planet by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin
McKay and Bonnin describe one hundred ways in which individuals can make a positive difference in the environment through simple lifestyle changes.

The Hot Zone by James Preston
The true story of how a deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in a Washington, D.C. animal test lab. In a matter of days, 90% of the primates exposed to the virus are dead.

Big Weather: Chasing Tornadoes in the Heart of America by Mark Svenvold
The author profiles real tornadoes and severe weather patterns over six thousand miles of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, known as Tornado Alley.

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
Meteorologists called it the "perfect storm" because of the rare combination of factors that created it.

PHILOSOPHY

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning (Series) by Jack Canfield
The hugely popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series contains stories, poems, and cartoons relating to the specific troubles that traumatize teenagers everywhere.

Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters by Dick Staub
Explores the spiritual themes of the "Star Wars" films and explains how the films are introducing younger generations to an increased sense of spirituality and Christianity.

Action Philosophers Giant-Size Thing 1 by Fred Van Lente
A collective biography of the lives and thoughts of history's A-list brain trust told in a hip and humorous graphic fashion. Plato -- Bodhidharma -- Nietzsche -- Thomas Jefferson -- St. Augustine -- Ayn Rand -- Sigmund Freud -- C.G. Jung -- Joseph Campbell.

Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern-day Journey of Discovery through World Philosophy by C. Phillips
Phillips asks peoples from different cultures and backgrounds the meaning of Socrates’ six questions.

The Simpsons and Philosophy: the D’oh! Of Homer edited by William Irwin
Eighteen essays relate the family from the television series The Simpsons to philosophy, discussing each family member's philosophical leanings, the show's themes, and the show's treatment of ethics.

The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV
Through conversations, stories and meditations, the Dalai Lama show us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement.

ANIMALS

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery
The author describes her unique friendship with a pig named Christopher Hogwood, a sickly piglet who helped her develop a new relationship with neighbors in her small-town community.

Izzy and Lenore: Two dogs, an Unexpected Journey and Me by Jon Katz
As trained hospice volunteers visiting homes and nursing facilities, Katz and Izzy bring comfort to people who most need it. Meanwhile, Lenore--quickly dubbed the Hound of Love--arrives at Bedlam Farms.

Babylon’s Ark: the Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo by Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence
Chronicles the history of the Baghdad Zoo from the coalition's invasion of Iraq in 2003 through 2006, addressing how the attack had destroyed the grounds and killed many animals and discussing how the efforts of zoo personnel, American soldiers, and conservationist Anthony Lawrence helped reestablish the park.

Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
Labrador retrievers are generally considered even-tempered, calm and reliable; and then there's Marley, the subject of this delightful tribute to one Lab who doesn't fit the mold.

SOCIAL SCIENCES/HISTORY

He's Just Not That Into You: the No-excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
“ There are no mixed messages. The truth may be that ‘he is just not that into you’.” Author of It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken: The Smart Girl's Breakup Buddy

97 Things to Do Before you Finish High School by Steven Jenkins and Erika Stalder
Discover new places, new people, new hobbies, and open your eyes to the world.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide by Sean Covey
A step-by-step guide to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure.

Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest your Destiny by Hill Harper
“ Straight talk and inspiring advice for America's youth are offered by the powerhouse public speaker and star of CSI: NY.

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin
In their own voice, inmates sentenced to death as teenagers talk about their crimes and their lives in prison.

Race: A History Beyond Black and White by Marc Aronson
You know it at a glance: he's black; she's white. We all know it's wrong to make these judgments, but they come faster than thought. Why? Where did those feelings come from? Why are they so powerful?

Out Law – What LGBT Youths Should Know About Their Legal Rights by Lisa Keen
Keen answers a number of questions about the legal rights of young people who are openly gay.

The Call of the Mall: A Walking Tour Through the Crossroads of our Shopping Culture by Paco Underhill
Presents a critical survey of malls, analyzing everything from parking lots to restrooms, and looking at the methods businesses use to entice shoppers to buy.

America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the Sixties by Laban Carrick Hill
Describes how the young Americans of the 1960s found creative ways to express their beliefs and views on political and social fronts..

What Ifs? Of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been: New Essays by Antony Beevor
Contains seventeen essays in which historians examine key moments in American history and speculate on what might have happened if events had played out differently.

War is—Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk About War edited by Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell

Hypenated-American and Contemporary World Literature Writers
(A) = Adult for Teens

HYPHENATED AMERICAN LIT

The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy (Puerto-Rican-American)
Eleven-year-old Verdita Ortiz-Santiago, living Puerto Rico in the early 1960s, finds herself torn between wanting to grow up and longing to be treated like a child, yearning for independence and needing the comfort of home. (A)

Does My Head Look Big In This? By Randa Abdel-Fattah (Arab-Australian)
Year Eleven at an exclusive prep school in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, would be tough enough, but it is further complicated for Amal when she decides to wear the hijab, the Muslim head scarf.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Indian-American)
A young man born of Indian parents in America struggles with issues of identity from his teens to his thirties. (A)
Author of Interpreter of Maladies

House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport (Hawaiian)
Ana, the daughter of Anahola, is abandoned by her mother as a small child.  She is raised by her extended family on the seemingly beautiful Hawaiian island, O’ahu. (A)

Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Indian-American) Rakhi, a single mother and struggling artist living in Berkeley, Calif., has always been vaguely aware of her own mother's unusual gift - the ability to interpret dreams. (A)

Midnight at the Dragon Café by June Fong Bates (Chinese-Canadian) Su-Jen (Annie) is torn between two cultures and between her parents.  Annie is becoming a Canadian while her parents stay frozen in time. (A)

The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Cofer Ortiz (Puerto Rican) A Puerto Rican girl is torn between traditional family values and redefining herself in this coming of age tale. (A)

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka (Japanese-American) A story told from five different points of view, chronicling the experiences of Japanese Americans caught up in the nightmare of the World War II internment camps.

Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao (Vietnamese-American)
Mai Nguyen, a young Vietnamese woman, comes of age in America after leaving Saigon in 1975, while her mother has difficulty adjusting to life in their new country in this novel filled with Vietnamese lore. (A)

Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber (Arab-American)
Never married, living with an Iraqi-immigrant uncle and devoted dog and working as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, thirty-nine year-old Sirine finds her life turned upside down by a handsome immigrant Arabic literature professor. (A) Author of The Language of Baklava: A Memoir

Aguero Sisters by Christina Garcia (Cuban-American)
Reina and Constancia Aguero are sisters who grew up in Cuba but who haven't talked in thirty years--not since Constancia snuck out of Cuba and crossed the water to the United States. (A)

The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan (Chinese-American)
Struggling to regain her voice and express her true feelings to her husband, ghostwriter Ruth Young discovers that her inability to speak closely parallels the story of her mother LuLing's early life in China. (A)
(A) = Adult for Teens

CONTEMPORARY WORLD LIT

Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
In India, in 1941, when her father becomes brain-damaged in a non-violent protest march, fifteen year-old Vidya and her family are forced to move in with her father's extended family and become accustomed to a totally different way of life.

 A Good Indian Wife by Anne Cherian (India)
Neel Sarath, a fully Americanized anesthesiologist living in San Francisco, is lured back to India for a last visit with his ailing grandfather only to be tricked into an arranged marriage. (A)

Spud by John van de Ruit (South Africa)
In 1990, thirteen-year-old John "Spud" Milton keeps a diary of his first year at an elite, boys-only boarding school in South Africa, as he deals with bizarre housemates, wild crushes, embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, and much more.

Petropolis  by Anya Ulinich (Russia)
At the age of 15, Sasha, a young girl of the Soviet intelligentsia, becomes a mail-order bride to escape her overbearing mother, her infant daughter and to find her runaway father in America. (A)

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea (Saudi Arabia)
Four young, upper-class Saudi Arabian women negotiate the clash between tradition and the encroaching West in this controversial debut that has been billed as the "first modern Arab novel."  Their story is told through a series of emails written by one of the four young women. (A)

If Today be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar (India)
After her husband's death, a Mumbai native moves in with her son and American daughter-in-law in Cleveland where she struggles with cultural differences. (A)

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)
The lives of two Afghani women are interconnected in this heartbreaking tale of perseverance that sheds light on the recent history of Afghanistan.  (A) Author of the The Kite Runner

The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra (Algeria)
The lives of two couples are followed as they live under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. (A)

The Sirens of Baghdad: A Novel by Yasmina Khadra (Algeria) When a young Iraqi man witnesses some despicable acts of war in his hometown, he feels personally compelled to seek revenge and restore honor to his name, enlisting in the jihad and volunteering for the most devastating attack yet. (A) Author of The Attack

The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien (South Africa)
Lizzie, the privileged daughter of a South African family in the 1960s, learns firsthand about the cruelties of apartheid when her beloved Xhosa nanny, Salamina, must hide her newborn baby from authorities. (A)

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar (India)
Bhima, a domestic servant in the household of Sera Dubash, an upper-class Parsi housewife, develops a bond with her employer but their friendship still cannot overcome the restrictions of class and money. (A)

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh (India)
In the Bay of Bengal lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans. In this place of vengeful beauty, the lives of three people from different worlds collide and are drawn unaware into the hidden undercurrents of this isolated world. (A)

Saturday by Ian Mc Ewan (Britian)
Neurosurgeon Henry Perowne has a rough morning witnessing a burning plane flash across a sky, protests against the impending war in Iraq, a car accident, and an altercation with a twitchy thug named Baxter. (A)

The Year the Gypsies Came by Linzi Glass (South Africa) In Johannesburg, South Africa, in the late 1960s, twelve year-old Emily, who longs for affection from her quarreling parents, finds comfort in the stories of a Zulu servant and in her friendship with a young houseguest.

Margherita Dolce Vita  by Stefano Benni (Italy)
Enjoying the simple life, fifteen-year-old, Margherita decides it is up to her to protect her quaint family from their new neighbors and the consumerism that drives their lives. (A)

The Devil and Miss Prym: a Novel of Temptation by Paulo Coelho (Brazil)
A stranger arrives in the remote village of Viscos carrying a notebook and eleven gold bars and searching for answers to his past and upsetting the village's peaceful existence. (A) (Fable)
(A) = Adult for Teens

Annie Dunne by Sebastian Barry (Ireland)
In teh 1950s, Annie Dunne and her cousin Sarah live and work on a farm in rural Wicklow at a time when the country around them is rapidly changing. (A)

The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
A love affair between a wealthy South African woman and an undocumented Arab challenges the notions of race, class, and citizenship. (A)

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Set in post-apartheid South Africa, a fifty-two-year-old college professor who has lost his job tries to relate to his daughter, Lucy, who works with an ambitious African farmer. (A)

Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (New Zealand)
As her beloved grandfather, chief of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, struggles to lead in difficult times and to find a male successor, young Kahu is developing a mysterious relationship with whales.

Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
by Ji-Li Jiang (China) Jiang describes the fear and hardship of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and recalls the political reign of terror that led to the persecution of the her family.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (China) During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, two boys are sent to the country for reeducation, where they meet the beautiful daughter of a local tailor and stumble upon a forbidden stash of Western literature. (A)

MEMOIRS

First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood by Thrity Umrigar (India)
Umrigar tells a poignant and powerful story of her Bombay childhood and adolescence as she comes of age as a Parsi girl in a predominantly Hindi city. (A)

Prisoner of Tehran, a Memoir by Marina Nemet (Iran)
Nemet describes the torture and pain she suffered as a political prisoner in Iran's notorious Evin prison. (A)

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat (Palestine) Barakat describes her childhood as a Palestinian refugee, discussing her family's experiences during and after the Six-Day War. (A)

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (Sierra Leone) Beah describes his experiences after he was driven from his home by war in Sierra Leone and picked up by the government army at the age of thirteen, serving as a soldier for three years before being removed from fighting by UNICEF. (A)

(A) = Adult for teens

OTHERS OF INTEREST

Kabul Beauty School: an American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez and Kristin Ohlson (America – Afghanistan) Deborah Rodriguez details her experiences in post-Taliban Afghanistan, discussing the opening of her beauty school and recalls the personal stories of various women who overcame obstacles to obtain an education in cosmetology. (A)

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asone Seierstad (Denmark-Afghanistan) After the fall of the Taliban, a bookseller in Kabul opens his house to a Western journalist, and what results is this remarkable and intimate story of ordinary lives that have weathered Afghanistan's extraordinary upheavals. (A)

Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You
by Hanna Jansen (German – fictionalized biography)
Jeanne lived the life of a typical Rwandan girl until, in one horrifying night, everything changed as political troubles unleashed a torrent of violence upon the Tutsi ethnic group.

Sold by Patricia McCormick (American – fictionalized current issues) Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her poor mountain home in Nepal thinking that she is to work in the city as a maid only to find that she has been sold into the sex slave trade in India and that there is no hope of escape.

POETRY AND NON-FICTION TITLES

Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle

19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East edited by Naomi Shihab Nye

This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World selected by Naomi Shihab Nye

The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry edited by Francisco Aragón; foreword by Juan Felipe Herrera

Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States edited by Lori Marie Carlson

Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States edited by Lori M. Carlson

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations-- One School at a Time by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin

Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other Quinceañera Stories: An Anthology edited by Adriana Lopez

Contemporary Novels
(A) = Adult for Teens

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
American journalist Julia Jarmond researches the brutal 1942 Nazi roundup in Paris and stumbles upon a connection between her family and one of the victims, which compels Julia to learn more about the girl's life. (A)

Unaccustomed Earth: Stories by Jhumpi Lahiri
This is a collection of eight short stories that are largely centered on themes of family and friendship, including the title story, "Unaccustomed Earth," in which Ruma, a young mother, is visited by her father in Seattle. (A)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Skeeter returns home to Mississippi from college in 1962 and begins to write stories about the African-American women that are found working in white households, which includes Aibileen, who grieves for the loss of her son while caring for her seventeenth white child, and Minny, Aibileen's sassy friend, the hired cook for a secretive woman who is new to town. (A)

The Time it Snowed In Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy
Eleven-year-old Verdita Ortiz-Santiago, living Puerto Rico in the early 1960s, finds herself torn between wanting to grow up and longing to be treated like a child, yearning for independence and needing the comfort of home.

Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm
A memoir chronicling the author's experience in a cult led by charismatic guru Sri Chinmoy, who declared himself a living god and proclaimed Jayanti Tamm to be the "Chosen One" before she broke free and built herself a new life. (A)

Have A Little Faith: A True Story by Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom, having been asked to write a eulogy for an elderly rabbi, begins a relationship with the man in order to get to know him better, and, in the process, also becomes involved with the plight of a local pastor whose church is falling down. Author of Tuesday with Morrie; The Five People you Meet in Heaven and For One More Day (A)

The Shack by William Paul Young
After Missy is abducted during a vacation and evidence of her murder shows up at a shack in the forests of Oregon, Mackenzie Philips, her father, receives a strange note, apparentaly from God, inviting him back to that shack for the weekend. (A)

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Clare and Henry, deeply in love, try desperately to maintain normal lives even though he has been diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a condition in which his genetic clock periodically resets, pulling him through time to the past or future. (A)

Brida by Paulo Coelho
While on a quest for knowledge, Brida, a young Irish girl, encounters two individuals who teach her about magic; a forest hermit, who helps her to realize the goodness in the world, and a woman who teaches her how to dance and pray. Author of The Devil and Miss Prym (A)

A Good Indian Wife by Anne Cherian
Neel Sarath, a fully Americanized anesthesiologist living in San Francisco, is lured back to India for a last visit with his ailing grandfather only to be tricked into an arranged marriage with Leila, a local English teacher. (A)

One Week in December by Holly Chamberlin
Becca Rowan travels to her family's rambling Maine farmhouse the week before Christmas determined to reclaim the daughter she gave up as a teen to be raised by her older brother and his wife, but she is unprepared for the strong reactions of her family members. (A)

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
Living in Boston, Aidan, a police officer, Nora, an Irish emigrate and Luther, an African American witness events such as the baseball strike, the Spanish influenza, prohibition, and the Boston police strike all occurring between 1917 and 1919. (A)

The Story of Edgar Sawtell by David Wroblewski
Edgar Sawtelle, born mute, lives contentedly on his parents' farm helping raise a unique breed of dogs, but the death of his father and his belief that his uncle had something to do with it force him to flee to the forest with three yearlings. (A)

Q and A (Slumdog Millionaire) by Vikas Swarup
After making it into the finals of India's biggest quiz show, Ram Mohammad Thomas is put in jail as authorities question how a poor orphan who has never gone to school could win such a contest. (A)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Suddenly orphaned and penniless during the Depression, a veterinary student jumps a third-rate circus train and finds romance, danger, and a bond with a special elephant named Rosie. (A)

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Louis Lynch and his wife Sarah are preparing for the trip of a lifetime in Italy, where they hope to reconnect with one another and their oldest friend, a reclusive artist whose long-standing love for Sarah may threaten their vacation and their future together. (A)

Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman
Twenty-nine-year-old aspiring yoga instructor and freelance writer Amanda travels to India to do research for an “idiots” guide book on enlightenment. (A)

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Four young women from Saudi Arabia's upper class face the prejudices and strict rules of their culture and struggle to lead the lives they want. Their story is told through a series of emails written by one of the four young women. (A)

(A) = Adult for Teens

Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
Lizzie travels to London to be with Andrew who she thought was her dream man, and upon learning her mistake moves on to France to stay with a friend who is working at a chateau for the summer. (Series) (A)

Wild Pitch by Mike Lupica
Washed-up baseball pitcher Charlie Stoddard begins to dream of taking up the game again and being the best, but before he can make it back into the majors, he must convince the coaches and players his arrogant attitude has changed for the better. (A)

Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo
With his sister’s guru in tow, Otto Ringling drives cross-country to settle the estate of his recently deceased parents.  Author of Golfing with God (A)

Glass Castles by Jeanette Walls
Walls recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home. (A)

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert recounts the experiences she had on her year-long journey around the world. (A)

Terrorist by John Updike
The son of an Irish-American mother and an Egyptian father turns to Islam at the age of 11, but it is his job at a furniture store that steers him in the direction of a terrorist cell. (A)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A father and son struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic America as they travel to the coast in search of salvation with just the clothes on their backs, a pistol to defend themselves, a cart of scavenged food, and their love for each other. (A)

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
Thirty-year-old Nicky recalls the vivid December day nineteen  years earlier when she and her father found an abandoned infant in the snow and this poignant event's aftermath. (A)

(A) = Adult for Teens

Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates
Living in a small Canadian town in the 1960’s, su-Jen and her parents struggle to settle into their new lives and adjust to a radically different culture.  (A)

Saturday by Ian McEwan
Neurosurgeon Henry Perowne has a rough morning, witnessing a burning plane flash across a sky, a protest march  against the impending war in Iraq, a car accident, and an altercation with a twitchy thug named Baxter. (A)

Free Fire by C.J. Box
Former Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is asked to secretly investigate the murder of four campers by Clay McCann, a mass murderer who walked free because of a loophole in the law. (7th in the Joe Pickett series) (A)

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
Twenty-nine-year-old Sydney takes a tutoring job at the summer cottage of the Edwards family where she is supposed to prepare daughter Julie for the SAT exam, but when the grown brothers arrive tensions rise and a love triangle is formed. (A)

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Codi returns to her hometown to confront her past and face her ailing father. What she finds is a town threatened by an environmental catastrophe and a man who could change her life. (A)

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
After he is released from the Army, John Tyree plans to spend the rest of his life with University of North Carolina student Savannah Lynn Curtis, but the events of September 11 change everything. Author of The Notebook and The Last Song.   (A)

The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski
June’s lifestyle is changed dramatically when she gets in a car accident that kills her passenger Marissa. June finds an unfinished "to-do" list that she decides to complete in memory of the deceased. (A)

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
After surviving an attack while biking, Laurel, working at a homeless shelter, meets Bobbie Cocker, a mentally ill man who has a box of photos that she becomes obsessed with. (A)

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
A small New England town is torn apart in the aftermath of a 19 minute school shooting spree. Author of My Sister’s Keeper and Change of Heart (A)

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Lily and her companion, Rosaleen, an African-American woman who has cared from Lily since her mother's death ten years earlier, flee their home after Rosaleen is victimized by racist townsman. (A)

(A) = Adult for Teens

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own morality when they meet on a rooftop famous for those about to commit suicide. Author of About a Boy; High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked (A)

The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien
This novel explores the relationships, tensions, secrets, and passions of Apartheid South Africa and privileged Lizzie's coming of age in such a society. Originally an award-winning play (A)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Follows nine-year-old Oskar Schell as he encounters a number of interesting characters in his search for information about his father who died in the World Trade Tower and tries to find the lock that fits the mysterious key his father had. Author of Everything is Illuminated (A)

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Alma Singer was named after a character in a book that was both written and lost generations ago, so when a mysterious letter arrives in the mail, she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. (A)

Dumping Billy by Olivia Goldsmith
Kate plans to help her best friend Bina win back her fiancé and introduces her to Billy Nolan, but Kate's plan begins to fall apart when she falls for Billy herself. (A)

Rise and Shine by Anna Quidlen
Bridget relates the story of how her sister’s career is in ruins after muttering profanity into an open mike and how Meghan’s disgrace has had a profound impact on the lives of those around her. (A)

Killer Heels by Sheryl J. Anderson
Advice columnist Molly Forrester calls upon her friends, Cassady and Tricia, to help her solve the murder of a colleague; however, her investigation stalls as she must first deal with her pretentious boyfriend, Peter. (A)

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
On a farm outside Cape Cod, the lives and loves of over a dozen men and women reveal terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and a spirit of coming home. (A)

(A) = Adult for Teens

Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
For ten summers, the Seton family enjoys a week in their New England countryside home until a hunting rifle accident turns their world upside down. Author of Midwives (A)

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Due to a mistake at the county assessor’s office, a small bungalow is put up for auction and purchased by a former Iranian Air Force colonel, but the former owner and her boyfriend fight to get it back at any cost. (A)

Winter and Night by SJ Rozan
Private investigator Bill Smith tracks his fifteen-year-old nephew who has escaped police custody back to his home town in New Jersey, where he hopes to learn more about why the boy is on the run. (A)

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
In the Bengali tidal country things are constantly changing, so when Piya, a marine biologist, Fokir, an illiterate fisherman,  and Kanai, a translator, are thrown together in this violently lush region their lives are forever altered. (A)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Just released from prison, Shadow encounters Mr. Wednesday, an enigmatic stranger who seems to know a lot about him, and when Mr. Wednesday offers him a job as his bodyguard, Shadow accepts and is plunged into a dark and perilous world. (A)

Love by Toni Morrison
The late Bill Cosey, one-time owner of the Cosey Hotel and Resort, a hot spot for vacationing African-Americans, is kept alive through the memories of the women he loved and who loved him. (A)

Blessings by Anna Quindlen
Lives are changed forever when a teenage couple leaves the baby they cannot keep in a box on the grounds of the Blessings estate, and caretaker Skip Cuddy, aided by matriarch Lydia Blessing, decides to keep and raise the infant. (A)

(A) = Adult for teens

Great Novels for Teens

The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill Alexander
In an East Texas town largely ruled by prejudices and bullies, fourteen-year-old Austin sets out to win a ride in the next parade and, in the process, grows in her understanding of friendship.

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors
Sixteen-year-old Katrina's kindness to a man she finds sleeping behind her grandmother's coffeehouse leads to a strange reward as Malcolm insists on rewarding her by granting her deepest wish.

Destroy all Cars by Blake Nelson
Through assignments for English class, seventeen-year-old James Hoff rants against consumerism and his classmates' apathy, puzzles over his feelings for his ex-girlfriend, and expresses disdain for his emotionally-distant parents.

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Eighteen-year-old Zach does not remember how he came to be in a treatment center for alcoholics, but through therapy and caring friends, his amnesia fades and he learns to face his past while working toward a better future.

Angry Management by Chris Crutcher
A collection of three novellas about insecurity, anger, and prejudice, but also love, freedom, power, and survival, featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Rosie and Skate by Beth Ann Bauman
Fifteen-year-old Rosie and her sixteen-year-old sister Skate are looked after by their cousin Angie while their father, a drunk, spends time in jail, and both girls endure problems with boyfriends and family while living in an old Victorian house on the Jersey shore.

Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender
When fifteen-year-old Lexi's younger sister Kasey begins behaving strangely and their old Victorian house seems to take on a life of its own, Lexi investigates and discovers some frightening facts about previous occupants of the house.

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Jennifer Harris, years after being the tormented outsider on the playground, has reinvented herself into Jenna Vaughn, a popular girl with what seems to be the perfect life, but when a childhood friend re-enters her life, she is forced to confront the most traumatic event of her past. 

The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
After a meteor hits the moon and sets off a series of horrific climate changes, seventeen-year-old Alex Morales must take care of his sisters alone in the chaos of New York City. Author of the companion book Life as We Knew It

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome change her life and that of her family forever.

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
In three intertwining short novellas, several high school couples experience the trials and tribulations along with the joys of romance during a Christmas Eve snowstorm in a small town.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king. Author of companion book Fire

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.  Sequel: Catching Fire

The Adoration Of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a seventeen-year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.

Paper Towns by John Green
One month before graduating, Quentin "Q" basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury
When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one returns, the FBI wants to know what happened.

Madapple by Christina Meldrum
A girl brought up in near isolation is thrown into a twisted web of family secrets and religious fundamentalism when her mother dies and she goes to live with relatives she never knew she had.

Slam by Nick Hornby
At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones' girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam's life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically. Author of About a Boy and High Fidelity

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
A series of letters to an unknown correspondent reveals the coming-of-age trials of a high-school student.

Shooting Monarchs by John Halliday
Macy and Danny, two teenage boys who have both grown up under difficult circumstances, turn out very differently--one becomes a hero, the other a murderer.

Spud by John van de Ruit
John "Spud" Milton keeps a diary of his first year at an elite, boys-only boarding school in South Africa, as he deals with bizarre housemates, wild crushes, embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, and much more.

Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway
Sixteen-year-old Audrey gains unwanted fame and celebrity status when her ex-boyfriend, a rock musician, records a breakup song about her that soars to the top of the Billboard charts.

Absolutely, Maybe by Lisa Yee
When living with her mother, an alcoholic ex-beauty queen, becomes unbearable, Maybelline "Maybe" Chestnut runs away to California and tries to track down her birth father.

Kissing Snowflakes by Abby Sher
Samantha stuck at a Vermont inn over winter break with her dad, brother, and new stepmom, has decided to stay indoors and sulk through the vacation, but she changes her mind when she meets Drew, a handsome ski instructor, and Eric, the desk clerk.

Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy
Seventeen-year-old Alice, released from prison with a new identity after serving six years for murdering a child, tries to keep her anonymity from the British tabloids while haunted by memories of her past trauma.

Good Enough by Paula Yoo
A Korean-American teenager tries to please her parents by getting into an Ivy League college, but a new guy in school and her love of the violin tempt her in new directions.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn
High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin
When seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers her family is under an ancient curse by an evil Elfin Knight, she realizes that to break the curse she must perform three impossible tasks before her daughter is born in order to save them both.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot
Sixteen-year-old Steph Landry finds an old book on “how to be popular” and decides to change her social status by following its advice, much to the bafflement of her two best friends.

How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Zeigler
Seventeen-year-old Sugar Magnolia Dempsey is tired of leaving friends behind every time her hippie parents decide to move, but her plan to be unpopular at her new  school backfires when other students join her on the path to "supreme dorkdom."

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies, seventeen year-old Tyler enjoys his new reputation and the attention of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts. Author of Speak, Catalyst and Prom

Glass by Ellen Hopkins (sequel to Crank)
Eighteen-year-old Kristina is determined to manage her crystal meth addiction in order to take care of her newborn son, but when the pull of the drug becomes too strong, her greatest fears are quickly realized. Author of Burned

Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and Other Commandments I Have Broken by Rosemary Graham
Having endured the vicious rumors spread by her professional-skateboarder ex-boyfriend, high school sophomore Kelsey Wilcox tries to salvage her reputation.

The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
Macy is struggling with the death of her father and her mom’s emotional withdrawal and retreat into work.  When Macy’s goal to be perfect is smashed, a world of opportunity presents itself. Author of Just Listen and Along for the Ride.

Dear Zoe by Philip Beard
On September 11, 2001, while the world focuses elsewhere, fifteen-year-old Tess loses her three-year-old sister to a hit and run driver, only to struggle to cope with her loss and her family's dysfunction until she writes a letter to her departed sister and begins to sort out her life.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Having been recently dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend to try to find some new direction in life while also trying to create a mathematical formula to explain his relationships.

Fake ID by Walter Sorrells
After a lifetime of moving and assuming new identities, sixteen-year-old Chass begins to piece together the disturbing past that haunts her and her mother and which involves a mysterious tape, a deceased popular singer, and the secrets of several people in a small Alabama town.

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but after a fatal car crash, it is defined by the search for answers about life and death.

Playing in Traffic by Gail Giles
Shy and unremarkable, seventeen-year-old Matt Lathrop is surprised and flattered to find himself singled out for the sexual attentions of the alluring Skye Colby, until he discovers the evil purpose behind her actions. Author of Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters and Shattering Glass.

Prep by Jake Coburn
A one-time tag artist, Nick tries to come to terms with the death of a friend, to protect the brother of his would-be girlfriend, to escape the violence of wealthy New York City prep-school hoods, and to figure out who he really is.

Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn
A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his unbearable home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, to find that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive stepfather. Author of Breathing Underwater.

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
Vince, the son of a mob boss, tries to avoid "the Life," but he cannot seem to get out from under his father's influence in this funny novel.

The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
Wendy, a thirteen-year-old girl, finds herself living with her father, across the country from her native Brooklyn, coping with her mother's violent death in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Out of Orderby A. M. Jenkins
Colton Trammel is a high school baseball stud (yet this is NOT a “baseball book”), but he is struggling in school and in love.  His struggles are heightened when he is forced to interact with a new girl who is much different than he. 

Jake, Reinvented by Gordon Korman
Jake, the mysterious new kid, is throwing wild parties every Friday night as he is wooing the ever-popular girlfriend of the star quarterback. 

Heat by Mike Lupica
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.

Bottled Up by Jaye Murray
An excellent exploration into the actions and thoughts of the members of an alcoholic family, told through the first person narration of the eldest son who has his own controversial form of escapism.  A powerful look at the perils of the alcoholic family and the drug-addicted teen.

The She by Carol Plum-Ucci
After his parents are lost at sea, Evan and his older brother leave their seaside home in West Hook to escape bad memories.

Great Books in a Series
(A) = Adult for Teens
(GN) = Graphic Novel

Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

The Summer of Cotton Candy
The Fall of Candy Corn
The Winter of Candy Canes
The Spring of Candy Apples
by Debbie Viguie
Forced by her father to get a summer job, seventeen-year-old Candace makes the most of selling cotton candy in an amusement park, despite a botched nametag, vindictive co-workers, lewd patrons, and growing distant from her best friend.

Blue Bloods
Masquerades
Revelations
Van Alen Legacy
Misguided Angel
by Melissa de la Cruz
Schuyler Van Alen, a loner at a prestigious New York City private school, sets out to learn the secrets of the Blue Bloods, an ancient group of vampires.

Lightning Thief
Sea of Monsters
Titan’s Curse
Battle of the Labyrinth
Last Olympian
by Rick Riordan
Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable to control his temper, learns the truth from his mother that his father is the Greek god Poseidon, and is sent to Camp Half Blood where he is befriended by a satyr and the demigod daughter of Athena who join him in a journey to the Underworld to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt and prevent a catastrophic war.

Private
Invitation Only
Untouchable
Confessions
Inner Circle
Legacy
Ambition
Revelation
Last Christmas (the Private Prequel)
Paradise Lost
Scandal
Suspicion
by Kate Brian
Reed Brennan enters Easton Academy, an exclusive private boarding school steeped in tradition, honor, excellence . . . and secrets so dark they're almost invisible.  Reed quickly discovers that getting into Easton doesn't mean you'll survive.

Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn
by Stephanie Meyer
Bella moves to a small town outside of Seattle where she falls for a vampire, befriends a werewolf, and has to work with both of them to solve a series of killings that threatens the entire city.

Pretty Little Liars
Flawless
Perfect
Unbelievable
Wicked
Killer
Heartless
by Sara Shepard
The tight friendship of four girls is torn apart when one goes missing and the others receive taunting messages from a mysterious person known only as “A”.

Size 12 is Not Fat
Size 14 is Not Fat Either
Big Boned
by Meg Cabot (Heather Wells Mystery Series)
Former pop star Heather Wells, assistant dormitory director at a New York college, investigates murders at the school while trying to maintain a normal and decent love life.

Uglies
Pretties
Specials
Extras
by Scott Westerfeld
Tally, who at her sixteenth birthday is chosen to become a beauty whose only job is to have a good time, rebels against the society that engineers its citizens to be perfect and brings down the whole pretties/uglies/specials regime.

Girl 15, Charming but Insane
Girl (Nearly) 16, Absolute Torture
Girl, Going on 17, Pants on Fire
by Sue Limb
Jess, living with her mum, separated from her father in Cornwall, and with a best friend who seems to do everything perfectly, finds her own assets through humor.

S.A.S.S: Students Across Seven Seas Series
Pardon My French by Cathy Hapka
Spain or Shine by Michelle Jellen
The Sound of Munich by Suzanne Nelson
Getting the Boot by Peggy Strauss
Swede Dreams by Eva Apleqvist
Girl Overboard by Aimee Ferris
Finnish Line by Linda Gerber
Now and Zen by Linda Gerber
Westminster Abbey by Micol Ostow
Young adults spend adventurous semesters overseas. 

Sloppy Firsts          
Second Helpings
Charmed Thirds
Fourth Comings
Perfect Fifths
by Megan McCafferty
Jessica Darling takes us on the turbulent roller-coaster ride that is being a teenager in this spirited adventure in the madcap subculture of high school. Author Megan McCafferty offers a compassionate, clear-eyed tale of how a sassy young woman survives teenage-hood. 

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy
Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady
Under the Jolly Rogers: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber
In the Belly of the Bloodhound : Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber
by L.A. Meyer
Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a thirteen year-old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates.

An Amulet of Samarkand        
The Golem’s Eye
Ptolemy’s Gate
by Jonathan Stroud
In this fantasy series, Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, and the djinni Bartimaeus fight magicians and seek to conquer evil before it destroys London.

Balefire: A Chalice of Wind
Balefire: A Circle of Ashes
Balefire: A Feather of Stone
Balefire: A Necklace of Water
by Cate Tiernan
Separated since birth, seventeen year-old twins Thais and Clio unexpectedly meet in New Orleans where they seem to be pursued by a coven of witches who want to harness the twins' magical powers for its own ends.

Hawksong
Snakecharm
Falcondance
Wolfcry
Wyvernhail
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
The five books in this Kiesha’ra fantasy series focus on three types of shapeshifters and their continuous struggles to peacefully coexist in their neighboring kingdoms.

The 310: Life as a Poser
The 310: Everything She Wants
Boy Trouble: The 310
by Beth Killian
Hoping to escape her suburban life by accepting an invitation to visit her famous talent agent aunt, teenage Eva is quickly seduced by the glamour and glitz of Hollywood and considers an opportunity to contact the mother she never knew.

Barefoot Gen, Volume One: a Cartoon Story of Hiroshima
Barefoot Gen, Volume Two: The Day After
Barefoot Gen, Volume Three: Life After the Bomb
by Keiji Nakazawa
These volumes, the first three in a ten part series, tell the gruesome and heartbreaking story of Gen and his family members who survive the atomic bombings of Hiroshima during World War II. (GN)

Sabriel
Lireal      
Abhorsen
by Garth Nix
This is an award winning fantasy trilogy set in a parallel world that features classic battles between good and evil.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by J.K. Rowling
Follow Harry’s annual adventures in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as he discovers his family heritage, develops friendships, learns magic, feuds with classmates, and battles the evil Lord Voldemort.

(A) = Adult for Teens
(GN) = Graphic Novel

Open Season
Savage Run
Winterkill
Trophy Hunt
Out of Range
In Plain Sight
Free Fire
Blood Trail
Below Zero
Nowhere to Run
by C.J. Box
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett becomes involved in adventures and mysteries in the outdoors in these suspenseful and action-packed thrillers. (A)

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging
On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of
a Sex God
Knocked out by My Nunga-Nungas          
Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants
Away Laughing on a Fast Camel
Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers
Startled by  His Furry Shorts
Love is a Many Trousered Thing
Stop in the Name of Pants!
by Louise Rennison
Young teen Georgia Nicolson is the protagonist in this series, and although it takes place in Britain, the issues are global and many teenaged girls will relate.  Written in diary form, these truly hilarious books chronicle the often minute-by-minute, very dramatic, and significant flip-flops of a teenager's psyche.

FOR MORE SERIES BOOKS,
SEE THESE AUTHORS:

Holly Black (Modern Faerie Tales)
Francesca Lia Block (Wetzie Bat Series)
Ann Brashares (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries Series)
Orson Scott Card (Ender Series) (A)
Zoey Dean (A-List)
Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum Novels) (A)
Ian Fleming (James Bond) (A)
Rick Geary (Treasury of Victorian Murder Series) (GN)
Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone Series) (A)
Cathy Hopkins (Mates, Dates Series)
Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto Series) (GN)
Robert Ludlum (A)
Yuko Osada (Toto! The Wonerful Adventures) (GN)
Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Series)
James Patterson (A)
Anne Perry (Thomas Pitt Novels) (A)
Dave Pelzer (A Child Called It) (A)
Philip Pullman (Golden Compass)
Robert Randisi (Rat Pack Mysteries) (A)
Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2 Series) (GN)
Cate Tiernan (Sweep Series)
J.R.R.Tolkien (Lord of the Rings Trilogy)
Cecily von Ziegesar (Gossip Girl Series)
Todd Strassar (Mob Princess Series)
Charles Todd (Ian Rutledge Series)

(A) = Adult for Teens
(GN) = Graphic Novel

Classics Plus Great Contemporary Titles
(A) = Adult for Teens
(GN) = Graphic Novel

AESCHYLUS—Oresteia

ABBEY, EDWARD—Desert Solitaire

ACHEBE, CHINUA—Things Fall Apart

ADAMS, RICHARD—Watership Down

ALBEE, JAMES—Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

ALCOTT, LOUSIA MAY—Little Women

ALIGHIERI, DANTE—Divine Comedy, The

ALLENDE, ISABELA—House of Spirits, The

ALLISON, DOROTHY—Bastard Out of Carolina

ALSANEA, RAJAA—Girls of Riyadh

ALVAREZ, JULIA—How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents

ANGELOU, MAYA—I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

ARUNDHATI, ROY—God of Small Things, The

ATWOOD, MARGARET—Handmaid’s Tale, A

AUSTEN, JANE—Pride and Prejudice

BALDWIN, JAMES—Go Tell it on the Mountain

BALZAC, HONORÉ de—Father Goriot

BANKS, RUSSELL—Rule of the Bone

BEAH, ISMAEL—Long Way Gone, A

BECKETT, SAMUEL—Waiting for Godot

BOYLE, T.C.—Tortilla Curtain

BORGES, JORGE LUIS—Ficciones

BRADBURY, RAY—Fahrenheit 451

BRONTE, ANNE—Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The

BRONTE, CHARLOTTE—Jane Eyre

BRONTE, EMILY—Wuthering Heights

CAMUS ALBERT—Stranger, The

CAO, LAN—Monkey Bridge

CARROLL, LEWIS—Through the Looking Glass

CATHER, WILLA—My Antonia

CERVANTES, MIGUEL de—Don Quixote de la Mancha

CHABON, MICHAEL—Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The

CHAUCER, GEOFFREY—Canterbury Tales, The

CHEEVER, JOHN— "Swimmer, The”

CHEHOV, ANTON—Three Sisters, The

CHOPIN, KATE—Awakening, The

COELHO, PAULO—Alchemist, The

COETZEE, J.M.—Waiting for the Barbarians

COLLINS, WILKIE—Moonstone, The

CONRAD, JOSEPH—Heart of Darkness

CRANE, STEPHEN—Red Badge of Courage, The

DAI, SIJIE—Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

DEFOE, DANIEL—Robinson Crusoe

DICKENS, CHARLES—David Copperfield

DINESEN, ISAK—Out of Africa

DOSTOEVSKY, FYODOR—Crime and Punishment

DOUGLASS, FREDERICK—My Bondage and My Freedom

DREISER, THEODORE—American Tragedy, An

Du MAURIER, DAPHNE—Rebecca

EAQUIVEL, LAURA—Like Water For Chocolate

ELIOT, GEORGE—Adam Bede

ELLISON, RALPH—Invisible Man

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO—Representative Men

EHRENREICH, BARBARA—Nickel and Dimed

ERDRICH, LOUISE—Four Souls

EURIPIDES—Hippolytus

FAULKNER, WILLIAM—Light in August

FIELDING, HENRY—Tom Jones

FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT—Great Gatsby, The

FOER, JONATHAN SAFRAN—Extremely Loud and Incredible Close

FORSTER, E.M.—Passage to India, A

FRANK, ANNE—Diary of Anne Frank

FRAZIER, CHARLES—Cold Mountain

GAIMAN, NEIL—American Gods

GARCIA, CHRISTINA—Aguero Sisters, The

GARCIA MARQUEZ, GABRIEL—Love and Other Demons

GIEN, PAMELA—Syringa Tree, The

GHOSH, AMITAV—Hungry Tide, The

GORDIMER, NADINE—Pickup, The

GOETHE,JOHANN WOFLGANG von—Faust

GOGOL, NIKOLAI—Dead Souls

GRASS, GUNTER—Tin Drum, The

GRUEN, SARA—Water for Elephants

HALEY, ALEX—Autobiography of Malcolm X, The

HARDY, THOMAS—Tess of the D’Urbervilles

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL— House of Seven Gables, The

HELLER, JOSEPH—Catch 22

HEMINGWAY, ERNEST—Sun Also Rises, The

HENRY, O.— "Gift of the Magi, The”

HESSE, HERMAN—Siddhartha

HOMER— Odyssey, The

HOSSEINI, KHALED—Thousand Splendid Suns, A

HUGO, VICTOR—Les Miserables

HURSTON, ZORA NEALE—Their Eyes Were Watching God

HUXLEY, ALDOUS—Brave New World

IBSEN, HENRIK—Doll’s House, The

ISHIGURO, KAZUO—Never Let Me Go

JAMES, HENRY—Turn of the Screw, The

JOYCE, JAMES—Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

KAFKA, FRANZ—Metamorphosis

KAZANTZAKIS, NIKOS—Zorba the Greek

KESEY, KEN—One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

KEROUAC, JACK—On the Road

KINCAID, JAMAICA—Small Place, A

KINGSOLVER, BARBARA—Animal Dreams

KINGSTON, MAXINE HONG—Woman Warrior, The

KIPLING, RUDYARD—Kim

LAGERKVIST PAR—Barabbas

LAHIRI, JHUMPA—Interpreter of Maladies

LEE, GUS—China Boy

LEE, HARPER—To Kill a Mockingbird

LEHANE, DENNIS—Given Day, The

LEWIS, SINCLAIR—Babbitt

LONDON, JACK—Call of the Wild, The

McCARTHY, CORMAC— Road, The

McCOURT, FRANK—Angela’s Ashes

McCULLERS, CARSON—Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The

McEWAN, IAN—Saturday

MACHIAVELLI, NICCOLO—Prince, The

MALAMUD, BERNARD—Fixer, The

MANN, THOMAS—Buddenbrooks

MARKANDAYA, KAMALA—Nectar in a Sieve

MAUGHAM, W.S.—Of Human Bondage

MELVILLE, HERMAN—Billy Budd

MILLER, ARTHUR—Death of a Salesman

MOLIERE—Tartuffe

MORRISON, TONI—Beloved

NEMET, MARINA—Prisoner of Tehran

NUNEZ, SIGRID—Last of Her Kind, The

NYEMBEZI, SIBUSISO—Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg, The

O’BRIEN, TIM—Things They Carried, The

O’CONNOR, FLANNERY— "Good Man is Hard to Find, A”

O’NEILL, EUGENE—Long Day’s Journey into Night

ORWELL, GEORGE—Animal Farm

OVID—Metamorphoses, The

PAINE, THOMAS—Rights of Man

PATON, ALAN—Cry, the Beloved Country

PLATH, SYLVIA—Bell Jar, The

PLATO—Republic, The

POE, EDGAR ALLAN— "Tell-Tale Heart, The”

RAND, AYN—Anthem

REMARQUE, ERICH—All Quiet on the Western Front

RICHARDSON, SAMUEL—Clarissa

ROTH, PHILIP—American Pastoral

RUSSO, RICHARD—Empire Falls

SACCO, JOE—Palestine (GN)

SALINGER, J.D.—Franny and Zoey

SARTRE, JEAN-PAUL—No Exit (GN)

SATRAPI. MARJANE—Persepolis (GN)

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM—Tempest, The; Henry the Fifth; Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

SHAW, GEORGE BERNARD—Pygmalion

SHELLY, MARY—Frankenstein

SILKO, LESLIE MARMON— Ceremony

SINCLAIR, UPTON—Jungle, The

SOLZHEINITSYN, ALEK—One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

SOPHOCLES—Oedipus Tyrannus

SPIEGELMAN, ART—Maus (GN)

STEINBECK, JOHN—East of Eden

STEVENSON, ROBERT—Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll& Mr. Hyde, The

STOKER, BRAM—Dracula

STOWE, HARRIETT BEECHER—Uncle Tom’s Cabin

SWIFT, JONATHAN—Gulliver’s Travels

TAN, AMY—Bonesetter’s Daughter, The

THACKERAY, WILLIAM—Vanity Fair

THOREAU, HENRY DAVID—Walden

TOLKIEN, J.R.R.—Hobitt, The

TOLSTOY, LEO—War and Peace

TURGENEV, IVAN—Fathers and Sons

TWAIN, MARK—Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The

UMRIGAR, THRITY—Space Between Us, The

UPDIKE, JOHN—Terrorist, The

VERNE, JULES—Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

VIRGIL—Aeneid, The

VOLTAIRE—Candide

VONNEGUT, KURT— Slaughterhouse-Five

WALKER, ALICE—Color Purple, The

WARREN, ROBERT—All the King’s Men

WAUGH, EVELYN—Brideshead Revisited

WELLS, H.G.—War of the Worlds, The

WHARTON, EDITH—House of Mirth, The

WIESEL, ELIE—Night

WILDE, OSCAR—Picture of Dorian Gray, The

WILDER, THORNTON—Our Town

WILSON, AUGUST—Piano Lesson, The

WILLIAMS, TENNESSEE—Streetcar Named Desire, A

WOLFE, THOMAS—You Can’t Go Home Again

WOOLF, VIRGINIA—Mrs. Dalloway

WRIGHT, RICHARD—Native Son