Books for Teens?

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Books for Teens?

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1maryellenf
jul 1, 2009, 10:47 pm

Anyone read some good ones lately? Its hard to find ones that arent shallow, boring, or just dumb. So I was wondering what to read next.

:)

Has anyone read:
(Peeps) by ((Scott Westerfield))?
(A Mysterious Affair of Styles) by((Agatha Christie))?
(Invisible Monsters) by ((Chuck Palahniuk))?
(Little Grrl Lost) by ((Charles De Lint))?
(The Chosen One) by ((Carol Lynch Williams))?

Any of them worth reading? What did you think of them? Any other suggestions would be awesome!!
Thanks in advance!

2MerryMary
jul 1, 2009, 11:33 pm

Peeps was good. Westerfeld is an excellent writer.

I love Agatha Christie, but it's been a long time since I was a teen, and I've never read the title you list. I have had good luck recommending Murder on the Orient Express to teen readers.

I really like Carol Lynch Williams. I have read The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson and Carolina Autumn and thought they were excellent.

PS: To get touchstones use square brackets instead of parentheses. Also, double brackets don't work so well on author names, but single brackets do work. Go figure.

3jenreidreads
jul 1, 2009, 11:37 pm

I read a lot of teen books. I haven't read Peeps, but I have read the Uglies series and loved it. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is AMAZING. I got several friends to read it, my fiance, my brother...everyone has loved it. Gone by Michael Grant is also awesome. Those are both series. A Great and Terrible Beauty and its sequels by Libba Bray are great, too.

4Booksloth
jul 2, 2009, 1:59 am

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

5sqdancer
Bewerkt: jul 2, 2009, 2:21 am

double brackets don't work so well on author names, but single brackets do work.

Um, well, single brackets don't really "work". If you use the single brackets they won't link to author page, they will link to a work (book) page. Which means that the work page will also link back to the conversation/thread, which may not even be about that book.

If you're having trouble getting an author touchstone, try double bracketing just the last (or first) name and picking from the "other" list. It don't always work (especially if the names are too common) but I find it's helpful sometimes.

6LyzzyBee
jul 6, 2009, 4:38 am

Bad Faith and Crossing The Line by Gillian Philip are great. I know Gillian but I would recommnd hers anyway. Bali Rai is also very good.

7sparrowbunny
jul 6, 2009, 6:54 am

I have Little (Grrl) Lost on my TBR pile, but I haven't read it (yet) and have been recommended against reading that as an introduction to Charles de Lint by a fan. (But that's all personal opinion of course.)

What kind of books do you enjoy reading? I'm guessing from the books listed (and that I know!) that you enjoy fantasy/scifi-like stories as well as mysteries. If so you might want to look at New Amsterdam which combines the two very neatly.

You might also enjoy Diana Wynne Jones' YA books, such as Howl's Moving Castle (although anything DWJ is worth reading, imo) or Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series. (Which I haven't read, mind, but it's YA.)

*thinks* If it's urban fantasy you enjoy rather than the types of the two above, you might consider Holly Black or Melissa Marr (I'd lean towards recommending the former more, though). If you're in for something that's stylistically a little more of a challenge, there's Patricia A. McKillip, but again she doesn't write urban fantasy. (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, is an example that touchstones.)

Ella Enchanted is also a good book, if you're in for something more romantic and fluffy. (Don't let that put you off, though. It's a darned good book! Doesn't treat romance Sillily, has good characterisation, and everything fits together neatly and flows from the characters and who they are rather than 'they must act like this for the sake of the plot'.) Likewise The Goose Girl, which is by a different author. Point is it's equally in-depth.

Er... I'll stop here. You can probably see where my own interests go and they don't necessarily/really match up with what I can tell of your interests. I hope it's given some useful ideas or pointers, though!

8MerryMary
jul 6, 2009, 7:05 am

Shanra: Excellent recommendations. I was a school librarian for years (decades!) and I heartily agree on all points - especially Ella Enchanted and Goose Girl.

9lauren97224
jul 6, 2009, 12:57 pm

I reccomend Unwind by Neal Shusterman. It is a longer book but you never get bored. The concept is very original (I think) and I loved this book.
I second the Uglies series (Uglies, Pretties, and Specials)

10tgi1515
jul 6, 2009, 7:43 pm

I'm looking for teen boy books. We've read Percy Jackson & The Olympians series, Maximum Ride series by James Patterson, and Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins .

Can you think of any others?

11MerryMary
jul 6, 2009, 8:33 pm

Survival/adventure books by Will Hobbs are well liked by boys.

13jenreidreads
jul 7, 2009, 12:40 am

The Septimus Heap series is good for boys and girls. It's kinda like Harry Potter, only lighter and funnier. I loved them. Although it might be a bit young for teenagers... Oh, how about the Alex Rider series? That's quite popular among teen boys in my store. I haven't read it, though.

14lauren97224
jul 7, 2009, 1:14 am

Yes, the Alex Rider series is, I've heard, very good. But not just for boys. Two of my friends, both girls, love those books.

15tgi1515
jul 7, 2009, 11:33 am

>11 MerryMary:, 12, 13 Thanks!!! We have some Artemis Fowl books and I think he will like Septimus Heap and I'll check out the others too. His compulsion to read is SO much better than hours on X-Box if he has books he likes.

>14 lauren97224: I didn't mean to dis-girls. It's just that my son won't read what he thinks is a "girl" book... like Ella Enchanted, Goose Girl etc. I like a mystery and adventure as much as the next "guy". :-)

Let me know if you think of any more. Thanks again!

16MerryMary
jul 7, 2009, 11:35 am

Your son is perfectly normal. I don't get it either, but boys are like that!

17Sodapop
Bewerkt: jul 7, 2009, 11:55 am

My 13 year old likes Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter etc. Some of the other books he has enjoyed recently are Eggs and Loser by Jerry Spinelli, The Rifle by Gary Paulsen and Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett.
The Terry Pratchett one was his favourite - he read it in a day and we could hear him laughing from behind a closed door.

E.T.A My sister, who gave him the Terry Pratchett as a present, highly recommends Carl Hiassen but we haven't read any of those yet.

18Jayfa
jul 7, 2009, 7:54 pm

Ive Read Little Grrl Lost read it as soon as it hit the shelves actually , for YA Its a pleasant story , as are most of Charles De Lints . Not his best in my opinion , but an enjoyable sunday afternoon to say the least . I love books that mix the fantasical side of fantasy in the periphery of our reality . This is what made me a fan . How ever this title its a bit more in your face ... enjoyable none the less

19AMQS
jul 7, 2009, 10:08 pm

The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak is a YA book, and was one of my favorite reads of 2008.

20pwaites
jul 11, 2009, 10:58 am

Artemis Fowl, Maximum Ride, Alex Rider, Septimus Heap, Howls moving Castle, Ella Enchanted and the Goose Girl are all good books. I would like to add Fablehaven, the Alchemyst (and the rest of the series), the Bartimaeus Trilogy, Ender's Game, Uglies, Dragon and Thief and the Pendragon series. Of all of Terry Pratchett's books for ya I most enjoyed the Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. Diana Jones has a lot of good books but my favorite is the Dark Lord of Derkholm.

I hope this helps!

21Maidas9
jul 25, 2009, 7:13 pm

The three book series ttyl, ttfn, but I forget the last book. I also think the Princess Mia series by Meg Cabot are good for teenaged girls. Maybe Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. I don't think it's too young for say and thirteen- fourteen year old.

If it's for a young teenager, maybe for thirteen or twelve, you could do Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot, and the sequel, Moving Day. Another good, quick short read for this age range would be Last One Home by Mary Pope Osborne.

If your teenager enjoys historical fiction, try this list:

-Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kristiana Gregory
-Winter of Red Snow, by Kristiana Gregory.

*Note: Some of these books may be quick reads.*

Also, (still on Historical Fiction), the three book series of:
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLahlan (Please look for the two others.)

I hope this helped. I know a lot about good reads like these. :-)

Maidas9

22lauren97224
jul 25, 2009, 7:23 pm

I think Neal Shusterman books are good for both girls and boys. My favorites are Unwind and Downsiders. I think teens, (some 12 year olds) would enjoy these books.

23lauren97224
sep 27, 2009, 7:59 pm

I recently read The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams and I thought it was awesome. The ending is left to there possibly could be a sequel, but doesn't have to be. (And I'm not thinking there will be) But I thought it was an amazing book and totally reccomend it.

24SecretariatGirl
sep 27, 2009, 8:53 pm

Cinda Chima Williams who write the Heir Series. STuff about magic with very little shallowness.

Ally Carter writes the Gallagher Girls series. Book on spies are always good.

Caroline B. Cooney writes books like Driver's Ed and Code Orange taht verge on horror with very little dumb teen stuff.

Madeline L'Engle writes religious sci-fi type stuff. Very cool.

Marianne Curley does more sci-fi/magic type stuff. Old Magic, The Named, The Dark and The Key.

D.J. MacHale with Pendragon and Erin Hunter with Warriors are also great!
Happy Reading!

25CurrerBell
sep 27, 2009, 9:29 pm

#24> Speaking of Madeline L'Engle, take a look at Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me. I don't want to say more to avoid SPOILER, and I'd suggest you might want to be careful reading reviews here on LT (and probably also on Amazon or other on-line sites). It's got an interesting little twist, and I can almost guarantee you'll like it if you like L'Engle.

26lulubelleliz
okt 6, 2009, 6:09 am

My kids have recently enjoyed 'Percy Jackson and the Lighning Thief' by Rick Riordan and 'Ways to Live Forever' by Sally Nicholls. Two vastly different stories.

27Maidas9
okt 6, 2009, 6:02 pm

#26- Wow, I have heard excellent reviews for the 'Percy Jackson' series. How old do you think the range for kids is it?

Maggie

28pwaites
okt 7, 2009, 5:27 pm

I would say that it depends on the reading level of the kid in question. Generally? Starting at fourth grade maybe. It all depends.

29simocat
nov 10, 2009, 11:27 pm

I like Alex Rider books. Just read Crocodile Tears which just released. I have just finished Teen Valour too, that was very exciting though I think kids in 12 would find it a bit difficult.