The Lexile® level is included for many of the books listed below; found in parentheses after the book's description. Lexile level is a measurement for how easy/difficult a book is to comprehend. A 6th grade level book falls in the 850 to 1050 lexile range; a 7th grade level book has a 950 to 1075 range; an 8th grade level book has a 1000 to 1100 range; a 9th grade level book has a 1050 to 1150 range, etc. Click here to look up a book's Lexile level.
Traitor, by Andy McNab and Robert Rigby, 2005. A boy believes his grandfather to be a spy who turned against England and then disappeared, tracks down his grandfather and finds out the truth. (First in the series. If you liked the Alex Rider series by Horowitz, you may enjoy this series.)
The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean, 2007. Taken to Antarctica by the man she thinks of as her uncle for what she believes to be a vacation; 14 year old Symone discovers that he is dangerously obsessed with seeking Symme's Hole, an opening that supposedly leads into the center of a hollow Earth. (850L)
CONTEMPORARY / REALISTIC
Carter Finally Gets It, by Brent Crawford, 2010. Will Carter is about to start high school. He's got ADD, but he has a great group of friends, dogged determination, & a wise sister who'll help him stumble through freshman year, find his first love, face down the school bully, & learn who he really is. Humorous. (760L)
Dairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, 2006. After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, 16-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her. First book in trilogy. (990L)
Dumplin', by Julie Murphy, 2015. Sixteen-year-old Willowdean wants to prove to everyone in her small Texas town that she is more than just a fat girl, so, while grappling with her feelings for a co-worker who is clearly attracted to her, Will and some other misfits prepare to compete inthe beauty pageant her mother runs.
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, 2012. Despite the medical miracle that has bought her a few more years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, but when Augustus Waters suddenly appears at the Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be rewritten.
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, 2012. Despite the medical miracle that has bought her a few more years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, but when Augustus Waters suddenly appears at the Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be rewritten.
Orchards, by Holly Thompson, 2011. Sent to Japan for the summer after an eighth-grade classmate's suicide, half-Japanese, half-Jewish Kana Goldberg tries to fit in with relatives she barely knows and reflects on the guilt she feels over the tragedy back home. (Verse novel.)Out of Nowhere, by Maria Padian, 2013. Performing community service for pulling a stupid prank against a rival high school, soccer star Tom tutors a Somali refugee with soccer dreams of his own. (L-670)
Now is the Time for Running, by Michael Williams, 2011. When soldiers attack a small village in Zimbabwe, Deo goes on the run with Innocent, his older, mentally disabled brother, carrying little but a leather soccer ball filled with money, and after facing prejudice, poverty, and tragedy, it is in soccer that Deo finds renewed hope. (650L)
Sons of the 613, by Michael Rubens, 2012. Isaac is struggling to prepare for his Bar Mitzvah when his older brother Josh, a self-proclaimed "Super Jew" and undefeated wrestler, forces him into a quest to become a man by shooting a gun, riding a motorcycle, falling in love, and more.
Stupid Fast: The Summer I Went From a Joke to a Jock, by Geoff Herbach, 2011. Just before his 16th birthday, Felton Reinstein has a sudden growth spurt that turns him from a small, jumpy, picked-on boy with the nickname of "Squirrel Nut" to a powerful athlete, leading to new friends, his first love, and the courage to confront his family's past and current problems. First book in Felton Reinstein trilogy. (670L)
The Things a Brother Knows, by Dana Reinhardt, 2010. Although they have never gotten along well, 17-year-old Levi follows his older brother Boaz, an ex-Marine, on a walking trip from Boston to Washington, D.C. in hopes of learning why Boaz is completely withdrawn. (650L)
Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan, 2013. A chorus of men who died of AIDS observes and yearns to help a cross-section of today's gay teens who navigate new love, long-term relationships, coming out, self-acceptance, and more in a society that has changed in many ways. (780L)
Wrong Side of Right, by Jenn Marie Thorne, 2015. After her mother dies, sixteen-year-old Kate Quinn meets the father she did not know she had, joins his presidential campaign, falls for a rebellious boy, and when what she truly believes flies in the face of the campaign's talking points, Kate must decide what is best.
FANTASY / PARANORMAL / SUPERNATURAL
Some Fantasy Fiction authors in the Young Adult collection: Clive Barker, T.A. Barron, Holly Black, Kristin Cashore, Cinda Williams Chima, Eoin Colfer, Alison Croggon, Diane Duane, David Eddings, Jessica Day George, Nancy Farmer, Neil Gaiman, Shannon Hale, Diana Wynne Jones, P.B. Kerr, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gail Carson Levine, D.J. MacHale, Melissa Marr, Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley, Garth Nix, Christopher Paolini, Aprilynne Pike, Tamora Pierce, Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, Angie Sage, Maggie Stiefvater, Jonathan Stroud, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Eleanor, by Johnny Worthen, 2014. Shapeshifter Eleanor lives the life of a teenager in rural Wyoming until the only person who knows her secret shows up and challenges her existence and everything she hopes to be. First book in The Unseen series.
Graceling, by Kristin Cashore, 2008. In a world where some people are born with extreme & often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king. First book in Seven Kingdoms series. (730L)
Redwall, by Brian Jacques, 1986. When the peaceful life of Redwall Abbey is shattered by the
arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a
young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the
Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy
the enemy. There are over 20 books in this series, you can see both the chronological order and publication date order here. (800L)
The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan, 2005. When 15-year-old Will is rejected by battle school, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger. First book in 12 book series. (920L)
Sabriel, by Garth Nix, 1995. Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead. First book in trilogy. (1060L)
Some Quiet Place, by Kelsey Sutton, 2013. Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Caldwell sees, rather than feels, emotions; they're beings who walk among us. The only emotion who engages with her now is Fear, and he's as desperate as Elizabeth is to figure out how she became this way.
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George, 2008. A girl travels east of the sun and west of the moon to free her beloved prince from a magic spell. (A retold fairy tale: East of the Sun, West of the Moon.) (810L)
Terrier, by Tamora Pierce, 2006. When 16-year-old Beka becomes "Puppy" to a pair of "Dogs," as the Provost's Guards are called, she uses her police training, natural abilities, and a touch of magic to help them solve the case of a murdered baby in Tortall's Lower City. First book in trilogy. (700L)
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, 1996. Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone. First book in series. (920L)
Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas, 2012. After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. First book in series.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, by Prudence Shen, 2013. Charlie, the captain of the basketball team, and Nate, the president of the robotics club, are bestfriends. Their friendship is tested when the robotics club and the cheerleading squad--who use Charlie as their figurehead--compete for student group funding.
HISTORICAL FICTION
Scott O'Dell Award - The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction was established by author Scott O'Dell to encourage young readers' interest in the history that shaped their nation and their world.
Margaret Tomlinson's Historical Novels [useful & searchable by era & region] website:
Anahita's Woven Riddle, by Meghan Nuttall Sayres, 2006. In Iran, more than 100 years ago, a young girl with three suitors gets permission from her father and a holy man to weave into her wedding rug a riddle to be solved by her future husband, which will ensure that he has wit to match hers. (L-850) Sequel: Night Letter, 2013.
Bog Child, Siobhan Dowd, 2008. In 1981, the height of Ireland's "Troubles," eighteen-year-old Fergus is distracted from his upcoming A-level exams by his imprisoned brother's hunger strike, the stress of being a courier for Sinn Fein, and dreams of a murdered girl whose body he discovered in a bog. (L-530)
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, 2006. 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. (L-730)
Chains: Seeds of America, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2008.
After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War. (L-780) Sequel: Forge, 2010.
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein, 2012. In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can. (L-1020)
Code Talker : A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, by Joseph Bruchac, 2005. After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue. (L-910)
Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers, 1988. Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam. (L-650)
Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson, 2006. After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917, to make a home for herself, and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe. (L-700) Sequel: Hattie Ever After, 2013.
Heart of a Samurai: Based on the True Story of Manjiro Nakahama, by Margi Preus, 2010. In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a shipwreck, 14-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States. (L-760)
Never Fall Down: A Boy Soldier's Story of Survival, by Patricia McCormick, 2012. "Cambodian child soldier Arn Chorn-Pond defied the odds and used all of his courage and wits to survive the murderous regime of the Khmer Rouge"--provided by publisher. Biographical. (L-710)
A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly, 2003. In 1906, 16-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiancée, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story. (L-700)
Private Peaceful, by Michael Morpurgo, 2004. When Thomas Peaceful's
older brother is forced to join the British Army, Thomas decides to
sign up as well, although he is only 14 years old, to prove
himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and
himself. (L-860)
The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, 1990. Heroic young men carry the emotional weight of their lives to war
in Vietnam in a patchwork account of a modern journey into the heart of
darkness. (L-880)
VIII, by H. M. Castor, 2013. Hal, a young man of extraordinary talents, skill on the battlefield, sharp intelligence, and virtue, believes he is destined for greatness but, haunted by his family's violent past, he embarks on a journey that leads to absolute power and brings him face to face with his demons as he grows to become Henry VIII. (L-770)
The Way of the Warrior, by Chris Bradford, 2009. Orphaned by a ninja pirate attack off the coast of Japan in 1611, 12-year-old English lad Jack Fletcher is determined to prove himself, despite the bullying of fellow students, when the legendary sword master who rescued him begins training him as a samurai warrior. First book in Young Samurai series. (L-860)
The Year We Were Famous, by Carole Estby Dagg, 2011. A novel based on the true story of Clara Estby's walk (in 1896) across America with her mother Helga, to save their farm with the ten thousand dollars promised by a New York City publisher-- if they can do it in eight months. (L-950)
HORROR
Eighth Grade Bites, by Heather Brewer, 2007. For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt & best friend, has kept secret that he is half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, & to his parents' deaths, than he could have guessed. First book in this series. Humorous. (L-780)
The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey, 2009. In 1888, twelve-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a scientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi.
Pretty Monsters : Stories, by Kelly Link, 2008. The Wrong Grave -- The Wizards of Perfil -- Magic for Beginners -- The Faery Handbag -- The Specialist's Hat -- Monster -- The Surfer -- The Constable of Abal -- Pretty Monsters.
Project 17, by Laurie Faria Stolarz, 2007. Six high school students sneak into an abandoned mental institution to make a film about their night there. Inexplicable & terrifying events keep occuring within the crumbling, maze-like building. (L-770)
The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong, 2008. After 15 year old Chloe starts seeing ghosts and is sent to Lyle House, a mysterious group home for mentally disturbed teenagers, she soon discovers that neither Lyle House nor its inhabitants are exactly what they seem. First book in Darkest Powers series.
This Dark Endeavor, by Kenneth Oppel, 2011. When his twin brother falls ill in the family's chateau in the independent republic of Geneva in the 18th century, 16-year-old Victor Frankenstein embarks on a dangerous and uncertain quest to create the forbidden Elixir of Life described in an ancient text in the family's secret Biblioteka Obscura. First book in Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein series. (L-690)
MYSTERY
Edgar Awards - Named after Edgar Allan Poe. Each Spring, Mystery Writers of America present the Edgar Awards, which include a Young Adult category.
Here are a few of the authors who write young adult mysteries: Peter Abrahams, Lois Duncan, John Feinstein, Alane Ferguson, Norah McClintock, Joan Lowery Nixon, Walter Sorrells
Two teenagers who are living on the streets and barely getting by become involved in a complicated criminal plot, and make an unexpected connection with each other. (L-650)
When Tegan's two best friends are gunned down in front of her, nobody believes her that she didn't see who did it and doesn't know why. (L-650)
Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury, 2008.
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. (L-770)
Trouble is a Friend of Mine, by Stephanie Tromly, 2015. After her parents' divorce, Zoe Webster moves from Brooklyn to upstate New York where she meets the weirdly compelling misfit, Philip Digby, and soon finds herself in a series of hilarious and dangerous situations as he pulls her into his investigation into the kidnapping of a local teenage girl which may be related to the disappearance ofhis kid sister eight years ago.
Hugo Awards - Presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society.
Nebula Awards - Given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, 2011. Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed, is nearly killed when her cyro chamber is unplugged 50 years before Godspeed's scheduled landing. On a ship ruled by a tyrant, Amy must unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again. (720L)
Black Hole Sun, by David Macinnis Gill, 2010. On the planet Mars, 16 year old Durango & his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders. (610L)
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, 1985. Young Ender is drafted to the orbiting Battle School for military training, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, & the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Winner of the Hugo & Nebula Awards (780L)
Illusive, by Emily Lloyd-Jones, 2014. "After a vaccine accidentally creates superpowers in a small percentage of the population, 17-year-old Ciere, an illusionist, teams up with a group of fellow high-class, super-powered thieves to steal the vaccine's formula while staying one step ahead of mobsters and deadly government agents"-- Provided by publisher.
On Dragonwings, by Anne McCaffrey. Contains 3 of the 30 novels of Pern: Dragonsdawn (1988), Dragonseye (1997), and Moreta (1983). Deadly spores threaten the human colony on planet Pern unless the colonists, with help from their geneticist, can develop the native fire lizards into fire-breathing dragons to combat the menace. (960L)
Zeroboxer, by Fonda Lee, 2015. As 17-year-old Carr 'the Raptor' Luka rises to fame in the weightless combat sport of zeroboxing, he learns a devastating secret that jeopardizes not only his future in the sport, but interplanetary relations.
Zeroes, by Scott Westerfeld, 2015. Told from separate viewpoints, teens Scam, Crash, Flicker, Anonymous, Bellwether, and Kelsie, all born in the year 2000 and living in Cambria, California, have superhuman abilities that give them interesting but not heroic lives until they must work as acommunity to respond to a high stakes crisis.
ROMANCE
See the Informed Teens blog book list: Dating Customs - Fiction and Nonfiction
Along For The Ride, by Sarah Dessen, 2009. When Auden impulsively goes to stay with her father, stepmother, & new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents' divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends & having new experiences such as learning to ride a bike & dating. (750L)
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn, 2010. Told in the alternating voices of Dash and Lily, two 16-year-olds carry on a wintry scavenger hunt at Christmas-time in New York, neither knowing quite what--or who--they will find.
Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell, 2013. Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen, 2001.
In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years. (720L)
Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances, by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle, 2008. In three intertwining short stories, several high school couples experience the trials and tribulations along with the joys of romance during a Christmas Eve snowstorm in a small town.
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, by Gabrielle Zevin, 2007. After a nasty fall, Naomi realizes that she has no memory of the last four years and finds herself reassessing every aspect of her life. (720L)
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson, 2008. 15-year-old Scarlett Marvin is stuck in New York City for the summer working at her quirky family's historic hotel, but her brother's attractive new friend & a seasonal guest who offers her an intriguing & challenging writing project improve her outlook. (690L)
Weetzie Bat, by Francesca Lia Block, 1989. Follows the wild adventures of Weetzie Bat and her Los Angeles friends, Dirk, Duck-Man, and My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man. Magic realism. (960L)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan, 2009. When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both. (930L)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan, 2009. When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both. (930L)
SCIENCE FICTION
Hugo Awards - Presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society.
Nebula Awards - Given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Epic, by Conor Kostick, 2008. On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik persuades his friends to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik's father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families. (880L)
Exo, by Steven Gould, 2014. Cent can teleport. You can go shopping in Japan and then have tea in London, but it's hard to keep a secret like that. And there are people, dangerous people, who work for governments and have guns, who want to make you do just this one thing for them. But Cent isn't easily daunted, and neither are Davy and Millie, her parents. She's going to make some changes in the world. Exo is 4th book in series: Jumper, Reflex, Impulse, Exo
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, 2008. After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, 17-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right. Sequel: Homeland. (Adventure) (900L)
POD, by Stephen Wallenfels, 2009. The story of a global cataclysmic event, told from the view points of Megs, a 12-year-old streetwise girl trapped in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles; & 16-year-old Josh, who is stuck in a house in Prosser, Washington, with his increasingly obsessive compulsive father. Food & water & time are running out. (650L)
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, 2011. Immersing himself in a mid-twenty-first-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's creator. (990L)
Scorpion Rules, by Erin Bow, 2015. The teenage princess of a future-world Canadian superpower, where royal children are held hostage to keep their countries from waging war, falls in love with an American prince who rebels against the brutal rules governing their existences. First book in Prisoners of Peace series.
Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, 2007. In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives. First book in series. (740L)
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, 2011. Immersing himself in a mid-twenty-first-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's creator. (990L)
