Customer Selected Best Teen Books

We asked and you spoke! Here is the final customer selected essential books for young adults listing, which features some newer books, a few older classics, and a whole lot of amazing stories and writing

Best of the Month in Young Adult

National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor's new book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, is a lush story of magic, star-crossed love, and difficult choices with heartbreaking repercussions that will enchant readers of all ages

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie isn't the biggest geek in school, though he is far from popular. Shy, introspective, and intelligent, he prefers observing over being observed, but as a freshman in high school he must navigate a series of firsts--love, experimentation with drugs, and the loss of a friend. Noted for having "the right combination of realism and uplift" by Kirkus, Charlie’s experiences are told through letters written to an anonymous friend, a technique that heightens his earnestness. Called "strongly powerful in a manner that diary or letter style books rarely achieve," by one Amazon customer, another explained, "Charlie's realizations are eye opening for us, and we are so captivated and immersed in his life that his life and stories become a very real experience." Deftly told and so very true-to-life, The Perks of Being a Wallflower embodies everything a coming-of-age novel should.
Parental Advisory: abuse, drug use, sex, suicide.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

From the spires of a steampunk-inflected Oxford to a fortress populated by armored, talking polar bears, Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass certainly doesn't lack an imaginative setting. But the real heart of the story is Lyra Belacqua, an orphan and ward of Oxford University who like everyone else in her world has a daemon, a living manifestation of her own soul. After the simultaneous arrival of her uncle Asriel and a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter, Lyra finds herself in the middle of a world of intrigue that involves kidnappings, something called intercision, and a plan to undo the very foundations of her world. She's carried all the way to the Arctic Circle by boat, balloon, and bear, where she discovers that she's had it all wrong--and that she might not be a mere pawn, but the key to saving not just her parallel universe but our own as well. Called "a totally involving, intricately plotted fantasy that will leave readers clamoring for the sequels" by Booklist, The Golden Compass dares to challenge readers' deepest convictions, expand their imaginations, and leave them at turns exhilarated, heartbroken, and ultimately spellbound by this unforgettable book.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Two very different teenage boys; one same name. Such is the premise of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, the brainchild of superstar teen authors David Levithan and John Green. Told through an alternating narrative between the two Graysons before and after their lives intersect for the first time, this touching and funny novel is "complete with honest language, interesting characters, and a heartfelt, gritty edge" (School Library Journal). Proving that they are masters at creating "fully fleshed out and interesting" characters (said one Amazon customer), the Graysons are only part of the story. Enter one Will Grayson BFF Tiny Cooper, the "world's largest person who is really, really gay." In a book where the characters take the stage, both figuratively and literally, the reader can't help but be touched by how they're, "engaged in figuring out what’s important and shot through with strong feelings, smart-mouthed dialogue, and uncommon insight" (Booklist).

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

In Crank, Kristina Snow is a good student and a good daughter... until she’s introduced to crystal meth (a.k.a. crank). The drug transforms her into her alter-ego Bree, who pulls her deeper into a dangerous addiction. Eventually Kristina is raped by her drug dealer, but even violence and her pregnancy can't stop her from seeking out another high. A page-turner in every sense of the phrase, an Amazon customer noted, "I started reading it and found myself sucked into the story to the point where I could not put this book down," while another adds that "the sparse poetry conveys the power of the addiction so much more intensely than prose ever could." As the reader follows Kristina/Bree's drug-influenced choices, we enter what Publishers Weekly calls, "a world nearly as consuming and disturbing as the titular drug." A Go Ask Alice for the 21st century, Booklist promises that "readers won’t soon forget smart, sardonic Kristina."
Parental Advisory: heavy drug use, rape, teenage pregnancy

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

"Fluid narration deftly mingles raw feelings with funny, sardonic insight" explained Kirkus in their review of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie's semi-autobiographical novel. Disappointed with his education on the Spokane Indian Reservation and tired of being tormented for his physical problems, Arnold Spirit decides to attend an all-white high school in town. Immediately Arnold feels out of place, but as one Amazon customer cheers, he handles the challenges "using humor where it would seemingly appear that there is none, humor in the face of tragedy and melancholy, humor as an escape." Laughing aside, this "Native American equivalent of Angela's Ashes" (Publishers Weekly) is about one teenager's quest to do his best in the face of serious obstacles. Told with heart and featuring Ellen Forney's illustrations that will hook reluctant readers, it's no surprise that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
Parental Advisory: physical abuse.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

In what Publishers Weekly named a "stunning debut," Melinda Sordino gives up talking before her freshman year of high school. Shunned by her classmates, who misunderstand why she called the cops after a party over the summer, Melinda's grades plummet and she becomes withdrawn. She is not without her reasons: Melinda is trying to cope with being raped by an upperclassman who still taunts her in the new school year. Hailed as a book "all teens should read" by one Amazon customer, Speak is about "a horrible event dealt with using lyrical prose, humor, and deep honesty" says another. A 2000 Printz Honor Book, 1999 National Book Award finalist, and 1999 Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, Kirkus concluded that Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is "hard for readers to forget."
Parental Advisory: rape.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Steve Harmon is on trial for the slaying of a shopkeeper. Although painted as a violent derelict by the prosecutor, through Steve's journal and the screenplay he works on while in jail, the reader begins to wonder whether the book's hero is actually dangerous, or if perhaps he was caught up in the wrong moment at the wrong time. As the trial unfolds, the fast-paced courtroom action and dialog-heavy text make Monster, the 2000 Printz Award winner and 1999 National Book Award nominee, an addictive read from start to finish. Called "riveting" with "an emotionally gripping story line" by Amazon customers, Booklist praised Walter Dean Myers's "innovative format, complex moral issues, and an intriguingly sympathetic but flawed protagonist." At the heart of Monster is a teenager caught up in an adult world, a situation to which many young adults can relate.

Parental Advisory: physical abuse.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Called "eerie, beautiful, and devastating" by The Chicago Tribune, Thirteen Reasons Why centers on high school student Hannah Baker and her classmate Clay Jenson. Before committing suicide Hannah recorded a series of tapes and sent them to the 13 people she believes contributed to her death--including Clay. Told through Hannah's tapes and Clay's thoughts as he listens to her voice from beyond the grave, Jay Asher's novel is a "a stealthy hit with staying power" exclaimed The New York Times, with an Amazon customer noting that, "Even if we’re not on the list, we feel the same horror, frustration, and powerlessness as Hannah’s listeners do, all thirteen steps of the way.” Both brilliant and devastating, Thirteen Reasons Why is a powerful novel about the ways in which people hurt, help, and love one another.
Parental Advisory: suicide.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

In The Giver, Jonas is a model citizen of the Community, a place of order and tranquility, a place free from hunger and pain; a place of Sameness. On his eleventh birthday, Jonas is given his job assignment, alongside all other Elevens in the Community: he will be the next Receiver of Memory, a mysterious and honored role held by only one person in each generation. As his job training begins, Jonas becomes aware of the sacrifices he and his fellow citizens have made in exchange for peace and predictability: the joy of sledding down a snowy hill and the comfort of coming home to a warm fire in the hearth, the relief brought by a sip of water after the agony of thirst, the love of a family. This 1994 Newbery Medal winner from Lois Lowry has been hailed by Kirkus as "a richly provocative novel" that School Library Journal promises "will stay with readers for a long time."

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

In an unusual literary twist, Death narrates The Book Thief, the astounding story of nine-year-old Liesel Meminger. As the Nazis take hold of Europe she is sent to live with foster parents in a small German town--where her book stealing career begins. Along the way she touches the lives of many, including a politician's wife, Rudy, a boy around her age, her new guardians, and Max, a Jewish refugee who for a time hides out in her basement. Called "brilliant and hugely ambitious" by The New York Times, School Library Journal said, "Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward." Amazon customers agree emphatically, describing The Book Thief as "beautiful, poignant, and captivating" as well as a "modern classic." Recognized with awards from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, among others, this 2006 Printz Honor book is truly a masterpiece.

Blind Faith [Paperback]

Blind Faith [Paperback]

Book Description
Publication Date: March 17, 2011
CJ Lyons' romantic thrillers have been described as "the perfect blend of romance and suspense" by New York Times Bestseller Sandra Brown.

TOP PICK! "This story is so fast paced with so many mesmerizing characters, "fantastic" is not high enough praise. Lyons proves once again that she is a master of suspense and nontraditional romance." ~RT Book Reviews

When her husband and son are murdered, she thought she'd lost it all. But for Sarah Durandt the nightmare is just beginning...

Untouchable [Paperback]

It is the autumn of 1999. A year has passed since Lucy Darby’s unexpected death, leaving her husband David and son Whitley to mend the gaping hole in their lives. David, a trauma-site cleanup technician, spends his nights expunging the violent remains of strangers, helping their families to move on, though he is unable to do the same. Whitley – an 11 year-old social pariah known simply as The Kid – hasn’t spoken since his mother’s death. Instead, he communicates through a growing collection of notebooks, living in a safer world of his own silent imagining.

The Help (Movie Tie-In)

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times

The Game

I read this book at the age of 21 years, in June 2008. Reading the title alone is enough to arouse great curiosity in me. And 'in the last weeks of the quarter. But I swear, I could not take my eyes off the book at any time of day. I chose the game on my resume engineering curriculum bed. Such was the intensity after reading the first pages of the game.

Story begins, as Strauss (Author), given the opportunity to write articles on dating for men. He stumbled over "mystery", the artist in a self-proclaimed world's greatest pick-up. Soon became friends. The book tells the story and the events industry and technology at the time of the truck. As a newly industrialized, students are placed in the training program called Boot Camp 3 days (made popular by Real Social Dynamics), to increase their skills with women immensely.

Among the many stories and try to choose artists that Strauss and his friends face the most memorable of his project in Hollywood. It 'been a training center for men who want the best skills suck,' Mystery '. There have been many opinions of men qualified as "jlaix", "Tyler Durden", "herb", as well as Strauss himself. Threes and many a night, you see the game in the game apart from its methods and technologies at some point.

Personally for me, I must say that this book was to read Strauss has changed my life for the better. We can point you in the right direction for a more attractive and more importantly, the human male. As he did for me, I'm improving my life as a program of personal development in all areas of life.

I recommend you read it, if they are pages in the sample. In reading a story of his journey (Strauss) life, you can learn and apply much of his own.

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