My philosophy for getting teens to read good literature is to have an abundant supply in the house for them to self-select. If the 10 books listed below aren’t already on your kids’ reading lists, consider buying them for your home library.
This is a unique story of a young girl named Liesel who lives with a foster family in Germany during WWII. While she can’t yet read, she is drawn to books and finds comfort in them. The narrator of the story is a most unusual personification of the dark cloud that loomed ominously over a world at war.
The Book Thief is the winner of numerous awards, including 2006 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and 2007 Michael Printz Honor Book.
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A young runner named Jessica is devastated when she loses her leg in an accident. Her inspiration for recovery comes in the form of a relationship with a classmate with Cerebral Palsy whom she had formerly shunned.
The Running Dream is the Teen Book Winner of the 2012 Schneider Family Book Award.
In the spirit of the poet Rabelais who said, “I go to seek a great perhaps,” Miles heads off to boarding school in Alabama. A loner on the fringe of friendship, he comes up against every harsh reality faced by teens and forms a bond with a girl who intrigues him.
Looking for Alaska is the winner of numerous awards, including the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award and the 2006 Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults.
The macabre tale of Nobody Owens begins in his infancy, when he wanders from home and tragedy, into the neighborhood cemetery. Kind ghostly guardians take it upon themselves to raise Bod and grant him the “Freedom of the Graveyard.” Who are the “Jacks of All Trades,” and will Bod find them before they find him?
The Graveyard Book is the winner of numerous awards, including the 2009 John Newberry Medal and the 2010 Carnegie Medal.
Harper Lee is the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic novel read in high schools around the world. Nelle Harper, Lee’s given name, is one of five siblings born in a very racist Alabama town in 1926. Her biography is an interesting account of her youth, college years and adventures as a young writer in New York City. Lee’s most recent publication, Go Set a Watchman, was published this year.
I am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee is the winner of the 2009 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year Award.
This is a memoir written by a 15-year-old girl. Maya Van Wagenen is growing up in the tough border town of Brownsville, Texas. As a middle school student and self-proclaimed “social outcast,” she resolved to improve her situation using a battered 60-year old copy of Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide. Family struggles and proximity to Mexican drug wars provide a bitter backdrop to the sweetness of a resilient girl who bravely stepped up to know and be known.
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek is the winner of the 2015 YALSA Nonfiction Award.
Matt sails the skies as cabin boy on a ferry airship in this story reminiscent of classic fantasy tales. Are there mysterious cloud dwellers as the balloonist tells Matt, or is that the stuff of imagination? Pirates, deserted islands and furtive flying creatures inhabit the pages of this clever story.
Airborn is a 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book.
This is the first book in an intriguing series by Riggs. Armed with a mysterious letter and photographs, Jacob sets out to find a Welsh orphanage where the children possess a variety of unusual talents, and where his late grandfather spent his boyhood.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a World Book Night 2014 title.
This is an autobiography written by a15-year-old boy. Jack Andraka tells how he put his scientific mind to use to create a cancer detection strip that has profoundly impacted the world of oncology. A teen plagued by bullying and depression, Jack’s story is one of inspiration. The book is also a valuable S.T.E.M. teaching tool, with science experiments throughout.
The author is the recipient of numerous service awards, including the 2014 Jefferson Award for most outstanding public service.
This biography chronicles the meteoric evolution of the computer age and the creative genius behind it. Jobs danced to his own rhythms. Not one to stay on a straight path, or to please all people all the time, this CEO of Apple encouraged people to take leaps of faith in the present and “connect the dots” in the future.
Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different is a 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction finalist.
Scatter some award-winners around your house this year!
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