Books: a Treasure

Recommended Books for Teens

Contemporary Life
Fantasy
Sports
Humor
Adventure & Survival
Historical Fiction
Mystery & Suspense
Nonfiction

CONTEMPORARY LIFE

The Sledding Hill
by Chris Crutcher

Eddie’s dead friend Billy helps him gain the confidence he needs to take a stand in a censorship case.

Runner
by Carl Deuker

When Chance’s love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk.

Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and Other Commandments I’ve Broken
by Rosemary Graham

Kelsey tries of salvage her reputation after breaking up with her skateboarder boyfriend.

Autobiography of My Dead Brother
by Walter Dean Myers
art by Christopher Myers

Jesse uses his sketchbook to make sense of life in his troubled Harlem neighborhood and the loss of a close friend.

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FANTASY

The Shamer’s Daughter
by Lene Kaaberbol

After her mother, a Shamer, is summoned to Dunark for a mission, Dina is forced to use her own special powers to survive.

Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer

Bella feels an overwhelming attraction for an exquisitely handsome boy she meets at her new school, but she comes to realize he is not wholly human.

The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, God of  the Sea, sets out on an adventure across the United States to prevent a war between the gods.

Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin

After Liz is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth.  There she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."

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SPORTS

MadCat
by Kathy Mackel

Fast-pitch softball catcher MadCat Campione's love for the sport—and her relationship with her best friends—is strained when her team competes on a national level.

Pinned
by Alfred C. Martino

Dealing with family problems, girls, and their own competitive natures, Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane face each other in the final match of the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship.

Keeper
by Mal Peet

A famous South American goalkeeper in soccer tells how a ghostly mentor emerged from a mythic corner of the rain forest to teach him the secrets of the game.

Players
by Joyce Sweeney

Corey sees a threat to his dream of winning the basketball championship when he discovers that the new player on his team is a girl-stealing, friend-framing, team-destroying force of evil.

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HUMOR

 

The Bridesmaid
by Hailey Abbott

Abby is dismayed when her older sister suddenly gets engaged and turns into Bridezilla.

Prom
by Laurie Halse Anderson

Ash comes to the rescue when her desperate friend needs her help to save the senior prom.

Boy 2 Girl
by Terence Blacker

As a prank, Sam dresses up as a girl at his new school, and the situation soon gets out of hand.

Girl, 15, Charming But Insane
by Sue Limb

Jess, whose best friend seems to be perfect, has many misadventures trying to improve herself.

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ADVENTURE & SURVIVAL

Wolf Brother
by Michelle Paver

6,000 years in the past, Tarak and his guide, a wolf cub, set out on a dangerous journey to fulfill an oath the boy made to his dying father.

Ice Drift
by Theodore Taylor

Two Inuit brothers are stranded on an ice floe adrift in the Greenland Strait.

Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083
by Andrea White

In the year 2083, five teen contestants on a reality show must reenact Robert F. Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole.

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HISTORICAL FICTION

Code Talker
by Joseph Bruchac

Ned, a Navajo teenager, joins the Marines as a Code Talker, sending messages during World War II in his native language.

Blood Red Horse
by K. M. Grant

A special horse changes the lives of two English brothers as they fight in the Third Crusade.

The Minister’s Daughter
by Julie Hearn

In 1645 in England, the daughters of the town minister accuse a local healer and her granddaughter of witchcraft.

Catch a Tiger by the Toe
by Ellen Levine

In New York during the McCarthy era, Jamie keeps a terrible secret about her family.

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MYSTERY & SUSPENSE

Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery
by Peter Abrahams

Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder in her hometown.

Blackthorn Winter
by Kathryn Reiss

Juliana tries to solve a murder at an idyllic seaside artists’ colony while discovering her own past.

Missing Abby
by Lee Weatherly

As the last one to see thirteen-year-old Abby, Emma is determined to discover the truth about her mysterious disappearance.

A Thief in the House of Memory
by Tim Wynne-Jones

The death of an apparent stranger in his family's old home triggers troubling questions for Declan as he tries to make sense of his fragmented dreams and random memories.

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NONFICTION