ALA's 100 BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS

Fiction
The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
by Douglas Adams

Chronicles the journeys, notions, and acquaintances of reluctant galactic traveler Arthur Dent, accompanied by never-before-published material from the late author's archives as well as commentary by famous fans
Watership Down
by Richard Adams

Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren where they can live in peace
Go ask Alice
by Anonymous

A teenager whose life is dominated by her drug problems recounts in her diary her experiences from her indoctrination into the world of drugs to three weeks before her death. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Reprint.
The handmaid's tale
by Margaret Atwood

Offred, a Handmaid, describes life in what was once the United States, now the Republic of Gilead, a shockingly repressive and intolerant monotheocracy, in a satirical tour de force set in the near future, in a classic work. An Arthur C. Clarke Award winner and Booker Prize nominee.
Blue heron
by Avi

Hoping that magic can keep her world from changing, twelve-year-old Maggie visits her father, his new wife, and their new baby, and during the visit she becomes attached to an endangered blue heron.
Nothing but the truth : a documentary novel
by Avi

Ninth-grader Philip Malloy's suspension for humming "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story
The long walk
by Richard Bachman

In a futuristic America ruled by ultraconservatives one hundred of the nation's hardiest boys must endure a five-hundred-mile marathon race in order to win fame and fortune
Rules of the road
by Joan Bauer

Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who wants her to retire
Weetzie Bat
by Francesca Lia Block

Follows the wild adventures of Weetzie Bat and her Los Angeles friends, Dirk, Duck, and My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man
Tangerine
by Edward Bloor

Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Reprint. Jr Lib Guild.
The moves make the man
by Bruce Brooks

Recounts the extraordinary friendship between Jerome Foxworthy, a top student, loving son, basketball star, and first Black to integrate his southern high school, and Bix, a white athlete facing problems in his life
Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! : Library Edition
by Terry Brooks

Ben Holiday purchases the magical kingdom of Landover for a million dollars only to learn that Iron Mark, lord of the demons, expects him to fight a duel to the death.Book Annotation
Ender's game
by Orson Scott Card

Child military recruit and genius Ender Wiggin is placed in a brutal government training school where he endures pressure and loneliness while competing in simulated war games.
A hero ain't nothin' but a sandwich
by Alice Childress

Benjie, a thirteen-year-old heroin junkie, feels that he would be able to quit using at any time, but since he believes that there is nothing better in life than his drug of choice, it is clear to everyone he knows that he has no intentions of stopping.
Flight #116 is down
by Caroline B. Cooney

An award-winning dramatic thriller finds a young girl confronting her fears and making heroic efforts at the terrifying scene of a crashed 747.
After the first death
by Robert Cormier

Events of the hijacking of a bus of children by terrorists seeking the return of their homeland are described from the perspectives of a hostage, a terrorist, an Army general involved in the rescue operation, and his son, chosen as the go-between
Fade
by Robert Cormier

Paul Moreaux, a thirteen-year-old son of French-Canadian immigrants, inherits the ability to become invisible, but his power soon leads to death and destruction.
I am the cheese
by Robert Cormier

Through his doctor's questions, Adam struggles out of a world of medicated oblivion and begins a desperate bicycle journey in search of a truth that will destroy him.
The chocolate war
by Robert Cormier

A high-school freshman who refuses to participate in the annual fund-raising chocolate sale is forced to defend his convictions
Athletic shorts : six short stories
by Chris Crutcher

A collection of short stories about athletes features characters from some of the author's best-loved novels and includes themes such as bigotry, heroism, and coming-of-age.
Chinese handcuffs
by Chris Crutcher

Still troubled by his older brother's violent suicide, eighteen-year-old Dillon becomes deeply involved in the terrible secret of his friend Jennifer, who feels she can tell no one what her stepfather is doing to her.
Ironman
by Chris Crutcher

Bo, a high-school football player, is thrown off the team when he directs his family-related anger at the coach, and, unable to find help from an Anger Management group, he writes to popular talk-show host Larry King.
Running loose
by Chris Crutcher

During his final year of high school, eighteen-year-old Louis Banks discovers the meaning of love, sportsmanship, and death as he grows into manhood
Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes
by Chris Crutcher

Because of their "terminal uglies," Sarah Byrnes, a girl whose face and hands were badly burned in a mysterious childhood accident, and overweight Eric Calhoune become fast friends.
Catherine, called Birdy
by Karen Cushman

The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off
The midwife's apprentice
by Karen Cushman

In a small village in medieval England, a young homeless girl acquires a home and a new career when she becomes the apprentice to a sharp-tempered midwife
On the Devil's court : a novel
by Carl Deuker

Desperate to become a star player on the school basketball team, Joe Faust--whose pushy parents encourage him to be an overachiever--sells his soul for a winning season
Eva
by Peter Dickinson

After a terrible accident, a young girl wakes up to discover that she has been given the body of a chimpanzee
Tears of a tiger
by Sharon M. Draper

Three boys struggle to come to terms with the death of a friend in a drunk-driving auto accident in which all four were involved, in a story told through newspaper stories, diary entries, school announcements, telephone conversations, and classroom assignments
A girl named Disaster
by Nancy Farmer

While journeying to Zimbabwe, eleven-year-old Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
by Nancy Farmer

In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them
Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman

Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War
Whirligig
by Paul Fleischman

While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he caused, sixteen-year-old Brent finds forgiveness and atonement
Sixteen : short stories by outstanding writers for young adults
by Donald R. Gallo

Sixteen short stories, dealing with teenage concerns, written especially for this collection by well-known authors of young adult novels such as the Mazers, M.E. Kerr, Robert Cormier, Bette Greene, and Richard Peck. Biographical sketches for each author are included, as well as follow-up activities for the reader
Annie on my mind
by Nancy Garden

Liza begins to doubt her feelings for Annie after someone finds out about their relationship, and realizes, after starting college, that her denial of love for Annie was a mistake.
Dinotopia : a land apart from time
by James Gurney

Shipwrecked in the strange, unknown world of Dinotopia, a scientist and his young son, Will, discover a land in which humans and an ancient race of dinosaurs have lived together for centuries
The disappearance
by Rosa Guy

In a realistic treatment of violence, racism, and the American legal system, a Harlem-born West Indian becomes the principal suspect when the youngest daughter of his foster family disappears and is presumed murdered
The friends
by Rosa Guy

A proud West Indian girl, rejected by her classmates in Harlem, finds that the only person willing to be her friend is dirty, impoverished Edith
Kissing doorknobs
by Terry Spencer Hesser

Offers middle readers a personal look at obsessive-compulsive disorder as one young girl begins her routine of rituals that quickly gets out of control and suddenly takes over every minute of her life.
Downriver
by Will Hobbs

Fifteen-year-old Jessie and the other rebellious teenage members of a wilderness survival school team abandon their adult leader, hijack his boats, and try to run the dangerous white water at the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Far North
by Will Hobbs

When their plane goes down in the remote frozen wilderness of Canada's Northwest Territories, fifteen-year-old Gabe Rogers and his roommate, Raymond Providence, a Dene Indian boy, must depend on each other as they struggle to survive the harsh subarctic winter and reach safety.
A time for dancing
by Davida Hurwin

Seventeen-year-old best friends Samantha and Juliana tell their stories in alternating chapters after Juliana is diagnosed with cancer
Owl in love
by Patrice Kindl

Owl Tycho, a shape-shifter who can turn into an owl at will, falls in love with her science teacher, Mr. Lindstrom, and while keeping vigil outside, encounters another possible owl/human in a starving, wild-eyed boy.
The silver kiss
by Annette Curtis Klause

Beautiful yet frightening, only Simon, the young vampire who comes to her house in the middle of the night, can help Zoe overcome her brooding thoughts of her dying mother and her own loneliness.
The Arizona kid
by Ronald Koertge

Sixteen-year-old Billy spends the summer with his gay uncle in Tucson and works at a racetrack, where he falls in love with an outspoken horse exerciser named Cara Mae
Kiss the dust
by Elizabeth Laird

Her father's involvement with the Kurdish resistance movement in Iraq forces thirteen-year-old Tara to flee with her family over the border into Iran, where they face an unknown future
The giver
by Lois Lowry

Living in a "perfect" world without social ills, a boy approaches the time when he will receive a life assignment from the Elders, but his selection leads him to a mysterious man known as the Giver, who reveals the dark secrets behind the utopian facade
Good night, Mr. Tom
by Michelle Magorian

A battered child learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during the Second World War
The changeover : a supernatural romance
by Margaret Mahy

When her little brother seems to become possessed by an evil spirit, fourteen-year-old Laura seeks the help of the strangely compelling older boy at school who she is convinced has supernatural powers
Tomorrow, when the war began
by John Marsden

Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive.
Dragonsinger
by Anne McCaffrey

After leaving her home to pursue her dream to be a Harper of Pern, Menolly is taken by the Masterharper himself to Harper Hall, where she learns that more is required than a facility with music and a clever way with words
Swallowing stones
by Joyce McDonald

Dual perspectives reveal the aftermath of seventeen-year-old Michael MacKenzie's birthday celebration during which he discharges an antique Winchester rifle and unknowingly kills the father of high school classmate Jenna Ward
Beauty : a retelling of the story of Beauty & the beast
by Robin McKinley

Kind Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay, and through her love releases him from the spell which had turned him from a handsome prince into an ugly beast
The Blue Sword
by Robin McKinley

Harry Crewe, an orphan girl bored with her sheltered life in the remote orange-growing colony of Daria, discovers magic in herself when she is kidnapped by a native king with mysterious powers.
Fallen angels
by Walter Dean Myers

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
Hoops
by Walter Dean Myers

Seventeen-year-old Lonnie Jackson sees the city-wide basketball Tournament of Champions as a possible escape from Harlem but fears the pressures that have sidelined his coach, Cal
Somewhere in the darkness
by Walter Dean Myers

A teenage boy accompanies his father, who has recently escaped from prison, on a trip that turns out to be a time of often painful discovery for them both
Slam!
by Walter Dean Myers

Despite his talents on the basketball court, sixteen-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris performs poorly in the classroom, and when his teachers confront him, an explosively angry Slam fears for his future for the first time.
Earthshine : a novel
by Theresa Nelson

Twelve-year-old Slim, living in Hollywood with her actor father Mack, who has AIDS, and his companion Larry, joins a busful of parents and children united by AIDS looking for Boz, a magical place where miracles happen.
Sabriel
by Garth Nix

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
Z for Zachariah
by Robert C O'Brien

Believing herself to be the only survivor of a nuclear war, Ann Burden greets a wandering stranger with excitement and suspicion
The things they carried : a work of fiction
by Tim O'Brien

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
Peeling the onion
by Wendy Orr

Anna--pretty, athletic, and popular--has it all, until a tragic car accident leaves her with a broken neck and other numerous complications, and as she realizes that her old self is slowly fading away, she is faced with the pain of her uncertain recovery.
Jacob have I loved
by Katherine Paterson

A remote Chesapeake Bay island and the ancient biblical story of sibling rivalry form the background to this story about an unloved elder twin sister who struggles to claim her own birthright
Lyddie
by Katherine Paterson

Impoverished Vermont farm girl Lyddie Worthen is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s
Soldier's heart : being the story of the enlistment and due service of the boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers : a novel of the Civil War
by Gary Paulsen

At fifteen, Charley Goddard ran off to fight in the Civil War, not knowing what war truly meant, and he came back a changed person at the age of nineteen due to everything he had seen and experienced while living a soldier's life.
The bell jar
by Sylvia Plath

Esther Greenwood, a talented and successful writer, finally succumbs to madness when the world around her begins to falter
The chosen
by Chaim Potok

A baseball game between Jewish schools is the catalyst that starts a bitter rivalry between two boys and their fathers
The golden compass
by Philip Pullman

Living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College, Lyra hears rumors of a magical dust that supposedly possesses powers that can unite whole universes, and begins a difficult and dangerous journey to find it.
The ruby in the smoke : A Sally Lockhart Mystery
by Philip Pullman

Searching for clues that will reveal the truth behind her father's death, young Sally Lockhart becomes enmeshed in a double mystery of London's shadowy underworld in which she realizes that she is the key to the answer.
Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone
by J. K Rowling

Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry
Holes
by Louis Sachar

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself
House of stairs
by William Sleator

Five sixteen-year-old orphans of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in a house of endless stairs as subjects for a psychological experiment on conditioned human response.
Maus II : a survivor's tale : and here my troubles began
by Art Spiegelman

A narrative sequel to Maus captures the experience of the Holocaust as it chronicles the continuing story of Vladek, who survives Auschwitz, is reuited with his beloved Anja, and sires young Art.
Shabanu : Daughter of the Wind
by Suzanne Fisher Staples

When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes.
The crystal cave
by Mary Stewart

Set in fifth-century Britain, the story revolves around the life of the Arthurian court magician Merlin
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan

Encompassing two generations and a rich blend of Chinese and American history, the story of four struggling, strong women also reveals their daughter's memories and feelings
The runner
by Cynthia Voigt

Preferring to be cut from the team rather than break his own rules, which include closing himself off rather than letting down his guard, Bullet Tillerman learns from his friend Patrice that running well does not mean running away
Deathwatch
by Robb White

Needing money for school, a college boy accepts a job as guide on a desert hunting trip and nearly loses his life
Make lemonade
by Virginia Euwer Wolff

In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother
If you come softly : and Behind you
by Jacqueline Woodson

After meeting at school, Jeremiah and Ellie fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions; and when Jeremiah is mistakenly shot by police, the people who love him struggle to cope with their loss, unaware that he is watching over them
Dealing with dragons
by Patricia C. Wrede

Bored with her proper, circumscribed life as a princess, Cimorene runs away to join a powerful, fascinating dragon named Kazul and encounters a host of adventures along the way
Briar Rose
by Jane Yolen

A retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale finds Briar Rose living in forests patrolled by the German army during World War II in a dark tale of the Holocaust.
Nonfiction
I know why the caged bird sings
by Maya Angelou

A black woman recalls the anguish of her childhood in Arkansas and her adolescence in northern slums
Always to remember : the story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
by Brent K. Ashabranner

Discusses the building of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the controversies that have surrounded it, and some human interest stories connected with it
We are witnesses : five diaries of teenagers who died in the Holocaust
by Jacob Boas

Diary entries written by five Holocaust victims document the ordeals suffered in Nazi-occupied Lithuania, Hungary, Belgium, and Holland
The secret house : the extraordinary science of an ordinary day
by David Bodanis

Vividly describes the invisible physical and biological events in a house that are a part of everyday life, such as the eggs quietly breathing in the refrigerator and the electrical force fields curling out of the wall sockets
Beyond the myth : the story of Joan of Arc
by Polly Schoyer Brooks

A detailed chronicle of the life of Joan of Arc discusses how a young fifteenth-century girl gave her life to unite a desperate and fragmented France, offering a clear and lively portrait of a true heroine. ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
A girl from Yamhill : a memoir
by Beverly Cleary

Follows the popular children's author from her childhood years in Oregon through high school and into young adulthood, highlighting her family life and her growing interest in writing
Dear America : letters home from Vietnam
by Bernard Edelman

A collection of letters, poems, and petitions from the front, written mostly by infantrymen to their families and friends, evokes the mingled emotions of an intense longing for home, fear, hope, grief, and anger aroused by the Vietnam War.
Eleanor Roosevelt : a life of discovery
by Russell Freedman

A sympathetic and sensitive portrayal of the remarkable Eleanor Roosevelt captures the life and times of a woman who continues to offer inspiration, guidance, and hope to people of all ages.
The Wright brothers : how they invented the airplane
by Russell Freedman

This multi-award-winning work describes the Wright Brothers' development of the airplane, from their early research at the Smithsonian in 1899 to the first powered, sustained and controlled flight in 1903.
The Place my words are looking for : what poets say about and through their work
by Paul B. Janeczko

Thirty-nine United States poets share their poems, inspirations, thoughts, anecdotes, and memories.
Makes me wanna holler : a young Black man in America
by Nathan McCall

Examining the complexities of the problems of black youths from an insider's perspective, an African-American journalist recalls his own troubled childhood, his rehabilitation while in prison, and his successful Washington Post career.
Slavery : a chapter in American history
by Katie Marsico

Describes the history of slavery in the United States, offering information on the life of slaves, rebels against slavery, and the impact of the Civil War on slaves and the South
Woodsong
by Gary Paulsen

The author describes his love for the natural world, his involvement in dogsledding, and his experiences taking part in the Iditarod, the 1,180-mile dogsled race across Alaska
Maus : a survivor's tale
by Art Spiegelman

The author-illustrator traces his father's imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp through a series of disarming and unusual cartoons arranged to tell the story as a novel
The cuckoo's egg : tracking a spy through the maze of computer espionage
by Clifford Stoll

Updated with a new afterword, a true-life account of computer espionage tells of a year-long single-handed hunt for a computer thief known as "Hunter," a hacker who stole sensitive security and military information from American computer files to sell to Soviet intelligence agents.
The pigman & me : a memoir
by Paul Zindel

The year Paul Zindel and his family lved in Travis, Staten Island, New York was the most important time of his whole life. It was the year he and Jennifer Wolupopski were best friends. It was the year of the apple tree, the water-head baby and Cemetery Hill. It was the year he met Nonno Frankie Vivona, the mischievous grandfather who became his pigman. If you are like Paul, you probably won't recognize your pigman when he first appears. But what you do when you meet him will be a matter of life and death, because a pigman is the only one in the world who can teach you the secret of life