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ALA's 100 BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS |
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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The crystal cave
by Mary Stewart
Set in fifth-century Britain, the story revolves around the life of the Arthurian court magician Merlin
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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
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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
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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
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Make lemonade
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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