Good books for teen-ager

[bucket o' butter]

Can anyone recommend a good author / book for a 14 year old girl to read? I have always been an avid reader and DD is turning into one also. We went to the library today to get books, but it was hard to find things she likes. She is too old for the children's section, but some of the adult books are too long (at least she thinks so). I know when I was her age, I read the V.C. Andrews series, books by John Saul and Judy Blume. She thought the V.C. Andrews books were too long, as well as the John Saul. Judy Blume didn't interest her either. I am at a loss for something that is appropriate for her age. (I know that John Saul and V.C. Andrews are probably a bit creepy, but I know I read them at her age and enjoyed them. LOL) I tried to interest her in the Beverly Lewis books, but again, no interest. She thought they would be boring! I think anything that I recommend to her (because I am the mom) will be a no go! Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[elliemae1192]

My DD who is almost 14 LOVED The Hunger Games and the sequal Catching Fire. Third book is called Mockingjay and is due out this summer. Excellent books and you'll like them too!

And there's always the Twilight books.

 

[cinnamon-sugah]

I second the Hunger Game series...excellent books! Also, my 13 year old DD is into the Maximum Ride series.

 

[sk!mom]

Honestly, if "short" is one of her criteria it may be difficult to find books that a 14 year old would find interesting.

Anne of Green Gables series
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series
Meg Cabot's books

Classics like Little Women, To Kill a Mockingbird

 

[pintamino]

There is a genre exactly for your daughter -- Young Adult! It's really popular right now, with a lot of AMAZING books written by AMAZING authors. I have a couple friends who are YA authors and I'm working on a book myself. There are many that I haven't read but have heard good reviews on, but I'm only listing those I've personally read.

I am an "anything and everything" kind of reader (and always have been!!), so these might vary depending on your daughter's maturity/ability. If you let me know that, I can be a bit more specific. If you're super-conservative some people may say a few on this list are inappropriate (sex/religion/etc) but at 14 I wouldn't think they are inappropriate at all. Just tossing in a fair disclaimer that if you worry about that kind of thing, you may want to skim first.

But lately I have read (in the YA genre) and loved:

Harry Potter (completely classic)
Cirque Du Freak series (7 or 8 books total, completed) (recommended to me by a librarian for my brother, but I liked them too)
Percy Jackson series
The Hunger Games & Catching Fire (final book coming this fall) by Suzanne Collins
Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld
Anything by John Green -- Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, etc. (John Green books are VERY good. lots of life lessons.)
Knightley Academy by Violet Habberdasher (to be a series)
Beautiful Creatures (sequel coming this fall) by Kami Garci and Maggie Stohl
Shiver (and Ballad and Lament) (sequel to Shiver coming this fall) by Maggie Steiveter
The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg
If she hasn't read the Twilight Saga, she might enjoy those (4 books plus a novella, completed, I wouldn't recommend reading the 4th book though)
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken (loved this one!! very different from most modern YA)
Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare (3 books, another one coming in 2011 and a prequel coming this fall) (I could re-read these books all day... I carried one with me almost the whole fall semester. they are on the longer side but SO GOOD.)
Wicked Lovely series (4 books so far) by Melissa Marr (I Wasn't a huge fan of these but know a lot of people who love them)
The Luxe Series (4 books, completed) by Anna Godbersen
His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman (3 books, completed, AMAZING works of literature and one of my all-time favorites)
Bran Hambric and the Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation (to be a series, next book coming in the fall)

Currently reading The Demon's Lexicon and Eat, Pray, Love... I think the 2nd one is a little mature for 14, Demon's Lex is good so far though.

Keep in mind Book Expo America (BEA), the book industry trade show, was just held the last week in May, so a lot of sequels will be out in the fall. But it's a perfect time for her to pick up a couple books and read them before the much-anticipated sequels come out!!

There are a lot of other popular vampire series now as well, but I can't say I've read any of them besides Twilight and CdF

Hopefully there will be something she likes! I adore reading... I just got a nook because I have filled my parents attic with books!!

 

[gk90]

Not specifically teen books, but my DD's friends (13 YOs) have enjoyed the Mitch Albom books-Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People YOu meet in Heaven

 

[StephMK]

DD enjoyed the Traveling Pants series and one about a girl spy - they look like chick lit for teens. She also loves anything by Sarah Dessen or Jodi Piccoult. The latter are definitely more grown up and longer but we both love Piccoult books. She also loves the Twilight series. There is a good YA section at Barnes & Noble & Target has some selections as well. That would at least allow her to browse around & see what might interest her.

 

[disneychrista]

Meg Cabot's books

My daughter read most if not all the princess series and other Meg Cabot books.

 

[Cooky]

.

 

[IDoDis]

A must read is, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith. It's a coming of age book about 14 year old girl growing up in squalor in Brooklyn. I read it when I was 14 and so did my DD. It's a classic and perfect for her age. At first my daughter thought it was going to be boring, but she got hooked in. It's not a small book, but a wonderful classic that all teen girls should read. I saw it at Target last week.

 

[WildGrits]

Both my 12 yo and 14yo DDs are very much into Manga.

I know the oldest is reading Deathnote and the youngest is reading Bleach this month. They are pretty quick reads.

When they are not reading those, they both really enjoy graphic novels.

 

[bucket o' butter]

Thank you so much for all of your input! She has always been a strong reader. This is the age that I discovered the joy of reading and I think she will too. We don't have a bookstore in our city, so we have to depend on the local library, which thankfully is very nice. Unfortunately, they do not have a specific "young adult" section, so I have to depend on author's names. When I was a teen-ager, I read hundreds of books that specifically dealt with teen-age issues. There was a specific section at the book store that had hundreds of these books. There probably still is in most major bookstores, but as I mentioned, we have to drive 25 miles to get to a decent one. You all have been very helpful. I have compiled a list to take with us to the library next time. I am sure this will keep her busy and expand her reading horizons.

 

[hickchick]

Other good authors that are "young adult" include Avi and Ann Rinaldi - both of them have written some very good historical fiction novels.

 

[RitaE]

DD enjoyed the Traveling Pants series and one about a girl spy

I think you might mean the Gallagher Girls series. It is a series about a boarding school for exceptional teen girls who are in training to become spies. They're pretty popular in a Girl Power! kind of way. I kind of enjoy them too.

It start's with "I'd Tell You That I'd Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You."

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school—that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies.

Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”—but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission—falling in love.

 

[threeboysmom]

I was just coming on here to recommend Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, but I see others have beat me! I second their recomendation (or third it, fourth it...) VERY good books! My teen and I are anxiously awaiting the 3rd in this series.

Gilbert Morris has a lot of books/series for young adults - you may want to see if your library carries any of his.

One of my favorite books to read as a teen girl was Summer of the Monkeys. Can't remember the author - might have been Rawlings.

 

[patchchild]

Tamora Pierce is a fantastic author if she is into fantasy books at all. Her Alanna series is the best.

 

[JenniJ]

I tried to post this last night but my internet went down in the middle...

Thankfully I was able to copy the post to save it. Not all my hard typing was lost.

My daughter is an avid reader. She has always been one. Not sure if these would apply to her tastes but at 14 to stimulate my DD's reading and her reading level I gave her the following and she still loves re-reading them today at 17. Plus a few were given to her by my sis who has a BA in children lit and MA in teaching English in high school.

(All warning are listed for the books either I read or know about through discussions with DD, are noted)

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (I was introduced to this book in college, not a hard read but a very good story, great discussion topics; passages on death, slavery)
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Monster by Walter Dean Meyers
Holes by Louis Sachar
Nory Ryan's Song by Patrica Reilly Giff
The Outsiders S.E Hinton (passages on violence)
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Miles Song by Alice McGill
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull
A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
My side of the Story The Plague by Philip Wooderson
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Searching for David's Heart by Cherie Bennett
Night by Elle Wiesel (heavy topic; review first before letting your child read; passages on death, about the holocaust)
Maya Angelou poems (very inspirational to young women; many positive poems on self worth and respect and love of your body no matter how it looks)
The Year of the Fog by Michelle Richmond
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (heavy topic; review first before letting your child read; passages on abuse)
Crank can't remember the author. DD LOVES this series (heavy topic; review first before letting your child read; passages on drugs, but a good message)

Happy reading!

 

[tripletots]

A book I read before I gave it to my daughter to read was The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney.

It was so good I finished it in a day then gave it to my daughter who also finished it in a day. Just couldn't put it down. I guess you could call it a series because the second book it Whatever Happened To Janie and The Voice on the Radio. There may be a 4th one I don't remember.

This was a movie but we have not seen it. The book is located in our Young Adult section of our local library.

Another good book is Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. The second book is called Dicey's Song. This was a required summer reading book for my daughter. She loved it so much she told me to read it. I did and also loved it. Again, these books are located in the Young Adult section of our library.

 

[fiveforall]

I'm a high school librarian. YA fiction is fabulous. Some of my kids' favorites are as follows:

1. anything by Neil Shusterman. His book Everlost is about two kids who die and get lost on their way to Heaven. They end in a limbo type world with other kids. Fantastic. If you like fantasy and sci-fi, he's your guy.

2. Anything by Caroline Cooney. Her mysteries are short and quick reads.

3. Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Super fast reads.

4. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. A girl commits suicide, but makes 13 cassette tapes before she dies. She sends the tapes to the people she believes caused her to kill herself. This is one of the best I've ever read.

5. Liar by Justine Larbalestier

6. Black and White by Paul Volponi. Two boys, one black and one white, are faced with the same crime, but are treated totally different.

7. Some favorite series are the Clique series, Private series, and Drama High series.

8. Meg Cabot for chick-lit and Jodi Piccoult for tears.

9. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. Hilarious story of a guy who has been repeatedly dumped by girls named Katherine. He's on a road trip to try and get over the latest Katherine.

10. American Born Chinese if she likes graphic novels. Fabulous twist.

 

[fluffycow333]

The Princess Diaries. Not too long, kind of funny at times.