Young Adult

Sonnenblick is a great author for teachers and parents looking for an author who will appeal to their reluctant readers. I like him because he tackles serious issues that teens go through in a highly-entertaining and accessible way.

The kind of book I would have read in middle school, this story chronicles a teen’s football woes as he tries to please his father and coach and fit in with his peers. Deals with a variety of issues that make it a page-turner.

Actually, I’d read this book to all ages, as it provides background of several seminal composers plus descriptions of various instruments of the orchestra. Also includes beautiful illustrations by Meredith Hamilton.

It was a teenage boy who recommended I pick up this page-turning suspense, and I am grateful he did.

You have to read this one! This knocked my socks off, even when I was reading in sandals. Based on the 1996 accident in Indonesia that saw a ferry capsize, drowning hundreds of passengers. This intriguing first novel by Fama places a self-absorbed American teenager surviving the night with a Muslim boy she gave a lifejacket to as the ship went down. Honestly, I had no idea I would like this book as much as I did. A real treat.

I remember debating if this book was a real diary or not when I was a teenager. Regardless, I'd say this is about as good of a book to discourage teenage drug use as any. It certainly freaked me out, and it has had the same effect on most of the middle schoolers who have endured me reading it to them aloud.

Toswiah Green, meet Evie Thomas. Actually, they’re the same person. Toswiah’s family begins life anew in the witness protection program after her father decides to testify against two of his police colleagues for killing a boy. Adolescence is tough enough, but Toswiah tries to find her way as her family crumbles. I recommend this book for adults as well as teens. Woodson is a terrific author.

This book will take a maximum of two hours to read (big print, lots of dialogue and a few blank pages – yes)! Worth the brief read, as ultra-popular valedictorian Claire leaves this guide behind for her in-coming freshman sister Andie to know the ins-and-outs of high school. Let’s just say that Claire may not have known everything, and the book provides plenty of laughs for all ages to enjoy.

Even if this book, filled with fun photographs and simple messages, only takes 20 minutes to read, it is one of the best pick-me-up books I've seen. I have my old roommate Adam LeVrier to thank for that, as he kept a copy on our coffee table for years.

I am starting to think that young adult fiction makes the best reading. Martinez won the National Book Award for this, his debut novel. It tells the compelling coming-of-age story of Manuel Hernandez. If you want to learn how to write beautifully, read this book.

I am always looking for great books to hook adolescent boys. Bingo! Berman’s sci-fi thriller is a page-turner that even the most reluctant readers will plow through.

The recent passing of the great actor Paul Winfield, who received an Academy Award nomination for his work in the film, made me think of this moving story about a sharecropper family's resilience through all sorts of tragedy.

So I like coming-of-age stories? Who doesn’t? They are usually uplifting, and that’s what I look for in most books. This Newbery Honor winner trails young Moose Flanagan as he adjusts to living on Alcatraz where his father works as a prison guard.

Some writers understand the way teenagers think and the way they talk. Friend does a superb job of dealing with a teen’s struggles with her alcoholic father. A sensitive and compelling story.

A modern day Faustian tale about a 17-year-old named Joe “Faust” whose heroics on the basketball court and in the classroom prompt him to wonder if he truly made a deal with the devil. I liked this book because it caused a few boys to learn more about Faust.