Real Reads for Real Teens
Books selected by Stella Fowler, Olney Library staff member.
)- 13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson
When 17 year-old Ginny’s favorite aunt dies, her inheritance seems to be 13 blue envelopes. Following the directions she finds in the first envelope, Ginny soon finds herself on a whirlwind tour of Europe that doesn’t always go as Aunt Peg planned, or as Ginny hopes. - 24 Girls in 7 Days - Alex Bradley
Jack Grammar has a problem…he doesn’t have a date to the senior prom. But that’s okay, he’s fine with that, or at least that’s what he tells himself and his friends. And then his friends do the most embarrassing thing imaginable: They pose as Jack and put a personal ad in the school paper. - Big Fat Manifesto - Susan Vaught
Fat Girl isn’t going to let you gloss things over; she isn’t chunky, rotund, or plump, she’s fat and she wants you to say it and get over it. Just because she’s fat doesn’t mean that she isn’t just like the other high school seniors with a million and one deadlines. - A Countess Below Stairs - Eva Ibbotson
Anna Grazinsky wants to be a maid in a big house – not because it seems like a glamorous job, but because she no longer wants to intrude on her governess’s charity. A displaced Russian Countess after the Revolution of 1918, Anna is determined to support her ailing mother and with her secret weapon – Selina Strickland’s Domestic Compendium – she sets off to the countryside. - Dairy Queen - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Running her family’s dairy farm practically by herself, dealing with a demanding father with a broken hip, a mother working two jobs to keep the family afloat and a younger brother who barely mutters two words in a day is hard enough, but when you add having to put up with cocky Brian Nelson to boot it can be a little too much. But when D.J. starts training Brian for the upcoming football season, she starts to learn things about herself and her family that she never knew. - Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie - Jordan Sonnenblick
Until recently Steven was just your normal teen, but that all changed when his brother Jeffrey kept insisting that “his parts hurt” and then has a nosebleed that doesn’t stop. After a trip to the doctor, the Alpers discover that Jeffrey has leukemia and Steven starts to get lost amongst the doctor visits, chemotherapy and growing medical bills and diminishing income. - The Gospel According to Larry - Janet Tashjian
Larry doesn’t really exist even though he has a very popular website. Nope, in fact, “Larry” is actually mild-mannered 17 year-old Josh Swensen. What starts out as a fun blog for Josh to spout his ideals quickly ignites the passions of local and eventually global teens. - I Had Seen Castles - Cynthia Rylant
When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, John Dante is tearing at the bit to join the Army for a little retaliation. When he falls in love with Ginny, things get more complicated as she pleads with him to be a conscientious objector. First romance and war through the eyes of a 17 year old. - Just Listen - Sarah Dessen
Things just aren’t going well for Annabel Greene. Her best – and basically only – friend in the world won’t speak to her except to hurl obscenities at her, her older sister refuses to acknowledge the obvious eating disorder that’s threatening her life, and after everything Annabel’s been through this summer she no longer wants to be a model but can't tell her mother. Then Annabel starts talking to the scariest boy in school and finds out that no one is what they look like on the surface. - My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park - Steve Kluger
In a retelling for an 11th grade class assignment of their most excellent year, T.C., Alejandra and Augie weave their story of a turbulent and fun year full of finding love and building their own family. Together, the three friends find ways to help each other through hard times and they all fall in love with one special orphan. - A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly
In a quiet Maine resort in 1906 Mattie Gokey has dreams and hopes that she knows she will never see come to fruition, so when the most handsome boy in town proposes to her, Mattie’s father finally allows her to work off the family farm. As a service girl at a fancy hotel, she meets Grace Brown who asks her to burn some letters for her. Before Mattie can do so, Grace and her companion disappear. - Perfect - Natasha Friend
Isabelle Lee seems to be okay after her father’s death, but looks are only skin deep. Isabelle secretly hides food in her closet and tries to bribe her little sister not to tell on her when she finds Isabelle throwing up in their shared bathroom. - Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie - David Lubar
Scott Hudson is both excited and apprehensive about the first day of high school; and well he should be. All in one day his life is turned upside-down by a girl down the street who didn’t used to be but now is beautiful, a crazy bus driver who shouts and speeds, a Spanish teacher who speaks mostly in French and the announcement that his mother is pregnant. - So Yesterday - Scott Westerfield
Seventeen-year-old Hunter finds himself more and more entangled in a dangerous world of cool-hunting and marketing all while he’s trying to appear cool. Hunter’s knowledge of little-known historical facts about coolness, Japanese Anime and almost everything in general helps him get out of many scrapes and untangle the riddle of who kidnapped his boss and why. - Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl Caraway breezes into Mica High School and flips everyone’s lives upside down for a few months. At first everyone loves her non-conformity, but soon the school’s population turns on her and starts to ostracize her. Through it all, Leo Borlock, the narrator of the story, is utterly smitten with Stargirl. - Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Chris Crutcher
Best friends since elementary school because of their outcast status, Sarah and Eric have grown apart in the past year, despite Eric’s attempts to keep them together. He even tries to ensure he remains fat for Sarah, who is disfigured from a childhood accident, even with his hours of swim team practice. Then when Sarah turns up in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, Eric is the only one who can figure out what happened to her. - The Thirteenth Tale - Dianne Setterfield
Vida Winter is the world’s most famous author, but no one knows much about her. Whenever she is interviewed about her books and asked about her life, she tells a different story. Nearing the end of her life, she summons Margaret Lea to her deathbed in order to write her true biography. Margaret spends most of her time trying to unravel the tangled yarns that Ms. Winter provides her in order to find the truth. - Twisted - Laurie Halse Anderson
Tyler Miller used to blend into the background, but after his graffiti incident lands him on probation and working with the school maintenance staff all summer that’s about to change. He quickly catches the eye of Bethany Milbury, the school’s most popular girl and daughter of Tyler’s father’s boss, with his newly muscled body and his kindness to her. But soon he finds himself in trouble again after he’s wrongly accused at a party. - Under a War-Torn Sky - Laura Elliott
While Henry is flying high in the sky, the United States’ Air Force involvement in World War II looks like a valiant rescue mission for the people below. Once his plane is attacked and Henry is forced to jump or die, he learns the truth; nothing about war is valiant except trying to save lives instead of ending them. - The Wednesday Wars - Gary D. Schmidt
Holling Hoodhood is the only Presbyterian in his grade, which normally wouldn’t create much of a problem, but in the 1960s on Long Island, it means that he’s the only student without religious school on Wednesday afternoons. This means that he’s alone with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, for several hours once a week. Together, they work through Shakespeare’s plays, trudge through the everyday heartache of the Vietnam War, and live through some very interesting cream puffs incidents.
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