ultimate reading list

From teenreads.com The Ultimate Teen Reading List:

One of our goals each month is to inspire you to read --- and to keep reading. We have found that required reading lists for school --- especially summer reading lists --- are not exactly inspiring. Thus we have created what we think is the Ultimate Teen Reading List --- more than 250 titles that we think are perfect choices for reading and discussing. Our dream is that schools will use this list to help them make their own for summer reading or, even better, suggest that students just read what they want from this list....more at link:

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	1776 by David McCullough	Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough unfolds the dramatic story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence --- when the entire American cause was riding on their success.
	Am I Blue by Marion Dane Bauer	The group of YA writers --- some gay, some not --- who have written these sixteen short stories have something to say about gay awareness. Their stories cut across color and class lines to incorporate everything from a contemporary tale about a girl's coming out to a nod to the Vietnam War to a fantasy in an Amazonian kingdom and a story set in a Catholic girls' school.
	Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman	Mythology and modern times collide again in this masterpiece from Neil Gaiman. This follow-up to American Gods is equal parts humorous, terrifying, adventurous, and epic in the standard mythological style --- but it is also an intimate story about the beauty, and danger, of family.
	Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt	"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while," write Frank McCourt in his memoir. ANGELA'S ASHES, imbued on every page with McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.
	Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver	Looking to escape an oppressive upbringing in rural Kentucky, Marietta Greer heads west in a beat-up Volkswagen. By the time her car breaks down in Tucson, she has with her a stunned, silent three-year-old Cherokee girl who was, literally, dropped into her arms one night and who Marietta names Turtle. Here in Tucson, among a group of fellow travelers, Marietta and Turtle create new lives and redefine the meanings of home and family.
	The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint	New at her high school, Imogene enlists the help of her introverted friend Maxine and the ghost of a boy who haunts the school after receiving warnings through her dreams that soul-eaters are threatening her life
	Book Thief by Marcus Zusak	Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
	Brooklyn Rose by Ann Rinaldi	On St. Helena Island, South Carolina, fifteen year-old Rose meets and marries Rene, a Yankee from Brooklyn, New York, who takes her north to his home where she encounters many differences in attitudes and lifestyles. The joys, heartaches, fears, and struggles of a young woman in transition from child to woman are expressed in diary form as she tries to make a place for herself far from her family and familiar environment.
	Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson	The unexpected twists and turns that occur in teenager Kate Malone's life force her to take a hard look at her relationships with her family, her friends, her boyfriend, and even her deceased mother. As she struggles with needing to be popular and the desire to please everyone at the expense of herself, Kate discovers that she is only human, fraught with insecurities, doubts, and questions --- and that's okay.
	Children of Hurin by J.R. Tolkien	The first complete book by the late J.R.R. Tolkien in three decades --- since the publication of THE SILMARILLION in 1977 --- THE CHILDREN OF HURIN reunites fans of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS with elves and men, dragons and dwarves, eagles and orcs.
	Curious Incident of the Dog in the night time by Mark Haddon	Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
	Empire Falls by Richard Russo	Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years. What keeps him here? It could be his bright, sensitive teenage daughter. Or his soon-to-be ex-wife, who's taken up with a vain health-club proprietor. Or the rich widow who owns everything in town. In EMPIRE FALLS, Richard Russo delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache and grace.
	Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser	Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.
	Great and Terrible Beauty by Liba Bray	It's 1895, and 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is sent from her home in India to an English boarding school, where she is lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls --- and their foray into the spiritual world --- lead to?
	Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw	Linda Greenlaw --- heralded by Sebastian Junger in THE PERFECT STORM as "one of the best sea captains, period, on the East Coast" --- tells the riveting story of her 30-day sword fishing voyage aboard one of the best-outfitted boats on the Eastern seaboard. Her true-life tale is complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they could have come from the pages of MOBY DICK.
	Maximum Ride: Angel Experiment by James Patterson	After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.
	New Moon by Stephanie Meyers	When the Cullens, including her beloved Edward, leave Forks rather than risk revealing that they are vampires, it is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear, but she finds solace in her friend Jacob until he is drawn into a "cult" and changes in terrible ways.
	Now you see her by Jacquelyn Mitchard	Fifteen-year-old Hope describes events leading her to agree to her boyfriend's plan to stage her abduction, and the consequences for their relationship, her family life, and her budding career as an actress.
	Painted House by John Grisham	In a departure from his well-known legal thrillers, John Grisham crafts a tale of small town American life in rural Arkansas in the '50s. Seven-year-old Luke Chandler has never kept a secret or told a single lie in his young life until September of 1952, when two groups of migrant workers --- and two very dangerous men --- come through the Arkansas Delta to work on the Chandler cotton farm.
	Plainsong by Kent Haruf	PLAINSONG is a powerful tale of seven lonely lives set on the stark but beautiful High Plains of Colorado. From these separate strands emerges a vision of life --- and of the community and landscape that bind them together --- that is both luminous and enduring.
	Princess Bride by William Golden	What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams? Combining scenes of rousing fantasy with hilarious reality, this swashbuckling fable is guaranteed to entertain.
	Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell	An ivy league murder, a mysterious coded manuscript, and the secrets of a Renaissance prince collide memorably in THE RULE OF FOUR -- a brilliant work of fiction that weaves together suspense and scholarship, high art and unimaginable treachery.
	White Oleander by Janet Fitch	WHITE OLEANDER tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes --- each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned --- becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.
	Wish you well by David Baldacci	When tragedy strikes, precocious 12-year-old Louisa Mae Cardinal and her younger brother, Oz, leave the hectic New York City of 1940 to live on their great-grandmother's farm in the Virginia mountains. Suddenly Lou finds herself coming of age in a new landscape, making her first true friend, and experiencing adventures that are tragic, comic, and audacious.

1776 by David McCullough

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough unfolds the dramatic story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence --- when the entire American cause was riding on their success.

Am I Blue by Marion Dane Bauer

The group of YA writers --- some gay, some not --- who have written these sixteen short stories have something to say about gay awareness. Their stories cut across color and class lines to incorporate everything from a contemporary tale about a girl's coming out to a nod to the Vietnam War to a fantasy in an Amazonian kingdom and a story set in a Catholic girls' school.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Mythology and modern times collide again in this masterpiece from Neil Gaiman. This follow-up to American Gods is equal parts humorous, terrifying, adventurous, and epic in the standard mythological style --- but it is also an intimate story about the beauty, and danger, of family.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while," write Frank McCourt in his memoir. ANGELA'S ASHES, imbued on every page with McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.

Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Looking to escape an oppressive upbringing in rural Kentucky, Marietta Greer heads west in a beat-up Volkswagen. By the time her car breaks down in Tucson, she has with her a stunned, silent three-year-old Cherokee girl who was, literally, dropped into her arms one night and who Marietta names Turtle. Here in Tucson, among a group of fellow travelers, Marietta and Turtle create new lives and redefine the meanings of home and family.

The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

New at her high school, Imogene enlists the help of her introverted friend Maxine and the ghost of a boy who haunts the school after receiving warnings through her dreams that soul-eaters are threatening her life

Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Brooklyn Rose by Ann Rinaldi

On St. Helena Island, South Carolina, fifteen year-old Rose meets and marries Rene, a Yankee from Brooklyn, New York, who takes her north to his home where she encounters many differences in attitudes and lifestyles. The joys, heartaches, fears, and struggles of a young woman in transition from child to woman are expressed in diary form as she tries to make a place for herself far from her family and familiar environment.

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

The unexpected twists and turns that occur in teenager Kate Malone's life force her to take a hard look at her relationships with her family, her friends, her boyfriend, and even her deceased mother. As she struggles with needing to be popular and the desire to please everyone at the expense of herself, Kate discovers that she is only human, fraught with insecurities, doubts, and questions --- and that's okay.

Children of Hurin by J.R. Tolkien

The first complete book by the late J.R.R. Tolkien in three decades --- since the publication of THE SILMARILLION in 1977 --- THE CHILDREN OF HURIN reunites fans of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS with elves and men, dragons and dwarves, eagles and orcs.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the night time by Mark Haddon

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years. What keeps him here? It could be his bright, sensitive teenage daughter. Or his soon-to-be ex-wife, who's taken up with a vain health-club proprietor. Or the rich widow who owns everything in town. In EMPIRE FALLS, Richard Russo delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache and grace.

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

Great and Terrible Beauty by Liba Bray

It's 1895, and 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is sent from her home in India to an English boarding school, where she is lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls --- and their foray into the spiritual world --- lead to?

Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw

Linda Greenlaw --- heralded by Sebastian Junger in THE PERFECT STORM as "one of the best sea captains, period, on the East Coast" --- tells the riveting story of her 30-day sword fishing voyage aboard one of the best-outfitted boats on the Eastern seaboard. Her true-life tale is complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they could have come from the pages of MOBY DICK.

Maximum Ride: Angel Experiment by James Patterson

After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

New Moon by Stephanie Meyers

When the Cullens, including her beloved Edward, leave Forks rather than risk revealing that they are vampires, it is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear, but she finds solace in her friend Jacob until he is drawn into a "cult" and changes in terrible ways.

Now you see her by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Fifteen-year-old Hope describes events leading her to agree to her boyfriend's plan to stage her abduction, and the consequences for their relationship, her family life, and her budding career as an actress.

Painted House by John Grisham

In a departure from his well-known legal thrillers, John Grisham crafts a tale of small town American life in rural Arkansas in the '50s. Seven-year-old Luke Chandler has never kept a secret or told a single lie in his young life until September of 1952, when two groups of migrant workers --- and two very dangerous men --- come through the Arkansas Delta to work on the Chandler cotton farm.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

PLAINSONG is a powerful tale of seven lonely lives set on the stark but beautiful High Plains of Colorado. From these separate strands emerges a vision of life --- and of the community and landscape that bind them together --- that is both luminous and enduring.

Princess Bride by William Golden

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams? Combining scenes of rousing fantasy with hilarious reality, this swashbuckling fable is guaranteed to entertain.

Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell

An ivy league murder, a mysterious coded manuscript, and the secrets of a Renaissance prince collide memorably in THE RULE OF FOUR -- a brilliant work of fiction that weaves together suspense and scholarship, high art and unimaginable treachery.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

WHITE OLEANDER tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes --- each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned --- becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.

Wish you well by David Baldacci

When tragedy strikes, precocious 12-year-old Louisa Mae Cardinal and her younger brother, Oz, leave the hectic New York City of 1940 to live on their great-grandmother's farm in the Virginia mountains. Suddenly Lou finds herself coming of age in a new landscape, making her first true friend, and experiencing adventures that are tragic, comic, and audacious.