TAB Recommended Books

The books on this list have been recommended by Helen Hall Library’s Teen Advisory Board members.

  

Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher

YA-F ASHER

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Emma by Jane Austen

YA-F AUSTEN

Emma has long played matchmaker for her friends and believes her own heart immune from the lures of love. This is a fascinating, hilarious coming-of-age tale of one woman seeking her true nature and finding true love in the process.

Avalon Series by T.A. Barron

YA-F BARRON bk.1

In accordance with prophecy, Avalon's existence is threatened in the year that stars stop shining and at the time when both the dark child and Merlin's heir are to be revealed.

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

YA-F BODEEN

Fifteen-year-old Eli, locked inside a radiation-proof compound built by his father to keep them safe following a nuclear attack, begins to question his future, as well as his father's grip on sanity as the family's situation steadily disintegrates over the course of six years.

Abandon by Meg Cabot

YA-F CABOT

Pierce, trying to unravel the mysterious death of someone close to her, finds herself drawn to a dark stranger, even though she believes he may be a killer.

All American Girl by Meg Cabot

YA-F CABOT

Sophomore Samantha Madison stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed teen ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son.

Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Lynn Carbone

YA-F CARBONE

Traveling to the New World in 1606 as the page to Captain John Smith, twelve-year-old orphan Samuel Collier settles in the new colony of James Town, where he must quickly learn to distinguish between friend and foe.

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

YA-F CLARE

Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare

YA-F CLARE

When sixteen-year-old orphan Tessa Fell's older brother suddenly vanishes, her search for him leads her into Victorian-era London's dangerous supernatural underworld, and when she discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must learn to trust the demon-killing Shadowhunters if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother.

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

YA-F COLLINS

When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving humans, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

YA-F COLLINS

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a grave competition hosted by the Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the death.

Runner by Carl Deuker

YA-F DEUKER

Living with his alcoholic father on a broken-down sailboat on Puget Sound has been hard on seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor, but when his love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk.

Adventurers Wanted Series by Mark Forman

YA-SF FORMAN bk.1

Fifteen-year-old Alex Taylor answers an advertisement for an adventurer in Mr. Clutter's bookshop window and is swept away to a faraway land where he is charged with trying to find the lair of the evil dragon Slathbog the Red and retrieving a legendary treasure.

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

YA-F HADDIX

In 1927, at the urging of twenty-one-year-old Harriet, Mrs. Livingston reluctantly recalls her experiences at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, including miserable working conditions that led to a strike, then the fire that took the lives of her two best friends, when Harriet, the boss's daughter, was only five years old.  Includes historical notes.

Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale

YA-F HALE

While salvaging and rebuilding in the aftermath of the Galveston flood of 1900, sixteen-year-old Seth proves himself in a way that his previous efforts never could, but he still must face his father man-to-man.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

YA-F HINTON

The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.

Warriors Series by Erin Hunter

YA-SF HUNTER

For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest. When their warrior code is threatened by mysterious deaths, a house cat named Rusty may turn out to be the bravest warrior of all.

Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

J-F LEWIS bk.1

When Digory and Polly try to return the wicked witch Jadis to her own world, the magic gets mixed up and they all land in Narnia where they witness Aslan blessing the animals with human speech.

The Mermaid’s Mirror by L.K. Madigan

YA-F MADIGAN

Lena, almost sixteen, has always felt drawn to the waters of San Francisco Bay despite the fears of her father, a former surfer, but after she glimpses a beautiful woman with a tail, nothing can keep Lena from seeking the mermaid in the dangerous waves at Magic Crescent Cove.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

YA-SF PAOLINI

In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

YA-F PATTERSON

A sister and brother, along with thousands of young people, have been kidnapped and either thrown in prison or turned up missing after accusations of witchcraft were made against them, and the ruling regime will do anything in order to suppress life and liberty, music and books.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

F PICOULT

The people of Sterling, New Hampshire, are forever changed after a shooting at the high school leaves ten people dead, and the judge presiding over the trial tries to remain unbiased, even though her daughter witnessed the events and was friends with the assailant.

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

YA-F PIERCE bk.1

When sixteen-year-old Beka becomes "Puppy" to a pair of "Dogs," as the Provost's Guards are called, she uses her police training, natural abilities, and a touch of magic to help them solve the case of a murdered baby in Tortall's Lower City.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan

YA-F RIORDAN bk.1

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

The Kane Chronicles Series by Rick Riordan

YA-F RIORDAN no.1

Siblings Carter and Sadie join their father in a research project at the British Museum and soon discover that an evil Egyptian god has been unleashed on them, banishing their father into oblivion.

 Heros of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan

YA-F RIORDAN bk.1

Jason, Piper, and Leo, three students from a school for "bad kids," find themselves at Camp Half-Blood, where they learn that they are demigods and begin a quest to free Hera, who has been imprisoned by Mother Earth herself.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. TOLKIEN

YA-F TOLKIEN

Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to share in an adventure from which he may never return.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

YA-F 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.