Top 5 Favorite Young Adult/Teen Books

     

                Everyone remembers those books that you grew up reading and absolutely loved, that when you think back to your childhood you remember the good times with those books. Well, here are five of mine, not in order.

·         Lizzie Bright and the Buckminister Boy, written by Gary D. Schmidt

- My mom bought this at a teacher conference, and it is one of my favorite books. It follows Turner Ernest Buckminister II as he moves to Phippsburg, Maine in the nineteenth century. He is the minister’s son, and so he has to be a good example. However, he meets Lizzie Bright, who is black, and lives nearby on Malaga Island, and at age 13, they strike up a friendship. When I re-read this book, I remembered how much I love it. It made me laugh, smile, and want to cry. It is filled with humor and insight, and it is one of my favorite books ever. I love it more every time I read it.

 

·         Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson

-This book is about Melinda Sorodino, and she is excluded as she goes into high school. There was a party over the summer, and she called the cops. None of her friends are talking to her, and it’s useless to make amends, so she keeps to herself, and goes through her first year of high school with little support, the way she wants it. One day, though, she steps up, and takes the courage to finally tell the truth. This book feels so real, with all of the characters and situations, and I loved the sarcastic humor. I’m sure this book will touch many more people, as it is very well-written and honest.

 

·         My Sister’s Keeper, written by Jodi Picoult

-          At the end of this book, I cried. Only two or three books that I’ve ever read have made me do that. This is about Anna and Kate, two sisters. Anna, at thirteen, has suffered through many bone-marrow treatments as a donor for her sister, Kate, who has leukemia. Anna was literally made to be a donor, and when she decides to file a lawsuit because she has been forced to be a donor. This book explores what it means to be a family, and stem-cell treatment. It is, in my opinion, a compelling read, and worth the hype.

 

·         Copper Sun, written by Sharon M. Draper

-          This book’s about Amari, a fifteen year-old girl in Africa whose village is captured by a group of white men in the mid-nineteenth century. She is taken by them as a slave, and she is taken across the ocean and sold into the slave market and bought as a gift for a master’s teenage son. She meets a white indentured servant named Polly and they slowly begin to trust each other. I like how the point of view alternates with each chapter, and this was a fascinating premise that most people don’t choose to write about. This is a very sad book, but a very enjoyable one all the same.

 

·         The Inkheart series, written by Cornelia Funke

-          This series follows Meggie, a twelve-year-old girl who can read characters out of books, as well as transport herself into their own. Her father, Mo, is a bookbinder. He has this talent as well, and it’s not without its problems. When they read a character named Dustfinger out of a book, he presents a problem that her father has kept a secret from her for years. When they find out about the circumstances, they have no choice but to go back to Inkheart, Dustfinger’s land, where Meggie’s mother had been read accidentally by her father nine years before. This is a very inventive plot, and I loved the world and characters created by it. This is a great fantasy series, and I’d highly recommend it.