Summer Reads for Teens

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

Green, author of the much-lauded Looking for Alaska, struck a nerve with this New York Times bestseller about Hazel Grace Lancaster and her first love Augustus Waters. Add teenage angst, first kisses and a whirlwind trip to Amsterdam for a tear-jerker that will have you (and your kid) weeping from page two.

To buy: The Fault in Our Stars, $18

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld

This action-packed steampunk series starts with Leviathan, set in pre-World War I Europe as the powers (Darwinists, who utilize man-made beasts, against the tech-oriented Clankers) amp up for battle. Prince Aleksandar Ferdinand has been stripped of his title and is on the run when he crashes into Deryn Sharp, a commoner with a secret, and the pair end up on the massive whale airship Leviathan. The series continues with Behemoth and Goliath.

To buy: Leviathan, $10

The Sky Is Everywhere, by Jandy Nelson

This lyrical, shattering and yet uplifting look at love in the face of loss. Lennie Walker, band geek, is coping with her sister's sudden death when she starts bonding—a bit too much—with the dead girl’s ex, Toby. To complicate matters further, she finds herself falling for the irresistible Joe, who’s a kindred spirit musically and, it seems, in every other way.

To buy: The Sky Is Everywhere, $9

Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Southerner Ethan Wate’s dreams are haunted by a girl who plays beautiful music and smells of lemon and rosemary. When Ethan meets new girl Lena, he realizes it’s her. He learns that his new love is a caster, a user of magic, and at 16, she’ll be claimed by light or dark. The couple’s adventures continue in the three-book series.

To buy: Beautiful Creatures, $10

The List, by Siobhan Vivian

Everyone knows high school is one big beauty contest, but in The List, the prettiest and ugliest girls in each grade are clearly defined—and dealing with the aftermath. Told with startling clarity from eight different perspectives, The List is an understated-yet-scathing examination of popularity, femininity, and the concept of beauty, with the high school setting acting as a microcosm for the rest society.

To buy: The List, $18

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The Selection, by Kiera Cass

The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games in Cass' debut. America Singer is happy with her lot—especially boyfriend Aspen, who is a caste below her. It’s not perfect, but they’re determined to make it work. But then America scores an incredible chance: competing with 34 girls on TV to win over the land’s most eligible bachelor, Prince Maxon. It’s a nightmare … or is it a dream come true?

To buy: The Selection, $11

Ashes, by Ilsa J. Bick

In a reality-based post-apocalyptic world where an electromagnetic pulse has wiped out half of humanity and all of technology, 17-year-old Alex gathers a ragtag crew of survivors to confront flesh-eating zombies called The Changed, a decimated planet, her own formerly cancer-ravaged body and, of course, what’s left of adolescent humanity. Get your kids started on this epic girl-powered trilogy now—book two hits stores in September.

To buy: Ashes, $18

Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore

The third Seven Kingdoms book features Bitterblue, 18 and queen of Monsea. The legacy of her evil father lives on, as Bitterblue learns while exploring the city. There she meets truthseekers Saf and Toby, and soon the three find themselves under attack from sources unknown. Can Bitterblue bring peace and light to her crumbling kingdom? Or is the past destined to repeat?

To buy: Bitterblue, $20

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The Disenchantments, by Nina LaCour

Colby and his best friend Bev planned to bail on college and spend a year backpacking through Europe after a last-hurrah summer tour with their band, the Disenchantments. Colby’s summer idyll is crushed when Bev reveals that she’s going to design school in Rhode Island instead. Centered on music, the precipice between friendship and love and that edge-of-adulthood angst, The Disenchantments alternates constantly between breezy and deep.

To buy: The Disenchantments, $17

Bittersweet, by Sarah Ockler

Champion figure skater Hudson Avery’s world shattered when her dad had an affair. She quit skating to help her mom at a diner, then earns a shot at a skating scholarship that could take her out of small town Watonka—if she can get back into shape. So she starts coaching the local ice hockey team in exchange for using their rink. On the ice, she finds redemption, romance—and herself.

To buy: Bittersweet, $17

Try Not To Breathe, by Jennifer R. Hubbard

After attempting suicide in a psychiatric ward, Ryan is shunned by classmates. But then he meets Nicki—young, bold and incredibly vibrant. She gets him to open up in ways he’s been unable to in the past—and in him, she’s looking for answers to her own father’s suicide years ago.

To buy: Try Not To Breathe, $17

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