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In reply to the discussion: What top 5 books would you list when directing a teenager? [View all]riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)So here's a 16 yr old girl's list...please note that she's raided a fair few of my books and co-opted them for her own. I occasionally still buy tangible books but most of my library is now digital so she doesn't "see" as many books anymore that may grab her attention like they would on a bookshelf. We own most of the books on your list Pretzel Warrior so she's had a chance to read them both at home and at school. She's a voracious reader and has never been censored. She's read everything and anything including the Bible! all the way to the Kama Sutra. She's currently reading Great Expectations ("blech" for English class, just finished 1984 (again for class - her review was that it was "okay" but Handmaid's Tale was "better" . She thought "Night" was just too damn depressing and even though she loved the book, she would never read it again she says - its like "my soul was covered in black ink when I finished". She was adamant she'd never read it again.
A Child is Born by Lennart Nilsson
Harry Potter for clever wit and the perfect depiction of a completely different world
The Hunger Games for a nuanced view of a post-Armegedden world
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (she loves Lat Am lit)
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
My Sister's Keeper for emotional wallop and ethical choices, and the power of a kid, by Jodi Picoult
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (she actually really like Walls and has read both her books)
anything by Neil Gaiman but especially the Graveyard Book
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The God Delusion by Dawkins.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (loves the movie too)
The Idiot's guide to Philosophy
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler