2016 Summer Reading List for Teens

Every year, the Arnold Branch comes up with a summer reading list for teens.  These are a mix of classic teen books along with new teen books that highly reviewed.  Here is this year's summer reading list for teens . . . .

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
The best friend of a kid with superhuman qualities endeavors to have a life of his own that is both normal and extraordinary in the face of constant world-shaking challenges, threats against his school, and an elusive pretty girl.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher
Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."

Emily's Dress and Other Missing Things by Kathryn Burak
A new girl in Amherst, Massachusetts, comes to terms with her mother's suicide and her best friend's disappearance with the help of Emily Dickinson's poetry--and her dress.

Star Crossed by Elizabeth Bunce
In a kingdom dominated by religious intolerance, sixteen-year-old Digger, a street thief, has always avoided attention, but when she learns that her friends are plotting against the throne she must decide whether to join them or turn them in.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Cath struggles to survive on her own in her first year of college while avoiding a surly roommate, bonding with a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words, and worrying about her fragile father.


More Teen Books --
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith
Character, Driven by David Lubar
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
The Emperor of Any Place by Tim Wynne-Jones
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
The Head of the Saint by Socorro Acioli
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
The Wolf by Steven Herrick
The Year of the Beast by Cecil Castelucci & Nate Powell

Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through July 22, 2016.

Teen Summer Reading List - 2015

Every year, I like to come up with a list of books that I recommend teens at the library to read during the summer.  Here is the 2015 list . . . .

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising the dead.

Emily's Dress and Other Missing Things by Kathryn Burak
A new girl in Amherst, Massachusetts, comes to terms with her mother's suicide and her best friend's disappearance with the help of Emily Dickinson's poetry--and her dress.

Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn by Sarah Miller
Fifteen-year-old Gideon Rayburn becomes torn between two girls during his first year at a prestigious New England prep school--gorgeous Pilar Benitez-Jones and cute, smart Molly McGarry--and feels pressure to impress his two roommates with his choice.


More Recommended Reads for Teens --
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
Mothership by Martin Leicht
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Wait for Me by An Na
William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through July 17, 2015.

Summer Reading for Teens, Part 3

Some more great teen books perfect for summer reading . . .

Itch: The Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter by Simon Mayo
When fourteen-year-old Itchingham "Itch" Lofte discovers a new radioactive element, he must use all of his wits and scientific knowledge to stop a top-secret government agency, his greedy teacher, and an evil corporation from getting hold of it.

Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub
After the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, mysterious figures in Verona are determined to reignite the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, so, for the sake of peace, the Prince orders Romeo's best friend Benvolio to marry Juliet's cousin Rosaline.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
Three teenagers in Boston narrate their experiences of a year of new friendships, first loves, and coming into their own.

Emily's Dress and Other Mising Things by Kathryn Burak
A new girl in Amherst, Massachusetts, comes to terms with her mother's suicide and her best friend's disappearance with the help of Emily Dickinson's poetry--and her dress.

Grave Mercy by R.L. LaFevers
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and aviolent destiny.