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.

Teenage Assassins

This past weekend I watched the movie Hanna about a teen girl who was trained by her father to assassinate the woman who killed her mother.  This led me to thinking how many teen books feature teen assassins.  Here's just a few of them . .  .

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
Perry's parents insist that he take Gobi, their quiet, Lithuanian exchange student, to senior prom but after an incident at the dance he learns that Gobi is actually a trained assassin who needs him as a henchman, behind the wheel of his father's precious Jaguar, on a mission in Manhattan.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff
Sixteen-year-old Boy Nobody, an assassin controlled by a shadowy government organization, The Program, considers sabotaging his latest mission because his target reminds him of the normal life he craves.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Grave Mercy by Robin La Fevers
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 a violent destiny.