teens

He's Not Lazy: Empowering Your Son to Believe In Himself

By Adam Price
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Colleen O.
Oct 13, 2017

Dr. Adam Price has twenty-five years of experience with children and adolescents, especially boys, and his experience shows. He's Not Lazy details how and why an adolescent boy’s brain is often behind, they fear of failure, often "opt out". They opt out by procrastinating, losing themselves in the world of video games, or appearing ambivalent towards everything.

Dr. Price concentrates mostly on high school teens, but I found a lot of it very useful for my twelve-year old, and plan to revisit this book often during his high school years. There are some great worksheets to be used by both

Last Night I Sang To The Monster

By Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Scott S.
Sep 20, 2017

Having never experienced life in a rehab center I cannot speak to the authenticity or veracity of the setting Benjamin Alire Sáenz creates in, Last Night I Sang To The Monster. 18 year-old Zach is an alcoholic who comes out of a black out in a treatment center with no memory of how he got there. I can say the novel is populated by memorable characters who are engaged in emotionally resonant relationships in a visceral setting. And in those respects, Sáenz has succeeded in crafting a very effective and moving novel. While not all aspects of the novel work perfectly, it is clear that Sáenz has

Persona 5 (PS4)

By ATLUS

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jul 3, 2017

Have you ever wanted to execute a massive heist?  How about pretend to be a Japanese high schooler?  Explore Jungian psychology?  You're in luck!

This may be the fifth game in the Persona subseries of the Shin Megami Tensei games, but no prior knowledge is required (although it helps to catch references, and maybe a little foreshadowing).  You play as a student shipped off to big-city Tokyo from the country on criminal probation for assault, but you only find this out a little ways into the game, which begins in mid-heist.  You're quickly apprehended by police, informed that you were betrayed

Illuminae

By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Diane H.
Feb 8, 2016

Illuminae is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve come across recently. I don’t know what it would be like to read the book, but the audio was marvelous to listen to. The different voices encapsulate the personalities and essences of the different characters, making the story richer and adding depth. 

I also appreciated the unique format--the whole story is told in messages, transcripts and recordings. It begins with a memo about the information to follow, then goes right into two interviews with the main characters, Kady Grant and Ezra Mason.

These two teenagers just survived a devastating

Dreams of the Golden Age

By Carrie Vaughn
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Dec 21, 2014

Continuing the story of Celia West following the death of her superhero father and the retirement of the superheroes of her beloved city, Celia continues to look out for the best interests of her city and has carefully been watching the grandchildren of the superheroes waiting to see if there is a new generation of powerful superheroes in the making.  Two of these new superheroes may be her own daughters Anna and Bethy but so far they aren't exhibiting any signs of superpowers or at least they're not sharing with her if they are developing powers. 

Meanwhile, Anna is having trouble figuring

The Story of Owen

By E. K. Johnston
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Octavia V.
Apr 29, 2014

After famed dragon slayer, Lottie Thorskard, is injured on the job she takes early retirement and moves to the small town of Trondheim to escape her notoriety and the big city. She brings her partner Hannah, and nephew Owen, whose father is out fighting the carbon eating dragons that have plagued Canada since the dawn of time.

Late for his first class on the first day of school, Owen asks Siobhan McQuiad for directions. Turns out, they’re both late for English, and both end up in after-school detention where a friendship is born. As a gifted music student, Siobhan is also good at math and

The Perks of Being A Wallflower

By Stephen Chbosky
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Mar 31, 2014

Charlie, a modern-day Holden Caulfield, reminds me of myself when I was an uber-angsty adolescent. That’s the good thing about reading Young Adult Fiction as a middle aged adult: you have a broader worldview which allows you to appreciate teenage angst in a deeper way. You’ve been there and back. You’ve lived through it. You know there’s a way out. You understand.

Charlie is looking for understanding. He feels out of place. His only friend in middle school killed himself last year. He’s starting high school, anxious and friendless. He works up the courage to sit next to two seniors, Patrick

Looking for Alaska

By John Green
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Jan 24, 2014

John Green writes novels for young adults, but you don't have to be young to enjoy them.  I'm forty-three, and he's one of my favorite contemporary authors.  I became a fan of Green not by reading his books but by watching videos on his amazing YouTube channels CrashCourseMental Floss, and Vlogbrothers.  I thought I was too sophisticated and mature to read a young-adult novel, but I love Green so much I gave him a shot.  Most fans of John Green that I know love his book The Fault in Our Stars the best, but my favorite John Green novel is Looking for Alaska.  It’s the story of a 16-year-old

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

By Holly Black

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Nov 16, 2013

When seventeen-year-old Tana wakes up hungover from a wild party at a remote farmhouse, surrounded by dead classmates, she thinks things can't get any worse...until she discovers a mysterious vampire named Gavriel chained up in the same room as her bitten ex-boyfriend Aiden, who is about to turn into a full-fledged bloodsucker at any moment.  Acting on impulse, she saves Gavriel and Aiden from the horde of vampires responsible for the massacre, and prepares to drive them to Coldtown--the quarantine zone where vampires mingle with humans in decadent parties that last for years, all broadcast on

The Lost Sun

By Tessa Gratton

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Oct 18, 2013

Soren Bearskin has grown up in a United States colonized by the Vikings rather than the Puritans, a country where trolls hide in the mountains and Norse gods walk the land, where children learn how to sword-fight in school and every year the land is renewed by the god of light, Baldur, as he is resurrected from his winter death.  Except this year, Baldur fails to appear.  A search is begun, a boon is offered by Odin to whomever can return his missing sun, and Astrid Glyn, the daughter of the most famous seer in New Asgard, convinces Soren that it is their fate to find Baldur.  Together, they

Gated by Amy Christine Parker


Rated by Jennifer R.
Aug 25, 2013

Gated by Amy Christine Parker is a high anxiety filled novel that continues to build until the very last chapter. Lyla is seventeen, and has been living in a cult called the Community, since she was 5 years old. However, to Lyla her life is ideal as she follows the words of her leader Pioneer without question.  The reader can tell that she is in a dangerous situation, that is only going to get worse, but to Lyla life is normal.

Parker makes the interesting choice to use 9/11 as the reason the cult was created and why Lyla’s parents fled (in addition to a kidnapped younger sister). 9/11 proved

The Selection by Kiera Cass


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Aug 1, 2013

16 year old America Singer, citizen of Illea-caste 5, was just chosen as one of 35 girls who will compete for the hand of Maxon Schreave, Prince of Illea-caste 1.  So begins The Selection, a “Hunger Games meets the Bachelor” dystopian novel by Kiera Cass.  Any other girl in Illea would have been thrilled to be picked to go live at the palace in Illea and have an opportunity to become the next Princess, and then Queen, of this new nation founded in the remains of the former U.S.A. But unfortunately for America Singer her heart was already committed to another.

This is the first of the trilogy

The Elite by Kiera Cass


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jun 22, 2013

Following the first novel in the series (The Selection), The Elite takes readers deeper into the horrors of the Illea Society.  As America continues to uncover the truth behind her country’s beginnings, she is also forced to witness the violence and harm that befalls anyone who steps out of line in the eyes of the royal family. Not only does she still need to decide which boy she loves, Maxon or Aspen, but she may even need to decide if her country is worth fighting for, and whether or not she would ever want to lead a country such as hers. 

The Elite is the second novel in Kiera Cass’

Apr 8, 2013

A modern-day fairy tale with some teen drama and angst thrown in!  A 15-year-old girl brings a storybook character to life as she struggles with her own real-life issues. My 12-year-old daughter and I both really enjoyed this book! It would make a great mother/daughter read. The audiobook provides three different voices which added to my enjoyment of the story.  Another fun fact is that it is co-written with Jodi Picoult’s daughter.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Star Rating

Rated by Josh N.
Mar 2, 2013

In Arras, society is tightly overseen and controlled by the government. The Guild keeps boys and girls segregated until they reach marrying age. Food is rationed, travel is restricted, and people are euthanized before they die of natural causes. Women are forced to work in subservient jobs, as secretaries and maids--except for the ones who have a talent for weaving, who are sent to an isolated academy where they are trained to be Spinsters. And what the Spinsters weave is reality itself. With Crewel, local author Gennifer Albin has created a fascinating and compelling story of social control

Feb 15, 2013

Can’t decide between team Edward and Team Jacob? Try Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan. The town of New Whitby was founded by vampires. While there’s not a lot of mingling between vampires and humans, they have mostly co-existed peacefully. But when Mel’s best friend Cathy seems to be falling for the courtly, old-fashioned vampire who just enrolled at their high school, Mel knows she has to intervene. As it says on the cover “Friends don’t let friends date vampires”.

Then there’s the troubling mystery of what happened to the father of Anna, another close friend of Mel

Lullaby by Amanda Hocking


Rated by Lisa J.
Feb 1, 2013

Book two in the Watersong trilogy, Lullaby, picks right up where Wake left off.  Harper is desperate to find her sixteen-year-old sister Gemma who has run off with Penn, Thea, and Lexi after a horrific fight where Penn turns into a monster and the girls all swam away with mermaid tails.  Harper is convinced that Gemma didn’t want to go with them but left to keep them safe and has somehow become a mermaid.  While Harper, Alex, and Daniel research mermaids, Gemma is busy trying to get used to being a siren and all that entails (pun intended).  Gemma learns that the other sirens need her as there

Oct 14, 2012

Blue knows that once she kisses her true love, he will die soon afterwards. With a family full of psychics, warnings like this do not go ignored. Blue has always kept a distance from the opposite sex, especially the cocky and stuck-up Raven Boys who frequent the restaurant where she works.  Then, shortly after walking down the Corpse Road with her Aunt Neeve on St. Marks Eve to greet the souls that will be lost within a year, Blue gets a glimpse of a boy who is destined to die—a boy, Gansey, whose appearance means either he is her true love or she will be the cause of his death. While dealing

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Sep 14, 2012

Masque of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin is an intriguing re-production of Poe’s original version, “The Masque of the Red Death”. Griffin creates a world that has succumbed to an air-borne infectious disease, which leaves people dying on every corner. Only the rich are able to provide their families with masks that purify the air before breathing it in.

Araby Worth, the female protagonist, is part of the elite because her father was the scientist who first created the masks that began saving lives immediately. But her world is far from glamorous. She drinks copious amounts of alcohol and

Across the Universe by Beth Revis


Rated by Jennifer R.
Aug 23, 2012

Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, tackles two entirely different character perspectives while taking readers on an adventure aboard a space ship traveling to a new Earth.

Amy was seventeen when her family decided to board the 300-year flight into space to find a new home for humans. While she did have a choice to stay at home or leave with her parents, Amy knew she could never leave them. She would sleep for 300 years, but only feel like seconds had passed.

Elder is sixteen years old and he has spent his entire life on the ship. He must follow the exact rules of his totalitarian-like

Die For Me by Amy Plum


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jul 14, 2012

Die for Me, written by Amy Plum, is a story of love, loss, desire, and the supernatural. Kate and her sister Georgia have suffered the tragic loss of their parents, who were so horrifically injured in a car accident that Kate could not even recognize her father’s face. After the funerals, Georgia who is now acting as the legal guardian to Kate decides that they will go live with their grandparents in France.

Kate is distressed, depressed, and horribly lonely. While France is a familiar place, as she visited every summer growing up and can speak French fluently, she cannot get over the void

Hourglass by Myra Mcentire


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jul 10, 2012

Emerson is not a normal 17-year-old girl. She may appear to be on the outside, but everything about her, including her daily routine, is off. A few months before her parents’ tragic deaths, Emerson began seeing people. These people were out of place, out of time and, more importantly, out of their physical bodies. They were similar to ghosts, except that when she touched them, they would disintegrate rapidly. Some of them would even speak with her, which proved to be hazardous as she would get into yelling matches in public with an entity that no one else could see.

Due to these

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
May 25, 2012

Widely praised as one of the best books of 2012, I’m happy to report that Printz-Award winning author John Green does not disappoint.  In fact, this may be his best novel yet.

Sixteen-year-old Hazel is dying of thyroid cancer.  And while lugging an oxygen tank around to lame support groups isn’t exactly the coolest activity for a teenager, she does happen to meet someone who is very cool: Augustus, who is cute, smart and in remission.  Suddenly, Hazel has someone to share her favorite book with, someone to flirt with, and someone to love.  And that love may be harder to cope with than her

Gone by Michael Grant


Rated by Diane H.
Mar 18, 2012

Gone is a "what if" story. What if everyone over the age of 14 suddenly disappeared? What if this phenomenon was localized, affecting a small slice on the California coast? What if there was no visible way to escape the affected area and get back to the "normal" world? The story sounds a bit like the Lord of the Flies on a larger scale with boys and girls of all ages, from babies up to age 14. But there is a twist. Even before all the adults disappeared some of the kids were experiencing...something strange, developing unusual powers that ranged from mild to deadly. What these new talents have

Oct 25, 2011

Budding cartoonist, Junior (Arnold) Spirit, a 15-year-old Spokane Indian boy, transfers to a white school off the reservation because of his eagerness to learn and frustration over conditions at the “res” school, including 15 year-old science textbooks.  This account of his adjustment to a school with a “Redskin” as mascot is sometimes funny, often poignant, including his adoration of the beautiful blonde Penelope.  Junior’s family and lifestyle come to life as he confronts culture clashes, deaths in the family and predictable bigotry.  His insight and coping skills would be enviable to a

The COMPOUND by S.A. Bodeen


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jul 12, 2011

 The Compound is a short novel that tells the intriguing story of  fifteen year old Eli and his family living underground to escape nuclear fallout. They have been living underground for six years and have just a mere nine to go before they can safely return to the world above.  Tragically Eli’s twin brother and maternal grandmother did not reach the compound before the entrance to the bunker was sealed. Prior to the sequestering of the family, Eli's brilliant father made billions of dollars in technology and seems like a Bill Gates kind of guy.  He was the mastermind behind the building and

Robot Dreams, by Sara Varon


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jun 22, 2011

A colleague urged me to read this 2007 graphic novel -- which I ended up doing in one sitting. Although classified as fiction for young adults, I found it irresistible, and it's been a few decades since anyone could consider me a young adult.

"Graphic novel" actually is a bit of a misnomer here; Varon's book is basically wordless. But while the story pacing, narrative, and emotional resonances all depend on visuals, Varon still demonstrates considerable novelistic gifts. She has an excellent eye for detail and knows how to get herself(and us)  inside the heads of her characters.

Having said

May 5, 2011

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd tells thte story of Lily Owen. In the summer of 1964, Lily was 14 years old and living in South Carolina. When she was very young, her mother had died under mysterious circumstances. Lily was raised by her abusive father and by Rosaleen, an African-American woman her father brought into their home to look after Lily.

1964 was an intense time for the civil rights movement. One hot summer day, Rosaleen gets into trouble with some of the white men in town. Before they knew it, Lily and Rosaleen find themselves on the run. Lily decides to follow a clue on

Feb 7, 2011

Best friends since the age of 3, Sam (Samantha) and Jesse now in high school are experiencing many changes, some good and some not so good.  The good:  after years of being best friends Sam and Jesse are falling in love and their bond is stronger than ever.  The bad:  Jesse has been diagnosed with a rare treatment resistant form of cancer.  Jesse is dying.

A unique look at dealing with terminal illness, the power of young love and the importance of family when dealing with a terminal illness.  Don't miss The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla.

Easy A


Rated by Josh N.
Jan 28, 2011

Easy A is an absolutely brilliant movie! Emma Stone is fantastic in the lead role, and the rest of the cast are terrific, too. The script is incredibly smart, sharp, hilariously funny and emotionally resonant. The movie shows some of the gritty reality of high school and has a protagonist who is, in the end, incredibly moral, and yet it never feels preachy. The language and situations are often somewhat raunchy (without being gross), so this is definitely a movie for more sophisticated teens. But it's a movie you shouldn't miss!