Booklists for Teens

Adeyemi, Tomi. Children of Blood and Bone

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. 

Ahdieh, Renee. Flame in the Mist

The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place&;she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor’s favorite consort&;a political marriage that will elevate her family’s standing. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by a dangerous gang of bandits known as the Black Clan, who she learns has been hired to kill her before she reaches the palace.

Aveyard, Victoria. Red Queen
When her latent supernatural powers manifest in front of a noble court, Mare, a thief in a world divided between commoners and superhumans, is forced to assume the role of lost princess before risking everything to help a growing rebellion. (book one of the Red Queen trilogy)

Baldacci, David. The Finisher
When Quentin Herms is chased from his village into the Quag, a dark forest filled with terrifying beasts and murderous Outliers, Vega uses her skills as a talented decoder to uncover dangerous secrets.

Bardugo, Leigh. Shadow and Bone
Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken to become the protegé of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold.

Bardugo, Leigh. Six of Crows

Six dangerous outcasts must learn to work together after they are offered an impossible heist that can save the world from destruction.

Barron, T.A. Child of the Dark Prophecy
Enter a world of magical delights with a cadre of characters ranging from fairies and tree spirits to an eagle-man with a startling screech. (Sequel: Shadows on the Stars)

Black, Holly. The Cruel Prince
Jude, seventeen and mortal, gets tangled in palace intrigues while trying to win a place in the treacherous High Court of Faerie, where she and her sisters have lived for a decade.

Blake, Kendare. Three Dark Crowns

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions. But becoming the Queen Crowned isn&;t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose; it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

Bray, Libba. The Diviners

Evangeline O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and sent off to the bustling streets of New York City–and she is ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.

Cashore, Kristin. Graceling

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.

Chokshi, Roshani.  The Gilded Wolves

It’s 1889. Paris is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

Clayton, Dhonielle. The Belles

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful. But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite, the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land.

Colfer, Eoin. The Wish List
Shortly after breaking into the home of elderly Lowrie McCall, teenagers Meg and Belch are killed in an explosion. Bad guy Belch goes straight to hell, but Meg’s fate in the afterlife is more uncertain. She is given the opportunity to redeem herself by returning to earth and helping Lowrie achieve some of his final wishes.

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

Dennard, Susan. Truthwitch
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Donnelly, Jennifer. Deep Blue
Uncovering an ancient evil, Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas, to save their hidden world.

Grey, Melissa. The Girl at Midnight
A girl who’s adopted and raised by a race of creatures with feathers for hair and magic in their veins becomes involved in an ancient war and a centuries-old love, discovering startling truths about the world she lives in.

Goodmand, Alice. The Dark Days Club
London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society.

Haddix, Margaret. Just Ella
In this continuation of the Cinderella story, fifteen-year-old Ella finds that accepting Prince Charming’s proposal ensnares her in a suffocating tangle of palace rules and royal etiquette, so she plots to escape.

Hand, Cynthia. My Lady Jane
At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane is about to become the Queen of England.

Ireland, Justina. Dread Nation

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

LaFevers, Robin. Grave Mercy
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny.

Lu, Marie. The Young Elites

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars; they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Maxwell, Lisa. The Last Magician

Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

MacHale, D.J. Pendragon

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon is not like the other boys his age. His uncle Press is a Traveler, and, as Bobby has learned, that means Uncle Press is responsible, through his journeys, for solving interdimensional conflict wherever he encounters it. His mission is nothing less than to save the universe from ultimate evil. And he’s taking Bobby along for the ride.

McKinley, Robin. Chalice
A beekeeper by trade, Mirasol’s life changes completely when she is named the new Chalice, the most important advisor to the new Master, a former priest of fire.

McKinney, L.L. A Blade so Black

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder
As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story.

Meyer, Marissa. Renegades

In a ruined world where humans with extraordinary abilities have become the world’s champions of justice, a vengeance-seeking girl and a justice-seeking boy team up against a villain who has the power to destroy everything they have worked to protect.

Mull, Brandon. Fablehaven series

When Kendra and Seth go to stay at their grandparents’ estate, they discover that it is a sanctuary for magical creatures and that a battle between good and evil is looming.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Spinners
Elaborates on the events recounted in the fairy tale, “Rumpelstiltskin,” in which a strange little man helps a miller’s daughter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give him her first-born child.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Zel
Based on the fairy tale Rapunzel, the story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Zel, her mother, and the prince, and delves into the psychological motivations of the characters.

Paige, Danielle. Dorothy Must Die
Whisked to Oz by a Kansas twister, Amy Gumm discovers that the magical land has been destroyed by Dorothy’s tyrannical rule, a situation that compels Amy to join an order of deposed magic-wielders who seek to put an end to Dorothy’s reign.

Paolini, Christopher. Eragon
In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters. (first book in the Inheritance series)

Pearson, Mary E. Kiss of Deception

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

Pierce, Tamora
Bestselling author, Pierce consistently produces excellent work. Her detailed settings are fascinating, and her knack for establishing powerful relationships between her characters is unrivaled. Look for a wide selection of her books in both hardcover and paperback, including these series: Protector of the Small, The Circle of Magic, The Immortals.

Pratchett, Terry. A Hat Full of Sky
Tiffany Aching, a young witch-in-training, learns about magic and responsibility as she battles a disembodied monster with the assistance of the six-inch-high Wee Free Men and Mistress Weatherwax, the greatest witch in the world.

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North (Sequel: The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass).

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
After a family tragedy, Jacob feels compelled to explore an abandoned orphanage on an island off the coast of Wales, discovering disturbing facts about the children who were kept there. (First book in Miss Peregrine series)

Rhodes, Morgan. Falling Kingdoms
After centuries of peace, the three kingdoms of Mytica stand on the brink of war. As rulers struggle for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed and four key players find their fates forever intertwined amidst betrayal, murder, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

Rowell, Rainbow. Carry On
During his last year at Watford School of Magicks, Simon Snow, the Chosen One, faces a magic-eating monster wearing his face, a break-up, and a missing nemesis.

Scott, Michael. The Alchemyst
Having discovered the secret to eternal youth, 14th-century alchemist Nicholas Flamel and his wife are alive and well in present-day San Francisco, California. But they won’t stay well if 15-year-old twins Sophie and Josh Newman don’t fulfill their prophesied role of either saving or destroying the world, starting by getting back an ancient text stolen from Flamel’s bookstore. (Book one in the Secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel series)

Stiefvater, Maggie. The Raven Boys
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

Tahir, Sabaa. An Ember in the Ashes

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do. But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters–the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. From Sauron’s fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion. When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

3/31/20