Books have an amazing ability to create an impact on your mind and can change your perception about happenings in life. It has an astonishing ability to take you to a different world of imagination altogether, through the eyes of the narrator or the characters in the book. Books can be so engaging, that it can keep you engrossed for hours. While there are a plethora of options available, which book to pick, can be perplexing. To make it effortless for you, we have narrowed down here 17 best books for teenagers which will help you choose one from some of these fabulous books.
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Best Books For Teenagers to Read
Books can be a thrilling companion and a complete source of entertainment for teenagers. As a teenager or a young adult, you must never miss reading these incredible books. It will not only enrich your reading experience but will also take you to a mesmerizing world of imagination and extreme entertainment. Enjoy your reading!
Here is the list of books for young adults and teenagers
1. Harry Potter - The Complete Collection
– By J. K Rowling
The Harry Potter series, written by British author J.K. Rowling, is a novel which every teenager should read. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first fantasy novel of the Harry Potter series, follows the character Harry Potter, whose life is miserable and tough, constantly abused by his aunt and uncle. His life changes on his eleventh birthday, when he receives a letter of acceptance as a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There he makes several friends who help him discover the truth about his parents’ mysterious death. Harry, Ron, and Hermione must master their craft and battle the machinations of the evil wizard Voldemort.
Read the complete series of Harry Potter to unfold the mysteries of the magical world.
2. The Fault in Our Stars
– By John Green
The fault in our stars by John Green is a beautifully written emotional novel for everyone. The book is about two teenagers, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, who are trying to live their life to the fullest, even though they are diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hazel meets Augustus for the first time, at a support center for cancer patients and survivors. This is when their life anticipates some ray of light and start feeling alive and better. This incredible book with a romantic storyline will leave you in tears. It also leaves a message of true happiness, courage, and how to live life.
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower
– By Steven Chbosky
The book, “The perks of being a wallflower”, follows a character, Charlie, who is an introvert observing teenager. The story revolves around his unconventional style of thinking and his life experiences, as he navigates between the worlds of adolescence to adulthood. Charlie struggles to cope up with high school life, where he deals with many kinds of complexities – the confusion of love and sex, the loss of a close friend, the temptation of drugs, and much more. To share the traumatic experiences of his life, Charlie begins to write letters to an unknown friend.
A thought-provoking novel that deals with the weirdness and challenges of high school life.
4. Wonder
– By R. J. Palacio
The book, “Wonder, is one of the best books for teenagers which ” tells the story of 10-year-old Auggie Pullman, a boy with facial differences, and his unpleasant experiences in everyday life dealing with the condition. Due to his medical condition, Auggie’s mother home-schooled him till she enrolled him in a private school, to experience the larger world.
The book is inspired by a real-life incident when Palacio’s son noticed a girl with severe facial differences and started to cry. Also, the song “Wonder” by Natalie Merchant, gave her a realization that the incident can teach a valuable lesson and that’s how she began writing this book, naming it after the song.
5. Twilight – Twilight Book 1 (Twilight Saga)
– By Stephenie Meyer
Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer, is a romantic novel for teenagers and young adults. The book follows a character, a 17-year-old “Bella” Swan. Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington. There she meets Edward, a handsome boy at school, for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction. Later, she discovers Edward is not wholly human. Rather, Edward is a 108-year-old vampire frozen in his 17-year-old body. Despite this, over time they fall in love. However, her life is in danger after falling in love with a vampire.
6. The Diary of a Young Girl
– Anne Frank
The Diary of a Young Girl, also known as The Diary of Anne Frank, is a Dutch language diary written by Anne Frank when she had to go into hiding as Nazis took over Europe. A thirteen-year Jewish girl writes in her diary about the tribulations her family had to face living in a hiding. Cut-off from the outside world, they faced hunger, constant cruelties of life, and the threat of being found and killed.
The Diary of Anne Frank, a world classic, is a powerful reminder of the sufferance of the Jews during the Nazis’ killing operation – the Holocaust and the realization to the readers, how intense the impacts of World War II were.
7. Looking for Alaska
– By John Green
“Looking for Alaska”, the first novel by John Green, gained immense popularity worldwide. One of the best books for teenagers, is set on the early years of John Green’s life at Indian Springs School. ‘Looking for Alaska’ follows the main character of the novel, Miles Halter, who goes to a boarding school to seek the “Great Perhaps”, the last words of the famous poet Francois Rabelais. These last words bring a turn in his life. On the way to his chosen path for good and greater opportunities, he happens to meet Alaska, a beautiful, emotionally troubled woman. Eventually, Miles falls in love with her, and life becomes appealing to him.
An impressive novel for teenagers stationed on the theme of hope, grief, and relationships. I am sure you will love it!
8. The Maze Runner
– By James Dashner
The Maze Runner is a young adult science fiction novel, written by James Dashner. The book is set in a distant future, where a teenage boy, in the darkness of the lift, wakes up to find that the only thing he can remember is his name and nothing else. When the elevator halts, Thomas finds himself surrounded by a group of boys whose memories are also erased. They are left in a strange place which they call the ‘Glade’. Outside the walls of the Glade, is an ever-changing maze. It is the only way out and the ultimate goal of the Gladers is to solve the mystery of the maze and find the way out.
9. I Am Malala
– By Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
I Am Malala is an autobiographical book about the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala Yousafzai. The book details the early life of Malala, when the Taliban took control of Swat Valley in Pakistan and how she fought for her right to an education. It also talks about the assassination attempt made against Malala by the Taliban on account of her activism for female education.
10. The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas
– By John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is one of the best books for young adults in which a nine-year-old boy named Bruno is unhappy. His father is being transferred to another city, and consequently, Bruno is leaving his comfortable house, neighborhood, and his three best friends behind. His mother tries to explain that this is not only his father’s promotion, it is his duty. He has so much happening in his mind. Who is ‘Fury’ and why did he make him leave his home? And who are the people in the striped pyjamas on the other side of the fence? Bruno decides to explore the new place alone.
11. The Book Thief
– By Marcus Zusak
The Book Thief is a story about a young girl, Liesel, who lives in Nazi Germany, during the time around World War II. After the death of her brother, she is sent to live with her foster parents. Her foster father, when learns, that she cannot read, teaches her the power of words and the wonders of writing. She grows to love books; she not only starts stealing books that Nazis seeking to destroy but also writes her own story. Exposed to the destructive surroundings of the Nazi regime, Liesel is caught between the innocence of childhood and the maturity demanded in the terror-stricken surroundings.
12. Divergent series
– By Veronica Roth
Divergent is the 1st novel of the Divergent series, a science fiction adventure novel for young adults set in a Divergent Universe. The futuristic Chicago is divided into five factions, a societal division that classifies people based on their aptitude and values. Of the five factions – Abnegation, the selfless; Amity, the peaceful; Candor, the honest; Dauntless, the brave; and Erudite, the intelligent, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior chooses ‘Dauntless’ to define her identity for the rest of her life. Later, she discovered that she is ‘divergent’, meaning that she is capable of having independent thoughts and does not fit into one particular society.
Read all the four books of the series, to have a thrilling experience.
13. The Hunger Games Trilogy
– By Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games, a New York Times bestseller, is one of the best books for young adults, written by Suzanne Collins. The Trilogy consists of – The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010).The trilogy takes place in an unspecified future time, in the ruins of North America. A young girl, Katniss Everdeen, is picked to leave her impoverished district and moves to a Capitol city, which is lavishly rich and technologically advanced.
As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve remaining districts, are selected to compete in an annual pageant called the Hunger Games. But winning the games, only puts Katniss Everdeen in deep danger as the strict social structure of her district begins to unravel.
14. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
– By Ransom Riggs
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a debut novel by Ransom Riggs, originally intended to be a picture book featuring photographs, which Riggs had collected.
The book follows a character, Jacob Portman, a boy who is fascinated by his grandfather’s stories of the supernatural, struggle for survival of the Jews in World War II, and living with peculiar children in a home guarded by “a wise old bird”. He grows up listening to his grandfather’s tales, which he discovers to be true. On a trip to Wales with his father, Jacob accidentally uncovers a secret world of supernatural children trapped in time, including his grandfather, who may still be alive.
Read the thrilling tale, illustrated with strange photographs found by the author.
15. Percy Jackson-The Complete Series
– By Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology. The book follows the story of Percy, a twelve-year-old boy, diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Percy goes on a trip to an island with his mother. He discovers, that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon. Percy prepares for an adventure of a lifetime.
16. An Abundance of Katherines
– By John Green
“An Abundance of Katherines” is one of the best books for teenagers and young adults that comes from the “New York Times” bestselling author of “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Looking for Alaska”, John Green.
The main character of the book, Colin Singleton, a child prodigy, lives in Chicago. The seventeen-year-old is depressed, and fears he will not maintain his genius as an adult. Over the years of his life, he dates 19 girls named Katherine and gets dumped every time.
He sets on a mission, hoping to become a genius and find his “Eureka” moment.
17. The Kite Runner
– By Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner is the debut novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. The book is a story about a boy named Amir from Kabul. Set against the backdrop of the final days of the Afghan monarchy, The Kite Runner is a father-son relationship story, which focuses on the familial aspects of the narrative.
The story also emphasizes the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy Amir and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant.
Krishna is a Management graduate in Human Resource. She is an avid reader, knowledge seeker, and an adoring mother of two lovely kids.