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by: Stephanie Erhart

Top Ten Fiction Picks!!

Great reads for girls!

Great reads for boys!

Speak by: Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda thought she was just like you... until she went to a party that left her unable to speak. Her once comfortable school is no longer safe, her friends are no longer her friends. Melinda is afraid to tell the awful truth...if she does...will anyone believe her? ~Stephanie Erhart

Twisted by: Laurie Halse Anderson

After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts. ~from the Publisher

Valiant by: Holly Black

Val's world is turned upside down when in one moment she finds that her mom and boyfriend have betrayed her. She runs away to the streets of NYC with a new image. Val may have changed her identity but she can't keep running from her problems and soon must return home to face them. But first in this faerie-fantasy novel Val must discover how to abandon the faerie realm she has fallen deeply into. ~Stephanie Erhart

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by: Stephen Chbosky

Like you Charlie is trying to figure out who he is and to find his place in the world. In order to do this Charlie must confront the demons of his past to discover his true self. Charlie expresses himself and gains insights through his letters to an unknown reader. Who is Charlie writing to? He is writing to someone who will listen and understand. Why not listen, maybe you and Charlie have a lot in common. ~Stephanie Erhart

The Tequila Worm by: Viola Canales

Sofia is not like most teens outside of McAllen, Texas. She is Mexican American and from a close-knit family and community with many traditions and a strong heritage. Including a bizarre cure for homesickness, eating a tequila worm. Sofia must leave these cultural roots behind when she gets accepted to an expensive boarding school on a scholarship. The students at this school may appear to be normal teenagers but they are completely different from the people of her familiar community. Sofia must discover how to emerge into the person she always wanted to be while remaining true to herself and without abandoning her roots.

~Stephanie Erhart

Godless by: Pete Hautman

Jason Bock and his friends form their own religion as a joke. But what started as a joke becomes a serious pastime and then takes on a deadly turn. When Jason began his religion he was just a boy but towards the novels end Jason grows up in many ways and learns the dangerously fragile naivety of even his closest friends. ~Stephanie Erhart

Jailbait by: Leslea Newman

Andi, a tenth grader has no self-esteem. After being teased on the bus about her large breast size she decides to walk to school. That's when she gets honked at by a thirty-something year old. Andi starts to see more of him on her way to school and eventually sneaks off with him. At first he is sweet and makes her feel beautiful for the first time but things start to take a turn for the worst when she decides to lose her virginity to him. He then becomes abusive and forces her to do things she hadn't planned for. Eventually Andi learns from this experience and opens up about what happened to her. ~Stephanie Erhart

Dunk by: David Lubar

Chad lives at the Jersey Shore and becomes fascinated by the insulting bozo in the dunk tank. Chad wants to become the bozo. How great would it be to say mean things to people and get paid?--the perfect summer job. Or is it? When Chad is hired for the job he learns a thing or two about himself, friendships, and the power of laughter to heal. ~ Stephanie Erhart

Hush by: Jacqueline Woodson

Just as Toswiah is entering her teen years and like every other teen is trying to discover who she really is-- she is forced to forget it. She moves to a new town, she can no longer call herself by her real name and chooses the only name she could think of, Evie. Evie no longer feels like Toswiah and suddenly does not know who she is. Can Evie adjust to her new environment and learn to find her true self amidst this major change? Is Evie as strong as Toswiah once was? Will Evie learn that things sometimes happen for a reason and learn to embrace her new life?

~ Stephanie Erhart

King Dork by: Frank Portman

A biting and witty high-school satire explores cross-generation mysteries and music. Tom "Chi-Mo" (short for "Child Molester") Henderson is used to being a nobody, and entertains himself by designing band names: Baby Batter, Oxford English, Tennis with Guitars. Every year Tom's teachers force him to read Catcher in the Rye, the book that changed their lives. Though Tom scoffs at what he calls "the Catcher cult," the book is about to change his life, too, if not in Mr. Schtuppe-approved ways. Tom finds his dead father's copy of Catcher in a box of old books, chock-full of margin notes and mysterious scribbles. Further investigation reveals murder, suicide and illicit sex comprising both current and 40-year-old mysteries. Tom investigates his father's past while forming a real (terrible) band, discovering blow jobs and surviving a skull fracture. He gains personal revelations that both reject and embrace his parents' generation and its Holden Caulfields, in a story richly flavored with 1960s cult novels and 1970s rock-and-roll. The open-ended conclusion is unexpectedly satisfying. ~Kirkus Starred Review March 15, 2006

All cover images compliments of Follett Titlewave

Non-Fiction Titles

Teen Coming of Age-General

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: The Real Deal-School /Compiled by: Jack Canfield and others

Publisher Notes: Presents a collection of essays that offer inspiration to teens, providing lessons about school, including cliques, classes, clubs, friends, and more.

A Tribe Apart by: Patricia Hersch

Publisher Notes: Includes index. Follows eight adolescents over the course of several years in an attempt to find out what it is really like to be a teenager in the 1990s, exploring the world of school, discussing the individual issues each young person was dealing with, and looking at how the adolescent minds attempted to make sense of their own lives.

Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems from WritersCorps

Publisher Notes: Presents approximately one hundred poems by teenagers from Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Bronx, New York, who took part in the nonprofit WritersCorps program. [Subjects include jazz, race, crushes, addiction, and names]

Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success by: Stedman Graham

Publisher Notes: Presents advice and exercises for teenagers to help them lead fulfilling lives, covering such factors as self-esteem, goal setting, motivation, and risk taking.

Teen Boys:

The Privilege of Youth: A Teenager's Story of Longing for Acceptance and Friendship (Child Abuse)

Publisher Notes:Dave Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in California history, tells the story of his adolescent years after he was removed from his home and placed in foster care, and discusses the influence on his life of Dan Brazell, the man he came to regard as his father.

Why Boys Don't Talk and Why It Matters: A Parent's Survival Guide to Connecting with Your Teen by: Susan Morris Shaffer

Publisher Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-205) and index.;Why boys don't talk--and why it matters -- A new vision : individuation and connection : do we push our sons away? -- New challenges for building connections : what can we do to foster closeness? -- The veil of masculinity : what is the impact of "boys will be boys"? -- What statistics tell us : what is it really like to be a boy today? -- Focus on adolescent males of color : what cultural factors affect the development of African American, Asian, and Latino teenage boys to form and sustain connections with parents, schools, and friends? -- A work in progress : how do we create more than just a "few good men"? -- Somewhere between superhero and geek : how do we make it okay for boys to break out of the box? -- The debate about nature versus nurture : how powerful is biology and its impact on behavior and learning? -- Historical perspective : the myth of the "good old days" : do we want things the way they were? -- Strategies for parents : a baker's dozen : where do we go from here? -- The power of connection : how can we redefine masculinity? Offers parents practical advice for raising teenage sons and provides tips on understanding why boys often hide behind a wall of silence, recognizing ways to communicate, and maintaining strong bonds.

Teen Girls:

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: The Real Deal-On Girl Stuff/ Compiled by: Jack Canfield and others

To be published on June 15th 2007-Stories about stuff that teen girls worry about!

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by: Mary Bray Pipher

Publisher Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 295) and index. Looks at the problems and pressures facing adolescent girls, and suggests how to help them develop into self-assured young adults.

Ophelia Speaks: Adolescent Girls Write About Their Search For Self by: Sara Shandler

Publisher Notes: A collection of writings by girls of various races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds, ages twelve to eighteen, in which they discuss a wide range of topics relevant to their lives, including body image, boys, politics, parents, school, sex, and others.

It's Your Rite: Girls' Coming -of -Age Stories/ Compiled by: Nora E. Coon

Publisher Notes: Teenage girls from a variety of social classes, ethnic, and religious backgrounds describe ceremonies and events that marked their passage from childhood to adulthood. Includes advice for planning your own coming of age ceremony.

Death:

Name All The Animals: A Memoir by: Alison Smith

Publisher Notes: Alison Smith chronicles her family's struggle to overcome the death of her older brother, Roy, and discusses how every aspect of her life was impacted by the loss of her brother. [a true teen coming of age story!]

Eating Disorders:

Wise Girl: What I've Learned About Life, Love & Loss by: Jamie Lynn Sigler & Sheryl Berk (Eating Disorders)

Publisher Notes: Television star Jamie-Lynn Sigler reveals both the perks and the pressures that come with acting on the hit HBO series "The Sopranos".

Stick Figure: A Diary of my Former Self by: Lori Gottlieb

Publisher Notes: The author shares her childhood diaries, chronicling her experiences as an eleven-year-old anorexic.

Racism:

Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America by: Rebecca Carroll

Publisher Notes: Presents excerpts from interviews with fifteen African-American girls between the ages of eleven and twenty, touching on such themes as racism, education, gang violence, and the importance of role models.

Sex & Relationships:

Changing Bodies, Changing Lives: A book for teens on sex and relationships by: Ruth Bell

Publisher Notes: Includes index. Candidly discusses teenage sexuality and the many physical and emotional changes that occur during adolescence.