Teen Reading Picks

	*Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie,* David Lubar Life changes when you're a freshman in high school. Scott's is changing faster than expected, but he still keeps his sense of humor. First, he discovers his mother is pregnant. I saw the whole house filled from floor to ceiling with dirty diapers. And puddles of baby puke. Then, the schoolwork starts piling up. Wow. Homework could really swallow time. Someday, I expect to look up from a textbook and discover that I'm fifty. Is Scott going to survive freshman year? For ages 12+.
	*Killer's Kiss,* R.L. Stine FEAR STREET -- Where your worst nightmares live... Delia and Karina used to be friends until they started competing with each other for everything, from grades to boyfriends. When Delia and Karina are both finalists for the same huge college scholarship, the competition turns deadly. Don't let your best friend read this book! For ages 13 +.
Fiction	*The Sledding Hill,* Chris Crutcher Two friends, Eddie and Billy, one alive and one newly dead, keep in contact by meeting (in another reality) on the sledding hill, where they had lots of good times before Billy departed this world for the next. The author, Chris Crutcher, whose books have often been challenged or banned in schools in real life, argues for intellectual freedom through the story of how Eddie fights for high school students' rights to read books that deal with controversial issues. For ages 13 and up.
Fiction	*So Yesterday ,* Scott Westerfeld Hunter is a high school kid with a very cool job. Have you ever wondered how clothes that were in style one day (think huge bellbottoms), are all of a sudden yesterday's fashion? Somebody has to start new trends, right? Well, there are also other people who see the new trends on the street and report on them to the fashion industry. That's what Hunter does. When his supervisor, Mandy, disappears before a meeting, Hunter and Jen, the fashion innovator whose shoelaces are what Hunter notices first, both realize they have to find and rescue her. For ages 15 and up.
Fiction	*Cuba 15 ,* Nancy Osa Violet Paz's grandmother decides that the family needs to throw a quinceanero party to celebrate her "entry into womanhood" at age 15. Violet's father is Cuban, but her mother is Polish, and Violet, who feels herself to be 100% just American, isn't sure that a formal party where she has to wear a dress and dance with her father in front of a hundred people is really her style. But with the help of her friends, her mother, and her grandmother, she learns a bit about her Cuban heritage and a lot about herself during the months of planning for the big event. For ages 12 and up.
Fiction	*Mortal Engines ,* Philip Reeve "It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea." A dark mix of action, fantasy, and science fiction, this is the first book in a trilogy. It's fast-paced, thought-provoking, and a great read for teens and adults. If you like books like the Harry Potter books or the His Dark Materials series, you should give this one a try. (And if you like this one, the second and third books are already out, so you won't have to wait to find out how it all ends.) For grades 6 and up.
Fiction	*Big Mouth and Ugly Girl ,* Joyce Carol Oates Recommended by Laurie, Fiction Readers' Advisor A high school junior, Matt has always had a big mouth, but it lands him in big trouble when he jokes about blowing up the school. Ursula, a self-described "ugly girl", happened to overhear. That's how she gets involved... For grades 8 and up.
Fiction	Give a Boy a Gun, Todd Strasser Recommended by Michelle, Head of Technical Services Gary and Brendan arrive at the high school dance with guns and bombs and take hostages. Friends, teachers, neighbors, and fellow students tell this true-to-life story. For ages 13 and up.
*Find the Young Adult Collection on the top floor of the Main Library. The East and West Branch Libraries also have separate collections for young adults (teens) ages 12-18.*