# Good books for teen-agers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794 "2003-12-03T21:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![White\_Ink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@White\_Ink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Ink)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/1 "2003-12-03T21:39:22Z")
I’ll be making a donation to Toys 4 Tots tomorrow, and it seems to me that they probably get tons of stuff for little kids but that teens get utterly left out. I also believe that a gift of books is the best gift there is. Alas, it’s been many years since I was a teenager. Suggestions anyone? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/2 "2003-12-03T21:45:44Z")
Anything by Christopher Pike. I loved his books when I was about 14. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Danno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Danno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Danno)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/3 "2003-12-03T22:29:10Z")
Orson Scott Card, specifically the Ender’s Game series. One of my kids hates to read, but he will read that series. I got him an autographed copy of Ender’s Game for his birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/4 "2003-12-04T04:33:47Z")
Harry Potter series. Doug Adams " Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" Lloyd Alexander books. Donbas by Jacques Sandalesque ( one of my all time favorite books.) There is a little known book series called, " The Straight Dope" by some guy called, " Cecil Adams". Has an enthusiastically spaztic following (The Teeming Million) who are vastly outnumbered by the rabidly ignorant slack jawed, zombied eyed Teeming Bajillions. It’s thankless work, but no one said world domination would be easy. ---
**Author:** ![HerMajestyLorna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7cd45c/32.png) [@HerMajestyLorna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HerMajestyLorna)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/5 "2003-12-04T04:35:49Z")
Philip Pullman is good for teenagers. So is Robert Cormier, who wrote the Chocolate War and several other good books. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/6 "2003-12-04T05:32:33Z")
Madeline L’Engle’s _[A Wrinkle in Time](http://www.madeleinelengle.com/books/wrinkleInTime.htm)_ is a classic. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/7 "2003-12-04T11:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*There is a little known book series called, " The Straight Dope" by some guy called, " Cecil Adams". \*\* Cecil Adams? I think I may have heard of him somewhere…😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/8 "2003-12-04T11:54:56Z")
There’s a few Dutch authors I can recommend: Thea Beckman would one of My Favourites, there’s also Jan Terlouw, Evert Hartman, [http://www.frontstreetbooks.com/all\_books.htm](http://www.frontstreetbooks.com/all_books.htm) ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/9 "2003-12-04T11:59:58Z")
…and Anke De Vries. Sorry, posted early by mistake. You’ll find a few of Thea Beckman’s books translated when you click on included link. All the authirs I mentioned are _very_ popular in both The Netherlands and Belgium, and I’m sure their books have been translated into English. The main publisher for these books is **Lemniscaat**. ---
**Author:** ![compton\_homie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ea924/32.png) [@compton\_homie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/compton_homie)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/10 "2003-12-04T12:06:23Z")
Junk by Melvin Burgess, first book i ever enjoyed reading ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/11 "2003-12-04T12:13:19Z")
Eragon by Christopher Paolini–my son just finished it and he said it’s even better than Harry Potter (from him, this is high praise!) Paolini began writing this book when he was 15 and is now working on the next book in the trilogy. It’s a fantasy novel with D&D influences. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/12 "2003-12-04T12:20:02Z")
I don’t know if they were released anywhere overseas, but _Tomorrow, When the War Began_ and the rest of the series by John Marsden are great reads. ---
**Author:** ![whippingboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@whippingboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whippingboy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/13 "2003-12-04T12:30:50Z")
playboy is always popular with teenage boys ---
**Author:** ![Chyone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@Chyone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chyone)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/14 "2003-12-04T14:17:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Burnt Sugar \* > \*\*I don’t know if they were released anywhere overseas, but Tomorrow, When the War Began and the rest of the series by John Marsden are great reads. \*\* We had these over here in the UK. I enjoyed them very much. I also much liked The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, As someone else said the Northern Lights trilogy by Philip Pullman, and of course there are always classics such as Catcher in the Rye. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/15 "2003-12-04T14:43:53Z")
Cynthia Voight is good. I’d have been POd if somebody had given me Catcher in the Rye, I HATE that book. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/16 "2003-12-04T20:40:41Z")
As a recent teenager myself, I loved Walter Farley, Jack London, Salmon Rushdie, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Still do 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/17 "2003-12-04T20:45:02Z")
Oh, and Maya Angelou and Mark Twain, as well as[most of these books.](http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Offices/Intellectual_Freedom3/Banned_Books_Week/Related_Links7/100_Most_Frequently_Challenged_Books_of_1990-2000.htm) Minus the Madonna and Howard Stern, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/18 "2003-12-04T21:16:18Z")
When I was a teen I loved the LOTR books. Also, anything by Douglas Adams, and the Catcher in the Rye. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/19 "2003-12-04T21:22:28Z")
I’ve read a few YA novels by Chris Crutcher I really enjoyed. Also let me recommend William Sleator, as I do every chance I get. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794/20 "2003-12-04T22:37:00Z")
Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, and Clarke. You can’t go wrong with a Golden Age. [ul] [li]“I, Robot” by Asimov[/li][li]_2001_ by Clarke, or perhaps _Rama_[/li][li]_Starship Troopers_ or _Stranger in a Strange Land_ by Heinlein (the first would probably go over better)[/li][li]“The October Country” and “S is for Space” and “R is for Rocket” by Bradbury. I refuse to trim further. :)[/li][/ul] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-books-for-teen-agers/216794.md?page=2)