Staff Picks for Teens
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Chime by Franny Billingsley In the early twentieth century in Swampsea, seventeen-year-old Briony, who can see the spirits that haunt the marshes around their town, feels responsible for her twin sister’s horrible injury until a young man enters their lives and exposes secrets that even Briony does not know about. Catalog Link |
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The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Girl of Fire and Thorns, Book 1) by Rae Carson A fearful sixteen-year-old princess discovers her heroic destiny after being married off to the king of a neighboring country in turmoil and pursued by enemies seething with dark magic. Catalog Link |
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Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1) by Susan Ee While trying to escape their apartment after the angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world, Penryn meets Raffe, an angel whose wings were cut off by the angels who kidnapped her sister, Paige. Catalog Link |
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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard. Catalog Link |
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Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier Sixteen-year-old Gwyneth discovers that she carries a time-travel gene, and soon she is journeying with Gideon, who shares the gift, through historical London trying to discover whom they can trust. Catalog Link |
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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. Catalog Link |
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Unearthly by Cynthia Hand Sixteen-year-old Clara Gardner’s purpose as an angel-blood begins to manifest itself, forcing her family to pull up stakes and move to Jackson, Wyoming, where she learns that danger and heartbreak come with her powers. Catalog Link |
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Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, Book 1) by Robin LaFevers In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. Catalog Link |
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A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd by Patrick Ness Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill—an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss. Catalog Link |
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Delirium by Lauren Oliver Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love. Catalog Link |
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Divergent (Divergent, Book 1) by Veronica Roth In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all. Catalog Link |
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The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead. Catalog Link |
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Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends, an abusive father and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him until he finds an ally in Lil Spicer. Together they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. Catalog Link |
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Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author’s family, includes a historical note. Catalog Link |
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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Catalog Link |
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Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Book 1) by Laini Taylor 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. Catalog Link |
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Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley Seventeen-year-old Cullen’s summer in Lily, Arkansas, is marked by his cousin’s death by overdose, an alleged spotting of a woodpecker thought to be extinct, failed romances, and his younger brother’s sudden disappearance. Catalog Link |
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Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, Book 1) by Kiersten White When a dark prophecy begins to come true, sixteen-year-old Evie of the International Paranormal Containment Agency must not only try to stop it, she must also uncover its connection to herself and the alluring shapeshifter, Lend. Catalog Link |