QUICK PICKS:
for teens who think they don't like to read

FICTION:

Prom
Anderson, Laurie Halse (YA ANDERSON)
“Miss Crane, the math teacher, stole the prom money.”

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series)
Brashares, Ann (YA BRASHARES)
Love Your Sisters. Love Your Self. Share the pants.

Princess Diaries (series)
Cabot, Meg (YA CABOT)
“No one ever said being a Princess was easy.”

Gingerbread
Cohn, Rachel (YA COHN)
“I will be as wild as I wanna be.”

Darkness Before Dawn
Draper, Sharon M. (YA DRAPER)
“Who can you trust?”

Who Am I Without Him? A Short Story Collection About Girls and the Boys in Their Lives
Flake, Sharon (YA FLAKE)
Anything to get the guy.

Life Is Funny: A Novel
Frank, E.R. (YA FRANK)
Tears and heartache; pain and surprise.

Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters
Giles, Gail (YA GILES)
Sunny's sister is dead - so who wrote the letter?

Among the Hidden
Haddix, Margaret Peterson (YA HADDIX)
Luke has never been to school, had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight.

Skeleton Key
Horowitz, Anthony (YA HOROWITZ)
Alex Rider, teenage spy.

The First Part Last
Johnson, Angela (YA JOHNSON)
Can Bobby raise his daughter on his own?

Son of the Mob
Korman, Gordon (YA KORMAN)
Dating is never easy when you’re the son of the mob!

Sloppy Firsts
McCafferty, Megan (YA MCCAFFERTY)
Welcome to High School Life, also known as “Wonderbreadland”…you got your I.Q.’s, Upper Crusts, 404’s and Hanger-ons.

Cut
McCormick, Patricia (YA MCCORMICK)
Why is Callie a cutter?

Twilight
Meyer, Stephenie (YA MEYER)
Bella’s attraction to Edward does not diminish, even when he admits to being a vampire.

Ball Don’t Lie
Pena, Matt de la (YA PENA)
When playing the game, come strong or don’t come at all. Sticky Reichard rules the basketball court.

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series)
Rennison, Louise (YA RENNISON)
The saga of a British teenager. Fabitty fab fab!

Lord Loss
Shan, Darren (YA SHAN)
Blood and gore, we want more! Werewolves, demons and a death-defying chess match.

Confessions of a Backup Dancer
Shaw, Tucker (YA SHAW)
Celebrities uncensored.

The Boy Who Couldn’t Die
Sleator, William (YA SLEATOR)
Is there a downside to living forever?

What My Mother Doesn’t Know
Sones, Sonya (YA SONES)
Sophie keeps finding Mr. Wrong.

Sweep (series)
Tiernan, Cate (YA SERIES SWEEP)
When Wicca rules your world.

Black and White
Volponi, Paul (YA VOLPONI)
Marcus and Eddie, aka Black and White: who takes the rap when your best friend pulls the trigger?

Gossip Girl (series)
Von Ziegesar, Cecily (YA VON ZIEGESAR)
Walker lets a secret slip, and now two girls are dead.

Boy Kills Man
Whyman, Matt (YA WHYMAN)
Twelve-year old assassins trapped in a Colombian drug lord’s war.

Back to Top

NON-FICTION:

It’s Happy Bunny: Life. Get One
Benton, Jim (128.0207 BEN)
“Always remember, your enemies are just friends that really, really bite.”

The Great Book of Optical Illusions
Seckel, Al (152.14 SEC 2002)
What is real?

CosmoGirl Quiz Book: All About You
(305.235 COS 2004)
“Figure out your social prowess and work it.”

Bling Bling: Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels
Oh, Minya (391.7088 OH 2005)
Diamonds (and gold and platinum) are a rapper’s best friend. Hundreds of color pictures and uncensored interviews that show surprising depth.

Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Bugs
Menzel, Peter (394.1 MEN)
Can you read this book without throwing up?

Spiders In the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends
Holt, David (398.2 HOL & YA CD 398.2 HOL)
15 of the “funniest, scariest and weirdest” urban legends.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook
Piven, Joshua (613.6 PIV)
Quicksand, sharks . . . Hope you never need this book!

This Book Is About Sex
Shaw, Tucker (613.951 SHA)
Things you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask.

Jesse James: The Man and His Machines
Seate, Mike (629.2275 SEA 2003)
Custom choppers: big toys for big boys.

How To Customize Damn Near Anything
(629.287 HOW 2003)
Small engine blocks and chrome plated springs are chick magnets.

Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics
Hart, Christopher (741.5952 HAR)
Wanna draw manga? Here's how.

The MAD Gross Book
(741.5973 MAD)
How grossed out can you get?

Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections On Love
Ashanti (782.4216 ASH 2002)
"I used to do a lot of crazy things for love."

E.A.R.L.: Ever Always Real Life: The Autobiography of DMX
D M X (782.4216 SIM)
The rhyme gave him a dream.

VX: 10 Years of VIBE Photography
(782.4216 VXT)
Hot hip hop icons and more.

The Homer Book
Groening, Matt (791.4572 GRO 2004)
Mmmmm . . . Homer.

Thrasher: Insane Terrain
(796.22 THR)
What's your favorite photo?

The Official Movie Plot Generator
Heimberg, Justin (808.23 HEI 2004)
“Single mom invades Poland with the ghost of Elvis” ... and more.

The Brimstone Journals
Koertge, Ron (811.54 KOE)
Branston High School Class of 2001… all are different, but will their lives end the same way?

The Rose That Grew From Concrete
Shakur, Tupac (811.54 SHA)
Tupac's thoughts and dreams.

Bat Boy Lives!
Perel, David (817.6 PER)
The twisted world of tabloid news, from the checkout line to you.

From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time In Southside, Queens
50 Cent (921 50 CENT)
Getting rich and trying not to die.

Back to Top

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

Fullmetal Alchemist (series)
Arakawa, Hiromu (YA GRAPHIC ARA)
Edward and Alphonse: Fullmetal Trouble.

Oh My Goddess! (series)
Fujishima, Kosuke (YA GRAPHIC FUJ)
Be careful what you wish for!

The Book of Bunny Suicides
Riley, Andy (YA GRAPHIC RIL)
It’s not easy being fluffy.

Fruits Basket (series)
Takaya, Natsuki (YA GRAPHIC TAK)
What animal would you be?

Back to Top

Back to Great Reads