Teen Territory

High School Reads Summer 2008

After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates YA/OAT
Jenna survives a car crash that kills her mother. She can not deal with grief and starts using painkillers, doing illegal drugs, and making bad choices with her friends.

Beige by Cecil Castellucci YA/CAS
Katy, a quiet French Canadian teenager, reluctantly leaves Montreal to spend time with her estranged father, an aging Los Angeles punk rock legend.

Blue Bloods by Melizza de la Cruz YA/DEL
Select teenagers from some of New York City's wealthiest and most socially prominent families learn a startling secret about their bloodlines.

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser YA/STR
Kidnapped and sent to live in a disciplinary boot camp where he physically and psychologically tortured on a daily basis, fifteen-year-old Garrett knows that he has been wrongly imprisoned and so feels there is no choice but to attempt a daring escape in order to save the life he has left in him.

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga YA/LYG
When Josh was a 12-year-old seventh grader, he was sexually abused by his history teacher, the young, beautiful (and married) Eve, who manipulated him into believing they were in love. Carefully crafting a narrative structure, Lyga flashes between that traumatic time and the present, when Josh, now a senior, learns that Eve is being paroled.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher YA/CRU
Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."

Desert Crossing by Elise Broach YA/BRO
A summer trip across the New Mexico desert turns nightmarish for fourteen-yearold Lucy, her older brother Jamie, and his best friend Kit, as they become involved in the suspicious death of a young girl.

Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern YA/HAL
When her parents confine her to a mental hospital, an overweight teenage girl, who suffers from panic attacks, describes her experiences in a series of letters to a friend.

Head Case by Sarah Aronson YA/ARO
Seventeen-year-old Frank Marder struggles to deal with the aftermath of an accident he had while driving drunk that killed two people, including his girlfriend, and left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Hell Phone by William Sleator YA/SLE
Nick wants a cell phone so he can talk to his girlfriend, Jen, after school, but he doesn't have a lot of money. The used phone he buys seems like a bargain, until the phone calls begin-strangers calling night and day, some begging for help, others making demands. Nick wants to get rid of the phone, but something prevents him, and, soon he finds himself committing crimes-stealing, conning . . .and killing.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen YA/DES
When she is abandoned by her alcoholic mother, high school senior Ruby winds up living with Cora, the sister she has not seen for ten years, and learns about Cora's new life, what makes a family, how to allow people to help her when she needs it, and that she too has something to offer others.

Looking for J. J. by Anne Cassidy YA/CAS
Seventeen-year-old Alice, released from prison with a new identity after serving six years for murdering a child, tries to keep her anonymity from the British tabloids, while haunted by memories of her past trauma.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin YA/ZEV
After a nasty fall, Naomi realizes that she has no memory of the last four years and finds herself reassessing every aspect of her life.

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg YA/741.5/CAS/Graphic Novel
Jane is at ground zero when her city is attacked by terrorists. Her parents move her to the suburbs where she decides that being popular isn't important and she starts an underground art movement that is interpreted as terrorism by the adults in her town. An eye-opening graphic novel.

Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde YA/VAN
Various people recall aspects of the life of Raquel Falcone, an unpopular, overweight freshman at Quail Run High School, including classmates, her parents, and the driver who struck and killed her as she was walking home from an animated film festival.

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr YA/ZAR
As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be---but she still can't shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher YA/ASH
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro YA/FER
Having been stood up for the prom the previous year, high school junior Nicolette works on a top ten list of things to do with her unworn dress while also trying to help her divorced parents and take care of her relationships with her best friend and with potential boyfriends.

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson YA/AND
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.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman YA/SHU
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.

What my Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones YA/SON
Fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is so unpopular at high school that his name is slang for "loser," and so when he begins dating the beautiful and popular Sophie her reputation plummets, but he finds acceptance as a student in a drawing class at Harvard.

Wrecked by E. R. Frank YA/FRA
After a car accident seriously injures her best friend and kills her brother's girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Anna tries to cope with her guilt and grief, while learning some truths about her family and herself.

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For more Reading Suggestions, check these lists:

The Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award (PDF)
Abe titles are available for check out in the Teen Department. Sign up at the library to vote for your favorite Abe title.

Teen Reads on the OPPL's Website
The following lists change nearly every month: Teen Scene, Picks for Teens and Got Books?

SpeakUp: Online Book Discussion Blog
Orland Park teens can post your favorite titles and comment on the books you have read here.