Great reads for teens and tweens
Whether your teen is into “Twilight” or your tween loves “The Olympians” series, there are truckloads of other books out there to keep both age groups reading this summer.
Here are some great summer reads:
For teens:
Suspense:
• Reality Check by Peter Abrahams. Harper Collins/Harper Teen.
A football star sidelined by injury crosses the country to search for his ex-girlfriend when she goes missing at her exclusive Vermont boarding school. A terrific blend of suspense and romance.
•The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic.
Read “The Hunger Games” this summer, and you’ll be ready by Sept. 1 for “Catching Fire,” the eagerly awaited sequel to Collins’ page-turner about a televised competition to the death between 12 to 18-yearolds in a postapocalyptic world.
HUMOR:
•Swim the Fly by Don Calame. Candlewick Press.
To impress a hot girl on the swim team, scrawny Matt volunteers to swim in the grueling butterfly competition and in the process learns valuable lessons about friendship, character and romance.
VAMPIRES, THE SUPERNATURAL (14 and up)
•Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey. Houghton Mifflin.
Fans of Stephenie Meyers’ “Twilight” saga might want to check out this smart and funny vampire romance between Jessica Packwood and a Romanian vampire prince, who shows up one day at her Pennsylvania high school and creates all kinds of chaos.
•The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks. Harcourt.
Sickly, aging vampires who drink guinea pig blood and annoy each other in a support group star in this offbeat, funny murder mystery from the Australian author of “Evil Genius.”
•Highway to Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore. Random House/Delacorte Press.
This third book in a series features thrilling suspense, colorful characters and wry humor reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Maggie and Lisa are headed on a road trip for spring break when their jeep runs into a cow carcass, launching them into a hunt for whatever is terrorizing a remote desert ranch.
•FOR TWEENS:
•The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. Disney Book Group/Hyperion.
This is the final book of the best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
•The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins.
A toddler is raised by the ghosts of the graveyard in this fabulous read by the “Coraline” creator. It won this year’s Newbery Medal. Ages 10 and up.
•The Princess Plot by Kirsten Boie. Scholastic. A 14-year-old American girl wins what she believes is a starring role in a movie, only to land in the middle of an assassination plot in the fictional European nation of Scandia.
•Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder. Random House.
A young baby sitter and three kids are expecting another boring summer in Iowa when they stumble across a mysterious wall in a cornfield and end up in a time-travel adventure.
•The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes by Kelly Easton. Wendy Lamb Books
There are shades of Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren in this entertaining adventure about a girl who escapes the clutches of her nasty father using his own weird inventions.
•Mudshark by Gary Paulsen. Wendy Lamb Books.
A brainy boy nicknamed Mudshark solves a mystery at school in this very funny, easy-to- read book from the prolific Paulsen.
WEB SITES:
•The Buffalo and Erie County Library Web site has lists of recommended books by age and interest plus links to school reading lists. ( www.buffalolib.org )
•Find more great reading-related fun at New York State’s Summer Reading site, www.summerreadingnys.org . Its teen section has cool links, games and puzzles. Kids space includes a “Winn Dixie” maze, a Charlotte’s Web comic creator and more. •Find up-to-date lists of prize-winning books including the 2009 nominated titles for Young Adults at www.ala.org .
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