(Part 2) Best teen action & adventure books according to redditors

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We found 1,268 Reddit comments discussing the best teen action & adventure books. We ranked the 508 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Subcategories:

Teen pirate adventure books
Teen & young adult survival stories

Top Reddit comments about Teen & Young Adult Action & Adventure:

u/AugustaScarlett · 15 pointsr/selfpublish

...know what it takes to go through the design process of creating your own 'professional' looking book covers.

Speaking as a cover designer, here's a number of elements where I see a lot of amateurs messing up:

Failing to research their genre niche to see what the covers of the top-selling books look like. Book buyers use the covers to guess at what the book will contain, to narrow down their choices. There are far too many books available to expect that readers will read the description of every single result of their search on whatever platform they're searching on, so you need to signal genre, sub-genre, and mood loudly enough that it jumps out as someone's eye is scanning over a batch of 1.5" tall covers that are all competing for attention.

What signals those things, and what things readers are looking for, changes subtly over time, so you need to keep an eye out. I designed the house look for the Zoe Chant shifter romance books (I don't do all the covers; many of the authors do their own) and while we've kept the same overall look, when Zoe Chant first published the idea was to play up the cozy qualities in the books. As action romance has gotten more popular in the past few years, the challenge now is to play up the dramatic tension without signalling "alphahole" because the Zoe Chant niche is focused on ultimately kind heroes. This mostly involves a lot of dramatic lighting, and in recent months a lot more glowy elements to pull focus. The books are the same sort that have been published all along, we're just focusing on different aspects now.

Yes, there are always books that break the mold of current design and sell a ton, and thus set new fashions that everyone else chases. Your book will not be the one that does that.

Leaving large flat areas of color in the design. This also fits in with researching covers in your niche: large flat areas of color are common in non-fiction, but not so much in fiction. At the very least, fill in that empty blackness with a texture or with words. If you have a background in graphic design and understand how to use negative space properly, go for it, but if you don't, then I wouldn't attempt it.

Failing to give the focal point of the design a 'pop'. 'Pop' means to stand out. You can do this with color, composition, negative space, light glows, etc., and you should use more than one thing. It should be immediately apparent what the focal point is, because you have less than one second to grab the reader's eye and make them interested. The more experienced you are, the more subtle you can go--I love the cover for Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House, where the broken-up letterforms cause you to look twice and realize it's a snake doing that.

Failing to take lighting on the stock photos into account. If you grab two stock photos and montage them into a picture, they need to have complementary lighting. You can't have one high-key (bright, few shadows) and one low-key (dark, dramatic), and if you have the lighting in each photo coming from a different direction, you need to account for it in the rest of the picture because the two pictures will never blend properly if you don't. Yup, even in photomontages that aren't supposed to look like one photo: we are used to consistent lighting schemes in real life, and inconsistency draws the attention in a bad way because the brain goes "Something is wrong here."

Slapping the text on as an afterthought. The best cover designs involve the text from the very beginning, and make sure the composition includes the text. Ninth House above is a very obvious (and also very trendy right now) example.

(Also note that while Ninth House technically has large flat areas of black in the artwork, the title covers it up.)

Being afraid to put text on top of the artwork. Too many amateurs either make or buy a nice picture, and then go "I can't hide this picture!" and scrunch the title waaaaay down at the bottom and put their name waaaay up at the top. Ideally, you should have researched what your genre's conventions are--note that most trad publishers often put the text smack on top of the artwork, even interacting with it--and worked with the artist to develop a composition that takes the text into account. Barring that, put the full artwork on your website where your fans can see it (and maybe buy prints from your artist, or you if you licensed the copyright), and just slap that title on top.

Joe Abercrombie can get away with breaking this rule because he's Joe Abercrombie (and because the positive shape of the helmet POINTS AT THE TITLE, and because his name is BRIGHT RED and focus-pulling, and because the lighting on the helment is dark at the bottom and light at the top--three things that drive the eye to Abercrombie's name, which is the focal point).

Using default Photoshop text effects. Do not use anything more than a subtle drop shadow if you're new to this. Most text effects just look muddy at Amazon search results size, and are terrible anyway. If you find yourself looking at your title on the cover in a flat color and thinking, "This looks boring. I should jazz it up," then it means you are using the wrong font. It's still going to look wrong once you put a pillow emboss and outer glow on it. Go look at creativemarket.com, filter by price range, and invest in a (READABLE) font that is more interesting than Arial or Times New Roman or whatever you were using that came default with your computer.

Not making their author name big enough. You shouldn't go as big as Robert Jordan's name if you're not as big as Robert Jordan, but when your name is tiny, it looks like you're apologizing for having dared write the book.

Speaking of Jordan, I love these current covers. This is what you do if you can't bear to cover the artwork: you frame it, and you pull colors for the frame and the text from the artwork, and you incorporate interesting shapes into the frame. As a not-well-known author, you'd put the title into text the size of Jordan's name and put your name into the smaller text, and in the case of these covers, the frame would draw attention to your name, so the text could be smaller. (Although for an unknown author who wanted a similar cover, I'd put the series name into the frame, make the title large, and put the author name across the top.)

u/Cdresden · 14 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Red Rising is a great SF trilogy; it starts out with a definite YA feel, but becomes a more complex story, and I'd argue the second book is better than the first. It has been optioned.

Red Queen is popular, and I'm sure there are studios looking to option the series.


And studios would be stupid to not consider Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series.

I also think there is interest in An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

u/gemini_dream · 12 pointsr/Fantasy

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

The Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman

The Belgariad and The Mallorean by David Eddings

The War of the Blades series by J.D. Hallowell

The Shannara series by Terry Brooks


u/OneFishTwoFish · 8 pointsr/books

Take a look at Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series.

u/ODearMoriah · 8 pointsr/YAwriters

I highly recommend Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011). It had me at "cheek-chew of bitterness." I still say that in my head. What I would do to come up with stuff like that!

u/rrearleii · 8 pointsr/philosophy

I was reading His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman when I was 9.

They're still some of my favorite books.

u/bethrevis · 8 pointsr/StarWars

>Where and when did you decide to become a novelist?

I have always loved writing. I have pictures of myself in first grade with my first "story" (about three sentences that told the story of the characters on my coloring sheet. For Career Day, I dressed as a secretary and carried around a typewriter because I didn't know you could have a career as author and I just wanted to do something where I typed. Everyone told me I needed a "day job" to be a writer--and they were right, I did need an income that was more regular until I could make it.

>Did you go to school to achieve your current status or did you take a different path?

No schooling. I took one creative writing class in college, and my professor--the head of the CW department--said on the first day that we could write anything for his class except sci fi and fantasy because he didn't want stories where you could wave a magic wand and everything's fine. Which is utterly stupid, because SFF isn't about that at all. I stuck it through that one class, and was so disillusioned by the elitism and snobbery of the literary wannabes that I noped out of there. Instead, I got my degree in English education, and worked as a high school teacher for six years before I could break through in publishing. I wrote ten novels over the course of a decade, submitted them all, and racked up about a thousand rejections from agents and publishers. It was basically like working a second job. My big breakthrough came with my first published novel, Across the Universe, which enabled me to quit my job and turn writing into my career.

>What is your advice for aspiring writers?

When given the choice between staying at home and writing all day or going out and having an adventure, choose the adventure. A life lived well and diversely will give you more and better stories than a life lived holed up. Of course there's a time when you need to put your butt in the chair and work, but don't do it at the expense of living.

Also, find your community. Writing is very solitary, but the writing community isn't. Reach out to other writers on your level, in your genre, etc. If you write YA, /r/YAWriters is a great resource (disclosure, I'm a mod there, but we are pretty awesome).

>And how does one become a writer for Lucasfilm?

Luck. They came to my agent and asked if I'd be interested and I tried not to freak out when she passed the offer to me.

u/SmallFruitbat · 7 pointsr/YAwriters

I am officially back stateside, and in the last 24 hours I have successfully fixed the water softener, shoveled a fine collection of oak logs, leaves, live plants, and raccoon shit off the roof, made bank tutoring o-chem, and taught the Verizon employee how to connect to their own 4G network. I was unaware the name of their APN was such a secret. Also, that 4 tiers of escalation would be so damn useless. I ended up guessing the name like some sort of movie cracking and then went back and made the guy write it down because I can't be the only person ever to have that problem and it was seriously a 10 second fix. See also: was feeling smug.

I also got a lot of reading done in the past month, apparently. Finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Name of the Wind, Matched, Graceling, Sapphique, Assassin's Apprentice, the first Circle of Magic book, and started a bunch of others.

If we're running out of discussion ideas, another book recommendation/rant/rambling thoughts thread might be fun.

Friends still have my MS and are being slow readers and I can't bug them about it because they have real work to do. Argh. I'm planning to cover my office in sticky notes and reorder some scenes that way while I wait on them.

u/Galphanore · 7 pointsr/suggestmeabook
  • The 5th Wave - After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

    Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, ad on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

  • The Giver - Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world.

    When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does Jonas begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

u/fireballs619 · 7 pointsr/books

This is going to seem like a really strange choice, but it's coming from another 16 year old. I recommend Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, as it is one of my absolute favorite books. It may only appeal to him if he likes science or engineering, but it's worth a shot regardless.

In a similar vein to the Chronicles of Narnia, may I recommend The Hobbit/ The Lord of the Rings? Both are great stories that he may like. Although they are not the best written books in terms of writing quality (in my opinion), the Inheritence Cycle by Christopher Paolini might appeal for entertainment value. Perhaps a lesser known author that I greatly enjoy is Megan Whalen Turner, author of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. I just became aware of this book and have thus never read it, but A Conspiracy of Kings by the same author is bound to be good.

Steering away from fantasy, he may also like science fiction. I recommend any Ray Bradbury. Most of his stories are short, so for someone who doesn't read often they are great. My favorite are the Martian Chronicles, but R is for Rocket is also a good compilation. All of the Artemis Fowl series are recommended as well.

If I think of any more, I will certainly edit this post.

u/SlothMold · 5 pointsr/suggestmeabook

The Artemis Fowl series would be a good follow-up to Harry Potter. A 12-year old evil genius plans to ransom a fairy.

She might also like the Circle of Magic series, where a bunch of 10-year olds from different backgrounds discover they have unique types of magic.

u/erathora · 5 pointsr/tipofmytongue

I'm pretty sure the fourth one is Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer. Loved that book, still have it.

https://www.amazon.com/Supernaturalist-Eoin-Colfer/dp/078685149X

u/Kalima · 5 pointsr/books

Susan Cooper has a great series called "The Dark is Rising" It starts with "over sea and under stone" and continues from there. They sell the whole series. This was my absolute favorite series as a kid and actually was the book that started my love of reading. (i was not too big into reading before that.)

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Rising-Boxed-Set-Greenwitch/dp/1416949968

Do not be confused with the horrible movie they made based on the second book. That just sucked.

u/Lanthrum · 4 pointsr/thelongdark

Far North was a book I read as a kid that is exactly like this. 15 year old kids plane goes down in the Canadian wilderness. Him and his friend have to survive the bleakness of nature. Reminds me of the Long Dark at times.

u/RumandWork · 4 pointsr/movies

The fucking graphic novel pulled it off. https://www.amazon.ca/Artemis-Fowl-Graphic-Eoin-Colfer/dp/0786848820

Just make him have a flat face. Aviators optional.

u/ThatOneLegion · 3 pointsr/politics

Off topic question here - Is your username based off the book Code Name Verity?

u/TheOcarinaGuy · 3 pointsr/PacificRim

Nemesis from what i've heard, is a pretty good Kaiju book
Also Godzilla 2000 is a personal favorite of mine, it has nothing to do with the Godzilla 2000 movie, they just have similar titles

u/joanofarf · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Second book comes out May 1.

u/Sto_Avalon · 3 pointsr/Fantasy

Here are some ideas for young adult fantasy, with a few science-fiction books thrown in. Look them up and see if they look like something you might like:

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville (Mievile is a rising star of of SF/F, and this is his only novel so far written for young adults. Two British girls are pulled into a bizarre alternate London and must foil an evil plot)

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer (scifi in futuristic Africa, three mutant detectives trying to rescue kidnapped children of a famous general)

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes (near-future SF, robots do all the work, so what is there for new high school graduates to do?)

There are plenty of SF/F Choose Your Own Adventure books, which are a nice change of pace from third- and first-person narratives.

The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper. The first book is Over Sea, Under Stone, but you might want to start with The Dark is Rising.

Incidentally, I do NOT, under ANY circumstances, recommend Eragon.

u/toeprint · 3 pointsr/whatsthatbook

The orbs might be the Parasites from "The Supernaturalist".

u/__Millz__ · 3 pointsr/Fantasy

That's a tricky one. Seems the majority of fantasy books with a female protagonist fall into either the ya or smut category

I would suggest:
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

These are technically ya but I wouldn't say the relationships are stereotypical of ya
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

If you don't mind smutty then my goto in Kresley Cole and her immortals after dark series. Always a nice light paranormal romance. Not every book is a hit in my opinion but there's some gems. Plus it's fine to read then out of order/skip some.

u/potterarchy · 3 pointsr/harrypotter

(Context for anyone else reading this comment: Tuftybee sent me Divergent, by Veronica Roth.)

I definitely recommend it! The idea of this whole society built off what are essentially Hogwarts-like "houses" ("factions" in the book) is really interesting. The protagonist is always analyzing her actions as being part of one faction or another, and constantly trying to figure out where she really belongs. It's really, really interesting so far! If you get a chance, check it out. Thanks again! :) ♥

u/Raptor-One · 3 pointsr/GODZILLA

I think it would be great! But before I'd ever give this a green light, I'd like to see the Marc Cerasini Godzilla series make it to theaters. Especially Godzilla 2000!

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) by Laini Taylor http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QX076Y/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_lKjrtb1QR0S0B

This book is so good. It is part of a trilogy and I'm currently on the final book and it's just as awesome as the first two. The writing is amazing and the story is original and enthralling. The characters are well done and the story had me emotionally invested all the way through.

Thanks for the contest!

u/ReisaD · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Oh how I looove reading. Reading is a passion that I want to share with all. To let them know the pure beauty of it all. My favorite story is Alice and Wonderland. It's a beautiful, imaginative story that fueled my love of reading. The scenery, the world. The characters! Oh and the quotes! Why is a raven like a writing desk? I believe Alice and Wonderland lives in us all. I hope you enjoy the end of your book. :) thank you for the contests and bringing up happy memories.


This would be amazing. I have the paperback, but if I got the hardcover I would send the paperback to a loving home!


Or the Percy Jackson would help me see a new world that /u/bookishgeek wants me to dive in!

u/lancehouser · 2 pointsr/books

Try Far North by Will Hobbs, especially if you read Hatchet by Gary Paulson and like it. It's a young adult novel about getting lost way up north in the winter and having to survive. Read it a long time ago so can't remember a ton about it, but I remember I liked it a lot and sounds exactly like what you are looking for.

Also check out Jack London How to Build a Fire short story which you can read for free. Then you might like some of his other stuff too.

u/Both_Of_Me · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon
u/pineapplesf · 2 pointsr/santashelpers

In teen fiction or adult? I don't think I've read any adult books recently (published in last two years) that would be appropriate for a 13 year old.


Stardust: Quirky, fun and Neil Gaiman. His writing and stories are very strange so people either like them or they don't (I don't). However, my friends swear by this book.


Kingkiller: Badass hero, epic journey, epic story. Ultimately along the same difficulty as Sword of Shanara/LOTR and is probably super boring for a 13 year old.


Let me think: Game of Thrones is neither appropriate nor well written. Lackey is still amazing, but has strong homosexual and relationship themes. I think I waited to read her old stuff until I was 13, but her new stuff is just as -- well, her... Terry Brooks has a new series, but it is more political than Rothfuss. All the modern mystery/suspense is very sexual. I'm reading Abercombie right now, but don''t feel confident recommending it since I'm not done. Keyes reminds me of old-school high fantasy -- really, really dense and hard to digest for a 13 year old.

 

Popular

 

Divergent, as he already read, was quite good. Hunger Games and Maze Runner are in the same genre, but both are quite a bit darker than Divergent (stupid mind control and very Lord of the Flies-esque).

I think my best modern recommendation is:
Rick Riodran: Generally awesome teen male fiction. I've read the greek (percy) and egyptian series. They are fun and very similar to harry potter in tone.

Other

Throne of Glass: Not super popular, but definitely good! I haven't had the chance to read the sequels, but the first stuck with me.

Mistborn: water-downed Trudi Canarvan. Poor girl becomes a magician/assassin who totally kicks butt. Some almost-rape scenes (2 I think).

Intisar Khanani - I got a chance to read her newest book before it was released. She is the modern equivalent of Tamora Pierce and definitely someone to watch in the future. Great - Great author, but doesn't have an established series.

If he ends up liking the Dark Elf Trilogy -- The forgotten realms are STILL making books.

I'd say that Mortal Instruments (Girl meets demon hunter -- kind of a less cool version of Bleach), anything John Green writes (watered down Nicholas Sparks), Tiger's Curse (awesome epic adventure, but kinda creepy), and the Iron Fey series are too girly.

I recently read a free kindle book that would be awesome. It was a watered-down, less rape-y/fetishy version of The Sword of Truth. I can't find it. I'll have to get back to you on that. It had dragons and magic and bad-assery in a generic fantasy way. There was also another one with lots of dragons and he had power over them... hmmm... I might be losing my mind.

u/BMWprickIguess · 2 pointsr/preppers

> Sketchy childhood with too many financial close calls? One too many readings of My Side of the Mountain in fourth grade? I've been this way ever since I was a little kid. Always had a Plan B, always interested in security and self-sufficiency.

Add Hatchet and Far North to that list and you've got me exactly.

u/Wallacoloo · 2 pointsr/WritingPrompts

Also reminds me of a scifi book I read a long time ago: The Supernaturalist. It was a similar thing where there were creatures that were only visible to people who had had a very near-death experience. These creatures would always flock to disasters shortly before they happened and then do really suspicious stuff after the disaster occurred.

u/cknap · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

My friend lent me the new Sarah Dessen book and I just barely started it, so its currently spending time on my night stand.

I would love love love a used hardcover copy of book one of the Chaos Walking series, which is on my high priority wishlist. Everyone that's read the series has loved it and I'm interested in giving the books a go.

You ALL still have Zoidberg!

Thank you so much for gifting books! <3

u/921ren · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

The Tardis makes me really happy. I also really love fleece blankets. I ain't birthed no babies!

Also. [Happy Birfday.] (http://www.amazon.com/Across-the-Universe-ebook/dp/B00475ARSO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1376882087&sr=1-1&keywords=across+the+universe) I'm reading the third in the series right now and they're awesome. The website is also really bad ass.

Congrats on being an Aunt! I like the name, it's pretty. Have a great birthday!

u/conuly · 2 pointsr/whatsthatbook

Across the Universe.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00475ARSO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Don't forget to flair this as solved using the instructions in the sidebar.

u/gwennhwyvar · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein is really good. It's about a WWII spy who gets arrested behind enemy lines. (Not a spoiler.) https://www.amazon.com/Code-Name-Verity-Elizabeth-Wein/dp/1423152883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522234602&sr=8-1&keywords=code+name+verity

u/bookwench · 2 pointsr/books

Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester, most definitely! Then you'd have to list all the stuff that's been based off that series, which is down the bottom of the wikipedia page.

And I know this is a bit out there for you, but you could call this supplementary - it's historical fiction with dragons. His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1) by Naomi Novik.

For the girls, you could get them to read the stuff by Georgette Heyer. Heyer was a romance novelist whose research library for British period customs and clothing was fiercely fought over by museums and libraries when she died. She wrote things that are both engaging and truly capture the flavor of the timeframe; she didn't impose modern morals and anachronisms onto her fiction.

Sherlock Holmes? Pick a few of the classic stories and maybe analyze the differences between society then in Victorian England and today. As a companion, you could get them to read the bit in A Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard which discusses Arthur Conan Doyle and his contributions to social change in Victorian London.

Then there's the Mabinogi, which has inspired tons of other works, and you could pair that with Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising Series - there's only one book in there that really draws from/deals with Welsh myth, but it's a good one.

u/acedur · 2 pointsr/anime

Just incase you didn't know, Artemis Fowl was also made into a graphic novel.

edit: whoops was mentioned below, responded too soon.

u/MindOfJay · 2 pointsr/books

I was never into reading before I was given The Ear, The Eye, and the Arm for christmas. Completely changed my life after that.

u/_knockaround · 2 pointsr/AskWomen

I've read and loved almost all of the recommendations already here (TAMORA PIERCE). But to add some that haven't been mentioned (and trying really hard to not overload you with 20 books at once), I read and reread Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and its prequel so. many. TIMES. Maybe even more than I reread Tamora Pierce. Patricia McKillip, Maria Snyder, Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons quartet), Althea Kontis, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray and Susan Fletcher (Dragon Chronicles) are similar authors to check out for awesome female-driven fantasy, with varying degrees of lightheartedness. Wrede, Fletcher, Snyder and Kontis all wrote books that lean a little less epic/serious, Block writes a lot in prose that's also a very quick (but more intense) read, McKillip tends to be more wordy but beautifully so, and Bray can kind of go either way depending on the series.

For more contemporary fiction, RACHEL COHN (of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"). Her Gingerbread series has content a good deal more mature than Angus, Thongs, etc., but her style is similarly irreverent and witty and really fun. Seriously, check her out. Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons is like a much younger version of Cohn, still zingy and sweet. For a quieter modern-day read, Garret Freymann-Weyr writes realistic (more mature) young adult relationships, and introduced me to the idea of bisexuality in a sort of roundabout way.

Julia Alvarez relates stories about the Latina-American experience incredibly well, although I think the first book I read by her takes place solely in the Dominican Republic. According to my reading list, I guess young me got sick of reading about other white people, so I'll add Marjane Satrapi's hilarious graphic novel Persepolis and the more sedate Shabanu series by Suzanne Fisher Staples.

I'd also strongly second comments for Gail Carson Levine, E.L. Konigsberg, and did I mention Tamora Pierce?

(I tried to link a lot of authors to my faves from their work, but I won't be mad if you never look at any of them. Is your reading list long enough now? Also, I know you didn't ask for a ton of fantasy/historical fiction recs, but I think a lot of us defined our teenagerhood by and identified more strongly with one of those series or another.)

tl;dr my top three recs that haven't been mentioned yet are Rachel Cohn, Julia Alvarez, and that one duo by Robin McKinley.

u/cabothief · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It's classed as Young Adult, but it's awesome for any age. No looking at the summaries for the next ones until you've read each one, though. Spoilers abound.

u/Zoobles88 · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I can't seem to find anyone with it - does anyone have this on their WL?

JK guys, I got this.

u/ckuiper · 2 pointsr/tipofmytongue

FOUND IT! The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Awesome.

u/Ginger_Libra · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

My favorite WWII fiction is Coming Home and the Shell Seekers, both by Rosamund Pilcher. I probably listen to or read them 1-2x a year for the last 20 years. I know. Madness.

Both have storylines in Cornwall.

I also loved the Tattooist of Auschwitz. There’s some hell being raised about its possible authenticity but I loved it with a grain of salt. And Richard Armitage reads the audio book and dear god...his voice. swoon (total random aside: Richard Armitage also has an Audible production reading love poems and I love to sit in the bathtub and let him read to me. He’s dreamy.)


Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. It’s young adult but I’ve read it at least 5 times. The audiobook is phenomenal. I can’t do it justice so I’m including the link on Amazon

If you want non-fiction:

Sarah Helm has two books to read.

One is called Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitlers Concentration Camp for Women.

This is the camp Elizabeth was sent to and executed at. When I first read the book I didn’t know anything about Ravensbrück. I didn’t know there was a special camp just for women. I didn’t know about the Rabbits and the gruesome medical experiments. I reread Guernsey and connected it to Elizabeth and it was even more horrifying.

Sarah Helm also has one called A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII that I suggest you read after Code Name Verity and Ravensbrück.

u/truisms · 2 pointsr/TwoXChromosomes

I really loved the Wise Child trilogy, The Hero and the Crown/The Blue Sword, and the Sally Lockhart series (and all of Phillip Pullman's books) as a kid.

u/latte164 · 2 pointsr/divergent

I fell your pain. I was destroyed for about a month afterwards...


Hold your mouse over the spoiler tag to see it btw.
[spoiler](#s "But no, it's not another trilogy. It's a four (the number, not Tobias) book collection that is about 270? pages and it depicts the time before Tobias joins Dauntless, some of the experiences he had there, and then a story taking place after the knife throwing scene. And if you haven't read the knife throwing scene from Four/Tobias' prospective I suggest doing so here:")

[Spoiler] Don't click on this link until you've read the spoiler.

http://www.amazon.com/Free-Four-Tobias-Divergent-Knife-Throwing-ebook/dp/B008B11K04

u/erondites · 2 pointsr/books

Fantasy: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. The first book is good, but the second and third are fantastic.


Non-fiction: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made us Human by Richard Wrangham. Flat-out the most fascinating book I've ever read. About evolution and shit.

Literary Fiction: Orsinian Tales by Ursula K. Le Guin. The writing is so beautiful, moving, exquisite, all that good stuff. Le Guin's best work, imo.

Science Fiction: The High Crusade by Poul Anderson. Sooooo awesome. Has some elements of fantasy in it (the medieval part anyway.) Basically, knights vs. aliens.

u/SakuraiA · 2 pointsr/GODZILLA

In one of the novels Godzilla 2000 by Marc Cerasini >!He goes up against a tornado and "wins"!<

u/NotSoFatThrowAway · 2 pointsr/gaming

It's funny, because we definitely had tons of gameboys/games and all that, but my mother being a teacher also encouraged us to read. On that note, I remember reading The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm in one car trip.

I have no idea where we went, or how long it took, but I do know that book is fucking amazing.

u/MandoSkirata · 2 pointsr/GODZILLA
u/DaveIsMyBrother · 1 pointr/tipofmytongue

Could it be The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper? There are five books in the series, all of them are excellent.

u/audiobibliofile · 1 pointr/books

I was caught off guard by how much I liked the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness.

u/5picy · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

It's all about the karma. Mmm baby.

u/juliet1484 · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I love reading books!

If you like YA and sci fi like Ender's Game, try The 5th Wave. It's a pretty darn cool alien invasion story.

u/CourtingEvil · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Axel

< $5: The Prince & The Guard

< $1.50: Free Four

u/obie_wankenobie · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

That being said, Graceling is one of the best books I have ever read. I don't know if you'd be interested, but so far everyone I've made read it has freaked out at how amazing it is. :)

u/Fretfulwaffle · 1 pointr/creepy
u/Wishyouamerry · 1 pointr/books

Code Name Verity. Cried and cried. I loved it, but I can never, ever, ever read it again.

u/Vivienne_Eastwood · 1 pointr/Fantasy

I'd recommend The Blue Sword and The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley. I think I read them first in Grade 2 or 3, and I still love them and reread them often. The Blue Sword is about an orphan girl who is kidnapped by a desert king and trained as a warrior to save his nation, and The Hero and The Crown is a prequel about an ancient hero who fought dragons.

She writes a lot of other books that might be acceptable, often retellings of fairy tales. However, absolutely do not let him read Deerskin at this age. It has very disturbing themes, even for adults.

u/revmamacrystal · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Book

Thanks!

u/NikkiDove · 1 pointr/atheism

Also Dawkins' Children's Lectures are wonderful. But as for books the Golden Compass (Fiction) is a great one fro kids her age.

http://www.amazon.com/Materials-Trilogy-Golden-Compass-Spyglass/dp/0375842381/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330737562&sr=8-2-spell

u/only1verse · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

I think you could end up enjoying The Fifth Wave series. It's got elements of both throughout.

u/celeschere13 · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

Try:

u/CharmingCherry · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I've been looking that too, but just now I have too much to read both on my Kindle and outside it to start a completely new series before I've finished the last ones. You did like YA books? I could recommend this if you haven't read it yet :)

u/DreamweaverMirar · 1 pointr/Fantasy

The kindle version is actually on sale right now! I grabbed it yesterday.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N390U59/

u/yaybiology · 1 pointr/Teachers

I second the Tamora Pierce suggestion. Also definitely Gregor the Overlander! Suzanne Collin's lesser known series (she wrote Hunger Games). I recently finished reading (it's a 5-book series) and it was FANTASTIC. Just amazing. It's a YA series. The House of the Scorpion is also great, might be for your stronger readers. Eragon series is fun, and Dealing with Dragons is still one of my all-time favorite dragon books/series. Bruce Coville is a great author, and his work might be a little young but it's good to have a mix. I absolutely loved everything of his I have read, but especially Aliens Ate My Homework and the rest of that series. Most of these will appeal to the young men, hopefully.



When I was a young lady, I read pretty much anything, but I know a lot of boys like books with a boy main character. I really was a bit horse crazy, so here's some you might look into for your young ladies. The Saddle Club is a very long series about 3 girls and their horse-y adventures. It was really fun and it's great to find longer series because, if they like the first one, there's a lot to enjoy. (Oh a thought - you could always get the first one in a series, then just tell them to get the rest from the library or something, if there's budget concerns) I also liked the Thoroughbred Series and the wonderful Marguerite Henry horse books, especially the famous Misty of Chincoteague but really any of her books is a good read. My all time favorite horse series was and still is The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. Oh, how I loved that book.


There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was fantastic the first time I read it, and I also like the "Wayside School" books which are both by Louis Sachar. Judy Blume is fun as is Beverly Cleary. Redwall gets a lot of kids into reading, you also might consider some high-level comics/graphic novels to reach a different audience. The Hobbit Graphic Novel has great illustration and I loved reading it so much when I found it one day in a store.


I found history pretty boring so avoided those books but I did enjoy The King's Swift Rider about Robert the Bruce and Scotland, might be the only vaguely historical book I remember reading around those ages. I tried to avoid mystery books more or less, but I loved Encyclopedia Brown (even though according to Amazon it's for younger ages). I enjoyed Harriet the Spy she was a pretty cool girl role-model at the time. My Side of the Mountain was absolutely fantastic and such a great adventure, though I enjoy everything Jean Craigshead George writes. I feel like Julie of the Wolves is pretty standard reading material, maybe not anymore, but what a great story. Oh my gosh, I just about forgot The Indian in the Cupboard, that was such a good story. Anything Roald Dahl is wonderful as is Jane Yolen, I especially recommend the Pit Dragon trilogy. The Golden Compass, So You Want to be A Wizard, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Kiki Strike, Dinotopia, Song of the Gargoyle and The City of Ember.


I am sure that is way more than you need, but my mind started racing. It was hard to stop once I started -- thank you for that enjoyable tour through my past. Lots of great memories of time spent reading. Hope you find some of this helpful, at least.

u/ohhaiworld · 1 pointr/books
  • Divergent/Insurgent (First two in an unfinished trilogy)
  • The Maze Runner (This is a trilogy)
  • Battle Royale
  • I've heard good things about The Knife of Never Letting Go (The first part of the Chaos Walking trilogy)

    To be honest, these are just some dystopia themed books I recommended because of Hunger Games. However, I could give better recommendations if you tell me more of what she wants. Young adult? Fantasy? Romantic aspect?
u/rajadoga · 1 pointr/tipofmytongue
u/jiynx · 1 pointr/books

Divergent by Veronica Roth, or the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Both feature strong female protagonists; both have action galore; both were devoured by my fiance who denies he has the ability to read. I think Divergent's better, but all three Hunger Games books are out and the second in the Divergent series won't be out till May.. :'(

u/usernameidea · 1 pointr/Hungergames

I set of books that I read right before The Hunger games that I kept drawing parallels to was the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness. The first book is called The Knife of Never Letting Go.

u/HannahEBanna · 1 pointr/CFBOTreads

I'm really failing at this whole thing.

I have three books I'm currently in an on hold status on:

u/supersonic_princess · 1 pointr/Fantasy

Pretty much everything by Tamora Pierce is great. My favorite is the Beka Cooper trilogy that starts with Terrier, but that's largely because it's IMO the least YA of her series, so it may not be quite what you're looking for. I also really liked the Circle of Magic quartet and its followup The Circle Opens quartet.

That said, all of her books are lovely, so I don't think you can really go wrong with any of them.

u/mushpuppy · 1 pointr/woahdude

Reminds me of the spiral stairs in The Hero and the Crown.

u/EpsilonSigma · 1 pointr/movies

The first four books have all been turned into comics. Here's a link to the first one on amazon.

u/Michigan__J__Frog · 1 pointr/Christianity

I want to suggest The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and its sequels. These are some of my favorite books and I feel they are not popular enough for how good they are.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Thief-Queens-Book/dp/0060824972/