Popular Young Adult Authors

“Paper Towns” By: John Green

 Green, J. (2008). Paper Towns. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Quentin Jacobson and Margo Roth Spiegelman have lived across the street from each other for a long time. The book starts off when they are younger and find a dead body while they are out playing and this in a way binds their friendship. But as they grow older they also grow apart until this wild and crazy night when Margo sneaks into Quentin’s bedroom and asks him to help her get revenge on her ex-boyfriend Jase. He agrees and they vandalize houses and cars with spray paint and fish, and then sneak into SeaWorld where Margo tells Quentin about the places called paper towns. Quentin is excited that he and Margo are friends again and is excited to go to school the next day but she isn’t there. Quentin believes that Margo has run away and is leaving him clues to be able to find her. With his friends, Ben and Radar they try to follow all the clues that are left by Margo, including her highlighted copy of “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman. He eventually figures out where he thinks Margo will be and so he and his friends skip their high school graduation to go to a paper town. On their journey they have a lot of fun and adventure. In the end when Quentin finally finds Margo at a general store she tells him that she didn’t leave him clues and that she didn’t really want to be found, she wants to live life and explore and try to figure out who she is. Quentin realizes that he needs to let her go and that he needs to do the same thing and try to find out who he is.

This is a great book for high schoolers who enjoy adventures and books about growing up and trying to find your place in the world. John Green has written other great books the readers would enjoy as well, like his “The Fault in Our Stars”.

“Goodbye Stranger” By: Rebecca Stead

Stead, R. (2015). Goodbye Stranger. New York, NY: Random House.

When Bridget Barsamian is eight, she was in a horrible rollerblading accident that nearly kills her. After the accident she has a new outlook on life, “why” and decides to shorten her name to Bridge. This is a very entertaining book about relationships, growing up and the challenges that come with it all. Bridge and her friends are in the seventh grade and promise to stay best friends all year without fighting.  Her friend Tabitha is a straight forward girl and her other best friend Emily is developing into a woman, and wants a boyfriend and has a picture of what that should look like. Bridge also has English with a boy named Sherm Russo.  They have to change papers with a classmate and she and Sherm trade papers.  He had a lot of corrections on her paper and she could find nothing wrong with his.  That was the beginning of their friendship and they end up joining the Tech Crew.  Sherm and Bridge spend a lot of time together trying to recreate the moon landing and he becomes one of Bridge's good friends. While Bridge and Sherm are spending a lot of time together, Tab becomes more involved with social justice and Emily is pressured by an older boy to text him a provocative picture. Through it all, the three try to stay close to one another while also building up their relationships with mentors, new friends, parents and siblings.

It was written for grades 6-9.  I think girls of this age would really enjoy this book.  It is well written and keeps your interest until the end. The author Rebecca Stead has written other award winning books that I think readers will enjoy as well.

“Coldest Girl in Coldtown” Holly Black

Black, H. (2013). The coldest girl in Coldtown. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.

The morning after a wild party at her friend’s house, Tana wakes up in a bathtub and doesn’t remember how she got there. When she leaves the bathroom she discovers that all of her friends except one, her ex-boyfriend, have been murdered and there is only one explanation, vampires. It turns out that Tana and her ex Aidan are not the only survivor, there is a mysterious vampire named Gavriel. Tana decides that the only way to be able to save all of them, including herself, is to go to Coldtown.  Coldtown is where all the vampires live. Once you become a vampire or if you just want to live and risk your life living with vampires you go to Coldtown. Once they check in to Coldtown, Tana finds out that Gavriel is the meanest vampire who ever lived; but the reader comes to find out that his friends betrayed him and he is turning over a new leaf. Tana decides to go looking for him after they are separated and she ends up getting bitten and captured by the oldest and meanest vampire. He wants to feed off of her and Gavriel acts like he's going to let him but then they stop him.  Then at the end, Tana goes into a basement to lock herself up and see if she's going to turn and Gavriel goes down with her to wait it out. In the end Tana and Gavriel are together and Aidan decides to live in Coldtown as a vampire.

If you have fans of the Twilight books I think that they will also be a fan and enjoy this book even more. It was a fun and fast paced book about humans, vampires and their attraction to each other. Teachers could pair this in a book club with other vampire books or even have the students conduct research on where the vampire stories began.

“The Secret of the Fortune Wookie: An Oragami Yoda Book” By: Tom Angleberger

Angleberger, T. (2012). The Secret of the Fortune Wookie: An Origami Yoda book. New York: Amulet Books.

This is the third book in the popular Origami Yoda series where Dwight gets suspended from McQuarrie Middle School and sent to another school because the origami was a problem. His friends Tommy, Sara, Kellen, and Rhondella help to defend him and keep his legacy alive in the school. Without Dwight what would they have to solve until one day Sara shows up with a present from Dwight. She shows everyone the Fortune Wookie and tells them that Dwight had sent it and it had magical powers and can tell you your fortune. Principal Rabbski didn’t like all these distractions and would yell at the kids. Dwight’s buddies would stand up to her saying that they are educational by using creativity and imagination. Ms. Calhoun the school librarian was on the students side and went to the principal and expressed her views about the students using origami as an educational tool. Students were then allowed to make origami in the library. In the end it was Harvey who the kids thought was on their side but was really always trying to catch them and prove that the Fortune Wookie isn’t real and doesn’t work. Harvey proved it wasn’t real by proving them wrong, for example Sara couldn’t have gotten it from Dwight tossing it out the window because his windows are nailed shut, and no of Sara’s friends asked it any questions. The answers were always different which isn’t possible. It ends leading the reader to think that there will be more adventures.

This book will loved by boys, but girls will enjoy it too. It is similar to the Diary of Wimpy Kid series and I see kids getting hooked on this series of six books. This book would be good for upper elementary and middle school along with students in high school who enjoy an easy read. You do not need to like or enjoy the popular star war movies to enjoy this book.

“Marbury Lens” By: Andrew Smith

Smith, A. (2010). The Marbury lens. New York: Feiwel and Friends.

“The Marbury Lens” is about a California boy named Jack and his best friend Conner. After a traumatizing kidnap and almost rape Jack heads to London a couple days ahead of Connor. The two best friends were taking a trip to London to visit an all boy’s school they may be attending. While in London prior to Connors arrival Jack meets Henry Hewitt. Henry gives Jack a pair of purple glasses that transport him to an alternate universe filled with war, cannibalism, ghosts, and two young boys named Griffin and Ben. In this alternate universe Jack is responsible for protecting the boys from the hunters and harvesters. The three believe they are all that remains of the human race. While in this alternate universe Jack and the boys are being chased by Connor. Meanwhile back in reality Jack is having a hard time dealing with what has happened in reality and what is “Marbury”. His friendship with Connor is tested; all while dealing with his first relationship with a London girl named Nickie. The story ends with Conner and Jack back home in Glenbrook on a basketball court with Griffin and Ben staring into the Marbury Lenses.

I believe this book age range should be older High School level if in schools at all. There is sex, pedophilia, cannibalism, kidnapping, cussing, and war. It’s not a book I believe any student would get a good lesson from reading. I do not believe a teacher should use this book in her classroom. I do not believe there is much to be learned from this book.

“Reality Boy” By: A.S. King

King, A. S. (2013). Reality Boy: A novel. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

This book is about a very dysfunctional family, the Fausts. There is Mr. & Mrs. Faust and 3 children, Tasha, Lisi, and Gerald.  The mother really only ever wanted one child, but ended up with three.  She only ever loved her first born, Tasha, and the other 2 could tell this. Tasha really did not like her siblings and would try to actually kill them whenever she could.  No one would ever believe the 2 younger children, because Tasha was so convincing that she was innocent and no one ever caught her in the act.   The mother was convinced that her son was “slow” and had severe behavior problems.  She decided to get help for her children from the TV “Nanny” show. So, when Gerald was only 5, the TV cameras and crew and the TV Nanny appear in his life, and from then on for at least a year, all his “behavior” issues were viewed by millions of people.  Of course he didn’t understand what was going on, just the fact that he needed to entertain the people and when he was angry with his mom, he would crap on something.   So, as he grew older, he had no friends and his mom had him tested and convinced he needed special education classes.   The school kids saw his reality TV series and started calling him “The Crapper”.  He had a very painful childhood and believed he was the only one whose life was so bad, until he met a girl at his work. With Hannah helps they end up forming a strong partnership and he learns that he is not the one with all the problems. His mother and older sister were the ones who needed help.

I think the book would be a very good read for any teens that are struggling in school trying to fit in and be a part of the regular crowd at school.  It may help someone see that they are not alone in this world, no matter what issues they are working through at home, with their family or friends.

“Period 8” By: Chris Crutcher

Crutcher, C. (2013). Period 8. New York: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

In this mysterious realistic fiction story, popular kid Paul Baum aka Paulie Baum finds himself in the middle of a strange series of events along with his favorite teacher and swim coach Mr. Logsdon or Logs as he is called. Things start to unravel for Paul after one night at a party when he sleeps with the “virgin Mary”, who is not his girlfriend, and then she ends up missing the next day. Period 8 with Mr. Logs is supposed to be that one class period during school where the students can feel safe to say the truth and that’s what Paul does, he tells the truth. Only what Paul and his other classmates don't know is that the ultimate bully, liar and snake is in their class as well and his name is Arney Stack.  Arney who is money greedy and mixed up with the wrong people, one being a cop, tries to kill Paul and his ex-girlfriend Hannah after Paul and Hannah figure out all about what Arney has been up to. Luckily for Paul the story ends with Arney in jail.

High school students will enjoy this fast paced mystery of who can you trust filled with popular kids, peer pressure, sex, drugs, missing people and wild parties. The reader can learn that even though the truth may hurt and cause problems it is better than not saying anything and a life can depend on it.