Recommended Reads
Discover our curated Recommended Reads list, featuring powerful must-read books for teens and young readers. From Rick Riordan's *Titan's Curse* to Chris Crutcher's *Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes* and Walter Dean Myers' *Monster*, this handpicked collection of juvenile and young adult fiction explores themes of identity, courage, and resilience. Perfect for educators, parents, and book lovers seeking engaging, thought-provoking stories—dive into these acclaimed titles and find your next favorite page-turner.
Book
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Three: Titan's Curse
by Rick Riordan
When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. And now it’s up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. Who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess? They must find Artemis before the winter solstice, when her influence on the Olympian Council could swing an important vote on the war with the titans. Not only that, but first Percy will have to solve the mystery of a rare monster that Artemis was hunting when she disappeared—a monster rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus forever.
Book
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
by Chris Crutcher
The daily class discussions about contemporary issues serve as a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic cry for help.
Book
So B. It
by Sarah Weeks
You couldn′t really tell about Mama′s brain just from looking at her, but it was obvious as soon as she spoke. She had a high voice, like a little girl′s, and she only knew 23 words. I know this for a fact, because we kept a list of the things Mama said tacked to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. Most of the words were common ones, like good and more and hot, but there was one word only my mother said: soof. Although she lives an unconventional lifestyle with her mentally disabled mother and their doting neighbour, Bernadette, Heidi has a lucky streak that has a way of pointing her in the right direction. When a mysterious word in her mother′s vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi′s thirst for the truth leads her on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
Book
Freak the Mighty
by W. Rodman Philbrick
At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.
Book
Monster
by Walter Dean Myers
FADE IN: INTERIOR: Early morning in CELL BLOCK D, MANHATTAN DETENTION CENTER. Steve (Voice-Over) Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me ... Monster.
Book
Love That Dog
by Sharon Creech
Jack Room 105 -- Miss Stretchberry September 13 /center I don't want to because boys don't write poetry. Girls do. Meet Jack, who tells his story with a little help from some paper, a pencil, his teacher, and a dog named Sky.
Book
Fat Kid Rules the World
by K. L. Going
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book Troy Billings is seventeen, 296 pounds, friendless, utterly miserable, and about to step off a New York subway platform in front of an oncoming train. Until he meets Curt MacCrae, an emaciated, semi-homeless, high school dropout guitar genius, the stuff of which Lower East Side punk rock legends are made. Never mind that Troy’s dad thinks Curt’s a drug addict and Troy’s brother thinks Troy’s the biggest (literally) loser in Manhattan. Soon, Curt’s recruited Troy as his new drummer—even though Troy can’t play the drums. Together, Curt and Troy will change the world of punk, and Troy’s own life, forever. "Troy's voice is candid, irreverent, realistic and humorous. [A] wonderful, engrossing tale."—SLJ An ALA BBYA A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book A Booklist Editors' Choice An SLJ Best Book of the Year A Miami Herald Best Book of the Year
Book
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
by Judith Kerr
Recounts the adventures of a nine-year-old Jewish girl and her family in the early 1930s as they are divided, reunited, and travel from Germany through Europe to England to escape persecution.