1. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Edward leaves, not wanting to put Bella into danger. Bella's depression deepens until she befriends Jacob, a sophomore from her school with a penchant for motorcycles. Their adventures are wild and her fun with Jacob soon turns into danger, especially when she finds out Jacob’s real identity.

Teen Review: "I love the relationship between Bella and Edward, not because it is perfect, but because of its faults. Their relationship is so complicated and takes so many turns that it is hard not to want to know what happens next."

2. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Annabel is nice. Too nice to say why she is unhappy with her life and what happened the night her life changed. That doesn’t work in the world of her only remaining friend, anger-management-alum and alternative-music-nut Owen. Can she learn to speak, argue, and finally to say the truth?

Teen Review: "What Annabel is going through, the fact that she has to deal with a her family, not wanting to be a model anymore, old friends, a sister with an eating disorder, and the secret."

3. How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles
The last thing 16-year-old Amy wants to do for the summer is go to Israel with her estranged Israeli father, who's dragging her to meet a family she's never known. What could be worse than a summer in a place without friends, shopping or a cell phone?

Teen Review: "This book was probably on my top 10 most funny books list…a hilarious book about one teenage girls' adventure through a surprise vacation in Israel, friends, and the meaning of Moshav. "

4. Maximum Ride: School’s Out — Forever by James Patterson
Max and her flock are discovered by an FBI agent and forced to go to "school." There is no such thing as an ordinary day there, and Max faces her greatest enemy.

Teen Review: "The plot is super-believable and it's page turning."

5. Firegirl by Tony Abbott
Tom tells about the arrival of Jessica, a new student who was badly burned in a fire. Little by little Tom begins to look beyond her exterior.

Teen Review: "It shows the small daily gestures from others can lift someone's spirits and also your own. People will remember this book long after it's over."

6. All Hallows Eve by Vivian Vande Velde
A spine-tingling collection of scary stories. Take Halloween night and add a possessed car, a crypt, a psychic…and ten more!

Teen Review: "They are twilight zone stories that make you think about life."

7. Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer
When a meteor knocks the moon closer to earth. Miranda and her family need to prepare for tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, extreme weather, food shortages, and disease.

Teen Review: "Just the whole idea of having a meteor crash into the moon and seeing a girl's (around my age) views on it."

8. River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Razo is one of Bayern’s weaker soldiers. He is sure he is only on the important Tira mission out of pity. But in the strange southern country, Razo befriends both the high and low born, people who can perhaps provide them with vital information. And Razo is the one who must embrace his own talents in order to get the Bayern soldiers home again, alive.

Teen Review: "It could be made into a movie. all of the book is really compelling!"

9. Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe
Jasmine had to give up her police internship to go on her family vacation. It doesn’t take long before Jas stumbles upon a murder mystery while vacationing with them in Las Vegas.

Teen Review: "It's a huge, hilarious page-turner that keeps you reading. 36% has great mystery, 49% unstoppable crush, and 15% fashion emergency."

10. Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks
Fourteen-year-old British, half-gypsy Ruben is frightened when he finds himself psychically witnessing the vicious attack and murder of his sister. When the official investigation stalls, Ruben and his brother attempt to put together the pieces of the crime themselves.

Teen Review: "I think a lot of people can relate to the characters because they are going through emotions that people go through."

Clay by David Almond
Stephen has a talent, the gift of creation—and he knows that Davie has this talent, too. Davie allows Stephen to convince him to help bring a life-size figure to life—and Clay is born. Stephen has special plans for this innocent creation. What has Davie helped to unleash on the world?

Teen Review: "A very compelling book with some of the same ideas as Frankenstein. It was mysterious and fun to read. "

Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita
What if everyone in America wanted to know what you were doing when you weren’t filming your TV show? Kaitlin Burke, a 16-year old TV star, is exhausted from this glamorous life. So much so she decides to go undercover as an ordinary high school student. But could it be that high school is just as tough as Hollywood?

Teen Review: "It grabs reader's attention and you want to find out more."

The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman
Francine Green doesn’t speak up much, and who can blame her? But when outspoken, passionate Sophie Bowman transfers into Francine’s class, she finds herself thinking about new things that never concerned her before… Eventually, Francine discovers that she not only has something to say, she is absolutely determined to say it.

Teen Review: "a wonderful and sad book, about friendship, speaking out, and our right as American citizens to free speech."

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Annabel is nice. Too nice to say why she is unhappy with her life and what happened the night her life changed. That doesn’t work in the world of her only remaining friend, anger-management-alum and alternative-music-nut Owen. Can she learn to speak, argue, and finally to say the truth?

Teen Review: "What Annabel is going through, the fact that she has to deal with a her family, not wanting to be a model anymore, old friends, a sister with an eating disorder, and the secret."

In Search of Mockingbird by Loretta Ellsworth
Erin waits as long as she can, until she decides that running away from home is her only choice. Then she goes on a mission: to find the reclusive author of To Kill a Mockingbird. This takes Erin on a bus journey, knowing that if she can find Harper Lee she will also be closer to her mother, who adored that one book more than all others.

Teen Review: "Gutsy. Says that any kind of person can be your friend."

The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson
When Cameryn asks to be her father’s assistant at the county coroner’s office, she never expects that her first case will be a friend in a serial killer case.

Teen Review: "It’s a good, suspenseful book overall. You will REALLY like it if you are into forensics and murder mysteries."

What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles
After his younger brother’s suicide, Kyle Kirby exacts revenge on the person he holds responsible: he kidnaps 17-year-old Cass from her house, and buries her alive, chastising her with a walkie-talkie. Can Detective Ben Grey discover Cass’s whereabouts before it’s too late?

Teen Review: "This is an incredible book with a mind-boggling plot."

Hello, Groin by Beth Goobie
When Dylan agrees to create a display for her high school library, she has no idea of the trouble it's going to cause—for the school principal, her family, her boyfriend Cam and his jock friends, her best friend Jocelyn, not to mention Dylan herself. And Dylan wouldn't ever have had to face her deepest fear and the way she was letting it run her life.

Teen Review: "This book is an amazing read about a girl going through struggles with her boyfriend, best friend, censorship, and herself. It really makes you think about the things in your life and the way you view them."

Shock Point by April Henry
When fifteen-year-old Cassie Streng discovers that her psychiatrist stepfather is giving a dangerous experimental drug to his teenaged patients, she is determined to expose him. Instead, he sends her to a boot camp for troubled teens in order to keep her quiet. Cassie is in danger at this ‘school’. Can she escape, expose her stepfather and stop the school?

Teen Review: "The action and suspense escalated to an intense point. It captivated me."

Born to Rock by Gordon Korman
After ultra-straight-laced Leo Caraway discovers that his biological father is none other than millionaire King Maggot, lead singer of the punk band Purge, he accepts a roadie job on King's tour in the hope of securing sorely needed college tuition to Harvard.

Teen Review: "This book is about finding one's roots, rock music, while figuring out your true self—the book has many surprising twists and turns, and it's a great laugh-out-loud book."

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
When Ananka Fishbein ventures into an enormous sinkhole near her New York City apartment, she finds things that change her life: a million rats, delinquent Girl Scouts, and a secret city.

Teen Review: "This book is so original and creative. It has so many twists and adventure. This book is beyond amazing."

Prom Anonymous by Blake Nelson
Chloe Thomas is the last person that anyone expects to see at the prom. She agrees to go when her two oldest friends ask her to go. What will happen in the three weeks leading up to the big night?

Teen Review: "It talks about what goes on through prom night and through couples, crushes and high school."

Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage by Susanna Reich
Left in the care of family with very rigid views of proper behavior in the late 1800s, Penny is determined not to give up her dreams of an acting career. She starts by plotting to star in the school play.

Teen Review: "It’s about an 11-year-old girl who wants to act."

Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos
The one normal person in Donnie’s family is his older sister, Karen. His family has to make huge changes when they admit that Karen has an eating disorder, and suddenly Donnie feels more on his own than ever. Will things be able to become normal again?

Teen Review: "I was not expecting anything this powerful. I felt what they felt. An amazing story of an anorexic girl told through the eyes of her younger brother and the emotions of the whole family."

The Unresolved by T. K. Welsh
The 1904 "General Slocum" steamship disaster killed more than 1000 people from the part of New York City known as Kleindeutschland. One victim was 15-year-old Mallory Meer. Her boyfriend, Dustin Brauer, is accused of setting the fire by a leader in the German neighborhood. Mallory, now insubstantial, sees everything and helps the truth to emerge.

Teen Review: "Brilliant story, beautifully written."

Flora Segunda: Being the Magikal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (one Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Flora gets lost in her own eleven-thousand-room house and stumbles upon the long-banished butler of Crackpot Hall. Soon she finds herself in the middle of a mind-blowing muddle of intrigue and betrayal that changes her world forever.

Teen Review: "Flora discovers her families ancient butler and after helping him she almost dissappears into the abyss."

 

(High school summer reading lists)