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Today we launched our Essential Books for Young Adults Store to highlight ten titles handpicked by Amazon editors, perfect for teens and parents looking for timeless, resonant, and well-written fiction outside of the classroom. For more on these books check out each one's Essential review, featuring a plot synopsis and quotes from both industry and Amazon customer reviewers, within the Essential Books for Young Adults Store.
So without further ado, here are our picks:
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman
So why these books? Well, for starters, we love them. Secondly, our customers do too. All of the titles in the Essentials list have tens or hundreds (if not thousands!) of four or five-starred reviews and received wonderful responses from teenagers, parents, and other adults. And last but not least, because being a teenager is tough stuff and Crank, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Speak--all of the books in the list"”recognize that. As a teen, suddenly the veil of childhood is lifted and everything--from the friends chosen and the sports teams joined to the the drugs taken"”isn't just a decision, it may define life. And yet there is one commonality on the road to adulthood--a lingering question thread throughout each and every one of the books we selected, no matter if the narrator is a nine-year-old stealing books as her country goes to war, a young man on trial for murder, or a young woman in the throes of a serious drug addiction. It's this: Who am I now and who do I want to be?
So pick up one of the books listed above. You're in for much more than a read--each is an exciting, riveting, and emotional experience.
