More Recommendations for 12 Year Olds
Just a note. I meant to write this as one post for kids age 12 or so and up. But then it got long. Like 20 books long with great descriptions and things. It was over 3 pages single spaced in google docs. So I broke it into three or maybe four, and will post them all separately. This is the third in that series of posts. The numbers in front of the books are from the original list, in case you care about how I put it together originally.
This section of recommendations are some of the most widely popular YA series that we love. And so do thousands of other kids (and their parents). Not all of these are the best in terms of literature, plot, characters, etc. But there is something about reading something with all your friends that is a lot of fun (as anyone who has been in a book group can attest) and these are some that are great for group reading. And of course you can complain about how terrible the movies are together when you’re done which is even more fun.
10. Twilight* by Stephanie Meyer. Yeah, the sparkly vampires. Not the best role models but it remains a staple of teen reading. Best to get it out of the way quickly and move on, but I doubt your teen (especially girls) will want to get through Jr High without reading or watching these, and the books are better.
11. The Hunger Games* by Suzanne Collins. See the comments above. No it’s not the best literature out there, but like Harry Potter these are part of the coming of age for a lot of kids still. Katniss, Gale, and Peeta have quite the love triangle while overthrowing the government. This one is probably the most violent on the list, though I haven’t read one of the other series.
12. Cinder by Melissa Meyer. Cyborg cinderella, done well and fast paced. Each of the books is a different fairy tale fractured in a new way. And it’s a LOT of fun! Oh, also people living on the moon with some interesting magic-seeming powers. My girls LOVE these books, and they’re popular enough that they’ve been recently rerelased with great new cover art. The 4 book main series is great, and uses traditional fairy tales in science fiction to put the familiar with the new. There are also some fun spin off novels and graphic novels.
13. Keeper of the Lost Cities* This is the one series on here I haven’t (yet) read myself. But my girls LOVE it. To the point that they have group chats and group youtube channel dedicated to this series. Book 8.5 came out in November, with book 9 due out this year. And this series is supposed to reach 10-12 books eventually. In addition, the movie options are sold to Disney with Ben Affleck set to direct which just sounds fun, right?
14. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. A retelling of a classic fairy tale. I love this book. It’s a bit complicated in the first few chapters but once you get into it a few chapters it’s just fabulous. Princesses in disguise, handsome prince, evil magician, and just enough magic to make it, well, magical. In addition to the fun story, it’s a great chance to see what can happen when the life you thought you were going to have disappears in front of you. And what you can do after that. The first of 4 books, and she has several other fantastic books based off fairy tales as well.
15. Illuminae by Kaufmann and Kristoff. These two worked some great magic to make this book. It’s science fiction, on a spaceship or 3, with an evil AI and a deadly plauge. The storytelling though… it’s not traditional at all. It’s set up as a file full of documents gathered about the event after it happened which is fantastic to read. The second and third installments feature even larger conflicts with widespread ramifications for their entire galaxy. And did I mention a crazy AI? So much fun. I hear the audiobook is even better, but I haven’t tried it yet. A fully completed trilogy, these authors also have a second series with two books out already (they’re on my list for this year).
So, this is the end of the third post on this topic. I almost put the rest of them on here, but it was still really long. So one more post coming in the next couple of days to finish it up. In the meantime, maybe a trip to the library is in order?
*Indicates books that have films out of forthcoming.
