Recommended Reading for 14 Year Olds
On with my series of recommendations of books to give your kids, siblings, nieces or nephews, or heck, some random kid in the library. Assuming we go to libraries these days… Back to the subject, this post is specifically trying to hit the age group around 14 years old. It can be a tricky age for finding books, since (if they’re like my daughter) they have gone through all of the YA section fairly well and want something more. They’re usually though not as prepared as they think they are for all full-on adult content that they’ll find in many general or genre fiction for adults. I know that as a teen I stumbled into some things I know my parents would not have liked me to read, because there was no list like this. So here is my attempt at a list for 14 year old’s. A few of them have some darker themes, a few of them have a bit of sex but definitely not overly descriptive or dwelled on much. And all of them can be a great ride. Looking at my stack of books to recommend, I realize that in general these are pretty old school. However a lot of more modern fantasy, including most of grimdark and epic fantasy, I have a hard time giving to High School Freshmen. (That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of kids this age enjoying Game of Thrones, Abercrombie (the author not the clothing), Weeks, Brown, or many others. I just wouldn’t give them to my kid at this age.) I put the list in order by publication date, not out of a desire to rank order them.
The Princess Bride* by William Goldman (1975). A classic fantasy book and a classic movie, but they’re of course not exactly the same. Goldman did the book and the screenplay though, so the differences aren’t huge. The book has all the great backstories for Inigo, Fezzik, Count Rugen, Miracle Max, and others that just couldn’t be put into the movie, plus a few more action scenes that didn’t quite make the movie cut. It is a delightful read.
Camber of Culdi by Katherine Kurtz (1976). This is the first in a series of 4 trilogies and a few standalone books. It follows Camber and his family as they restore the rightful king to his throne and the aftermath that follows from that. These are High magic, and moderately epic in scope. They’re also difficult to find; I got several of them at a library sale when people didn’t check them out enough :( The descriptions here are very accurate to what you’d find in real medieval castles, and loosely based around the UK geographically and culturally.
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (1977). This is the first in this classic series, and extremely Tolkien-esque. However it is the entryway to a huge series that had what I think is its last book come out just last year. There are dozens of books in this series and I’ve read… most of them? At some point or another. Honestly, this could have gone on my 12yo list but I missed it? Or decided to wait on it, is more likely. It’s a great example of tropes in fantasy writing.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* by Douglas Adams (1979). This is a quirky, fun classic, and is still a giant in the SciFi community. Arthur Dent leaves Earth unexpectedly and finds himself with some super quirky aliens and a really depressed robot. A total of 4 books in the series of adventures that answers the question of the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything. (hint, the answer is 42. To know what the question is to get the answer of 42 you have to keep reading lol.)
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams (1988). The first of a trilogy, this is brilliantly written and the Epic-ness of the world and story is fantastic. Lots of questing, a hidden birthright, magic swords, and a variety of different peoples (both human and not) make this a great fun series. It is a bit wordy and not the quick read that many of the others from this list can be. There is a new sequel series that is coming out as well, just waiting for the final installment. And the updated maps done by Isaac Stewart are gorgeously fantastic.
Dragon Wing by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman (1990). The first in the Death Gate Cycle series of 7 books. These authors are great and they write a fantastic story of arch enemies moving through different types of fantastical worlds and mazes to reclaim the glory of their people (or stop the other one from doing that). I need to reread, but these guys literally wrote the books on LitRPG, so I’m guessing it reads like a D&D game as you go through the series. I haven’t read them for a LONG time, and last year’s planned reread didn’t happen because… a lot of reasons including all that was 2020.
The Eye of the World* by Robert Jordan (1990). The beginning of THE MOST EPIC series of the 20th century. Well, maybe not quite, but it’s definitely in the top 5. It starts off deliberately Tolkien-esque and as you move through the 14 book series it becomes more original and more expansive. I started reading this in the mid-90’s and was hooked for most of two decades. Rand al’Thor and his companions grow from teenagers into adults while trying to literally keep the world from ending. This will keep your kids busy for months. But warning, they’ll then want to attend JordanCon, and watch the show when it comes out hopefully this fall.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb(1998). First in the Farseer trilogy and the wider Realm of the Elderlings that are more than 12 books of awesome entertainment. Fitz, the main character, is the bastard son of the disgraced former heir to the throne. So the old king has Fitz apprentice to the assassin for the throne. It’s an amazing character study and coming of age story. Also, there may be dragons at some point or other. Lower on magic content and higher on the evils of the world in general, I’m going to be giving it to my daughter to read this summer.
Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card (1999). This novel parallels Ender’s Game through the eyes of one of the other characters. It also kicks off the Shadows series following many of the Battle School characters as they live after the events of the original novel. It’s a considerably better story than most of the books in the original Ender Saga (except the original, that one is a classic and so amazing).
Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (2004) Okay, so this is definitely not the first Discworld book (it’s actually number 30!). But the young protagonist Tiffany Aching makes this a good place to start for younger readers. There are 5 books in this series that are part of the larger Discworld stage. This is absurdist, fun, fantasy at its best.
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (2005). The first novel published by Sanderson and I could go on about this one for days. But I won’t. It has connections to many of his later Cosmere books, but it stands very well on its own. Serene, Raoden, and Hrathen are some of my favorite characters. And the broken magic system that caused the whole plot to get into motion is excellent, even though it is mostly absent.
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (2009). A great standalone with ties to other stories, this focuses on two sisters who are princesses and have their entire lives upended by a single choice by their father. Again, I could go on a long time about how great this book is. Siri and Vivenna are such opposites as characters and the character development are amazing. Also Lightsong from the Court of the Gods and Vasher are excellent as well.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (2010). The beginning of the epic Stormlight Archives is probably the most epic series I’ve ever read. The large cast focuses on only a few viewpoints: Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar, in their differing struggles. I would recommend starting with Elantris, Warbreaker or Mistborn before these, but there are lots of people who just jump in to this one and love it.
Scythe by Neal Schusterman (2016). The first of trilogy (or maybe there are 4?). My daughter read this last weekend and was Shook by it. Dystopian as all his books are (that I’ve read anyway), this is the Perfect Society. No hunger, war, misery, or even death. Except by those known as Scythes who have to help control the population. This is a crazy amazing (and award winning) book.
Geekerella by Ashley Poston (2017). Fractured fairy tale, as you can guess from the title, set in modern Georgia. And the pumpkin is an orange food truck that sells, well, pumpkin and other healthy foods. And the ball is a ComicCon. A super fun and fast read, there are currently 2 ‘sequels’ that follow adjacent characters.
So this is my list, and I’m sticking to it. Are there a LOT of other good books out there? YES! there definitely are. But this list is already getting really long. I may do another one later, as I think of more excellent books to recommend. But really, almost any of these are going to give your kid (or you? Any of these can be read and loved by older audiences as well) months of exciting new reads.
*notes books with movies or tv shows out or forthcoming
