500 Great Books for Teens

There's a new addition to my reference shelf that's been really helpful when I or my daughters want to look for a new book to read. It's called 500 Great Books for TEENS by Anita Silvey. I love the easy way books are categorized here. Age recommendations come right under the book title so I can easily see that The Whale Rider is best for 12 - 14-year olds while Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods is probably more suited to older teens. And the categories are great! I can look for humorous books, classics, mysteries and thrillers, war and conflict books and many more classifications that will help suit the mood for the type of book my daughters and I are looking for. Silvey's done a nice job, too, with the extras at the end. I can look up books that take place in certain states or countries or at certain historical times. My daughters and I are actually psyched about checking off the books on the lists we've already read then adding more as we read more.

This is an excellent book with far more interesting titles than Nancy Pearl's book lust. It is incredibly well organized with sensible categories and writing. There are some excellent choices of books in there as well. I thought there were a few books that were misplaced and she revealed too much plot for many of the books, which is why I did not give her a five out of five.

Any shopping for a book to give to a teen reader will welcome 500 Great Books for Teens, a guide to some of the newest in the young adult publishing world. Silvey is one of the nation's foremost authorities on books for teens, has interviewed teen readers across the country, and emphasizes here books published in the past five years. It's an excellent librarian's or parents' pick; especially considering how many books on 'best of pick for teens' focus on those over published over ten years ago.

I am usually skeptical when reviewing resources or ads because, as a shopper, I have to know what I'm recommending and stand by it. I was recently given carte blanche to handle several people's gift lists AND review lists. The review buying is easy, it's largely what juts came out. The gift selections need to be more specific, and with all the product out there shouting to be bought --well, the task is trying enough for those of us who just want a good read, let alone purchase them for other people. THIS reference was an invaluable help to me, and will be to parents, teachers, librarians and anyone facing the huge variety of choices out there. The book lists 500 titles, and each one has a very readable and detailed essay about the selection. It is further categorized in 21 different genre sections: adventure and survival, politics and social history, horror, romance, war and conflict, fantasy, plays, graphic novels, poetry, memoir, and spirituality. This reference has a balanced mix of classics, but the majority of titles are new. Since many readers are familiar with classics, this volume does well in mostly sorting out what's new. It also gets a parental recommendation because you can know what your teen is reading and promote discussion. If you're a shopper, this is your bible!

The first thing that I did when I saw this book was check the index to see if Harry Potter books was listed. It was. And the opening sentence about the book says: 'As a way to entice the young into reading, few stories surpass the Harry Potter novels.' Again as Ms. Silvey says, the Harry Potter books will naturally 'find its detractors.' Sure. But the first sentence is the key. More kids have gotten into reading by being introduced to Harry Potter than any other book ever. OK, if she got this one right, how about other books? In this same section: 'Fantasy' - Ms. Silvey talks about the Diana Wynne Jones Chrestomanci series. About these books she says: 'its advocates always argue its literary superiority to the Harry Potter saga.' Right On! When the kid has finished the Harry Potter series and looking for something else, point him to the Jones books. Or to Narnia. Or to Anne McCaffrey -- all of which are discussed by Ms. Silvey. This is exactly what a book like this should do. Give you the ideas to get the youngers to reading. And this is exactly what the book delivers. If not in Fantasy, then in advernture, history, mystery, science fiction and several other categories. Complaints, a few - she doesn't list Isaac Asimov's Foundation series in the science fiction section. Things like that. But could you ever pick 500 titles upon which we would all agree. An excellent resource book.