Good Books for Young Adults

Following are just a few lists of recommended books.  Books on these lists have not necessarily been reviewed by Linus Pauling Middle School library staff.  However, the organizations and/or people who have published these lists are known to include books that are enjoyed by young adults.  A link is provided to the website of each organization.  At Linus Pauling we believe in "self censorship".  What is appropriate for one student may not be suitable for another.  Choose to read books that are not only at your reading and interest level but also match your maturity level!

Young Reader Choice Award Nominees  - Young Reader Choice (YRC) is an annual program in which students in the Pacific Northwest select their favorite books.  Nominated book lists are published at the end of each school year.  Students who have read two or more books in the Junior, Intermediate, and/or Senior division may vote for their favorite book in the Spring.  YRC nominated books are among the favorites of Linus Pauling students.

Middle School Books - Looking for the "best of the best" in middle school literature? This site, created by retired librarian and language arts teacher Kathy Bjorklund, highlights an expanding number of fiction and non-fiction books that she believes are among the best currently available for YA readers. "I wanted a place where parents, teachers, and kids could go to find reviews of books for grades 5-9," says Kathy, a 25-year teaching veteran who lives in Washington State.

ALA Awards - Links to a variety of awards and recommended lists of books for young adults. This site is provided by the American Library Association.

Outstanding Books for the College Bound and Lifelong Learners - this list of books is provided by the American Library Association

2008-2009 Oregon Battle of the Books
6th-9th Grade Division Book List

The Oregon Battle of the Books is a statewide reading motivation and comprehension program sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services and Technology Act grant. Students, regardless of ability, are exposed to quality literature representing a variety of literary styles and viewpoints. The goals of the program are to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, broaden reading interests, increase reading comprehension, and promote academic excellence.

* Oregon author or Oregon setting

*Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher - Historical Fiction
    Exiled from their home country because of their father's plot against King Phraates, fourteen-year-old Mitra and five-year-old Babak, who are of royal descent, live as beggars until it is discovered that the boy can tell the future through his dreams, and the magus Melchoir and two other Zoroastrian priests take the children with them to Bethlehem to witness the coming of a new king.

Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz - Adventure/Mystery, YRCA 2009
    After recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound, teenage spy Alex Rider embarks on a new mission to stop a group of eco-terrorists from sabotaging the launch of the first outer space hotel.

*Atherton: House of Power by Patrick Carman - Science Fiction
    Edgar, an eleven-year-old orphan, finds a book that reveals significant secrets about Atherton, the strictly divided world on which he lives, even as geological changes threaten to shift the power structure that allows an elite few to live off the labor of others.

*Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff - Historical Fiction/Multicultural
    In small town, post-World War Oregon, twenty-one 6th grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface.

*Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson - Realistic/Child Abuse
    In Oregon, eleven-year-old Hope begins coping with her mother's verbal abuse by devising survival strategies for herself based on a history unit about the Holocaust, and meanwhile she works toward buying a pair of purple hiking boots by helping at a second-hand shop.

*Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury - Historical Fiction
    Following orders from the United States Army, several young Japanese American men train K-9 units to hunt Asians during World War II.

Fabelhaven by Brandon Mull - Fantasy, YRCA 2009
    Kendra and Seth find themselves in the midst of a battle between good and evil when they visit their grandparents' estate and discover that it is a sanctuary for magical creatures.

*Fire on the Wind by Linda Crew - Historical Fiction
    The summer before her fourteenth birthday, a fierce forest fire rages throughout northwestern Oregon and threatens the logging camp where Storie and her family live.

*Girl From Yamhill by Beverly Cleary - Biography
    Follows the popular children's author from her childhood years in Oregon through high school and into young adulthood, highlighting her family life and her growing interest in writing.

Half-moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer - Adventure/Mystery, YRCA 2009
    Twelve-year-old online detective school graduate Fletcher Moon--who suffers the nickname "Half Moon" because of his small stature--helps solve crimes for classmates and others in his Irish town, but things start to go wrong when he is asked to find a reportedly stolen lock of a pop star's hair and ends up an arson suspect.

*Minerva Clark Gets a Clue by Karen Karbo - Mystery/Humor
    A thirteen-year-old girl in Portland, Oregon, loses all self-doubt when she is zapped by lightning and uses her newfound courage to solve a murder mystery.

*Peak by Roland Smith - Adventure
    A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.

The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynn Jones - Fantasy, YRCA 2009
    Two powerful young enchanters, Cat, the future Chrestomanci, and Marianne, who is being trained to be Gammer of the Pinhoes, work together as friends to try to end an illegal witches' war and, in the process, right some old wrongs.

*Sea Otter Rescue: The Aftermath of an Oil Spill by Roland Smith - Nonfiction
    Describes the rescue of the sea otters following the 1989 oil spill in Valdez, Alaska.

*Stout-hearted Seven by Neta Lohnes Frazier - Historical Fiction
    Recounts the adventures of the seven Sager children, orphaned during their journey to Oregon where they were adopted by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.

*A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - Fantasy/Classic
    A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the master wizard.