#good books to read for teens

[starstuffandalotofcoffee]

this was a good read

#honestly this is also why i can't stand the ya only crowd. i read SO much fucked up 80s and 90s YA as a kid #like YA can in fact be good (though it's still directed at teens) #but the sanitized versions goodreads adults are demanding aren't really fun for anyone #also i read both ya and adult books as a teen. i think you need to.

[stuckinapril]

I will entrench myself in literature this year no matter what the fuck it takes

#forgot how euphoric it felt to just be seen by a piece of writing #I’m excusing myself for last year bc I was having the busiest semester of my life & then traveled shortly after #so I didn’t make reading a priority #but no more. i have to consume more this year. it makes me feel so good whenever I’m down in the dumps #it’ll be hard in tandem w all the other shit I’m juggling but I’ll make it work #I’ll make it a priority for my mental health lol #just like I have to pop my vitamin pills every day I have to READ MORE to STAY SANE #teen me consumed so many books & i wanna go back to that. full on literature girl for 2024 #p

[electric-rabbits]

So, that fucking poster, hm?

#Good Omens #To all my mutual who started following me kind of recently: I am so sorry. I'm gonna be unbearable once s2 comes out #You didn't see me in 2017 when they announced the show. You didn't see me as bts pictures started to come out #Worse yet. You didn't see me when I was a teen and decided to read this fucking book for the first time #Those two motherfuckers are the reason why I started reading fanfic. They're the reason why I draw. Sorry for the person I'll become

[eternallovers65]

I love how you can take the material out of wattpad, but you can not take the wattpad out of the material because that's exactly what's going on with my life with the walter boys

10 kids, but somehow only now they're having financial problems??? Or how like 4 of those kids are in high school??? ALEX FALLS IN LOVE IN THE FIRST DAY???? The whole love triangle between two brothers (that's so 2010 like why continue with this awful trend)???

#im enjoying it so far and i only hate the fact theyre brothers but so far is good #not that i dont know what happens considering i remember reading the book back in wattpad #but yeah its good one of those pre teens shows that netflix makes 10 a year and only one lands #my life with the walter boys

[archivlibrarianist]

From this article:

"The article included photos of several handwritten lists of books that students have requested their libraries bring in. Normally, librarians would order these right away to keep students’ interests, as long they are a good fit for the collection. Now, librarians are holding onto these long lists in the hopes they can order them in the future — in the meantime, though, many students have gotten tired of waiting and stopped going to the library at all."

That's the goal. That's why they're doing this. Don't let them win.

#libraries #school libraries #American libraries #banned books #censorship #reading #children's services #YA services #teen services #literacy #read banned books #that's where the good stuff is #ask your parents or a librarian if they think you're ready #and parents: TALK TO YOUR DAMN KIDS ABOUT WHAT THEY READ #and what they watch see and hear #this is fascism

[aldoodles]

I doodled Maximum Ride abt a month ago and totally forgot to post it. I tried to draw her EXACTLY as I imagined her when I read the books in 2008

#obviously she was the coolest looking teen 12 year old me could fathom. #maximum ride #ve been rereading the Hunger Games and doodling while I listen but thinking about books I read in middle school reminded me that #this drawing lived in my camera roll #i tapped out a good few books in. i read fang in highschool and was like ‘k I’m done’ #i really enjoyed them in middle school tho! #al chatters #doodles #my art #fanart

[grandtyphoonpoetry]

There's something so special about the first book of some teen series. The Darkest Minds? It was a found family road trip before the shit hit the fan. One of the most comfortable things I'd ever read as a 14 year old. The Raven Boys? Youthful shenanigans with a side of magical ulterior motives. The Thief? A Good Girls Guide to Murder? Cinder? Percy Jackson? By the time you get to the end of almost any series you're so far in that you forget they were ever kids and that it was ever okay and that anything was ever unimportant. But the magical thing about the first book is that for just a brief moment nothing is deep and very little is complicated and everything hurts less than it will in the future.

#if i'm reading teen lit my comfort book is rarely ever anything but the first in the series #teen lit #the darkest minds #the raven boys #the thief #a good good girls guide to murder #cinder #percy jackson

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

Something More

YA contemporary about a Palestinian-Canadian girl starting high school, navigating new crushes and accepting her recent autism diagnosis

#something more #jackie kalilieh #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #this is pretty good! #obv it’s not my kind of book but having an autistic MC made it a lot less frustrating than a similar book with an allistic MC would be imo #I thought it was a great representation of a low support needs autistic teen girl #and like. embracing her autism but also it's not the only thing the book is about #Was a bit exhausting the way she keeps going back to this guy even though he’s kinda shitty #though I guess it felt quite transparent that the narrative is partly about recognising unhealthy relationships & what mistakes you should #forgive and what are ongoing patterns. and most of the relationships are like different examples of that #so like that gave me a bit of a step back from all the drama and stuff that would have otherwise annoyed me too much #because it was obvious that that was the point of all that #I think it would have been good to have developed her relationship with her grandmother - 3/4 through something happens #and it has pretty much no emotional punch because I was like wait. she has a grandmother? #Maybe that would have made it too sad when it’s mostly a lighthearted romance but like. you could have made the thing more of just a scare

[mimi-croissant]

These are my children and they’ve been plaguing my mind since I read this book

#EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS NOW #the buried and the bound #leo merritt #aziza el-amin #tristan #my boy needs another last name btw. asap #white boy of the year #this is such a good book guys please #the characters are so so fun and their relationships get you invested so quickly #and the writing style is GORGEOUS like i want to eat it #i need to write like this #and it’s so so cozy too #COZY MAGIC AAUUUGH #basically this thing in the woods is threatening the balance of the fae world and the human world #and three teens with varying complicated relationships with each other have to stop it #going into this book blind was the best thing i’ve ever done

[nellasbookplanet]

I'm currently slowly working my way through the Animorphs books (just finished The Andalite Chronicles today and this goddamn tragic children's book nearly made me cry) and I'm so upset I never picked these books up as a kid, I would've adored them. But I'm also incredibly amused that one series I did imprint on as a teen was Michael Grant's Gone series, specifically for its freaky sci-fi worldbuilding and the way it portrayed kids and teens going through horrific situations and comitting horrific acts without brushing over the resulting trauma and consequences or treating it as just a 'fun adventure'. And then I find out that Grant co-wrote the Animorphs books and is married to Katherine Applegate. Yeah, I can see that.

#nella talks books #animorphs #every time someone complains about 'why would you want realism in fantasy books for kids they’re empowerment stories' #i gesture violently at the popularity of the hunger games and animorphs and the gone series and mortal engines #idk maybe kids and teens LIKE being challenged and learning about the darker complexities of morality #maybe they don’t want to be babied and treated like choices and actions are without consequence #i certainly didn’t care for it as a kid/teen #not even for any moral reasons (too young to understand that) but bc good and evil being treated as black and white was BORING #traumatic events being treated as fun adventures was BORING and broke my suspension of disbelief even as a kid #okay enough rambling. gonna read some adult scifi now before picking up the next animorphs book

[elpisnyx]

To anyone who plays/likes Ultrakill, and wants something with more body horror, fucked up moments, and Queer characters/plots, read Hell Followed With Us. It's a Trans coming-of-age horror book, and has all of that and more.

#elpis' rambles #ultrakill #hell followed with us #do read the trigger warnings for the book tho- #it may be for teens but not for faint of heart #but by god is it good and underated

[erinsintra]

teachers when a 11 year old says they would rather read percy jackson instead of some overly long, needlessly complicated manuscript from the 17th century:

#you know how to get a kid into reading??? LET THEM CHOOSE THEIR FUCKING BOOKS #forcing them to read classics will only make them hate reading #an old book won't be good for everyone just because they're old! #especially not for children and teens! #fyp #fypツ #memes #tumblr fyp #explorepage #explore #funny #hilarious #foryou #fypage #meme #dumb shit #shitpost #shitposting

[thotpuppy]

My piece for the @steter-bang to go with @tarantula-teeth 's fic!!

I was REALLY feeling the traditional book cover vibes so i tried to emulate those funky lil novels youd pick up at an old bookfair that was clearly intended for an audience your age but many years before you were around that someone has lovingly offered up to go to a new home.

uhhh does anyobe else have that experience? Anyway!

Click Here to Read the Fic

and enjoy!!

#steter #steter bang 2023 #stiles stilinski #peter hale #teen wolf #also did anyone else read a hand me down coyp of The Witchs Buttons as a kid?? #that shit fubdamentally changed me #there was absolutrly another book i remembered when picturing the cover but i cant remember the title #it absolutrly had witch in it sonewhere thiugh #the copies i read were my mothers as a kid #they were rly good #the vibes for thr fic here are WAY different though haha

[gorgynei]

Do you have any werewolf media recommendations? Books, shows, movies, anything regardless of age. I really need something to sink my teeth into, and you know your werewolf stuff.

oh YES i definitely do. here's a list of stuff i enjoy and recommend, grouped by type for ease, with my personal favorites starred ^_^ these range from very very good to mediocre but fun to watch anyway

SHOWS: teen wolf (2011-2017), wolfblood (2012-2017)

MOVIES: an american werewolf in london (1981)* , werewolves within (2021), wolfwalkers (2020)*, viking wolf/vikingulven (2022), silver bullet (1985), ginger snaps (2000)*, wolf children (2012)*, dog soldiers (2002)

BOOKS: lycanthropy and other chronic illnesses by kristen o'neal*, rules for werewolves by kirk lynn*

also worth noting are the werewolf pride movement by caitlyn b. giacopasi and the werewolf: past and future by maegan a. stebbins which are much more like theses than media, but great reads if you want really awesome historical analysis of werewolves

#teen wolf is prob the worst thing on this list. the first season is the only good part really #i super recommend reading the werewolf pride movement if u are at all interested in trans werewolves its super super awesome and #very about that concept. u can just google it and its available online bc its just a university thesis and not a published book #anyway. yeah :-) #im probably forgetting some things tbh #askbox of inquiry #werewolf

[explosionshark]

top 5 horror book recommendations? it's spooky season and i need to get my read on...

Hell yeah! Gonna break this down a little. First an obligatory rehash of books I always recommend for this, these are like all-time faves for me

Wounds/North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud - can't choose between these two, so they're tied for my favorite single author short story collection. Nathan Ballingrud is one of my favorite writers of all time

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado - a very very close second for my favorite single-author short story collection. Machado is a beautiful writer and finding an author writing such powerful horror from a queer woman's perspective was world changing for me.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - COME ON!!!! You might have already read this but consider reading it again! Absolute classic.

The Cipher by Kathe Koja - dark, fucked up meditation on art and addiction and toxic relationships. I think about this book all the time. A guy finds a weird hole in his apartment basement and then everything goes wrong (first slowly and then very very quickly)

Red X by David Demchuk - talked about this a lot before too but I really do love it. Fictional story inspired by real life serial killings that took place in Toronto's gay village over decades. The author inserts essays throughout the book that makes it part memoir as well. A supernatural story about real queer trauma.

--

Okay with that out of the way, here's some recommendations for stuff I think would be fun for Halloween specifically

Echoes edited by Ellen Datlow - OKAY CHEATING I ALSO RECOMMEND THIS ALL THE TIME BUT IT'S A PERFECT OCTOBER BOOK!!! Fuck-off huge ghost story anthology. Huge range of tones, pretty diverse group of contributing authors, it's my all-time favorite anthology.

Slewfoot by BROM - this one's got major autumn vibes. It's a story of a woman in Puritan New England who's accused of witchcraft. It's also a story about the devil. Kind of. The print version has really amazing paintings by the author, but I've heard this is also good in audio.

Come Closer by Sara Gran - this is a great little novella. Possession story that really packs a punch. I can't really say much more than that, but it's not a huge time investment and I think it's really worthwhile.

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu - if you can, get the version edited by Carmen Maria Machado (she adds in some great footnotes and it has some neat art too). This is a classic and also quite a brisk read. The original lesbian vampire story.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - here's a new release for you! I always watch a ton of horror movies in October, and if you're anything like me maybe you'll want to read a horror novel about horror movies. This story follows a female film editor in 90s Mexico and her washed up actor friend as they help a retired filmmaker complete his famously unfinished last film, which he had been making with a former Nazi occultist before strange misfortunes and the occultist's mysterious disappearance forced production to shut down.

Okay that was double the amount of recommendations requested so I'm stopping here. Haha don't look in the tags don't worry about it there's nothing there you're crazy

#ALSO YOU SHOULD READ THE LAST DAYS OF JACK SPARKS BY JASON ARNOPP. GREAT ON AUDIO #ALSO THE HELLBOUND HEART BY CLIVE BARKER WHICH IS THE NOVELLA HELLRAISER WAS BASED ON #ALSO RING SHOUT BY P DJELI CLARK WHICH IS ABOUT BIRTH OF A NATION AND THE KKK BEING LITERAL DEMONS #ALSO THE BALLARD OF BLACK TOM BY VICTOR LAVALLE WHICH IS A BLACK RETELLING OF THE HORROR AT RED HOOK #ALSO THE RETURN BY RACHEL HARRISON WHICH IS A BOOK ABOUT FEMALE FRIENDSHIP BUT ALSO LIKE. COMING BACK WRONG #ALSO HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE BY GRADY HENDRIX WHICH WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH BUT ALSO WILL MAKE YOU HATE PUPPETS #ALSO THE GOOD HOUSE BY TANANARIVE DUE WHICH IS A HAUNTED HOUSE STORY ABOUT BREAKING CYCLES OF GENERATIONAL TRAUMA #ALSO NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS BY STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES WHICH IS A FUN AND SHORT NOVELLA ABOUT A HORROR BUFF TEEN VS. WELL. THE MANNEQUINS. #book recs

[six-of-ravens]

someday I'll write my rant about how I think a lot of purity culture in the 2010s onward is directly or indirectly influenced by the highly publicized Slenderman Stabbing, and a lot of people who claim to be sooooo literate and liberal and smart fell for the idiotic Fox News "internet story is making our children killers" angle.

(oops I did write it)

like, all this nonsense about how you can't show "bad stuff" because someone might decide "murder is right" or whatever is... exactly what they wanted you to think about that case. in reality though, it was an extremely rare case of 2 preteen girls with severe, untreated mental illness who were failed by every adult in their lives who was either not paying enough attention to notice something was wrong with them or who simply did not want to deal with them.

and censorship proponents clung to that like "look, this is killing our children!!" because it supported their cause, instead of anyone going "hey, we should work to reduce stigma and provide mental health resources for children and parents."

anyway TLDR don't fall into the trap of thinking "all media has to be made for people who are either not mature enough to tell right from wrong irl, or people who are not in full control of their thoughts" because that statement really got flung around tumblr a lot Back in the Day, but in reality it's not the media's fault at all. you are not actually fixing the problem by censoring media, you're just covering up the real issue which is neglectful parenting and a lack of resources and knowledge for both parents and kids about mental health issues.

#anyway read slenderman by kathleen hale its a REALLY REALLY GENUINELY GOOD deep dive into that case #i just remember seeing so many of those posts back in the day and being like #hey maybe people who cannot tell reality from fiction or lack a strong moral compass shouldn't be reading/watching/whatevering this? #at least not without a parent or therapist or someone to discuss it with? #it really seemed like just Making Up a Guy to Yell At for a while bc it's do unrealistic and then i read that book and was like OH #you think EVERY teen girl is like this. you missed the part where they were very sick ans had no help at all