Good Books for 16 Year Old Girl

Sorry, nothing lighter, but Story of A Girl was fantastic (bad reputation, family problems, trying to make better choices - mostly dealing with self esteem...)

When I hit 14 and 15 I began to read John Grisham books and have been hooked ever since! They're very mild as far as objectional content goes. Try also "A Long Fatal Love Chase", a lesser known novel by Louisa May Alcott; it might get her into reading the classics. It's edgy, creepy, yet clean. Jane Austen books are harder reads but GREAT story lines - try "Emma" as it is the basis for the movie "Clueless". "Pride and Prejudice" is also wonderful. Finally, I also read lots by the author Janette Oke at that age. They are historical fiction/romance stories. Good luck!

Has she read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," a classic? I loved reading it at her age and I recently re-read it for my book club. It can be a little heavy at times, but nothing inappropriate for her age and it contains very strong female characters that are good role models.

Hi C.,
I would recommend her getting an account on Shelfari.com. It’s similar to facebook but its subject is books, books, books!!! I love it, a friend turned me onto it this summer. You can invite friends to join and see their “book shelf”. Members can add books they have read, their favorites and books they plant to read. You can search a title and see what other readers reviews. You can write your own review and there are discussion boards about different books and authors. There are different groups to join, you can send messages to different people and you can all the people who liked are particular book if it was worth reading or not. I always look at what people are reading or plan to read when they have read the same books as me. I get a lot of ideas that way. I love Shelfari!
Is she is interested she can add me as her first friend.

____@____.com

I’m in my early 30’s and I do read some teen fiction and adult fiction that she might find interesting.

some titles that come to mind:
Before we were free , Julia Alvarez ( Teen Fiction)
Dairy Queen , Catherine Murdock (Teen Fiction)
Ellen Foster , Kaye Gibbons
Finding Miracles, Julia Alvarez ( Teen Fiction)
Firefly Cloak, Sheri Reynolds
Hard Love, Ellen Wittlinger (Teen Fiction)
Girls in trouble, Caroline Leavitt
Icy Sparks, Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Jubilee, Margaret Walker
One Mississippi, Mark Childress
Secrest life of bees, Sue Monk Kidd- A must read!!!!!
Stranger with my face, Lois Duncan (Teen Fiction)
The Book of bright ideas, Sandra Kring- A must read!!!
13 reasons why, Jay Asher (Teen Fiction)
Where the heart is, Billie Letts

I have two author suggestions for you -- John Green and E. Lockhart. Green's books have boys as the narrators, talking about girls they're sort of obsessed with. The boys are geeky, the girls are really strong and smart and cool and quirky. My favorite of his is "An Abundance of Katherines."

E. Lockhart wrote one of the best books of 2008 -- "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks." It's about a girl at an upper-class prep school, and how she messes with the boys in an exclusive all-boy club. What it's really about is power, especially as it relates to gender or class. She also wrote "The Fly on the Wall" about a girl who turns into a fly, trapped in the boys' locker room at her school, and from seeing EVERYTHING, learns a lot about boys. She also has a book called "The Boyfriend List" which I didn't like very much.

Good luck!

I used to read ALL THE TIME when I was that age. (My husband says I still read too much... LOL.)

Honestly, at 16, I had started reading romance novels. But, make sure they are appropriape for her if you help her find some. (There are some pretty bad ones that I got at a garage sale and THREW IN THE GARBAGE as soon as I realized what I bought!!!)

I suggest that you get her (or check out at the library) some Karen Kingsbury novels. There is a series called the Redemption Series. (It's spins off into 2 other series as well.) VERY GOOD. It starts with the book "REDEMPTION" (Then "Remember", "Return", "Rejoice", and "Reunion".) The spin-off series from there is the FIRSTBORN SERIES. And then there is one more that I just can't think of. But as you keep reading in the series, it tells you what the next ones are.

She is a Christian author and all of her books reinforce good morals and are so GREAT!!! I have a hard time putting them down. I usually read a book within 24 to 48 hours start to finish when I read hers. Her books are about PEOPLE and the stories are VERY REALISTIC>.... You become attatched to her characters because they are normal every day people. Events that are probably happening to someone you may even know.

Other Kingsbury books that I've read that are REALLY GOOD are: "Divine", "Even Now", "Gideon's Gift", "Maggie's Miracle", "Sarah's Song", and "Hannah's Hope". They have all been amazingly great!!!

What a tough one. My 13yr old daughter is always reading so I asked her what she thought. She tends to read books that are realistic fiction and probably mostly high school level. She too likes the books about eating disorders, drugs, suicide. I worried some but it sure has opened up a great line of communication. She suggested a few titles, a couple are on the heavy side. 13 reasons why(about suicide), crank(about drugs), Circle the soul softly(about a 16yr old girl whos mom gets remarried), Life as we knew it(about a meteor that hits the moon & the effect it has on earth), A fall to grace(about 2 boys who meet after there dads tragically die). If she comes up with more I will let you know.

I really enjoyed Katie Maxwell's "The Emily Series". The first one is "The year my life went down the loo". It's realastic fiction but it is hilarious. My daughters were looking for new books so I read these first to see what they were like before I suggested them and I was so pleasantly suprised. They dealt with drinking, depression, sex, but in honest, everyday ways. The author also does some supernatural books your daughter might be interested in because she liked the "Twilight" series. She also writes adult supernatural books under the name Katie MacAlister. Again, very funny. Good luck finding something for her!
B. M.

I'm a high school English teacher and working on my reading specialist license. Your daughter's not alone in her preferences, and I wouldn't worry about her "heavy" choices--so many girls her age gravitate to those topics (but don't we all) because of the emotion and drama wrapped up with them. She, like all of us, reads about things that she doesn't understand as a way of learning about them and how to process them. I'm sure you'd rather her reading about someone with an eating disorder than experimenting with one herself (but that's CERTAINLY NOT to say that she would--I'm just giving an example!). Use her books as a chance to read together and talk about what's in them, letting you get to know her thoughts as an adolescent and her yours as an adult.

Hi, C.! These are some books I have loved over the years, from high school, through college, and currently.

"Firebird" Kathy Tyers (there are sequels)
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" Zora Neale Hurston
"Mr. Darcy's Daughters" Elizabeth Aston (sequels too)
C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia
"Christy" Catherine Marshall*
"The Secret Life of Bees" Sue Monk Kidd*
"Plain Truth" Jodi Picoult
Books by Madeleine L'Engle, particularly "A Wrinkle in Time" and its sequels, "A Live Coal in the Sea," "Love Letters" (very hard to find, but REALLY good), her Crosswicks journals, "Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art"--L'Engle is a marvelous writer
Short stories by Edith Wharton
Jane Austen's books*
"Wives and Daughters" Elizabeth Gaskell*
"The Eyre Affair" Jasper Fforde
"My Name Is Asher Lev" Chaim Potok
"A Voice in the Wind" Francine Rivers
"Jane Eyre" Charlotte Bronte (my favorite book)*
"Bleak House" Charles Dickens*

These are some wonderful books, in my opinion. The books by which I've put an asterisk have some wonderful BBC film adaptations that would be fun to watch after she's read them, particularly "Wives and Daughters," "Bleak House," "Jane Eyre" (the most recent version, 2006 or 2007 I think), and the "Christy" series.

I hope she likes some of them. I think you might too!

Blessings,
I.

Hi....I used to teach 6th grade reading and language arts before I was a stay at home mom....I'm very picky about the books I call good, and I like Young Adult books because I hope to someday write one, here are a few of my suggestions....none that are Harry Potter fantasty types (I too LOVE HP) these are more realistic....

Letting Go Of Bobby James or How I found My Self of Steam

I really do recommend the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books...once you get into the first one, you bond with the characters and they grow up right away....this book has strong female characters that either make good decisions, or really reflect upone the decisions they make a good deal

Miss American Pie (real diary of a girl who is a "good girl" but comments on enough of the things going on around her to not be too goodie goodie and borning

Say Yes....the character is a young girl....like 6th grade...but I found it interesting and super quick to read....

Like Sisters on the Homefront: a young African American girl has a baby and a snotty attitude, her mom sends her to live with her Christian uncle and his family....the girl leans a lot about her roots and family pride and wanting to rise up to be your best

Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry....again, a young character, but some powerful themes of racism and reality....a book that changed my life

those are the ones off the top of my head, if I think of more...and there is more...I'll respond again....

I am very open with the books I recommend....some of these books have strong subject matter, but especially if you read them too, or even recommend them, your daughter might feel open to talking about them to you....

Oh....one more biggie....especially if your daughter is interested in eating disorders....have you heard of the book:

Body Drama

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Body-Drama/Nancy-Amanda-...

this was written by a former miss america....she took real life girls and photographed their actual bodies...there are chapters on chest, behinds, stomaches, hair, skin....even though i thought it was not spectacular....i think it is a great resource for a young woman to see real life bodies...i especially LOVED the part of the book that shows you how bodies are altered in fashion magazines.....I had eating disorders in highschool and college, and I have a daughter myself (she's only two), so this is a book that I feel could help promote healthier self esteem....

Good luck mamma....and I commend you on being so supportive of your daughter's reading....at the age your daughter is....now more than ever providing great female characters is important in a young woman's life!

Hi there- I just wanted to second the suggestion for Madeleine L'Engle books.. Anything by her is great- its science fiction, but really based in the science aspect in an accessable way. The characters are great and her writing style is one of my favorites.

I also wanted to add my two cents against the Angela's Ashes book. I really didnt like that one. It is hard to read with the writing style sounding more like a run on sentences of exactly what the author dictated to someone else... And the parents dont die in the book leaving the child to raise his siblings, some of his siblings- small children and babies- die of starvation because of poverty. And the mother basically has depression and lays around all day while the main character is left to beg for food and the like.. Anyway... As I said- just my two cents...
:)

http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/Browse.tpl?category=CTEN

i dont know if those would be anything you are interested in or not. but they are pretty great.

http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/Detail.tpl?sku=1873796633

that is to a book called "young woman" which is about growing up a young woman.... we bought that for our neice, and she LOVES it. :P

i dont know if these are the types of books you are interested in looking for.

another series that i LOVED when i was a teenager is the sweet valley high and sweet valley university books. they were SO MUCH FUN and reminded me of things i was going through or would in college LOL.
anyway, you can find those for free in the library im sure.
any library would help you also - there would be teen sections??
good luck!

HI
When I was that age I started getting into mystories. Nancy Drew was the best along with Sherlock Homes. I had a friend that was in to V.C. Andrews. Her books are more dysfunctional family types.

I hope that this helps
M.

Hi C.,

I've always been big into reading myself and when I was a teen I loved the stories with female heroines. A few authors I can think of who do great "teen appropriate" books are Mercedes Lackey and Robin McKinley.

Mercedes Lackey's books are mostly fantasy fiction, but very fun, fast reads. She has a whole bunch of trilogy's with mostly female main characters. Robin McKinley's books tend to be a bit deeper, which maybe your daughter would like more. I would HIGHLY recommend the book "The Blue Sword" by Robin Mckinley. It is the favorite book of myself, my mother, and both my sisters. Fantastic story!

She might also try a good historical fiction author, Judith Tarr, who writes some great novels also from a woman's perspective. Another author I would highly recommend is Orson Scott Card. His novels lean towards science-fiction, but most are very modern and challenge the mind and perceptions of the world. His most well-known novel, "Enders Game" is becoming required reading in many high schools.

Good luck and keep her reading

S.

Short list of My recommendations:
Mercedes Lackey
Robin Mckinley
Judith Tarr
Orson Scott Card

I would suggest A Lantern In Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich. It is a wonderful story of a woman in pioneer Nebraska from young adult to death. There is a sequel as well called White Bird Flying. Also, Dick Francis writes wonderful mysteries. He is an ex-jockey, and all his books have some reference to horse racing. I hope that these ideas help. Liz

A series that's sad, but very good for all age groups is A Child Called It, when I was a teenager I liked Sweet Valley High, Sabrina the Teenage Witch books, Gone with The Wind, V.C. Andrews books, and Piers Anthony books.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett a.k.a. Sara Crewe is a delightful story. I read it when I was younger and remember it/enjoyed it so much that I read it to my older daughter who was 4 at the time. A bit over her head when it came to some of the words, but she loved listening to the story and imagining what Sara looked like, her surroundings, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Princess

What about historic fiction? When I was around her age I started reading books by these authors: Brock and Bodie Thoene. I believe that Bodie was one of the writers of the Fall Guy. I read the Shiloh series, Zion Covenant and Zion Legacy. They are very awesome fictional stories woven into the facts of WWI and WWII. Clean, page turners, and great stories of courage, survival and overcoming adversity. I just looked at their website and they have written several new books, and I will probably check some of their new ones out myself.

You can get them at most libraries, Christian bookstores, and online. BTW I have loaned my copies out to several friends both Christian and non Christian, who loved them, and couldn't put them down. http://www.thoenebooks.com/index.asp

Since she likes realistic fiction, she should check out any of Jodi Picoult's books. They deal with contemporary issues, and the 3 that I've read all have a teenaged woman at the center of the story ("Plain Truth", "The Pact", "My Sister's Keeper"). I don't know how much you censor her reading at this point, but all of Jodi's books tend to have 1 or 2 very brief (like a paragraph) sex scenes. They are not graphic or gratuituous--if I had a teenager, I wouldn't hesitate to have him or her read Jodi's books.

"Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen are good fun, and she would get a glimpse at how someone her age might have lived 200 years ago. Pick up the Cliff Notes if she decides to reads these, as she'll probably need help putting both novels into context.

I also read those types of books around age 16, and as they helped me work through a lot of my own issues, I would suggest that you not discourage her from reading them.

A non-fiction book that she might be interested in is Geneen Roth's Breaking Free From Emotional Eating. After reading all the fiction books about eating disorders that I could get my hands on, this is the one that actually helped me start resolving my issues. But I had to read the fiction first to deal with the emotional aspects.

I know this is not what you asked for. Since I know the other gals out there will give you great ideas for "lighter" books, I wanted to give you my different perspective. I do think that reading the heavier fiction was more helpful than harmful to me when I was your daughter's age. I definitely hope that you are not dealing with an eating disorder problem with your girl. Either way, I suggest you read Geneen's book first and then leave it laying out for your daughter to find.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Free-Emotional-Eating-Gene...

I'm not sure if you've heard of the Twilight series? There are four books to the series, so it should keep her busy. It is aimed for older kids. I've heard (from my neice) that her teacher reading is them to the class and she is 11. I've read them (all of them in about a month they were so good, and that is hard to do whith a young baby, lost some sleep mostly and I don't ussually get that bad about books),it is a fictional story about a "family" of vampires that are vegetarians (they only hunt animals for food and when that is explained in the book it isn't gross), a story about love agains all odds, there is a lot more to it but these are the main ones. It is a very clean books I think there is very little if any swearing. In fact were are driving down to florida and I'm trying to get the books on tape to listen to it.

Good luck with your search!

Anything by Jane Austen.

Maya Anjelou's autobiographies ("I know why the caged bird sings,"...)

Anything by Toni Morrison if she's a strong reader

Zazoo

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

She might like the Dear America series. Some are geared a bit more for the early teen but others deal with a bit older teens. They are historical fiction. I enjoy reading them myself. I might suggest some of the later history ones, she might relate to them more.
S.
homeschool mom and home business owner.

There are a couple of books that I have read in the past that may interest your daughter. The first that I really enjoyed was "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt. It's about a young man coming of age in the early 1900s in Ireland. His parents die and he is left to raise his younger sibling while a child himself. He talks about dealing with poverty, keeping his family together, dealing with sexuality, and coming to America. It's a great book!

The second book I would recommend is "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink. This is what the movie currently in theaters is based on. It's about a woman in Germany during WWII who has an affair with a teenage boy. She's later prosecuted for her crimes as an SS officer in the Nazi regime. There are some sex scenes but they're not graphic. It's more about getting to know the character as a woman and then as an SS officer. You even feel for the woman despite her crimes as an officer.

The last book I would recommend is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. It's about an orphaned girl who lives with her cruel Aunt. She later goes to boarding school, which is no reprieve from her mean family. Eventually, she makes her way into the world working as a governess. Through her journey, she finds love, family, and happiness. It takes a little while to get used to the way the writer speaks, since it's an old book. But once you get into it, you can't put it down.

I hope this helps :) Happy reading!!

A good book is Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The book is about a girl who is murdered, the girl is telling her story about friends and her family from her heaven. It is a great book, My high school teacher had referred this book to many of the girls in her class.

I think the authors Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve would be something she might like.