Good, clean and interesting authors for teens

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I have two teens and they are complaining that they cannot read what others are reading. Can anyone give me some interesting reads for teens. My one child is 14, but emotionally at a 4 year old level, and she is the one who gives me the most problems. Hoping to find a nice compromise for my young teens. Thanks!
 
http://payingattentiontothesky.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/hart-book-cover.jpg?w=158&h=200

I’ve been featuring some posts from this gorgeously illustrated history of Christianity here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/03/03/the-story-of-the-old-and-new-testaments/

and here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/03/02/the-gnostics/

The author is David Bentley Hart, an eastern Orthodox theologian, who often appears in the pages of First Things. I have been struck by the simple clear prose and the profundity of his comments. Great book to have in the house and a steal for $10 on Amazon.

dj
 
bjj said:
I have two teens and they are complaining that they cannot read what others are reading. Can anyone give me some interesting reads for teens. My one child is 14, but emotionally at a 4 year old level, and she is the one who gives me the most problems. Hoping to find a nice compromise for my young teens. Thanks!
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How old is your other teen, male, female? In what areas are they interested in? What would they get absorbed in? My daughters read a lot, so I could ask them about suggestions.
 
The Redwall books.

Narnia by CS Lewis

The Hobbit, LOTR, etc.

Chesterton’s Father Brown Mysteries

The world of classics - Anne of Green Gables (and the sequels) Black Beauty, Little Women, Little Men, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Red Badge of Courage, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, Dickens and Poe -

There is a world of classics out there. Stick with them!

For some modern, Catholic fiction - how about Michael O’Brien’s series? It is wonderful!
 
kage_ar said:
Where the Red Fern Grows, The Red Badge of Courage
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Kage_ar gave some good recommendations.

I really enjoyed ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’ as a young kid (read it in elementary school). Red badge of courage is a good read for a teenager and I liked that book. Farewell to Arms might be too challenging, but it is also good.

Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer are also good reads. Hardy Boys are a bit dated, but still very good stories and interesting.

To Kill a Mocking Bird is great.

If you are looking for good nonfiction - ‘Into Thin Air’ is very good and will apeal to anyone with interest in the outdoors. ‘We Were Soldiers Once and Young’ is a good book about Vietnam.
 
bjj said:
I have two teens and they are complaining that they cannot read what others are reading. Can anyone give me some interesting reads for teens. My one child is 14, but emotionally at a 4 year old level, and she is the one who gives me the most problems. Hoping to find a nice compromise for my young teens. Thanks!
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I would like to know, too, because even as an adult, I’m pretty much disgusted with what’s considered ‘literature’ these days.

I love Dean Koontz, but he is NOT for emotionally vulnerable teens. An older teen might find some excellent reading there, though.
 
flyingfish said:
Anything by Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.
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Can get a bit athiestic (Asimov in particular) and for an impressionable person, might be problematic.

Clifford D Simak was a Catholic, great author, I still love Cosmic Engineers 👍
 
Regina Doman has a fairytale series out that I enjoyed…she is Catholic. 🙂
 
Thanks, the girls have read most of the classics. Now we need to move on to others. I have 14 and a 12 yr. old. girls. I appreciate all the suggestions and will continue to look for more.
 
When I was that age I read a lot! These were some of my absolute favorite books:

Books by Karen Cushman (Like The Midwife’s Apprentice, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, and Catherine Called Birdy).
Books by Elizabeth George Speare (Like Calico Captive, The Bronze Bow, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.)
Books by Gail Carson Levine (Like Ella Enchanted and The Two Princesses of Bamarre).

Others that I adored were Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, The Door in The Wall, by Marguerite de Angeli, and Beorn the Proud, by Madeleine Polland.

I read all these books over and over again when I was in my early teens. They’re all totally worn out on my bookshelf! I know that once my own little sister gets old enough, I’m definitely going to have her read all these.
 
royalblue said:
When I was that age I read a lot! These were some of my absolute favorite books:

Books by Karen Cushman (Like The Midwife’s Apprentice, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, and Catherine Called Birdy).
Books by Elizabeth George Speare (Like Calico Captive, The Bronze Bow, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.)
Books by Gail Carson Levine (Like Ella Enchanted and The Two Princesses of Bamarre).

Others that I adored were Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, The Door in The Wall, by Marguerite de Angeli, and Beorn the Proud, by Madeleine Polland.

I read all these books over and over again when I was in my early teens. They’re all totally worn out on my bookshelf! I know that once my own little sister gets old enough, I’m definitely going to have her read all these.
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👍 Yes! These are good as well!

Ps. Have they read Jane Austen yet?..😉
 
bjj said:
I have two teens and they are complaining that they cannot read what others are reading. Can anyone give me some interesting reads for teens. My one child is 14, but emotionally at a 4 year old level, and she is the one who gives me the most problems. Hoping to find a nice compromise for my young teens. Thanks!
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You have some great suggestions already. I’m trying to think back at what I liked between 11 and 14.

“Tom Sawyer” and “Huckaberry Finn”.

All the of the L.M. Montgomery books like “Anne of Green Gables” series, “Emily of New Moon” series, “Pat of Silverbush” series, “Kilmeny of the Orchard”, etc.

The novels by the Bronte sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne,

“The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien,

Charles Dickens novels.

“The Red Badge of Courage”, “Little Women”, “Jo’s Boys”

“The Secret Garden” and “A Little Princess” (Although these might be better for a 9 to 11 year old. I think I read them around that age, but I still really liked them at 14 just because of the stories themselves)

“Where the Red Fern Grows” We read this in 6th grade, but it’s such a great book, I think a 14 year old would still enjoy it.
 
I second the Regina Doman books strongly. They are so good! The first one was my favorite when I was about 13 … the others I’ve enjoyed at older ages, though they were intended for teens.

Madeline L’Engle is excellent, if they haven’t read all of hers already.

Robin McKinley is very good … the only one that has anything objectionable is The Blue Sword. There is a premarital sexual relationship in it – I remember reading that part when I was 12 or so and being so disappointed in the author! So pre-read that one, but her others are quite appropriate, and also really interesting.
 
Madeline L’Engle is pretty much wonderful all around, except for A House Like a Lotus. Didn’t like that one.

I really liked Sherlock Holmes at that age, too.

Lewis’ Space Trilogy, if they’ve already read Narnia.
 
I’ll probably face some opposition, but: Harry Potter!

If they havent read them, the books are engrossing and interesting, and I do not see anything wrong with them morally - the ideal in them is treating others with respect, preventing harm etcetc. There are good guys who are good and bad guys who are bad. Oh, and Dumbledore’s sexuality is not mentioned in the books in any way, JK only seems to have decided on that afterwards…

And there is magic in them but there is magic in many of the other ‘good’ suggestions. Narnia isn’t exactly realistic! Just because Lewis was a strong Christian doesnt make the books themselves more Christian, both Narnia and the HP books have a strong theme of doing good and fighting evil, as well as some parallels with the Bible.
 
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