teen books

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Horsegirl15

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Hey I was wondering if anybody could recommend some good books suitable for Catholic teens.Oh and NOT the regular Lord of the Rings recomendations but more modern stuff
 
My niece is 16 and she raves on about Mary Higgins Clark and she’s been getting into John Grisham.
 
Karen1996 said:
My niece is 16 and she raves on about Mary Higgins Clark and she’s been getting into John Grisham.
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I’ve enjoyed reading her books. Her main characters are often Catholic and there is often a reference to that character attending Mass. She writes mysteries but the books don’t stand out as particularily graphic or obscene.

Kris
 
For non-fiction that teaches aspects of the faith, I would recommend books by Mary Beth Bonacci, Matthew Pinto, Jason Evert
 
CatQuilt said:
What about the Chronicles of Narnia? 🙂

I’ve heard very good things about this book…

The Shadow of the Bear
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Narnia is great, but those books were written for much younger children. I still read them, even as an adult, but If I’m looking for something challenging, I usually go for something else.

I recommend The Count of Monte Cristo. It isn’t terribly modern, but it’s very interesting, and also contains themes revolving around anger, sin, suffering, revenge, forgiveness, and redemption, which are good meat for any Catholic mind to chew on. It’s long, but it’s so riveting, I found the length to be an asset, rather than a drawback.
 
Authors: Robin McKinley, Gail Carsen Levine (!!!), Chaim Potok (my favorite as a teen) , Gary Paulsen (Brian series), Gerald Morris (King Arthur books. Frank Peretti’s Veritas series (very good),

Bethlehem books has some good teen selections

I also like the Artemus Fowl series, The Hollow Hill series.
Anne of Green Gables, Little Women.
 
I remember reading Clark as a kid, also Chronicles of Narnia, Nancy drew/Hardy boys is good but has no religious theme.
 
I dont really care if it has a religious theme as long as its not against the Faith;)
 
Does anybody know if the Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar is ok? I work at a library and I see those series taken out ALOT. Also the series by Cathy Hopkins is really popular. The titles are all like"Mates, dates, and …". I want to find some good teen books that arent so trashy. I picked up "The Princess Diaries"the other day, thinking it would be good like the movies but they take God’s name in vain WAY too much.
 
I really liked The Christy Miller Series by Robin Jones Gunn. It’s a Christian romance series for teen girls and I still read the last ones :). They do have a good amount of Protestant “talk” (Christy is “saved” in the beginning) but they are pretty broad and I think not against Catholic teaching, minus the being saved parts. Anyway, they encourage purity and chastity and these people live in today’s world and encounter many things (ie. drugs, drinking, parties, teen pregnancy). However, the good is shown as good and the bad is shown as bad, so you understand and aren’t tempted to do the bad things.
 
Thanks for the suggestion Lotusblossom. Luckily, we have those books at the library so Im going to take them out:D It sounds like the type of books that I am into.
 
Hi Horsegirl15!
I’m glad you started this thread, I too have been searching for some reading material. From your name I would assume we’re around the same age. I would suggest staying away from the Alice books by Phyllis Naylor. As a homeschooler I have no idea what public highschool is like but I’m sure most teenagers are not nearly as obsessed with um…er…sex as her characters, but that is a large factor in her books. I agree that the Gerald Morris books are great and so are the Redwall books by Brian Jacques (most libraries will have these). Shadow of the Bear and it’s sequel Black as Night are both excellent and I completely recommend them. Of course My taste in books could be considered a little strange considering I’ll read anything from Star Wars and Star Trek to Andrew Lang’s colored fairy tales and The Once and Future King. I wish you luck in your quest for literary indulgence and I humbly beg for suggestions in mine.
quaero:nerd:
 
lotusblossom said:
I really liked The Christy Miller Series by Robin Jones Gunn. It’s a Christian romance series for teen girls and I still read the last ones :). They do have a good amount of Protestant “talk” (Christy is “saved” in the beginning) but they are pretty broad and I think not against Catholic teaching, minus the being saved parts. Anyway, they encourage purity and chastity and these people live in today’s world and encounter many things (ie. drugs, drinking, parties, teen pregnancy). However, the good is shown as good and the bad is shown as bad, so you understand and aren’t tempted to do the bad things.
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I remember those. I liked them, too.

I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen’s and the Bronte sisters’s books. Those are clean, moral, and very entertaining reads. My personal favorites are “Pride and Prejudice” (Austen), “Wuthering Heights” (Emily Bronte) and “Villette” (Charlotte Bronte).

I’m also a big fan of L.M. Montgomery, who wrote the “Anne of Green Gables”, “Emily of New Moon”, and “Pat of Silver Bush” books. Anne, Emily, and Pat start out as children but grow up in the books and have full lives and romances. Also very clean and moral. This author has also written some good stand-alone stories, as well, such as “The Blue Castle” and “Jane of Lantern Hill”.

Ooh, I almost forgot Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”, which would have been a shame.

EDIT: Whoops, I missed the request for “modern” fiction. I tend to be stuck in the 1800-1920’s. Sorry about that! These are still good books. :o
 
Hey quaero, Im a homeschooler too and I LOVE Brian Jacques. His books are so awesome!
 
Horsegirl15 said:
Does anybody know if the Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar is ok? I work at a library and I see those series taken out ALOT. Also the series by Cathy Hopkins is really popular. The titles are all like"Mates, dates, and …". I want to find some good teen books that arent so trashy. I picked up "The Princess Diaries"the other day, thinking it would be good like the movies but they take God’s name in vain WAY too much.
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Try the BEANY MALONE series. The first one is MEET THE MALONES. They’re old, but very good, they’ve just been re-issued. The author is Lenora Mattingly Weber-also, she also wrote the Katie Rose series.
 
Has anyone here read A Great and Terrible Beauty? My Aunt sent it to me for christmas and I’m a little bit antsy about it.
 
quaero, I think my Catholic friend just finished reading that book. Ill ask her about it and get back to you.
 
Can’t speak for the young ladies but the series I will recommend, I read as a teenager 40 years ago and both of my sons “absorbed” them as teens (they are now 25 and 22 respectively):

C. S. Forrester’s Horatio Hornblower series. Rafael Sabatini (e.g. The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, The Black Swan - yes, all of those pirate stories and pirates are popular now). Alexandre Dumas - The Three Musketeers, Count of Monte Christo, etc.

Any science fiction by Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke. Anne McCaffery’s Dragon Riders of Pern series. Piers Anthony’s Xanth series - full of teen-aged humor. Robert Jordan’s never-ending Wheel of Time series. Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series. T.H. White’s Arthurian series.

W. E. B. Griffith’s series that follow both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marines from WWII to the present for older teens.

I saved every paperback I ever bought from the time I was 13 until today. I have an awful lot of paperbacks and I do have an actual library in my house. Oldest son is still borrowing books. Now, if I can just get him to file them back in alphabetical order. 😃
 
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