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Hello folks.
What I want here are recommendations.
Well written young-adult fiction with solid prose running along the themes of 'importance of friendship' and 'coping with relationships/loss'.
Books along the lines of 'Bridge to Terebithia,' 'Where the Red Fern Grows', 'A Walk to Remember,' 'Old Yeller' etc.
I also won't mind relatively serious young-adult romance fiction recommendations.
Thanks a bunch in advance.
Hi EAP,
I am not sure which age group you are targeting but some of the books I enjoyed reading while growing up:
Pollyanna
Heidi
Daddy Long Legs
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Heart of a Boy
Jacqueline Wilson books are quite popular over here as well. I have read couple of them recently; they are alright for young teen girls.
Holes by Louis Sachar
Naughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman - an interesting book on racism.
Strombreaker by A. Horowitz - Adventures of a 14 years old MI6 Agent
Hmmm, all of the mentioned books I would also highly recommend, though I have not read all of them myself.
A few others that come to mind: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain; anything by Jules Verne; Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift; Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck; short stories by Washington Irving (like Rip Van Winkle ; The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
Probably depending on the age and interests of the young adult, these seem the only books I can think of at the moment. Good luck, EAP, and I will report back if I think of more. :)
http://www.sehinton.com/books/index.html
i also like S.E. Hinton. I loved "That was Then and This is Now" and the "Outsiders" and "Tex"
Heidi is perhaps my favorite book of all-times. (certainly in the top 3) Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer aren't too far behind either. Also enjoy every author you have mentioned Mono, with the exception of 'The Jungle Book.' (Which I read in translation and thus spoiled half the fun)
Thanks for the Hinton rec. I have her on my to-read list. :)
And thanks for recommending Rebecca and PollyAnna! Sound right up my alley.
I tried 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' sometime ago but couldn't get into it. Will try again when the whim strikes me, I am sure.
Edit: All age groups (with the exception of 1-5) are acceptable for me. Even if you feel a book might have adult elements, please recommend it.
Coming on the back of long forays into Science-fiction and Mainstream I just want something relatively light and relatively well-written to read. (Much better if it can evoke child-hood memories and the particular sense of wonder associated with them)
I read a "tree grows in Broklyn" when I weas thirteen or forteen and loved it!
Anyway I recomend
A ring of endless light by madeline d'engle
"The Last Unicorn"?
Suitable for every age group.
Also, I just remembered, The Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis - probably suitable for all ages, but, I think, more designed for young adults. :)
i remember a book called something like the witch of the blackbird pond and also johnny tremain. ah, then again, i seem to like everything no one likes, so don't trust my taste?
Perhaps others have not tasted the flavours that tickled your own palate, but dismissing one's own literary experience as inconsequential and not worth sharing is rather .........selfish.........quit holding out on us.........we do completely trust your taste................in literature........and opinion......... but we will reserve judgement on your choice of clothing until we see a photograph.......your not wearing a kilt are you??............Quote:
Originally Posted by underground
wow, thanks for the encouragement. no, i'm not wearing a kilt. i usually dress like this.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was originally written as a children's novel, though many adults read it as well.
Nice photo Underground...........do you ALWAYS wear the handcuffs??Quote:
Originally Posted by underground
LOL.
Thanks for the recs people but I have already read Hobbit, Last Unicorn and Narnia. :)
Perhaps something along the lines of a series of fantasy, the Dragonsmilk obsession or the Dragonsong series. Try At the End of Autumn Street or There's a Zoo in My Luggage.
Oh, I completely agree with simon. I only read one Dragonsong book, but I loved it! (I've never been able to find the others.)
There's also the Redwall series or the Harry Potter series. (I know, I'm still thinking fantasy.) I liked Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and The Grey King by Susan Cooper.
I've also heard that Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson is good, but I've never read it myself.
I love Susan Cooper! Great to see another fan. She is way too often overlooked when compiling names of great young-adult fantasy writers. Same goes for Redwall. Every man and his dog have read Harry Potter these days. :p
I am not a fan of Anne Mccaffrey at all.
Will check out Katherine Paterson.
Thanks for the many great recs so far, people. :) Please keep them coming.
Hi, I'm new here! :wave:
I hope you don't mind me interjecting. . .
I have a few suggestions, the Ann of Green Gables series was my all-time favorite series when I was growing up. I must have read each book 7 times! I also enjoyed Tuck Everlasting, which was made into a movie, of which I have not had the opportunity to watch. Of course there were the pioneer girl books, Caddie Woodlawn and the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, which were also enjoyable to read.
I hope that helps a little!
LL
“Well written young-adult fiction with solid prose running along the themes of 'importance of friendship' and 'coping with relationships/loss'.”
Peter Dickinson - he has written for readers of all ages. “Young adults," whatever they are, might enjoy any of his books, including his “children’s” fiction or his crime novels. To focus on your request, though, I would recommend "The Dancing Bear," "The Blue Hawk," "Tulku," "King & Joker," "Eva," "Skeleton-in-Waiting," "AK," "Shadow of a Hero," "The Ropemaker," and "Tears of a Salamander." Friendship, relationships and loss are themes, amongst others, in all these books.
Richard Adams, “Shardik” and “Watership Down”
Amanda Prantera, “Proto Zoe,” “Zoe Trope,” “Kindom of Fanes”
Joan Aiken, “Go Saddle the Sea,” “Bridle the Wind,” “The Teeth of the Gale”
Paul Zindel, “Pigman”
Alan Garner, “Owl Service,” “Red Shift”
Ursula Le Guin, “Tehanu,” “The Birthday of the World”
T. H. White, “The Once and Future King.” The first part of this trilogy is, perhaps, a children’s book, but the second and third parts are definitely not. Maybe this trilogy says everything that needs to be said about anything.
Ursula LeGuin is good for young adult sci-fi. I'd recommend The Dispossessed. I like Ray Bradbury's short stories as well (particularly the collections Golden Apples of The Sun & I Sing The Body Electric)
Thanks for the great recs, folks.
I have enjoyed a couple of books by Joan Aiken in my time. I have yet to come across anything like Anne of Green Gables in literature. Red Shift is a literary masterpiece. I liked all the Earthsea books a lot but my favorite was The Tombs of Atuan. I am a big fan of Richard Adams (Maia, Watership Down) and, to a lesser extent, Paul Zindel (The Pigman) as well.
The Brothers Lionheart
and
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter
by Astrid Lindgren
I'd recommend:
Jules Vern's books
Dumas books, especially Count of Monte Cristo
There is a series of great books by Polish writer Alfred Szklarski about Tomek
"Heart" by Edmondo de Amicis is great, though for a younger age
Yanush Korchak's books
dear all,
I'm trying to find a good, gripping novel to teach to my 14-year-old students. I'd like it to be funny (if possible), modern and appealing to adolescents. This year I tried Anita Desai's The Village by the Sea (which was not successful, unfortunately) and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (which was great!).
Can anyone give me a hand? Thanks a lot!
Ale
I think Curious Incident is a good choce.
Depending on the type of group you have, I might recommend Orwell's Animal Farm (not necessarily funny or too modern but usually does well in high schools I think).
Get something with sex in it.
:lol: True. That's probably the only way they'll read it! Teenagers today don't like to read. What you could do is ask them what they want to read and go with the majority, that way when they complain you can say they were the ones who chose it! :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by JBI
it's been a long time since I was 14 but I think somewhere around that age I was reading SE Hinton (The Outsiders, Rumble Fish)....maybe...I think....
A Tale of Two Cities. They ALWAYS like that one. :lol: Kidding.
I dunno...what's that new vampire one? Interview With a Vampire? There's another popular vampire one...not sure of the title, sorry.
Darn kids. YOU GET OFFA MY LAWN!!! *shakes fist*
Um, Interview with the Vampire is a bit....gay for most people. Do you mean Twilight!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lily Adams
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakiryu
Ha ha. I wouldn't know...
YES. Twilight.
I'm so out of it, sorry. This kid at my school said "steazy" and I had no clue what it meant, so that shows you what I know about kids these days...:p
What does steazy mean anyway? (Like Sleazy?) My math teacher was talking about hoochies and hoodrats and I was so out of it!
To anyone interested the 3rd book in the Twilight series is out! it's called Eclipse! I hope is better than New Moon!
Lessee...he said it's when you do something really cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakiryu
But according to UrbanDictionary.com, (love that site) it means, "it can pretty much meen almost any thing like shadey, cool, dank, wierd. this is a word that you could use almost everywhere. it can also be its own sentence using any of theese meenings"
Yeah...I think it's some kinda skater gibberish. :p Like, "That alley-oop 360 thingy (:lol:) that you did right now was so steazy!"
me being foreteen... you should take all advise from me. (i'm just teasing i'm a strange gal.) but anyway, "The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle" is a gripping one, i read it in the matter of days. It's taken place at sea, in 1832. or you might want to try the books "eragon" or "eldest". eragon is the first book, but "eldest" is the second and is somewhat better. all three are excelent. hope you find what you're looking for-argetlam
I saw EAP's thread and burst into laughter. Even thought I have read some of those books most people my age cringe at the thought of reading
"Heidi, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain; anything by Jules Verne; Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift; Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck"
Maybe you should pay them to read. And I'm being honest I'm 14 going on 15!
At the risk of sounding biased, my own novel, The Magic Lands, is rather good :)
Over here they recently put Artemis fowl on the english curriculum for 14 year olds. Its every funny and clever. The boys in the class will love the technology in the books andthe girls will love Holly short.
I think all the books I have in my mind have been mentioned before, but it doesn't hurt seconding them sometimes! :p
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (it's certainly a very good choice)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Heidi (lovely novel though the translation I read was not very good but still it looked very nice)
I can't remember that far back, so I might have books more suitable for younger people mixed in with books more suitable for older people but *shrugs* I like all of these books:
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (one of the best books in the world)
Tuck Everlasting
Where the Red Fern Grows (everyone cried in our class, even the boys ;) )
Angels and Demons (I liked it much better than The DaVinci Code, and books don't get much more gripping than this one ;) )
I seem to remember that Martel's "Life of Pi" was funny, where it wasn't strange & gripping.
And how about "Strange Loop" by Amanda Prantera - maybe for older teenagers, perhaps - probably banned in American schools on grounds of sex & religion - OK, forget I suggested it.
"Henderson the Rain King" by Bellow - Exciting and funny