Young teens rarely want their parents to pick out their books for them. That's okay, but it you find your child is reading less I suggest leaving a few of these tempting books for 13-year-olds around the house in conspicuous places.
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Table of contents
Contemporary Realism
Slider by Pete Hautman
When David accidentally charges $2000 to his mom's credit card, he concocts a plan to get the money by winning a pizza eating contest. In between prepping his stomach for the contest and taking care of his neuro-atypical brother, Mal, David must also figure out where he stands when his two best friends find themselves in a relationship. This book has lots of laughs but is also a meaningful read and many 13-year-olds will understand David's struggle with friends and family.
Refugee by Alan Gratz
This moving book tells three stories. Josef is a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany; Isabel and her family are attempting to escape Castro's Cuba in 1994; and in 2015 Mahmoud's family runs from war-torn Syria. The alternating narration draws parallels between all three journeys with an ending that brings the three stories together.
MORE: Books about Refugees for Middle Grade Readers
Mayday by Karen Harrington
Coming home from his uncle's burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Wayne and his single mother are in a terrible plane crash. Both survive, but Wayne sustains an injury that leaves him unable to speak for several months. During that time his former drill-sergeant grandfather moves into with them. Suddenly Wayne's world is turned upside down. His girlfriend only stays with him out of pity, his grandfather is ill but won't talk about it, and he is searching in vain for the American flag from his uncle's coffin that was lost during the crash. But Wayne meets a new friend who helps him through it all and he comes to understand his own rather sorry excuse for a father a bit better.
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Six diverse kids are put together in a room at school as a place where they can talk about the issues they are facing in their lives. Their burdens are as diverse as their backgrounds; incarceration, racial profiling, possible deportation are just a few of the subjects the middle schoolers need and want to talk about with each other. Woodson's prose is gorgeous, almost poetic and the reader will come to care for all of the teens as they tell their stories.
MORE: LGBTQ Novels for Middle Grade Readers
Redwood and Ponytail by K.A. Holt
Tam and Kate, two seemingly very different people strike up a friendship. Written in verse, Tam and Kate's alternating first person narratives describe their growing relationship in all its awkward shyness and joy. Punctuating the narrative are the observations of Alex, Alyx and Alexx, who act as a sort of Greek chorus. This is a great choice for kids who like unique literary forms.
Train I Ride by Paul Mosier
This is a short novel, but it addresses a hard subject for kids to talk about. 13-year-old Rydr is on a train from California to Chicago. She is being sent to live with an elderly uncle she has never met because her grandmother has recently passed away. Several years earlier, Rydr lost her mother to drug addiction. On the train, Rydr is being supervised by Dorothy, an Amtrak escort. Rydr's assertiveness helps her make several important and life-saving friendships on the train ride. Although the subject of the book is tough, it is still a positive story and a great book to put in the hands of your teenager who may not want a hefty tome to read.
MORE: Graphic Novels about Tough Topics
No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen
Felix Knutsson lives in Canada with his single mother, but when his grandmother dies and Felix's mother can't keep things together they start living out of their van. Felix, who is bi-racial, has a knack for facts and makes it on to a popular quiz show. In the end, Felix and his mother find the help they need from friends and a refugee couple who understand their plight. Despite the themes of poverty, mental illness and parental inadequacy, Felix's narration is actually quite funny and this was an enjoyable book to read.
Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta
DasGupta transfers the action of Austen's novel from the English Countryside to the cutthroat world of high school debate. Leela Bose from Longbourne High and Firoze Darcy of Netherfield Academy face off in more ways than one. With a diverse cast of characters and tons of lines pulled from the original Pride and Prejudice text, modern kids will relate to the teens who aren't afraid to speak up for themselves.
MORE: YA Adaptations of Jane Austen
Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Well, I'm really starting out this book list with some serious books! In Fighting Words 10-year-old Della and her older sister, Suki, have recently been placed with a foster mom. Their mother is in jail, and their mother's boyfriend has just been arrested. Della knows that something awful has happened to her sister and wants to protect her like Suki has always done for here. Della's story involves sexual abuse and suicide, but Bradley's storytelling is sensitive–even funny sometimes, and she creates characters that we can't help but fall in love with. Highly recommended!
MORE: Books for Fans of Judy Blume
Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Rain, still grieving over the loss of her friend, gets caught up in a controversy over a relative's Indian Camp. She begins taking photographs for a local paper and finds her voice again. Despite some of the serious nature of the book, it also contains humor and examples of positive family relationships.
MORE: Upper Middle Grade Books for 11-15 Year-Olds
Historical Fiction
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My older son read this book for school and loved it. He kept telling me how great it was and wanted to make sure I read it, too! Set in 1939 Germany (a real life dystopia!) it tells the tale of Liesel Meminger, who has lost her family comes to Munich to live with a foster family. The story is narrated by Death. A tale set during the horrors of war can't help but be dark, but this novel is a page turner that will have your kids up all night, like it did mine.
MORE: Historical Fiction Novels for Kids
Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus
If your 13-year-old enjoys historical fiction, give them any book by Margi Preus! In this tale, based on the real life experiences of a Norwegian teen, 14 year old Espen becomes a valuable member of the Norwegian resistance during the Nazi occupation. Over the course of a few years he must navigate the day to day life of a teen in Norway with the stress of figuring out who to trust, as well as the stirrings of first love. Very suspenseful!
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Through journal enteries, 17-year-old Cassandra tells her story of living in genteel poverty with her siblings, eccentric stepmother and father in a crumbling castle. Her father once published a brilliant novel but has been suffering from writer's block for years. A wealthy American and his brother move into the manor next door and while the family thinks it will be their salvation, things don't go as planned! There is also a fantastic film production of I Capture the Castle. Fun fact: Dodie Smith also wrote 101 Dalmations.
MORE: YA Books That Make Great Gifts
The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats
In the 12th century, Cecily and her English family have come to the Welsh frontier as part of England's plan to subdue the "primitive" Welsh. Gwinny is a Welsh girl who serves in Cecily's house and who bitterly resents the uppity English. The narrative alternates between both viewpoints, brilliantly preventing the reader from choosing one side over another. Both girls have outsized personalities and their narrative voices are very charismatic.
MORE: Historical Fiction with Strong Female Protagonists
Fantasy and Sci-Fi
Airman by Eoin Colfer
Airman is an engrossing tale sent in the late 19th century. Conor hopes to be an aviator, but when he discovers something that threatens the power of the evil Bonvilain, he is sent to toil in the diamond mines. Conor knows his only way to escape is to build an air machine. A thrilling tale full of intrigue, devious characters, high-flying adventure and technological marvels!
MORE: Thrilling Adventures Like Alex Rider
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
I loved this delightfully weird novel which is told in both textual chapters and illustrated chapters. Spurge is an elf historian who is sent on secret spy mission to the land of the goblins where he stays with the scholar, Werfel, who is determined to show him great hospitality. What Brangwain Spurge does not know is that he is being used by the Elfland spymaster who intends to assassinate the goblin leader. The spymaster's plans are revealed in letters to the king, interspersed among the chapters. As events unfold, Spurge and Werfel must collaborate to ensure their own survival and readers must contemplate the themes of political ideology, misunderstanding, government propaganda and blind allegiance. But not to worry, slapstick comedy and quirky humor are also high on the agenda.
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
In this dystopian novel, colonization ships carry select humans away from Earth to build a new life. During the journey, colonists are put in stasis and their minds reprogrammed by the "Collective." When she wakes, Petra Peña is the only one who remembers life on Earth. Petra is determined to escape the Collective and help others remember. A powerful story your kids won't be able to put down.
MORE: Dystopian Novels Like The Hunger Games
The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim
In medieval China, Li Jing has a hard life. Her poor family sells her off to a family who intends to marry her to their toddler-son and she goes off to live with her new in-laws who turn out to be cruel and treat her as a slave. When she refuses to submit to them, they sell her off to a house for courtesans but she escapes and goes on a journey to find refuge. Li Jing is a fiercely strong girl character who increasingly gains confidence in herself and takes control of her own destiny.
The Iliad and The Odyssey, adapted by Gareth Hinds
Find The Iliad: Bookshop | Amazon
Find The Odyssey: Bookshop | Amazon
One summer I gave these two graphic novel adaptations of the Homeric classics to my elder teen because I wasn't sure he was going to have a chance to read the originals in school, and I was certain he wouldn't read them on his own. Hinds is a master at adapting classics into graphic novel format and these are terrific. Both of these tales are full of illustrations of gory warfare (the kind that you'd have to imagine if you read the original epic poems) so they aren't for the faint of heart. In case you're wondering, his high school class did end up reading The Odyssey.
MORE: Graphic Novel Adaptations of Classic Literature
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (series) by Phillip Pullman
This is the prequel to Pullman's His Dark Materials series (The Golden Compass, etc.), but even if your child hasn't read that series, this one will stand on its own. Malcolm Polstead lives in Oxford and is suspicious of the new order around him. When the baby Lyra (the heroine of The Golden Compass) comes to live in the neighborhood priory, Malcolm's adventures really take off. MG/YA Ages 12 and up.
Evil Genius (series) by Catherine Jinks
A short novel, this is not, but if your young teen is not daunted by long books, it's worth the read. Computer prodigy Cadel is studying for his World Domination degree at the Axis Institute. While, there he discovers a series of deceptions and the possibility that the evil Dr. Darkkon is possibly his father. There are so many plot twists that your kids won't be able to put this one down.
MORE: Thrilling Spy Books Like Artemis Fowl
The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson
Marinka is coming up on her 13th birthday and although she know she is destined to become the next Yaga, she is resentful and wants the freedom to chose her own destiny. She doesn't like the solitary, nomadic life she lives with her grandmother, helping to usher the dead through The Gate into the afterlife. When she wanders too far away from her house one day, she learns a life-changing secret about her existence, but when her grandmother travels through The Gate to help a soul and doesn't return, Marinka must figure out how to both control and fill her own destiny. I adored this inventive new and uplifting interpretation of the Slavic Baba Yaga folktale which breaks the mold of Yaga as villain.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
I loved this book, even though I am not usually a fan of stories about horses. Every autumn the capaill uisc emerge from the sea. Riders battle to capture and train these fierce water horses in preparation for a race on the beach. Puck is about to be the first girl to enter the races with her mare, while Sean, a past winner of the race, hopes to win the right to keep his favorite water horse, Corr. An utterly captivating story.
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
My son and I really enjoyed McKinley's version of the medieval Robin Hood story, and I'm not surprised, given her popularity as a writer of modern adaptations of folk lore and fairy tales. I particularly appreciated McKinley's elevation of the role of women in the story. In fact, Maid Marian is the winner of the archery contest, not Robin! An excellent version of a classic tale.
MORE: Robin Hood Adaptations for Kids and Teens
Hollow by Shannon Watters and Branden Boyer-White, illustrated by Berenice Nelle
Isabel Crane has just moved to Sleepy Hollow. Yep, the Sleepy Hollow of Washington Irving fame. While the town is getting ready for the Halloween madness, Izzy befriends Vicky Van Tassel, a descendant of the famed character in the local legend. Together with fellow classmate, Croc Byun, they discover that the legend of Sleepy Hollow may actually be real. Now, along with all the angst (and a little romance) that accompanies being a teenager they must thwart a Headless Horseman and his evil plans.
MORE: Spooky Graphic Novels
Queenie Cheong says
Any books for grade 9? Thanks.
Aurora says
I'm 13 and I read some of these books! 🙂
Caroline says
Same!😊
Emma says
ME TOOOOOOOOO
Marija says
ME THREEEE
Justus says
ME FOUR!
hazel says
me five
ur dad says
me 6
bella_34 says
ME FIVE!! 😄
William says
indeed
Emma says
My name is Emma to and i have read some too!
Cheyenne Lewis(♪•ω•)♪ says
Hello Emma, What's your favorite book here. I've read "Outsiders"(one favorite) before now I'll read night diary.
Joe says
Ur mum
Ben Dover says
Wow your so coool
Joe says
Ur mumpooooo d ddh
DED GUY says
Meeeeee four
KAELYN says
I think that The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge (idk if I spelled that right) seems like a really good book and I will definitely be looking for it at the Library!!
Cheyenne Lewis says
Ill read one of these books for my birthday this month!!
Cheyenne Lewis says
Tell me which ones are good ones
Bella_34 says
The night diary is good..
You can look at the comment I posted and I will give you a bit more details on it... 😄😄
Bella_34 says
I like the night diary, I never really liked reading books.. but when I read that I honestly loved it!! It is so good 😊
I think that at one part it gets a bit sad but not much.. hope that you read it!!! 😄😄
Cheyenne Lewis says
Think you soo much, even though my birthday was Sunday, I should read it anyway😁😊!!
Cheyenne Lewis says
Well I read the book and it was good. Now all I need to do Is watch," Uncaged". Again, then find another book.
Christy says
My 13 year old is in SS2 what books can I get for her
Prasan says
This list is pretty good, loving the books! I haven't been able to find much books that interest me since Magnus Chase which I read in 2020. I've finally gotten back into reading with this recs-can't thank you enough!