sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

August 9, 2012


npr’s top 100 teen books
posted by soe 2:17 am

As I mentioned last week, NPR recently polled its audience for their favorite YA books. This week they released their final list. As always when the public is allowed to vote on a list like this, publication proximity tends to bump up a bunch of books that will fade down or off the list in a few years’ time.

I have bolded those novels I’ve read (I’m bolding series, even if I’ve only finished one book of it):

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling

2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins

3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

7. The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien

8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green

10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak


11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry

12. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams

13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery

15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman

16. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

17. The Princess Bride, by William Golding

18. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

19. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth

20. Paper Towns, by John Green

21. The Mortal Instruments (series), by Cassandra Clare

22. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

23. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

24. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

25. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

26. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

27. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer

28. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfeld

29. The Infernal Devices (series), by Cassandra Clare

30. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt [this will soon change to read, as I have it out of the library at the moment]

31. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series), by Anne Brashares

33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green, David Levithan

35. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous

36. Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

37. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

38. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

39. Vampire Academy (series), by Richelle Mead

40. Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom Trilogy (series), by Garth Nix

41. Dune, by Frank Herbert

42. Discworld / Tiffany Aching (series, by Terry Pratchett)

43. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

44. The Dark is Rising (series), by Susan Cooper

45. Graceling (series), Kristin Cashore

46. Forever…, by Judy Blume

47. Earthsea (series), by Ursula K. Le Guin

48. Inheritance Cycle (series), by Christopher Paolini

49. The Princess Diaries (series), by Meg Cabot

50. The Song of the Lioness (series), by Tamora Pierce

51. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

52. Delirium (series), by Lauren Oliver

53. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins

54. Hush, Hush Saga (series), by Stephanie Perkins

55. 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson

56. It’s Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini

57. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (series), by Libba Bray

58. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

59. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

60. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

61. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

62. Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen

63. A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L’Engle

64. The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen

65. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (series), by Jonathan Stroud

66. Bloodlines (series), by Richelle Mead

67. Fallen (series), by Lauren Kate

68. House of Night (series), by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

69. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

70. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlsit, by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

71. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver

72. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

73. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle [I may have read this growing up, but I can’t recall]

74. The Maze Runner Trilogy (series), by James Dashner

75. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

76. The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley

77. Crank (series), by Ellen Hopkins

78. Matched (series), by Allie Condie

79. Gallagher Girls (series), by Ally Carter

80. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

81. Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters (series), by Tamora Pierce

82. I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak

83. The Immortals (series), by Tamora Pierce

84. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series), by Patricia C. Wrede [I happen to have the first of this series out from the library at the moment]

85. Chaos Walking (series), by Patrick Ness

86. Circle of Magic (series), by Tamora Pierce

87. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor

88. Feed, by M.T. Anderson

89. Weetzie Bat (series), by Francesca Lia Block

90. Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen

91. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series), by Louise Rennison

92. Leviathan (series), by Scott Westerfeld

93. The House of the Scorpion, by Scott Westerfeld

94. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (series), by Diana Wynne Jones

95. The Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen

96. Gone (series), by Michael Grant

97. The Shiver Trilogy (series), by Maggie Stiefvater

98. The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley

99. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

100. Betsy-Tacy Books (series), by Maud Hart Lovelace

I’ve read 43 of 100 and have two more out of the library.

How about you? How many have you read? And, more importantly, any of those you’ve read you’d recommend I start with?

Category: books. There is/are 4 Comments.



A Wrinkle in Time didn’t make it?? (confess I haven’t read A Ring of Endless Light)

Comment by MJ 08.09.12 @ 5:39 am

I’ll have to post the list on my LJ too!

You should def. read the other John Green books on there – he’s just fantastic.

Comment by jenn 08.09.12 @ 6:21 am

I’ve read 44. Lots of great reads on there. I second the John Green rec – everything is good.

I would say the other Zusak, I Am the Messenger and Weetzie Bat as the ones you haven’t read that I liked the most. Actually loved both of them.

Comment by raidergirl3 08.09.12 @ 9:36 am

@MJ: I think they classified A Wrinkle in Time as a kids’ book, rather than a teen book. A Ring of Endless Light definitely had a more grown-up feel to it. But I agree with you.

@jenn: The other John Green books are on my to-read list, but I want to space them out a bit. Although, honestly, I feel like his latest book ranked higher on the list than it deserved.

@raidergirl3: I Am the Messenger is definitely on my list. At first I really thought I’d read Weetzie Bat, but after looking at its description, I think I had it confused with some other book. Thanks for the recs!

Comment by soe 08.10.12 @ 12:53 am