Children’s books for the early teen years, not yet young adults, but no longer little ones
Published 1975 Theme: Chinese Immigrant experience Best for: 12 and over "All of a sudden I saw that if life seems awfully petty most of the time, every now and then there is something noble and beautiful and almost pure that lifts us suddenly out of the pettiness and lets us share in it a little." This beautifully written and sensitive book covers the experience of the Chinese immigrants in the 1900s in San Francisco.
Published: 1983 Theme: Knights, Women's Equality Best for: girls age 12 and up "Maude said I should use my Gift of healing. She said I had the power to heal more than most people. She said if I didn't heal, I wouldn't make up for the killing I did as a knight." In this series of four books, Tamora Pierce weaves an odd world of knights, magic, and the feminine in a way I haven't encountered before...
Published: 2003 Theme: Self-Reflection, Service to Others Best for: 12 and older “The secret is not to dream,” she whispered. “The secret is to wake up. Waking up is harder. I have woken up and I am real. This powerful fantasy book by Terry Pratchett has so much depth to it that one realizes it needs several reads...
Published 1979 Theme: Being Different Best for: 11 and up "Belladonna had always been a white witch...Flowers sprung up where she walked, ... and from the age of 6, there had always been someone nesting in Belladonna's golden hair." This is probably the most unlikely children's book I would have ever expected to find myself recommending. Especially after writing a blog post saying...
Published: 1972 Theme: Light over Dark Best for: 11 to 12 year olds The second in a series of five books, The Dark is Rising is an exciting, somewhat complex fantasy about the battle of the dark vs. the light with references to Arthurian legend, as well as Celtic and Norse mythology. Compelling writing...
Published 1994 Theme: Loss and Healing Best for: 12 and older "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." If young readers came away from this profoundly moving children's book with only the above as their understanding, that alone could change the world. Imagine how our culture would develop...
Published; 1995 Theme: Women's Historical Fiction Best for: Girls, age 12 and up A wonderful book to use as class reading for bringing history, especially women's history, alive. Set in fourteenth century England, the story of an impoverished orphan and her role in the society of the day is compelling...
Published: 1973 Theme: The Value of Time Best for: ages 10 to adult "There's a place like the one you visited in every living soul, but only those who let me take them there can see it, nor can it be seen with ordinary eyes." If there was only one children's book I could put on the list of must-read, yet hardly known, children's books, it would have to be Momo. I fell in love with the book, despite the fact that when I first went to read it...
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