Classics for Teens
Because the reviews on What's In It? focus primarily on contemporary young adult and older middle grade books, older "modern classics" that might appeal to teens will not receive reviews. To give them a well-deserved spotlight and you more choices, this page is dedicated to the classics. This includes time-honored books written for children, young adults, and adults that teens might enjoy but not easily discover. I have not included any books that I know contain very mature material, such as Catcher in the Rye; however, I haven't read all of these books, either, and thus cannot guarantee their content.
If you have more suggestions for this list, please fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page and pass them along! More will be added as new ideas come to me. And check out Schmoop for a goldmine of information about the classics--just for teens! http://www.shmoop.com/literature/
Adventure (realistic)
Hatchet -- Gary Paulsen
Island of the Blue Dolphin -- Scott O'Dell
Julie of the Wolves -- Jean Craighead George
Treasure Island -- Robert Louis Stevenson
Fantasy:
Chronicles of Narnia -- C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit -- J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings -- J.R.R. Tolkien
The Once and Future King -- T.H. White
Redwall -- Brian Jacques
Earthsea series (book 1, The Wizard of Earthsea) -- Ursula K. Le Guin
The Neverending Story -- Michael Ende
Humor and Satire
Anything by P.G. Wodehouse
Cheaper by the Dozen -- Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (and sequels)
Mystery:
any Sherlock Holmes
any Agatha Christie (i.e., And Then There were None, Murder on the Orient Express)
short stories by Edgar Allen Poe
The Moonstone -- Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White -- Wilkie Collins
The Westing Game -- Ellen Raskin
Realistic Drama (C=contemporary / H=historical)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Mark Twain (H)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain (H)
The Black Stallion series -- Walter Farley (C)
Farmer Boy -- Laura Ingalls Wilder (H)
The Endless Steppe: A Girl in Exile -- Esther Hautzig (H)
Homecoming -- Cynthia Voigt (C)
I Am the Cheese -- Robert Cormier (C)
Lisa, Bright and Dark -- John Neufeld (C)
Lord of the Flies –- William Golding (C)
Out of the Dust -- Karen Hesse (H)
The Pigman -- Paul Zindel (C)
Summer of My German Soldier -- Bette Greene (H)
To Kill a Mockingbird -- Harper Lee (H)
Understood Betsy -- Dorothy Canfield Fisher (H)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond -- Elizabeth George Speare (H)
The Saturdays -- Elizabeth Enright (C) Note: This is a middle-grade novel, but it has four protagonists, one of whom is 12 and another of whom is 13)
Romance and Coming-of-age:
An Old-Fashioned Girl -- Louisa May Alcott
Anne of Green Gables series -- L.M. Montgomery
A Separate Peace –- John KnowlesThe Chosen -- Chaim Potok
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- Betty Smith
Betsy Tacy series –- Maud Hart Lovelace (all books in second half of series, starting with Heaven to Betsy)
Brideshead Revisited –- Evelyn Waugh
Christy -- Catherine Marshall
Emma -- Jane Austen
Fifteen -– Beverly Cleary
Jacob Have I Loved -- Katherine Paterson
Jane Eyre -- Charlotte Bronte
Julie -- Catherine Marshall
The Little House on the Prairie series, including the following books:
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Seventeenth Summer -- Maureen Daly
Sister of the Bride -- Beverly Cleary
Science Fiction:
Brave New World –- Aldous Huxley
Frankenstein –- Mary Shelley
The Invisible Man -- H.G. Wells
Journey to the Center of the Earth –- Jules Verne
Mysterious Island --Jules Verne
1984 –- George Orwell
Science Fiction Trilogy –- C.S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength)
The Time Machine -- H.G. Wells
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Jules Verne
War of the Worlds –- H.G. Wells
A Wrinkle in Time series -- Madeleine L'Engle
Social Commentary:
Animal Farm – George Orwell
If you have more suggestions for this list, please fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page and pass them along! More will be added as new ideas come to me. And check out Schmoop for a goldmine of information about the classics--just for teens! http://www.shmoop.com/literature/
Adventure (realistic)
Hatchet -- Gary Paulsen
Island of the Blue Dolphin -- Scott O'Dell
Julie of the Wolves -- Jean Craighead George
Treasure Island -- Robert Louis Stevenson
Fantasy:
Chronicles of Narnia -- C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit -- J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings -- J.R.R. Tolkien
The Once and Future King -- T.H. White
Redwall -- Brian Jacques
Earthsea series (book 1, The Wizard of Earthsea) -- Ursula K. Le Guin
The Neverending Story -- Michael Ende
Humor and Satire
Anything by P.G. Wodehouse
Cheaper by the Dozen -- Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (and sequels)
Mystery:
any Sherlock Holmes
any Agatha Christie (i.e., And Then There were None, Murder on the Orient Express)
short stories by Edgar Allen Poe
The Moonstone -- Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White -- Wilkie Collins
The Westing Game -- Ellen Raskin
Realistic Drama (C=contemporary / H=historical)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Mark Twain (H)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain (H)
The Black Stallion series -- Walter Farley (C)
Farmer Boy -- Laura Ingalls Wilder (H)
The Endless Steppe: A Girl in Exile -- Esther Hautzig (H)
Homecoming -- Cynthia Voigt (C)
I Am the Cheese -- Robert Cormier (C)
Lisa, Bright and Dark -- John Neufeld (C)
Lord of the Flies –- William Golding (C)
Out of the Dust -- Karen Hesse (H)
The Pigman -- Paul Zindel (C)
Summer of My German Soldier -- Bette Greene (H)
To Kill a Mockingbird -- Harper Lee (H)
Understood Betsy -- Dorothy Canfield Fisher (H)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond -- Elizabeth George Speare (H)
The Saturdays -- Elizabeth Enright (C) Note: This is a middle-grade novel, but it has four protagonists, one of whom is 12 and another of whom is 13)
Romance and Coming-of-age:
An Old-Fashioned Girl -- Louisa May Alcott
Anne of Green Gables series -- L.M. Montgomery
A Separate Peace –- John KnowlesThe Chosen -- Chaim Potok
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- Betty Smith
Betsy Tacy series –- Maud Hart Lovelace (all books in second half of series, starting with Heaven to Betsy)
Brideshead Revisited –- Evelyn Waugh
Christy -- Catherine Marshall
Emma -- Jane Austen
Fifteen -– Beverly Cleary
Jacob Have I Loved -- Katherine Paterson
Jane Eyre -- Charlotte Bronte
Julie -- Catherine Marshall
The Little House on the Prairie series, including the following books:
- On the Shores of Silver Lake
- The Long Winter
- Little Town on the Prairie
- These Happy Golden Years
- The First Four Years
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Seventeenth Summer -- Maureen Daly
Sister of the Bride -- Beverly Cleary
Science Fiction:
Brave New World –- Aldous Huxley
Frankenstein –- Mary Shelley
The Invisible Man -- H.G. Wells
Journey to the Center of the Earth –- Jules Verne
Mysterious Island --Jules Verne
1984 –- George Orwell
Science Fiction Trilogy –- C.S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength)
The Time Machine -- H.G. Wells
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Jules Verne
War of the Worlds –- H.G. Wells
A Wrinkle in Time series -- Madeleine L'Engle
Social Commentary:
Animal Farm – George Orwell