Belmont Public Library’s

Holiday Gift List of Great Books for Teens 2007

Non-Fiction

Iggulden, Conn and Hal. The Dangerous Book for Boys. (Collins, $24.95). This book recaptures Sunday afternoons, stimulates curiosity, and makes for great father-son activities. Brothers Conn and Hal have put together a collection of all things that make being young, or young at heart, fun—building go-carts and electromagnets, identifying insects and spiders, and flying the world's best paper airplanes.

Proctor, Pam. The College Hook: Packaging Yourself to Win the College Admissions Game. (Center Street, $21.99). The book is an informative AND interesting guide to “marketing” yourself for the college of your choice. From writing an interesting, professional resume to acing your admissions interview, everything about the application process is covered.

Senning, Cindy Post. Teen Manners: From Malls to Meals to Messaging and Beyond. (HarperTeen, $15.99). This book updates the rules of behavior for teens in today’s society. From cell phone etiquette to how to dress for job interviews, this book gives common sense answers to questions teens didn’t know they had.

Werker, Kim Piper. Get Hooked Again: Simple Steps to Crochet More Cool Stuff. (Watson-Guptill, $11.95). The only thing cozier than snuggling under a warm afghan in the winter is to be crocheting it as you go along! Learn to make these fun and stylish projects with these easy step-by-step instructions.

Fiction

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Twisted. (Viking, $16.99). After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.

Archer, Lily. The Poison Apples. (Feiwel & Friends, $16.95). Alice, Reena, and Molly meet at an elite boarding school in rural Massachusetts. It takes them a while to realize that they've all landed there primarily because of their wicked stepmothers, but once discovered, this fact binds them in friendship and their shared desire to exact revenge on the new women in their lives during Thanksgiving break.

Bloor, Edward. Taken. (Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99). In 2036 kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when thirteen-year-old Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems. From the author of Tangerine.

Brande, Robin. Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature. (Alfred A. Knopf, $15.99). Following her conscience leads high school freshman Mena to clash with her parents and former friends from their conservative Christian church, but might result in better things when she stands up for a teacher who refuses to include “Intelligent Design” in lessons on evolution.

Cabot, Meg. Jinx. (HarperTeen, $16.99). Sixteen-year-old Jean “Jinx” Honeychurch, the descendant of a witch, must leave Iowa to live with relatives in Manhattan after the first spell she casts goes awry, but she will have to improve her skills to stop her cousin from practicing black magic that endangers them and the boy they both like.

Cohn, Rachel and Levithan, David. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List. (Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99). Although they have been friends and neighbors all their lives, straight Naomi and gay Ely find their relationship severely strained during their freshman year at New YorkUniversity. (For older teens).

Crutcher, Chris. Deadline. (Greenwillow Books, $16.99). Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as “Hey-Soos.”

Ellis, Ann Dee. This Is What I Did. (Little, Brown, $16.99). Bullied because of an incident in his past, eighth-grader Logan is unhappy at his new school and has difficulty relating to others until he meets a quirky girl and a counselor who believe in him.

Flinn, Alex. Beastly. (HarperTeen, $16.99). A modern retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” from the point of view of the Beast, a vain Manhattan private school student who is turned into a monster and must find true love before he can return to his human form.

Kuipers, Alice. Life on the Refrigerator Door. (HarperColins, $15.95). Kuipers’s haunting debut unfolds like a flip book of half-drawn images too swiftly ended, a compilation of tantalizing notes posted on a refrigerator by a single working mom and Claire-bear, her wistful teen daughter. Bittersweet, funny and achingly real, the nameless mother (an overworked obstetrician) and bubbly Claire communicate through these notes instead of talking, e-mailing or text messaging.

Levitin Sonia. Strange Relations. (Alfred A. Knopf, $15.99). Fifteen-year-old Marne is excited to be able to spend her summer vacation in Hawaii, not realizing the change in her lifestyle it would bring staying with her aunt, seven cousins, and uncle who is a Chasidic rabbi.Fifteen-year-old Marne is excited to be able to spend her summer vacation in Hawaii, not realizing the change in her lifestyle it would bring staying with her aunt, seven cousins, and uncle who is a Chasidic rabbi.

Lyga. Barry. Boy Toy. (Houghton Mifflin, $16.95). After five years of fighting his way past flickers of memory about the teacher who molested him and the incident that brought the crime to light, eighteen-year-old Josh gets help in coping with his molestor's release from prison when he finally tells his best friends the whole truth. (For older teens)

Meyer, Stephanie. Eclipse. (Little, Brown, $18.99). Book 3 of the “Twilight” series. Bella must choose between her friendship with Jacob and her relationship with Edward, both vampires, but when Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, the three of them need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city.

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. The Off Season. (Houghton Mifflin, $16.00). In this sequel to Dairy Queen, high school junior D.J. staggers under the weight of caring for her badly injured brother, her responsibilities on the dairy farm, a changing relationship with her friend Brian, and her own athletic aspirations.

Patterson, James. Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. (Little, Brown, $16.99). The time has come for Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel to face their ultimate enemy and, despite many obstacles, try to save the world from a sinister plan to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race.

Sharenow, Robert. My Mother the Cheerleader. (Laura Geringer Books, $16.99). Thirteen-year-old Louise uncovers secrets about her family and her neighborhood during the violent protests over school desegregation in 1960 New Orleans.

Sherman, Alexie. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  (Little, Brown, $16.99). Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. This year’s National Book Award winner.

Spinelli, Jerry. Love, Stargirl. (Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99). Still moping months after being dumped by her Arizona boyfriend Leo, fifteen-year-old Stargirl, a home-schooled free spirit, writes “the world's longest letter” to Leo, describing her new life in Pennsylvania. Sequel to the best-selling Stargirl.

Smith, Roland. Peak. (Harcourt, $17.00). A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.

Strasser, Todd. Boot Camp. (Simon & Schuster, $15.99). After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods to train students to obey their parents.After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods to train students to obey their parents.

Walsh, Marissa. A Field Guide to High School. (Delacorte Press, $15.99). Andie and her best friend Bess read through a manual Andie’s Yale-bound sister wrote for her, which is filled with tips and tricks for excelling at Plumstead Country Day high school where Andie is about to be a freshman.

Zevin, Gabrelle. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac. (Farrar Straus Giroux, $17.00). After a nasty fall, Naomi realizes that she has no memory of the last four years and finds herself reassessing every aspect of her life. Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."