If you have a teen in your life who is starting to grow out of the young adult section and needs some ideas for adult books they might like, we have a list for you from Brightly. To read the full article on their website, click HERE.
Great Adult Books for Teens Ready to Move On from YA
by Liz Lesnick
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from parenting a teenager, it’s that they are predictably unpredictable. Just when I thought my daughter would never read anything except young adult novels, she informed me, “I am so over YA.” I wanted to make sure that she wasn’t over reading, so I set out to find some adult books that she would find as compelling as her YA favorites. With the help of a fabulous librarian, I compiled this list of fantastic adult reads for teens.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir
Before Ta-Nehisi Coates penned his bestseller Between the World and Me, he wrote this powerful memoir about growing up with an activist father. More than just a coming-of-age story, The Beautiful Struggle reveals the challenges of being an African American man in a country where it often seems like black lives don’t matter.
The Haunting of Hill House
If your teen was first in line to see “The Shape of Water” or can’t get enough of Stephen King, they’ll go crazy for Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Jackson was the master of creating horror through atmosphere and suggestion rather than through explicit descriptions or gore. True confession: I had to read this with the lights on when I knew I wasn’t alone in our house.
Ready Player One
If your teen is a gamer, a sci-fi/fantasy fanatic, or a self-proclaimed nerd, they’ll geek out over Ready Player One. Words can’t do justice to this laugh-out-loud quest novel whose twists and turns will keep readers glued to the page. Bonus for parents: You get to explain all of the ’80s references from Billy Idol to Atari to “Family Ties”!
My Brilliant Career
If Jo March was your daughter’s favorite character in Little Women, she must read My Brilliant Career. Franklin’s heroine, Sybylla Melvyn, is sort of an Australian Jo, a young woman who wants nothing more than to be a writer, but who is thwarted by both her modest background and the conventions of early 1900s Australia. (I also highly recommend watching the 1979 movie adaptation starring a young Judy Davis as Sybylla, but only after you’ve read the book.)
Life Is Like a Musical: How to Live, Love, and Lead Like a Star
Some of us are soccer moms or tiger moms or dance moms — I am a drama mom. My daughter gobbled up this funny, honest tell-almost-all about what it’s really like to try to make a living in theater. Tim Federle, author of the beloved Better Nate Than Ever, deserves a standing ovation for this entertaining advice book that teaches valuable lessons about grit and determination without being preachy or treacly.
Rebecca
If your teen couldn’t put down E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars, she’ll devour Daphne du Maurier’s classic tale of a young woman haunted by the legacy of her husband’s glamorous first wife, Rebecca. Du Maurier creates a mysterious and compelling cast of characters from the dashing Maxim de Winter to the severe and terrifying housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, that are as memorable as her famous first line: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” For an extra treat, I recommend a mother-daughter screening of the Hitchcock classic adaptation of the novel.
From readbrightly.com
Wellman Scofield Public Library 