Book recommendations for teens, by teens

Let's start off with our two latest winners in the weekly gift card drawings:

Bailey recommends The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak: " It had lots of figurative language and was narrated in an interesting way."

Deniz recommends The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson: "It is a heart-warming story of how three sisters cope with the death of their father. They each handle it in different ways and separate from each other, but in the end, the love of family never ceases, and brings them back together. It's a very cherishable story."

Bailey and Deniz both win $10 Target gift cards! Get your recommendations in -- we will have one more drawing at the end of this week! 

Grace recommends Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: "It's about four sisters who are just regular girls and all the adventures they had together."

Teigan recommends The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter: "This story gives you a different look at the Greek gods and how they interact in Kate's life. You also see Hades as a different person and hear how it really went when he kidnapped Persephone."

Shane recommends City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare: "The series is about Shadowhunters who are of angel descent and they fight demons."

Jennifer recommends Tempest by Julie Cross: "It is exciting, it's a romantic book. It has to do with the CIA and about people time-traveling."

Brooke recommends 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson: "The library reading program this year is all about travel and so is the book. The main character Ginny goes on a long travel that her aunt sends her on."

Aynur recommends Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata: "It talks about their different goals and dreams and what they do to achieve it. Also, it tells you to keep trying even if you failed or a family member failed."

Merci recommends Salvation by Anne Osterlund: "It's a romantic story between the most popular guy falling for the girl that is the walking disaster of high school."

Aiden recommends The Loners by Lex Thomas: "It has high intensity, and is very hard to put down."

Daniel recommends The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan: "It is action-packed and makes you think. It's full of suspense and awesome to the end. I can't wait to read the next book!"

Want a good book to read? Teens recommend...

Here are the books recommended by last week's weekly winners:

Bhavya recommends Where the Mountains Meet the Moon by Grace Lin: "It's a magical tale about a girl and a dragon's friendship. It's a good read for people who like fantasy."

Rose recommends The Year the Wolves Came by Bebe Faas Rice: "It is a really good book and also it is a mysterious book. It is awesome book and I know lots of people will like it."

Keep reading for even more recommendations:

Celine recommends The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen:
"This story is a heart warming book because it tells about a girl who loves to run but from a terrible accident loses her foot. The girl learns the meaning of life and to never give up throughout the story.

Glorielly recommends Dork Diaries 6: Tales of a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker by Rachel Renee Russell:
"It's really funny, and pretty realistic too when it comes to teenage dramas like boys, bullies, and popularity."

Deniz recommends Pieces by Chris Lynch:
"It is a touching story of a grieving brother who wants to meet the people his dead brother's organs have helped. He had just wanted to meet them, but he ends up creating a weird bond with all of them…"

Shane recommends Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare:
"It is about a girl named Tessa who was kidnapped and got help from a shadowhunter named Will and she tries to find out who or what she is."

Aiden recommends Dead Cat Bounce by Nic Bennett:
"It was almost impossible to put down, has lots of suspense. Takes modern day life and turns it into an adventure."

Nathan recommends Fractured Fables:
"It was a very interesting and fresh look at classic stories."

Book recommendations for teens, by teens

Enrique recommends Shadowlands by Kate Brian: "The book is great. It got me engaged as soon as I picked up the book. It's a great book, it always keeps me thinking of what will happen next."

Stephanie recommends Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti: "It really shows how everything you do and say can affect anyone and even destroy a life of a person. Also how to stand up for yourself and not let people bully you."

Deniz recommends A World Away by Nancy Grossman: "It gives the reader a different atmosphere. I've personally never read a book from an Amish person's point of view, so it was definitely an experience that I'm glad I read about. I'm sure others would feel the same way!"

RJ recommends Son by Lois Lowry: "It ties all the books together, it's magical, mysterious, adventurous, and answers all the questions you have had for the series."

Bailey recommends The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: "It has lots of adventure. Great fully-developed characters and a GIGANTIC plot twist that I did not see coming!

Mia recommends Divergent by Veronica Roth: "The word choice is really descriptive and it helps make the book really suspenseful. You'll never want to put it down!"

Summer reading weekly winners recommend...

The winners of last week's Have Book - Will Travel drawing have some books to recommend!

Mia recommends Messenger by Lois Lowry: "The author uses a lot of imagery and figurative language that make you not want to put the book down! It also teaches you that you have the power to change your life, because Jonas used to have no freedom but now leads a free community."

Foster recommends E. Aster Bunnymind and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core by William Joyce "because of the very strange and mysterious new characters and the battle at the earth's core."

Congratulations to Mia and Foster, who both win $10 Target gift cards! Keep reading the blog to read more recommendations from other teens!

Book Bite: "The Spectacular Now"

"But with this February sun, see, the light's absolutely pure and makes the colors of the sky and the tree limbs and the bricks on those suburban houses so clean that just looking at them is like inhaling purified air. The colors flow into your bloodstream. You are the colors."

-- The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (2008)

Summer reading weekly winners recommend...

Teens at the library are reading books left and right this summer! We have our first two weekly winners today. They filled out Recommended Read entries for books they've enjoyed during the Have Book - Will Travel summer reading program.

Thomas recommends Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling because "it includes magic, fun, some parts are funny, but others are serious."

Merci recommends Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: "The most lamest town is in for a surprise with the arrival of Leena Duchanes, but little does Ethan know she has magic powers. Her fate will affect the world."

Congratulations to Thomas and Merci! They will both receive a $10 gift card to Target.

Sign up for our Superhero Smash Party!

[UPDATE: Due to lack of sign-ups this program is cancelled. We will give away the poster at a future teen event.] Attention fans of all things Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and more! Middle school and high schoolers are welcome to join our Superhero Smash Party on Tuesday, June 18 at 3 p.m. Come dressed as your favorite superhero or create your own costume at the party. We’ll provide the supplies to make your own masks, capes, and fun wrist cuffs. Work on fun superhero-related crafts and answer trivia questions and test out the game Injustice: Gods Among Us on the PS3. One lucky attendee of the party will win a Henry Cavill Read poster! Registration is required.

Teen Crafts this Wednesday at 3 p.m.!

Sign up for our Teen Crafts program on Wednesday, June 12 at 3 p.m. We will make crafts re-using old maps.

Where do you want to travel? Select a city or geographic area and create your own buttons. Here are a few I made:

Another craft we have is a hanging geometric decoration:


How is it made? You'll have to come to the program on Wednesday to find out!

Sarah Dessen's latest plus more new books!

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Hunted across the True Sea and haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret.

All I Need by Susane Colasanti
When Skye, a hopeless romantic, meets Seth, hurt by a recent break-up, at an end-of-summer party they connect instantly, but their love is tested when she returns to high school and he begins to work his way through an Ivy-League college.

The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross
London, 1897. When mechanical genius Emily is kidnapped by rogue automatons, Finley Jayne and her fellow misfits fear the worst. To save those she cares about, Emily must confront The Machinist's ultimate creation -- an automaton more human than machine.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
During her last summer at home before leaving for college, Emaline begins a whirlwind romance with Theo, an assistant documentary filmmaker who is in town to make a movie.

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does...Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock--with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him. But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams--and his life--for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...

The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. But as Jude begins to fall for Emilio Vargas, she begins to wonder if her sisters were wrong.

Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin
Spending the summer working as an errand girl for the Rule family in the Hamptons, seventeen-year-old Rory befriends the family's teenaged daughter and develops feelings for their older son, but she finds that societal rules can be hard to break.

Over You by Amy Reed
A novel about two girls on the run from their problems, their pasts, and themselves. Max and Sadie are escaping to Nebraska, but they'll soon learn they can't escape the truth

Crushed by Sara Shepard
It's springtime in Rosewood, but while everyone else is searching for the perfect prom dress, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria are on a different kind of hunt: They're looking for A...Hanna puts her campaign for prom queen on the back burner to volunteer at a burn clinic, where one of A's victims is recovering. Emily digs into Ali's past at the mental hospital with some very crazy consequences. Spencer contacts an amateur private eye to help her stalk her stalker. But when their sessions get a little too private, they may forget to keep their eyes on A. And Aria's worried that A is even closer than she thought. When her dark secret from Iceland comes to light, she discovers that maybe, just maybe, the one person she's been trying to hide the truth from has known all along. The liars are finally taking the fight to A. But no matter what they do, A's always one step ahead, ready to crush the girls completely.

Teen summer reading starts today!

Grades 6-12 may sign up at the Dundee Library Information Desk or Randall Oaks Branch Library for this year's summer reading program Have Book - Will Travel. All finishers will receive a paperback book! Take a look at the book prizes we have:

Plus, fill out Recommended Read entries throughout summer reading to be entered into weekly drawings for $10 Target gift cards.

Looking for recommendations of books to read? Follow DundeeReads on BiblioCommons for book lists on a variety of genres, including ones that go along with our travel theme: Traveling Teens, Have Book - Will Travel: Europe, Have Book - Will Travel: Asia, plus more to come. And check out suggested reading lists on the right side of the blog or on the Teen page of the library's website. We also have a Book Tasting event tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. where you can try a sampling of the many genres in teen literature today and experience the flavors of books set in countries all around the world.