From the Trenches: Picture Books for Teens

Check out this list of pictures books that will appeal to all ages @
From the Trenches: Picture Books for Teens

A few more for those Hunger Games fans (descriptions to come later):
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

If you loved The Hunger Games trilogy, try these books:             

1.  The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann, 2011. A cross between the dystopian world of the Hunger Games and the fantastical world of Harry Potter.    Each year in Quill, 13 year olds are divided into the Wanteds and the Unwanteds.  Wanteds, the smart and strong, go to university while the artistic Unwanteds are doomed to death.  Twins, Alex and Aaron, face separate fates when Aaron is sorted into a Wanted and Alex, an Unwanted.  Despite his death sentence, Alex finds safe haven in a magical world called Artime, where he learns to use his creative abilities magically.  Soon brother is pitted against brother as the Quilitary seeks to destroy Artime and its inhabitants. Ages 8 and up.

2.  Blood Red Road (Dustlands book 1) by Moira Young, 2011.  Saba’s family lives in the wasteland of Silverlake, where they scavenge landfills to survive. After her twin brother, Lugh, is captured by four mysterious horsemen, Saba vows to get him back.  To do so, she must leave Silverlake into the outlying and lawless land and all its dangers.  Soon she is joined by daredevil Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks.  Full of fast-paced action, and good characters with unique dialects, Blood Red Road is the first of the Dustland Trilogy, set in a post-Apocalyptic world. Ages 14 and up.

3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore, 2008. In Katsa’s world, selected people are given a Grace, a special talent or skill; hers is killing.  Katsa is forced by her uncle, the King, to be his assassin.  Soon Katsa is finding better ways to use her Grace: against the powers that be.  Along the way she meets Prince Po and is surprised when a friendship develops. A strong female character in the vein of Katniss in The Hunger Games as well as fast-paced action and a heart-racing romance, make this book a sure bet. Ages 14 and up.

4.  Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, 2010. Set in the American Gulf after all the country’s natural resources are exhausted, this is another dystopian post-apocalyptic tale yet with more gritty realism. Nailer, 17, is a “Ship Breaker”, a dangerous job where he crawls into wrecked oil tankers to strip them of their copper wires for salvage.  He must meet his quota or face the wrath of his violent drug-addicted father. One day, Nailer finds a beached luxury ship and thinks he’s made it big but soon must make hard choices when a wealthy girl is discovered among the wreck.  Should he save her or “break” the ship?  This is a fast-paced adventure story with compelling characters facing uncertain futures. Was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2010 and won the Michael L. Printz award in 2011. Ages 12 and up.

5. Survivor’s Club: The Secrets and Science that could Save your Life by Ben Sherwood, 2010. Part “I Shouldn’t be Alive”, part science, Survivors Club tells true stories of seemingly fatal encounters and whether you’ve got what it takes to be a survivor of such things as cancer, car accidents, crime, and airplane crashes.  Sherwood, a graduate of US Military elite survival schools, looks at the hidden side of survival in a fascinating way and allows the reader to test her Survivor IQ.  Read this and you may understand why characters like Katniss and Peeta survived in The Hunger Games and would you? All ages.

6. Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey, 2007. In this atmospheric dark fantasy, two characters’ lives, generations apart, intersect. After being double-crossed by a charlatan magician, Sadima conceals her ability to communicate with animals in a world where magic has been banned while Haph, the second son of a rich and disapproving father, tries to survive the school of wizardry he has been exiled to.  Haph faces starvation if he can’t conjure up food, while Sadima faces ridicule and exploitation should her abilities be revealed.  This page turner is the first in the Resurrection of Magic Trilogy that will leave readers dying for the next book. Ages 12 and up.

7. Deathwatch by Robb White, 2011 (first published in 1972). After agreeing to take a man hunting for Bighorn Sheep, college student, Ben finds himself naked with no food or water in the desert being hunted by a madman.  This wilderness adventure is packed full of action and suspense.  Will Ben survive? Ages 12 and up.

8. Maze Runner by James Dashner, 2009. Thomas wakes up in an elevator that he can’t remember how he got into and when the doors open, he finds himself in the Glade where 60 teen boys are struggling to survive.   Completely enclosed by a maze, the boys eek out an existence all the while looking for a way out.  Every 30 days, a new boy arrives to join the Gladers, but for the first time a girl, a comatose girl with a mysterious note and connection to Thomas, enters the Glade.  The first book in The Maze Runner trilogy, fans of action-packed dystopian teen lit will eat this up. Ages 11 and up.

9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, audio version, read by Catherine McCormick, 2010. Okay, you’ve already read the book and seen the movie but if you are dying for more, get the audio book.  Put it in the car and be transported into the breathless action of the Games.  The narrator captures the darkness as well as the excitement that Katniss, Peeta, and the other tributes must face. A must-listen for diehard fans. Ages 13 and up.