I recently have discovered multiple new series that I have enjoyed, as well as great books that stand alone on the bookshelves. I have been trying to read all 100 books on NPR’s list of top teen books.

Some of my recently discovered favorite series are Gone by Michael Grant and Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I have only read the first book in the Gone series, coincidentally also called Gone, because some other library-goer is taking forever to read the only copy of the next book and is, rudely interrupting my reading schedule.  Ranting aside, this book is seriously ah-mazing.  I have grown to love the end of the world, apocalyptic type books like The Hunger Games and this is at the top of my list.

In the blink of an eye,  everyone disappears.  Gone.  Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help.  Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.  It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.  The first in a breathtaking saga about teens battling each other and their darkest selves, Gone is a page-turning thriller that will make you look at the world in a whole new way.

I repeat; AH-MAZING.  Makes me want to re-read it.

Another post-apocalyptic book, as mentioned above, is Divergent by Veronica Roth.  In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.

For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.  During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Both of these series are must-reads.  And, if you have a lot of time on your hands, go through the 100 book list from NPR and pick out what sounds good.  I promise, all of these are worth reading.

– Kaelyn L., 10th grade