What are the older teens reading these days?

Good Morning! Here is the Monday Morning Blog!

Are you making that list and checking it twice? Still looking for some book ideas for your teen reader? Last week we talked about the younger teens. This week we will talk about older teens, which I consider to be high school aged readers.

As an author, I am constantly looking for good reads. Not just in my genre, but others as well. Even though I write more middle grade and young teen stories, I do enjoy young adult reads. Young Adult (YA) is the next level up in maturity from a middle grade novel.

For many YA readers, an engaging book is a must. Our two teenaged sons are not book readers. For them to stick with one, the plot has to keep moving and must be something they can relate to. Some of these books are not appropriate for younger teens but may be for older teens. Profanity, sexual scenes and violence start to show up in some YA books. As an adult and parent, we need to keep that in mind when we are making book choices for our teenaged readers.

There are many book lists online to pick good reads from. I found on a list on NPR.org’s website. Many of the books on this list are classics I read in high school. Lord of the Flies, The Outsiders, and The Call of the Wild, just to list a few. I have a review on my blog for The Call of the Wild. Be sure to check it out. Here is the link.

Book Review – The Call of the Wild by Jack London

When I read a good book, I like to bring attention to it with a review or a mention on my blog. It is hard for us adults to know what is trending with teens, so I find a review can help other adults get some ideas.

Here are a few to add to list. Teens these days are reading books that challenge the lines of what some parents may deem appropriate. Due to their exposure to so many things on the internet, I think more mature ideas are found in these books and are relatable to the YA reader. Just something to keep in mind as you are buying books for readers at this level.

Looking for Alaska by John Green – Sixteen-year-old Miles’ first year at

The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner – Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up in the

Book Review – The Maze Runner by James Dashner

All those books are available on Amazon.com.

My book is also available on Amazon.com. It is set in high school, so it may be more appropriate for kids on the older end of the middle grade scale and older teen readers. There is no profanity or sexual references in it. Here is a promo for it.

With the holiday season underway and Christmas just around the corner, have you thought about purchasing your very own copy of my book The Hard Way?

Looking for a good teen read for a holiday gift? Be sure to pick up a copy of The Hard Way! It is available in e-book format on Amazon.com and in paperback on both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Here is the Amazon.com link! The Hard Way – Amazon.com

And the Barnes and Noble link! The Hard Way – Barnes and Noble

Hope these posts will help you find a good read for your younger and older teen readers. Please let me know your thoughts about the choices I made for these posts. And if you decide to purchase my book, I would love to hear what you think about it.

Photo Credits

Girl Reading Photo by Kamila Cellary on Unsplash

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