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Compiled and selectively annotated by Dana McFarland ~ Updated November 1997
Are you looking for a good book for yourself or for a young adult that you know? Here are some titles to look for in your library or bookstore. Some titles are described briefly below. Others are discussed on the Young Adult Book Reviews Page, in the booktalk activity Twins and Alter Egos, and in the article The Literature of World War One for Young Adults.
South Asian Literature in English for Young People
Links to Sites Related to Young Adult Reading
Adams, Richard. Watership Down. New York: Macmillan, 1972.
Badami, Anita Rau. Tamarind Mem. Toronto: Viking, 1996.
Borland, Hal. When the Legends Die. Toronto, Ont.: Bantam Books, 1963.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York : Ballantine Books, 1990.
____. Martian Chronicles. Garden City: Doubleday, 1958.
____. Something Wicked This Way Comes. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962.
Bradford, Karleen. There Will Be Wolves. Toronto: HarperCollins, 1992.
Ursula's ability as a healer causes her to be accused of witchcraft in Medieval France. To save her soul and her life she is forced to join a crusade to Byzantium.
Brennan, Herbie. The Mystery Machine. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, c1995.
Brooks, Martha. Paradise Cafe & Other Stories. Saskatoon, Sask.: Thistledown Press, 1988.
Ordinary narrators of both genders and a range of ages. Compact, moving stories.
____. Two Moons in August. Toronto; Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1991.
Brown, Cassie. Death on the Ice. 1974.
Carmody, Isobelle. The Gathering. New York: Dial Books, 1994.
Chambers, Aidan. Dance on My Grave. London: Pan Horizons, 1982.
____. Now I Know. London: Red Fox, 1987.
___. The Present Takers. London: Bodley Head, 1983.
___. The Toll Bridge. New York: Laura Geringer Book, 1995.
Clark, Catherine Anthony. The Golden Pine Cone. Illustrated by Greta Guzek. With a foreword by Sheila Egoff and Judith Saltman. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour Publishing, 1994.
Cormier, Robert. After the First Death. Toronto: Random House of Canada, 1979.
Terrorists hijack a school bus. Bleak, thought-provoking. Complex narrative structure. 14 and up.
____. Fade. New York: Delacorte Press, 1988.
____. I am the Cheese. New York: Dell, 1977.
Craven, Margaret. I Heard the Owl Call My Name. 1973.
Crew, Gary. Angel's Gate. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1993.
____. No Such Country. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1994.
____. Strange Objects. Port Melbourne: Mammoth Australia, 1991.
The mystery of a 17th century shipwreck is interwoven with the disappearance of a 20th century boy. Narrative relies on reports, diary entries, news clippings.
Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1993.
Culleton, Beatrice. In Search of April Raintree. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications, 1983.
Cushman, Karen. Catherine Called Birdy. New York: Clarion Books, 1994.
___. The Midwife's Apprentice. New York: Clarion Books, 1995.
Dahl, Roald. Boy. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1984.
___. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. New York: Knopf, 1977.
Dean, Jan. Finders. London: Pan Macmillan Children's Books, 1994; New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1995.
Dempsey, Hugh. Charcoal's World. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1978.
White-native conflict in 19th century southern Alberta. Historical. 15 and up.
Dick, Philip K. The Man in the High Castle. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1962.
Doyle, Brian. Angel Square. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1984.
Duane, Diane. So You Want to be a Wizard. 1983.
Faulks, Sebastian. Birdsong. London: Vintage, 1993.
Findley, Timothy. The Wars. Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1977.
Fox, Paula. Slave Dancer. With illustrations by Eros Keith. Scarsdale, N.Y.: Bradbury Press, 1974.
Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York : Doubleday & Company, 1996.
Frank, Rudolf. No Hero for the Kaiser. Translated from the German by Patricia Crampton. Illustrations by Klaus Steffens. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1986.
Freedman, Benedict and Nancy. Mrs. Mike: The Story of Katherine Mary Flannigan. New York: Berkley Publishing, 1947.
Historical biography, romance, pioneer life in northern Alberta and B.C.
French, David. Salt-Water Moon. 2nd ed. Vancouver: Talon Books, 1988.
A play set in Newfoundland. Mary and Jacob sort out their feelings for one another and their sense of abandonment by parents who suffered through the first world war.
Gavin, Jamila. The Singing Bowls. London: Methuen, 1989.
____. The Wheel of Surya. London: Mammoth, 1992.
George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. 1972.
Goldman, William. The Princess Bride. New York: Ballantyne Books, 1973.
Greenwald, Sheila. It All Began With Jane Eyre. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980.
Greenwood, Barbara. A Question of Loyalty. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Scholastic Canada, 1984.
Historical drama, romance. Set in Upper Canada during the 1839 Rebellion.
Haddix, Margaret Petersen. Running Out of Time. [New York]: Simon & Schuster Children's, 1995.
A time slip novel set in contemporary and nineteenth century United States.
Halvarson, Marilyn. Cowboys Don't Cry. Toronto: Stoddart, 1987.
Howker, Janni. Martin Farrell. London, Sydney, Auckland, Johannesburg: Julia MacRae Books, 1994.
____. The Nature of the Beast. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1985.
____. The Topiary Garden. With pictures by Anthony Browne. New York: Orchard Books, 1995.
Hughes, Monica. Blaine's Way. Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1986.
____. Hunter in the Dark. Toronto: Irwin Publishers, 1988.
____. The Keeper of the Isis Light. London: Magnet Books, 1980.
I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine: Poems for Young Feminists. Edited by Carol Ann Duffy; illustrated by Trisha Rafferty. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992.
Kata, Elizabeth. A Patch of Blue. 1961.
Khan, Rahila. Pictures. London: Sprint, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Ltd., 1989, c1987.
Stories about white boys and Asian girls growing up in London.
Kim, Helen. The Long Season of Rain. New York: Holt, c1996.
Junehee's unhappy family is brought to a crisis when an orphaned boy comes to stay.
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Toronto, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1981.
Events and consequences of the evacuation of Japanese Canadians in WW II.
Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea. Drawings by Ruth Robbins. London; Markham, Ont.: Puffin Books, 1968.
L'Engle, Madeline. Meet the Austins.
___. The Other Side of the Sun. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, 1971.
___. A Severed Wasp. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1982.
___. Troubling a Star. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1994.
___. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Dell Publishing, 1962; A Wind in the Door. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973; A Swiftly Tilting Planet. New York: Dell, 1979.
Lewis, C. S. Out of the Silent Planet. New York: Macmillan, 1968.
First in The Space Trilogy. Science fiction, featuring the clash of good with evil, space travel, and the King Arthur legend.
___. Perelandra. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944.
Also published as Voyage to Venus. Sequel to Out of the Silent Planet.
___. That Hideous Strength. New York: Macmillan, 1965.
The last in The Space Trilogy. The three parts are also published together under the series title: London: Bodley Head, 1990.
Little, Jean. Little by Little. Markham, Ont.: Viking, 1987.
Autobiography. The childhood of a Canadian writer and reader. 11 and up.
London, Jack. The Call of the Wild. London: Dent ; New York: Dutton, 1968.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
Lunn, Janet. The Root Cellar. Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1993.
____. Shadow in Hawthorn Bay. Markham, Ont.: Puffin Books, 1986.
Historical romance. Set in Upper Canada after the War of 1812. 13 and up.
Macdonald, Caroline. The Lake at the End of the World. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1988.
Post-apocalyptic meeting of underground and aboveground survivors.
___. Hostilities: Nine Bizarre Stories. New York: Scholastic, 1991.
___. Secret Lives. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995.
Ian creates a powerful alter ego who threatens to alienate him from his family and friends. 13 and up.
___. Speaking to Miranda. Toronto: Hodder & Stoughton, 1990.
Ruby pursues the mystery of her mother and of her own identity. 15 and up.
___. Spider Mansion. Toronto, Ont.: Penguin Books Canada, 1994.
Spooky guests threaten to takeover bed & breakfast. Supernatural, mystery.
MacLachlan, Patricia. Baby. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1995, c1993.
___. Journey. New York: Dell Publishing, 1991.
MacLennan, Hugh. Barometer Rising. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1941.
MacNeil, Robert. Burden of Desire. New York: Dell, 1992.
Mahy, Margaret. The Catalogue of the Universe. London: Magnet, 1985.
____. The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance. New York: A Margaret K. McElderry Book, 1984.
____. The Door in the Air and Other Stories. Markham, Ont.: Puffin Books, 1988.
___. The Tricksters. Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books, 1986.
Major, Kevin. Eating Between the Lines. Toronto: Doubleday, 1991.
____. Hold Fast. Don Mills, Ont.: Stoddart, 1991.
____. No Man's Land. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1995.
____. Thirty-six Exposures. New York: Delacorte Press, 1984.
Marquis, Don. archy and mehitabel. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1973.
Poetry composed by a cat and typed by a cockroach.
Marshall, James Vance. Walkabout. 1959.
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonsong. 1976.
McCutcheon, Elsie. Summer of the Zeppelin. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 1983.
McKay, Hilary. Dog Friday. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1995.
Hilarious. Everyone loves this book.
McKay, Hilary. The Exiles. New York: M.K. McElderry Books; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1992.
McKay, Hilary. The Exiles at Home. New York: M.K. McElderry Books; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1994.
Mehdevi, Anne Sinclair. Parveen. New York: Knopf, 1969.
Melling, O. R. The Singing Stone. Toronto: Puffin Books, 1988.
Kay travels from the contemporary U.S. to ancient Ireland in a quest for her own identity.
Morgan, Bernice. Random Passage. St. John's, NF: Breakwater, 1992.
Early 19th century outport Newfoundland. Family relations, entering adulthood. 16 and up.
Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko's Daughter. 1st ed. Edge fiction. New York: H. Holt, c1993.
After her mother's suicide, Yuki is left to cope with a distant father and hostile stepmother. She is strengthened by her memories of the artistic sense that she and her mother shared.
O'Brien, Robert C. Z for Zachariah. New York: Collier Books, 1974.
Post-nuclear suspense. Can the only two survivors in a valley survive together?
Paterson, Katherine. Jacob Have I Loved. New York: Avon Books, 1980.
Sara Louise resents her twin sister. Attempts to discover her own identity. 13 and up.
Paulsen, Gary. The Voyage of the Frog. New York: A Yearling Book, 1989.
Peck, Richard Newton. A Day No Pigs Would Die. New York: A Dell Book, 1972.
____. Unfinished Portrait of Jessica. New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.
Platt, Kin. The Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear. New York: Dell, 1968.
Roger finds warmth in friends although his parents are indifferent to him. 12 and up.
Potok, Chaim. In the Beginning. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, 1975.
Pullman, Philip. The Ruby in the Smoke. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.
This mystery about a missing gem from India, and Sally's role in its disappearance, is set in 19th century England. The novel includes a large and varied cast of characters and will appeal to a broad readership.
____. The Shadow in the Plate. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986.
The sequel to The Ruby in the Smoke. Also published as The Shadow in the North.
____. The Tiger in the Well. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.
The final part in the trilogy of The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the Plate.
____. The Golden Compass. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.
This is the first volume of a series called His Dark Materials. Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon, become involved in an intrigue which reveals terrible truths about her past and her destiny and takes her to the far reaches of her world - and beyond.
____. The Subtle Knife. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
Volume 2 of the series His Dark Materials.
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Translated from the German by A. W. Wheen. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1929.
German soldier's account of front line life in WW I. Ages 15 and up.
Rostkowski, Margaret I. After the Dancing Days. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986.
Ryman, Geoff. The Child Garden, or A Low Comedy. London; Sydney; Wellington: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
____. The Warrior Who Carried Life. London; Sydney; Wellington: Unwin Hyman, 1985.
Fantasy. Cara wants to avenge the destruction of her family, but learns to love instead. 14 and up.
Shute, Nevil. Pied Piper. New York: Ballentine Books, 1941.
John Howard leads a group of Jewish children out of Nazi-occupied France. 14 and up.
Sleator, William. Singularity. New York; Toronto: Bantam Books, 1985.
Identical twins find a place where time accelerates, and in their reaction to it discover how different they are.
Smucker, Barbara Claasen. Days of Terror. Markham, Ont.: Puffin Books, 1979.
A Mennonite family face persecution in the Bolshevik Revolution. Ages 12 and up.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. New York: Random House, 1989.
A muslim girl must reconcile her independence with her duty to marry. Ages 13 and up.
____. Haveli. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
The sequel to Shabanu. Her married life is disrupted by feuding in her husband's family.
Tarr, Judith. His Majesty's Elephant. San Diego; New York; London: Jane Yolen Books, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.
Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. New York: Dial Press, 1976.
____. Let the Circle Be Unbroken. Toronto, Ont.: Puffin Books, 1981.
Thomas, Audrey. Songs My Mother Taught Me. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1973.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. New York: Dell Publishing , 1970.
____. Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Dell Publishing, 1971.
Westall, Robert. Blitzcat. London: Piper Books in association with Macmillan, 1990.
Lord Gort ranges over wartime Britain in her search for her owner. Ages 12 and up.
White, T. H. The Once and Future King. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co., 1939.
Wiebe, Rudy. The Temptations of Big Bear. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976.
Historical novel based on the life of the Cree chief. 14 and up.
Wilson, Budge. Cordelia Clark. Toronto: Stoddart, 1994.
___. The Leaving. Toronto: Stoddart, 1990.
Wyndham, John. The Chrysalids. London; Markham, Ont.: Penguin Books in association with Michael Joseph, 1958.
Post-nuclear life in a fearful community. A group of young people resist persecution of non-conformity.
____. The Day of the Triffids. Toronto: Dent, 1967.
____. The Kraken Wakes. [out of print].
____. The Midwich Cuckoos. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books in association with Michael Joseph, 1960.
____. Trouble with Lichen. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1963.
Zindel, Paul. David and Della. New York : Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1995.
____. Loch. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.
____. The Pigman. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.
South Asian Literature for Young People
(Visit Raag: Children's Books from India)
Badami, Anita Rau. Tamarind Mem. Toronto: Viking, 1996.
Bissoondath, Neil. A Casual Brutality.
Raj takes his Canadian wife and son back to his Caribbean home. But is it really home?
Gavin, Jamila. The Singing Bowls. London: Methuen, 1989.
Ronnie travels to India to find the father who abandoned his family ten years ago. If he finds his father will he also find out where he belongs?
____. The Wheel of Surya. London: Mammoth, 1992.
Marvinder and Jaspal flee civil war in India to look for their father in England.
Kalman, Maira. Swami on Rye: Max in India. New York: Penguin, 1995.
A sophisticated picture book combined with an experimental narrative.
Kaye, M. M. The Far Pavilions.
Ash has two identities, English and Indian. In moving between the two he experiences the best and worst of both worlds and feels the isolation of his unique perspective.
Khan, Rahila. Pictures. London: Sprint, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Ltd., 1989, c1987.
Stories about white boys and Asian girls growing up in London.
Mara, Rachna. Of Customs and Excise.
A series of related stories about South Asian women in India and Canada.
Mehdevi, Anne Sinclair. Parveen. New York: Knopf, 1969.
Parveen leaves her mother in New York to spend the summer with her father in Iran. Will she be able to return? Set in the 1920s.
Mukherjee, Bharati. Jasmine.
____. Wife.
Dimple discovers that marriage and life in the United States leave her feeling empty and isolated.
Rushdie, Salman. Midnight's Children.
A magic realist family saga with its roots in the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. New York: Random House, 1989.
A muslim girl living in the Cholistan Desert must reconcile her independence with her duty to marry.
____. Haveli. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
The sequel to Shabanu. Shabanu's married life is disrupted by feuding in her husband's family.
Visit these Pages Related to Young Adult Reading
Other sites:
Children's Literature Web Guide by David K. Brown at the University of Calgary is the best place to start with any question or just to browse.
Kevin Major's Web Site includes information about his own novels as well as links to other YA-related sites.
Within this site:
Young Adult Book Reviews Page -- more than twenty titles are reviewed here.
The Literature of World War One for Young Adults is a detailed discussion of historical fiction in this setting.
Twins and Alter Egos: A Booktalk suggests how to present books on this theme to teens.
School Literary Culture includes documents related to a reading/writing process approach to English Education.
Comments or suggestions? Please contact Dana McFarland.
Updated November 1997