Favorite Tween Books by Favorite Authors

Source: Inda Schaenen

(65 ratings)

Way, way before I ever knew that I was a writer, I was attached to certain books. Thinking about my favorite books for tweens, it turns out I am attached to these books for life. As a child I read them over and over. Three are "real" stories; two are completely "unreal." But all of them somehow spoke the truth to me. I feel happy just thinking about these books.

 

  1. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, because the cleverness of the plot and characters and the poignancy of Milo's temperament lingers; I think I read this book once a month for years.
  2. Finn Family Moomintroll, by Tove Jansson, because the illustrations of the creatures were so interesting and weird, and the stories both cozy and surreal. I wanted to live there!
  3. All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriott, because the stories of a vet in the Yorkshire dales were amusing, moving, inspiring, and perfectly told.
  4. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, because it stretched my understanding of reality and the brother and sister were so believable.
  5. All of a Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor, because the lives of a loving and large and fallible Jewish family on the lower east side of New York at the turn of the century was infinitely interesting to me.

 

Inda Schaenen is the author of RAINY DAY RESCUE, the first of a new series for young readers called Saddle Wise about a girl and her horse. Inda is a writing teacher in the St. Louis Public School system. She is also the author of All The Cats of Cairo and has also been a newspaper reporter and written for Salon, The New York Post, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She is a mother of three and lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Inda can be contacted at: indaschaenen@att.net.

 

For additional suggestions, check out the article, Great Books for Preteens, with recommendations by the Bank Street Bookshop.