Favorite Tween Books by Favorite Authors

Source: Ginny Rorby

(26 ratings)

As an author of middle grade and YA fiction I have to admit I was afraid to read other authors in these genres. To select my five favorite books for tweens made me insecure and nervous. I'd have to read contemporaries and I'd realize how inept I am as a writer. Just the opposite happened. They inspired me to keep my focus on language and story. Reading is inhaling; writing is exhaling. (I can't remember who said this, but it's true.)

So here they are:

1. I loved Gary Schmidt's Wednesday Wars for its humor and his ability to make Shakespeare new and cool.

2. Then a friend loaned me Schmidt's Lizzie Bright and the Buckminister Boy, about bigotry and greed and how one child maintained his moral compass even in the face of adult opposition.

3. Jennie, by Douglas Preston, was my first encounter with the humanity and grace of chimpanzees. Jennie isn't specifically for tweens, but it is a sad and wonderful animal story.

4. Al Capone Does my Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko, for the setting--Alcatraz--and uniqueness of the plot and the richness of the story.

5. To Kill a Mockingbird. I think this is the best and most accessible book for any age ever written. It never grows old. I only wish its message was no longer pertinent to our lives.

Ginny Rorby is the author of HURT GO HAPPY, DOLPHIN SKY and THE OUTSIDE OF A HORSE, which Penguin will publish next Spring. You can see more at www.ginnyrorby.com

For additional suggestions, check out theses article:

Great Books for Preteens, with recommendations by the Bank Street Bookshop.

Favorite Tween Books by Favorite Authors, by Inda Schaenen