My Favorite Tween Reads!

Source: Courtney Sheinmel

(20 ratings)

My two enduring memories of fourth grade: starting a lunchtime "business" with my best friend Elana, selling friendship bracelets in the cafeteria, and the time Miss Kipnis yelled at me in front of the whole class. To this day, I can remember the burning in my cheeks and how hard I had to bite down on the side of my tongue to keep from crying. Worse still, Miss Kipnis sent a note home to my mother, telling her all about how I'd pulled a book out from under my desk to read DURING MATH PERIOD. (I feel the need to point out that I'd finished the math worksheet when I went for the book - though I was supposed to sit with my hands folded on my desk.) My mom was not the kind of parent you wanted to bring a note home to, and as she read it over that night, I braced myself for a big punishment. "Courtney," my mother said, shaking her head. "You need to be stealthier if you're going to read under your desk."

The book I was reading was THE TRUTH ABOUT STACEY, #3 of Ann M. Martin's famed series THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB . To date, it's my favorite of all the books in the series. I'd read it under my desk all over again. Here are a few other books I'd happily risk getting into trouble for reading:

LIESL AND PO, by Lauren Oliver

This book came out just last month, and I now count it as one of my favorite books of all-time. There's no way I can do it justice in a single paragraph, but I'll try. Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her evil stepmother. She's utterly alone, until the night she is visited by a ghost named Po, who is somehow able to move between the world Liesl knows and the Other Side. Po has seen Liesl's beloved late father, and comes back with a message: He wants to go home. Only Liesl knows what that means, and she and Po escape the attic and embark on a journey to move her father's ashes to their rightful place. But there's a mix-up; instead of ashes, Liesl has been carrying a box filled with the most powerful magic in the world. This is one of the most beautiful, magical, heartbreaking and life-affirming books I've ever read. The author's note at the end speaks to the enduring power of love and friendship.

SHUG, by Jenny Han

I wanted to be Jenny Han's friend after I read this book. (In fact I stalked her at a mutual friend's book party; sorry, Jenny!) Annemarie Wilcox, nicknamed Shug, is too tall and too freckled. She has a beautiful, popular older sister, a beautiful, troubled mother, and a father who is never home. At the start of school, Shug shocks herself when she realizes she has a crush on her best guy friend Mark. Unfortunately, Mark doesn't exactly return her feelings. To make matters worse, her parents are arguing (that is, when her father is home from his business trips), and she's fighting with her best girlfriend. What's a girl to do when the pieces of her life are all falling out of place? Simply put, SHUG gets to the heart of what it means to be twelve, and I think it's a must-read for tween girls.

JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE, by Wendy Mass

As a middle grade writer, I'm in awe of Wendy Mass. Every tween I know names at least one of Wendy's books on her list of favorites. JEREMY FINK is definitely my favorite, and the kind of book both boys and girls will LOVE. The summer he turns 13, Jeremy receives a box from his father, who died five years earlier, with these words engraved on top: The Meaning of Life: for Jeremy Fink on his Thirteenth Birthday. The problem is the box is locked, and Jeremy doesn't have the keys to open it. (To break open the box would mean destroying its contents.) So begins the quest of Jeremy and his best friend Lizzy, to solve the mystery of exactly what it was Jeremy's father wanted to impart. Along the way, they encounter a number of strange and wonderful people, learn the value of friendship, and figure out where to look to find the true meaning of life.

BRINGING THE BOY HOME, by N.A. Nelson

Another book about the impact of a thirteenth birthday - my nephews LOVED this one (as did I)! It's told in the alternating voices of Luka and Tirio, two boys who live worlds apart, though they are both part of the Takunami tribe. In the tradition of their tribe, Luka must trek through the dangerous jungle as a test of strength on his thirteenth birthday. In preparation, Luka has undergone rigorous training and his senses are super sharp. He seems to be on the direct path to success. Meanwhile Tirio was given up when he was born because of a defect that causes him to limp. Now living in America with his adoptive mother, as his thirteenth birthday approaches, his sixth sense picks up on signs that point him back to the Amazon, to the test that is his birthright. There's a twist at the end that still gets to me - I never would've predicted it, but of course it is exactly the way the story had to go. This is another great read for both boys and girls.

AUTUMN STREET, by Lois Lowry

By my estimation, I've read this book about a hundred times. It's narrated by a six-year-old girl named Elizabeth - but don't let the fact that Elizabeth is only six dissuade you from reading this book, because older kids will relate to it, too! When her father has to go to war, Elizabeth is none too pleased to learn that she, her mother, and sister will be moving to her grandparents' house on Autumn Street. It is there that Liz befriends Charles, the cook's grandson. Elizabeth and Charles forge the greatest kind of friendship - a best friendship. But they're also confronted by a lot of big issues - war, racism, illness, and death. Heavy subjects, yet Elizabeth's voice remains consistent throughout, and though tragedy strikes and reshapes everyone's life, the book is never all sadness. I loved AUTUMN STREET the first time I read it, and the hundredth time I read it, and all the times in between. (I also have to mention my other favorite of Lowry's books, A SUMMER TO DIE, a gorgeous story about sisterhood and finding yourself.)

Anything Judy Blume ever wrote, but especially STARRING SALLY J. FREEDMAN AS HERSELF

Of course I have to end on Judy Blume. Like most of my friends, she was my all-time favorite author for the bulk of my childhood, though I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't discover Sally J. until I'd hit adulthood. The story takes place a couple years after Lowry's AUTUMN STREET, right at the end of the Second World War. Ten-year-old Sally is also dealing with a big move - her family is spending the winter in Miami Beach, Florida, where there's a lot to worry about - like fitting in at her new school, missing her dad who's home in New Jersey, and whether or not one of her neighbors is Adolf Hitler. Though set a few decades ago, the story is utterly relatable to modern girls - and Sally's vivid imagination was especially resonant with this writer. I also recommend every other book by Judy Blume! (I know I said that already, but I mean it so much that it bears repeating.)

C ourtney Sheinmel grew up in California and New York, graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College, and Fordham University School of Law. After working as a litigator for several years, Courtney decided to focus on her first love: writing. She is the author of All the Things You Are , and many other books for tweens. You can visit her online at www.courtneysheinmel.com