Teens
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Stories about Mental Health for Teens
Mental health – the proper care and maintenance of your emotional state – seems more important than ever. Here are some new novels showing teens finding their way through challenging times. Amelia Diane Coombs’ book All Alone with You follows loner Eloise as she works her way back from a depressive episode that cost her some friends. Now she helps out at a… Continue reading
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Poetic Fiction for Teens: Recent Novels in Verse
Novels in verse offer the best of both worlds: a solid plot with characters that pull you in and a lot of white space on the page, so the story is all meat and no filler. Here are some great new titles from the last year or so. (MS = middle school) In Nikita Gill’s book Hekate, young Hekate finds herself an orphan,… Continue reading
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New Teen Nonfiction
Readers often gravitate towards fiction for their pleasure reading, but there are tons of great books that are completely true and make for compelling reading. Here are some newer titles that you may have missed. MS = middle school Barb Rosenstock’s book American Spirits recounts how sisters Kate and Maggie could explain strange rapping sounds in their house by communicating with the… Continue reading
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New Teen Romance
Romance sells a lot of books, especially around Valentine’s Day. Here are some of the best new teen romance titles released in the past year. In Trung Le Nguyen’s latest graphic novel Angelica and the Bear Prince, Angelica is grieving and dealing with burnout. When she receives messages of support from a bear, or… Continue reading
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Adult Titles with Teen Appeal – January 2026
We are updating our Adult Titles with Teen Allure list for 2026! Here are some of the best new books written for and marketed to adults, but which have a ton of appeal for teens. When disability activist and blogger Melissa Blake was trolled for putting pictures of herself online, she turned the tables on… Continue reading
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“The Librarians” Takes You to the Front Lines of Democracy
“I never imagined that what’s happening right now could ever happen. It didn’t dawn on us that we would come under attack.” In the opening scene in the documentary “The Librarians,” a woman sits, her face obscured for anonymity. She is a school librarian, telling the story of what happened in Texas in 2021, after… Continue reading
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2025 Staff Faves: Teen Books
Every year, we ask staff members around the library system what their favorite reads published this year were. 2025 is no different, and we have a stellar lineup of fiction and graphic novels. Graphic novels first: Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi began in 2024, but volumes 3 through 5 were published this year. The… Continue reading
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Indigenous Stories for Teens
November is National Native American Heritage Month, and one way we celebrate is through the sharing of stories by and about Native Americans. Whether or not you are Native American, these new titles for teens make for fantastic stories. Gary Robinson’s book Billy Buckhorn and the Book of Spells launches a series about a Cherokee… Continue reading
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Horror Stories for Teens – October 2025
Lots of great horror novels for teens have come out in the last year. Here are eight of the best to enjoy this spooky season! (MS = middle school) Gigi Griffis’ creepy novel And the Trees Stare Back follows Vik and her little sister Anna, who has been missing in the cursed forest for five… Continue reading
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New Recommended Reads for Teens – September 2025
A number of local schools publish their annual challenge lists in June and August. Here are some of their top picks for the upcoming school year, for both middle and high school readers! (MS = middle school readers) In Vera Brosgol’s graphic novel Plain Jane and the Mermaid, ordinary Jane finds herself suddenly alone in… Continue reading
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Teen Book Bingo, Round Two
Summer is half over! How easy is it to fill in your card? Here are more suggestions for each of our squares in the Teen Book Bingo, two titles per square. Finding books set in the Pacific Northwest can be a challenge. The easiest way to search for them is to do a keyword search… Continue reading
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‘My One Happy Place’: The Library That Saved a Life
When Elsa Sjunneson was a teenager, she regularly visited the Central Library. She picked up holds, browsed the stacks, and talked about books with Reader Services librarians David Wright and Misha Stone. In some ways, these were fairly normal interactions between a librarian and patron. After all, helping patrons find books they love is part… Continue reading
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Teen Book Bingo 2025 – Round One
Teen Book Bingo has begun! Here is a selection of two titles each from our suggested reading lists to get you started. From the Gender Bender category, you might enjoy Beating Heart Baby or The Prince and the Dressmaker. Beating Heart Baby, by Lio Min, follows Santi as he meets and is entranced by Suwa,… Continue reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor
If you talk to me for more than a few minutes, my passion for Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series will undoubtedly come up. I’ve read the books at least six times each, have had genuine arguments about whether I’m allowed to name my children after the characters, made custom iron-on attire for movie premieres on… Continue reading
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Historical Fiction for Teens
We’ve updated our list of historical novels for teens. While World War II continues to feed authors’ imaginations, there are also a lot of fantastic stories from other times. Here are a few of our favorites. In Kwame Alexander’s sequel to The Door of No Return, called Black Star, young Charley dreams of becoming the… Continue reading
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Eight Stories From Two Years of Books Unbanned
Almost exactly two years ago, on April 27, 2023, The Seattle Public Library took action against censorship and for the freedom to read. We joined Brooklyn Public Library in launching a Books Unbanned program that offers a free card to our digital collection of e-books and e-audiobooks to young people ages 13 to 26 from… Continue reading
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Funny Stories for Teens
To keep everyone laughing, we’ve updated our Teen Humor list for 2025. Here are some highlights. In Elise Bryant’s novel Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling, Black nerd Reggie keeps running into biracial punk singer Delilah on various holidays throughout the year. Eventually, they start their own holidays just so they can keep meeting. In… Continue reading
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New Teen Romance – January 2025
We updated our Teen Romance list in time for February, and here are six of our favorite titles. In All Alone with You by Amelia Diane Coombs, loner Eloise agrees to volunteer to help out seniors so she can pad her college applications. Her trainer and partner, Austin, takes an instant liking to her, but… Continue reading