teen fiction

  • 2025 Staff Faves: Teen Books

    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

  • Horror Stories for Teens – October 2025

    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

  • Teen Fiction for Mental Health Awareness Month

    Teen Fiction for Mental Health Awareness Month

    This month, we offer a variety of stories about teens facing mental health challenges, ranging from depression and suicidal ideation to anxiety and self-esteem issues, and learning that their condition does not define who they are. In Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes, sixteen authors create a variety of stories about teens… Continue reading

  • Teen Fiction for Women’s History Month

    Teen Fiction for Women’s History Month

    It’s officially March, which means Women’s History Month is here! Check out some teen titles highlighting women in historical fiction. In The Davenports by Krystal Marquis, set in 1910 Chicago, the titular Davenports are one of a few wealthy Black families, and teen sisters Olivia and Helen want to chart their own paths.  Olivia wants to… Continue reading

  • New Teen Fiction for 2024

    New Teen Fiction for 2024

    Looking for the newest stories? Here are some brand new teen titles to start the New Year, with annotations adapted from the catalog. (Created December 2023.) In Arushi Avachat’s novel, Arya Khanna’s Bollywood Moment, high school senior Arya must navigate fraught family dynamics, the fallout of her two best friends breaking up, and a tense… Continue reading

  • Indigenous Fiction and Nonfiction for Teens

    To honor Native American Heritage Month, here are some of the newest titles by Indigenous authors of North America. Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley Working at a summer job that brings her to the local tribal heritage museum, Perry learns of the Warrior Girl, an ancestor of her people whose bones and knives are… Continue reading

  • Horror Tales for Teens

    Horror Tales for Teens

    Halloween is around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than to read these terrifying tales? In Katie Alender’s The Companion, orphaned Margot learns that she is being brought to live with a wealthy family to be a companion to their daughter Agatha, who is completely silent. After a series of strange events, it appears… Continue reading

  • Teen Summer Reads, Part One

    Teen Summer Reads, Part One

    We asked our Teen Librarians what they’re reading, loving, and promoting this spring as excellent summer reads for teens, and they gave us these titles: Teen Summer Reads, Part One In Alex Aster’s Lightlark, the island of Lightlark appears every hundred years to host the Centennial, a battle between the rulers of the six realms… Continue reading

  • Teens in Love

    February is a great time to find new love, and new books to love.  Here are some fantastic new teen titles focusing on teen romance. In Blackout, six fabulous Black authors weave a romance in six different parts, all beginning with a citywide blackout. In the free-verse novel Only on the Weekends by Dean Atta,… Continue reading

  • Teen Women in History

    March was Women’s History Month, but it’s always a good time to reflect on the accomplishments and lives of women in the past. Here are seven stories about teens and young women through history. Jazz Owls by Margarita Engle follows Marisela and Lorena, two jazz owls – young women who work all day to support… Continue reading

  • Teen Novels in Verse

    To celebrate National Poetry Month, here are eleven terrific titles in verse. In Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne, Skyy feels terribly alone after her best friend’s boyfriend calls her a name she can’t forgive or forget.  Her sudden freedom allows her to see herself in a new light and consider all the ways she… Continue reading

  • Black History Month 2022: Black Teens in Love

    Black History month meets Valentine’s Day, and they make a sweet couple! Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender follows seventeen-year-old Felix, who feels he is one marginalization more than people can handle: Black, queer, trans. When someone posts his deadname and pre-transition pictures, Felix seeks revenge, but his search for his tormentor reveals some surprises… Continue reading

  • What to Read if You’re Missing High School

    Since the sudden closure of Seattle schools, I have been missing the daily routine of school, and especially wishing that I could see my friends and schoolmates. One way I’ve been escaping the sometimes lonely feelings of social distancing is by reading books that transport me to fantasy high schools and the drama of friend… Continue reading

  • New Voices in Teen Fiction

    It’s always exciting to discover new books and authors and, as usual, some of the freshest voices can be found in young adult publishing.   Here are three recent debut novels you should know about: Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles Twins Tyler and Marvin have always been close, but lately Tyler has been increasingly… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: If You Liked The Fault in Our Stars

    Posted by Eric G. John Green’s popular and acclaimed novel The Fault in Our Stars gets the big screen treatment this week! Here are some books that form a complementary reading constellation. Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon On the surface this story of cancer-stricken teens seems very similar to Green’s novel, but this humorous,… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Teen fiction our library staff loves

    Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger Reading Gail Carriger is like eating a favorite pastry and discovering an unusual filling: light, decadent, funny, paranormal steampunk adventure—this time for teens! Sophronia is a young lady who’d rather climb the side of a building than the social ladder. Fortunately for her, she’s been sent to the right finishing school. Delightful hijinks… Continue reading

  • Who Says the Dead Can’t Dance?

    Ok, I’m not usually a big fan of gore and ghosts, but when they come with excellent characters and a great deal of witty dialogue, what’s not to love? I can’t guarantee that everyone will find these books funny, but that was definitely an aspect that kept me turning the pages. After all, I had… Continue reading

  • Crime: Inappropriate morality tales – Mysteries for teens

    “Do you have something inappropriate?” asked a teen patron at the Beacon Hill library. “Lots,” I countered and pulled out Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan. What can be more horrific than plotting to kill your teacher? “No,” he whispered violently, “I mean like sex.” Oh, that kind of inappropriate, I chortled inside. Continue reading