Wally B.
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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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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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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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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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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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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
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New Teen Fiction for 2025
As we launch into the new year, we recommend eleven of the best and most popular new novels for teens. In Aisle Nine, by Ian X. Cho, Jasper spends his life recovering from a head injury that left him with deep amnesia and working for a retail store where, in aisle nine, there is a… Continue reading
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Staff Faves 2024: Teen Fiction and Graphic Novels
Every fall, we ask staff members around the library system to share their favorite reads published in this year. 2024 is no different, and we have a stellar lineup of fiction and graphic novels. Aisle Nine, a graphic novel by Ian X. Cho, follows Jasper, whose amnesia may have something to do with his dead-end… Continue reading
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Native American Fiction for Teens
To honor Native American Heritage Month, here are some of the newest novels for teens by Indigenous authors of North America. In The River Run by Alfreda Beartrack-Algeo, Alfred Swallow and his friends Orson and Junior are forced to leave their reservation and attend a residential mission school to learn the ways of white people.… Continue reading
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Horror Stories for Teens
Halloween is around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than to read these terrifying tales? In The Black Girl Survives This One, edited by Desiree S. Evans, fifteen superb Black authors create ghastly and horrifying stories in which, as you may have guessed, the Black girls survive. In one, a space traveler must… Continue reading
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Banned Books for Teens – September 2024
In 2023, censors around the nation challenged over 4200 titles in school and public libraries. Here you can see some of the most challenged books and still read them freely, if you wish. Most of these titles were written for a teen audience, and you can, of course, find them at The Seattle Public Library… Continue reading
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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
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Teen Fiction for National Humor Month 2024
To celebrate National Humor Month (which always begins on April Fools Day), here are some hilarious new titles for teens. Enjoy! Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by Mae Coyiuto Chloe’s eighteenth birthday and acceptance to an American university mean she can finally leave home and her emotionally distant father, but her bossy aunt thinks it… Continue reading