Books & Authors for the Teen Years

“Books are the carriers of civilization...They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.” - Barbara W. Tuchman

*I’ve made a PDF of this article for those who would like a print copy*

Visiting the local library can be a little depressing, especially if you’re trying to find suitable books for children heading into the teen years. I’ve heard comments like it doesn’t matter what your children read as long as they’re reading. Is there really such a dearth of worthy books that we need to resort to giving junk to our children? There’s a time for easy books when reading skills are developing but once a child is a reasonably confident reader there is a world of options available. I wanted my children to read for both pleasure and profit. They’ve read books during their home education years that they may not have picked up for entertainment; books that required effort and mental muscles, but they have also read books in their free time that although not necessarily high-level literature or classics, were worth their time and energy. There’s a place for both whether we are adults, teenagers or children but finding books that are suitable for children that are both worthwhile and have some literary quality is increasingly difficult in libraries and in many bookstores. If you are aware of authors that fit into this category, secondhand bookstores can be goldmines.

Being a reasonably fast reader I was able to find books and at least give them a quick skim to determine if they were suitable for younger readers. That worked for a few years but when you have a couple of children who consume books at a rapid rate it becomes more difficult. I made sure I made a record of books and authors that our children enjoyed reading in their spare time especially when they were in their teens and I’m recommending some below. An asterisk means some of my children read it before their teens or that it’s suitable for a younger age level. Just be aware that this is only my opinion & even in our own family, what might have been right for one child at age 12 or 14 years didn’t necessarily mean it was suitable for another at the same age.

Alistair Maclean (1922-1987)

Action, intrigue, espionage; one man against all odds, fast-paced. A number of his books have been made into films and although you wouldn’t call them great literature, they’re mostly good reads (his earlier books are better) & and his writing doesn’t have the romance issues or inappropriate material of other authors who have written books in a similar genre. Probably most suited to ages 14yrs and over, but my 12-year-old boy read a few (*).

The Guns of Navarone *
The Lonely Sea (a collection of short stories)
Ice Station Zebra
Santorini
Where Eagles Dare
Force 10 from Navarone *
Bear Island
The River of Death
The Golden Gate
Golden Rendezvous *
Caravan to Vaccares
The Last Frontier
HMS Ulysses

John Buchan (1875-1940)

A prolific author, Buchan also wrote historical works such as Sir Walter Scott and The Great War but is better known by far for his suspenseful thrillers such as The Thirty-Nine Steps in which he introduces the hero, Richard Hannay. Framed for murder, Hannay embarks upon a life of espionage in the lead up to the First World War. This book and four others immediately below follow the hero’s life through danger, intrigue & war and are great reads with intricate plots & interesting characters.

The Thirty-Nine Steps *
Greenmantle
Mr. Standfast
The Three Hostages
The Island of Sheep

Other adventure novels include:

Huntingtower
John MacNab *
Sick Heart River

I’d recommend starting with The Thirty-Nine Steps for a younger reader – it’s not as involved as some of his others and the plot is easier to follow. I think 14-year-olds & up would appreciate Buchan’s other books most.
I haven’t included some of his other titles that I’ve read & enjoyed here e.g. Witchwood, as I think they’re more suited to an older audience.

Regina Doman (1970-)

Regina Doman has written a series of modern-day fairy tales for teens based on some original fairy tales e.g. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty & Ali Baba. I found these novels when I was searching for suitable books for one of my daughter’s 14th birthday. I wrote about these books on my blog post, 8 Favourite Fairytale Retellings for Teens. I think they are done well, particularly the first three, Shadow of the Bear, Black as Night, & Waking Rose and should be read in order as the main characters re-appear in the books. It also helps if you know the original fairy tales. The books mature with the reader, with subsequent books tackling darker themes. More about that on my blog post.

“The more truly we can see life as a fairytale, the more clearly the tale resolves itself into a war with the Dragon who is wasting fairyland.” – G.K. Chesterton.

Alex O’Donnell and the 40 Cyber Thieves is a modern retelling of the classic Arabian Nights tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and is less intense than the other books listed above. Recommended for ages 14 years and over.

There are no magical or fantasy elements in these stories and the characters are very ordinary people living ordinary lives. This ‘ordinariness’ has allowed the author to create characters we can relate to and identify with. I read somewhere that she set out to take Chesterton’s challenge and write a modern novel as if it were a fairy tale. As Chesterton observed in his book, Orthodoxy:

The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is abnormal; the centre is not central. Hence the fiercest adventures fail to affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous. You can make a story out of a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world.

Beauty by Robin McKinley is a wonderful re-telling of Beauty & the Beast and is suitable for younger readers, around 12 years & up. A lovely story with some important but not heavy-handed themes.

Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992)

At two years of age Rosemary Sutcliff contracted Still’s Disease (a type of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) and spent most of her life in wheelchair. In her early years she had to lie on her back and during this time she was read to by her mother – books by Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, and Greek & Roman legends.

She was a late reader and due to her condition was mostly educated at home. At the age of 14 years she began her training in the art of miniature painting, published her first children’s book in 1950 and afterwards devoted her time to writing children’s historical novels.

One of our favourite authors, Rosemary Sutcliff has written some wonderful historical fiction. Many of her books are suitable for younger readers. Some favourites which our children read for themselves around the ages of 12 years and up:

The Eagle of the Ninth * The Lantern Bearers The Silver Branch

Outcast *

Dawn Wind *
Knight’s Fee
Frontier Wolf

Blood Feud has the unusual setting of the Byzantine world of the 10th Century. I wrote about it here.

The following three are for more mature readers:

Bonnie Dundee – Hugh Herriott was a young lad who had grown up in a Scottish Covenanter family. When he witnesses an attack on Government troops in which his older brother kills a boy not much older than Hugh himself, he is taken by Government troops and brought before Bloody Claver’se (Bonnie Dundee). Claverhouse questions him and then sets him free, but Hugh cannot forget the ugly attack in which the young boy was killed:

I wanted no more to do with men and the world of men ever again. The pull of two loyalties within me was over and done with, and there was some relief in that. I knew now that I was like Montrose: that I was no Covenanter nor ever could be. But oh, the grief was on me was sore.

An insightful book that sensitively portrays Jacobite Scotland in the seventeenth century. Sir Walter Scott wrote a poem/song in honour of Claverhouse in 1825:

Lady in Waiting – Bess Throckmorton, Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth I, is secretly married to the ambitious young Walter Ralegh. A delightful historical novel of Elizabethan times.

Song for a Dark Queen – A fictionalised account of Queen Boudica of the Iceni and the Roman invaders.

A biography of the author is here.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) - best known for his Sherlock Holmes' detective character but he also wrote some excellent historical novels.

In 1891, Doyle's novel, The White Company, was published. This book tells of the adventures of Sir Nigel Loring and his men and is set during The Hundred Years' War. Fifteen years later, in 1906, the 'prequel,' Sir Nigel, was published. This book, set at the beginning of the war, details the exploits of the squire before he became a knight. I wrote more about Sir Nigel here.

These two books are companions to each other but can be read in any order. The White Company was probably the favourite out of the two for us.

* Study in Scarlet – Doyle’s detective mystery where he first introduces Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

* The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

* The Hound of the Baskervilles

* The Tragedy of the Korosko is a lesser-known book by this author and one that my youngest son enjoyed when he was about 16 years of age. I bought it secondhand because I loved the cover, but I also loved the story.

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) - My teenaged children enjoyed G.K. Chesterton's novels from around the age of 15 years and up. The combination of bizarre fantasy, heroic action and humour appeals to them and although his writing can be a challenge to get through, it is unique, and his absurd humour and sharp wit are compelling draw cards.

Father Brown series
The Man Who was Thursday
Club of Queer Trades
The Napoleon of Notting Hill

Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950)

Captain Blood is one of Sabatini’s more famous novels (both this title and Scaramouche were made into movies) and is an exciting adventure story which begins around 1685 when King James II was on the throne of England.
Peter Blood was a thirty-two-year-old Irish physician who had taken service with the Dutch under the great Admiral de Ruyter and fought against France. He spent two years in a Spanish prison and later served with the French in their wars against the Spanish Netherlands.
As the story opens, he was in England working as a doctor, when an attempt was made by the Duke of Monmouth (the illegitimate son of Charles II and Lucy Walter) to overthrow James II after Charles’ death.
When Blood was called urgently to treat a young nobleman wounded in the rebellion during the night, a man who had been a friendly and generous patron to him and to whom he felt indebted, his act of mercy was to change his life.

Sabatini was an exceptional writer and it is not surprising that this book quickly became a best-seller after it was published and is still in print. Highly recommended author!

The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne (1922) - yes, the author of Winnie the Pooh! This was one of the first crime/detective novels our children read and it’s a good introduction to the genre as it doesn’t go into detail on the darker aspects of the murder. I think our children read it around the age of 12 years.

The Samurai's Tale by Eric Christian Haugaard (1984) - set in turbulent 16th Century Japan when powerful warlords fought for supremacy. Haugaard is a skillful writer who captures the feel of the times. I'd recommend this book for confident readers about age 13 years and up who are interested in history. There is a profusion of Japanese names which some readers might find confusing, and it is a bit brutal in places, which isn't surprising considering the time period.

The Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge (1960) - a beautifully written book that incorporates themes of service, sacrificial love and redemption in an interesting and poignant story.
The Dean is a misunderstood man. He is thought to be proud and unapproachable but in reality he is extremely shy. He is married to a beautiful woman who is selfish and distant. He loves her dearly but his love is not reciprocated.
When he encounters Isaac the watchmaker, a crusty old fellow, the two strike up an unusual friendship which changes both of them. There are various other characters in this multilayered book. One of my favourites was the elderly Miss Montague.
At one point she was reflecting on her adolescence and thought back to the moment when she realised she’d been living in a dream world. Crippled by an accident as a youngster and neglected emotionally by her parents who were vaguely ashamed at having produced so unattractive a child, she knew back then that she would never marry, and being a gentlewoman, a career was not open to her. What should she do?

'She never knew what put it into her head that she, unloved, should love. Religion for her parents, and therefore for their children, was not much more than a formality and it had not occurred to her to pray about her problem, and yet from somewhere this idea came as though in answer to her question...Could mere living be a life’s work? Could it be a career like marriage or nursing the sick or going on the stage?...So she took a vow to love.'

This is a beautiful story that my 14-year-old daughter loved. She’s not a sentimental type of girl but she told me this book made her cry.

World War II

The following authors have written books set in the World War 2 period. Most of them would be suitable for readers in the mid-teens or older.

Helen MacInnes (1907-1985)

Known as the Queen of Spy, Helen MacInnes had first-hand experience of World War 2 and had spent time travelling throughout Europe. Her first novels were set in that time period while her later books were centred around the Cold War. The following three books have a WW2 setting.

Above Suspicion – a young married couple venture into pre-war Europe in 1939 on what at first seems a simple request by a friend. However, tension builds as the couple become aware of the intrigue and great risk involved in their mission.

This was MacInnes first novel – probably slow moving by today’s standards – but the book is saturated with a distinct feel of the tension of the time and is a good old fashioned spy thriller.

Assignment in Brittany – A British Intelligence officer is parachuted into occupied France where he impersonates a Frenchman hospitalised back in England. My 14-year-old son thought this was a really good book.

Horizon – a tale of espionage based on fact. Freed after Italy surrenders to the Allies, a prisoner of war becomes involved with Resistance fighters in mountainous South Tyrol, the meeting place of Italy and Austria.

Non-Fiction

Ill met by Moonlight by W. Stanley Moss – I came across this book in the library and brought it home because the title beckoned me (words spoken by Oberon to Titania in Act 2 of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream). It tells the story of two British officers who kidnap a German general in Crete and is based on the actual diary entries of the author. Interesting and suitable for anyone who enjoys stories of war tactics and escapades.

We Die Alone by David Howarth – an incredible survival and endurance account of a fugitive from the Nazis & the people of the Arctic who helped him escape. I reviewed it here. Suitable for younger readers but there is a section where he sank into absolute despair which I think would be good to discuss:

In his loneliness, he wished he was able to pray, and lying there waiting to die he tried to set his religious beliefs in order. But like so many young men of his generation, he had grown up without the habit of saying prayers…
He had been given a technical, scientific education, and there had not been much room in it for religion. It had given him, at the age of twenty-six, a materialistic view of life…nothing he had ever been taught could help him to believe in a personal God who watched over him…
He did not despise that kind of belief, and he knew to the full what a comfort it would be to him; but nobody of a clear and serious turn of mind can change his beliefs to suit his circumstances.

The Bielski Brothers by Peter Duffy – This book would be of great interest to anyone interested in survival and bushcraft, as well as WW2. I wrote about this astonishing story here.

Paul Brickhill (1916-1991)

An Australian author who was a fighter pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force, Brickhill was shot down over Tunisia in 1943, captured by the Germans, and sent to a concentration camp.
The books are for mature readers or preview first, mainly for language/swearing.

The Dam Busters – the story of 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force which was formed for the specific purpose of breaching the Ruhr dams in Germany.

Escape or Die – 8 true escape stories from WWII

The Great Escape – the true story of how ’more than six hundred men in a German prisoner-of-war camp worked together to achieve an extraordinarily daring break-out.’ There is a 1963 movie with a star-studded cast that we watched after reading the book.

Reach for the Sky – the biography of Douglas Bader, an aviator who lost both legs as a result of a flying accident prior to the war. He did active duty despite his disability during WW2 and was made a prisoner-of-war after bailing out of his aircraft over France.

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