OPL's 2024 Teen Reading ListLike this list

71 items

• 16 & Pregnant

  a Novel

  Thomas, Lala,

  Add 16 & Pregnant to your for later shelf

  When you are 16 and become pregnant you have options (depending on the state). Does Erykah succumb to the pressure and get an abortion, or does she follow her heart?

• All the Fighting Parts

  Sawyerr, Hannah V.

  Add All the Fighting Parts to your for later shelf

  Amina's voice is her power—she always speaks up for what she believes—until a sexual assault silences her. A powerful story written by Baltimore's 2016 Youth Poet Laureate.

• Flight Plan

  Walters, Eric, 1957-

  Add Flight Plan to your for later shelf

  13-year-old "unaccompanied minor" Jamie is stranded 1,200 miles from home and the world is in chaos! Can he make it back to his family alive?

• Forever Is Now

  Lockington, Mariama

  Add Forever Is Now to your for later shelf

  Sadie has anxiety. After witnessing an act of police brutality, she spirals and struggles to leave her house. Sadie starts to heal one step at a time.

• Forgive Me Not

  Baker, Jennifer, 1981-

  Add Forgive Me Not to your for later shelf

  What happens when you commit a crime and the victim gets to choose your punishment? The three options are: jail, freedom, or trial. 15-year-old Violetta’s future depends on her family’s decision.

• Saints of the Household

  Tison, Ari

  Add Saints of the Household to your for later shelf

  Family, friendship, tradition, and one violent incident: a compelling story in poetry and short prose from the POV of two brothers, chronicling their complicated relationship.

• Shut Up, This Is Serious

  Ixta, Carolina,

  Add Shut Up, This Is Serious to your for later shelf

  East Oakland life’s getting hella complicated for Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro and her BFF Leti. Depression and family troubles threaten Belen’s high school graduation, and then Leti gets pregnant.

• Six Truths and a Lie

  Shukairy, Ream,

  Add Six Truths and a Lie to your for later shelf

  Told in alternating POVs. Six Muslim teenagers are suspected of being responsible for an explosion at a beach party. How will they prove their innocence?

• The Luis Ortega Survival Club

  Reyes, Sonora

  Add The Luis Ortega Survival Club to your for later shelf

  Ariana is queer and autistic. She feels invisible, until she hooks up with Luis. Was it consensual? Ariana finds healing and community joining a group formed by those Luis has harmed.

• This Book Won't Burn

  Ahmed, Samira

  Add This Book Won't Burn to your for later shelf

  Senior Noor Khan discovers hundreds of queer and BIPOC-authored books have been labeled obscene or pornographic and banned from her school library. Will she speak up?

• Where Wolves Don't Die

  a Novel

  Treuer, Anton,

  Add Where Wolves Don't Die to your for later shelf

  15-year-old Ojibwe Ezra Cloud learns to survive racist bullies and the Canadian wilderness in this coming-of-age thriller set on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation "rez."

• Ariel Crashes a Train

  Cole, Olivia A.,

  Add Ariel Crashes a Train to your for later shelf

  Ariel isn’t conforming to her parents' conservative gender, sexual, and religious expectations, plus she’s plagued by violent thoughts and obsessive behaviors and can't figure out why.

• The Davenports

  Marquis, Krystal

  Add The Davenports to your for later shelf

  If Bridgerton was set in 1910 Chicago. Told in alternating POVs, four Black women attempt to reconcile the lives they want, versus what society wants for them.

• Only This Beautiful Moment

  Nazemian, Abdi

  Add Only This Beautiful Moment to your for later shelf

  Set in Los Angeles and Tehran, this multi-generational coming-of-age story about an Iranian family is a character-driven saga about immigrant and queer experiences and family bonds.

• Girl Forgotten

  Henry, April,

  Add Girl Forgotten to your for later shelf

  17-year-old Piper creates the podcast Who Killed Layla Trello? but not everyone wants the past dug up. Will Piper be able to identify Layla's murderer before becoming victim herself?

• Into the Light

  Oshiro, Mark

  Add Into the Light to your for later shelf

  17-year-old queer adoptee Manny, now homeless, sets out to find his sister Elena as he’s forced to confront the religious trauma from his past.

• It Waits in the Forest

  Dass, Sarah,

  Add It Waits in the Forest to your for later shelf

  Selina feels like an outcast in her community. A lot of people are dying on the Caribbean Island of St. Virgil—is she responsible? If not, who is?

• Wander in the Dark

  Emill, Jumata,

  Add Wander in the Dark to your for later shelf

  When Marcel's best friend Chloe is found murdered and all fingers point to his estranged brother Amir, the two must work together to prove his innocence.

• 6 TIMES WE ALMOST KISSED

  AND ONE TIME WE DID

  Sharpe, Tess

  Add 6 TIMES WE ALMOST KISSED to your for later shelf

  Their mothers have always been BFFs, and so Penny and Tate have had to tolerate each other forever. So why do they keep almost kissing?

• Canto Contigo

  a Novel

  Garza Villa, Jonny,

  Add Canto Contigo to your for later shelf

  Senior Mariachi Rafie leads his group to their 11th first place win and makes out with a hot mariachi from another school. His family moves. Rafie’s demoted and guess who’s lead?!