Text Messages: Recommendations for Adolescent Readers

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Episode 8 — Books Worth Owning

With so many books being published for teens, how do readers go about deciding which ones are good enough to own?  Hearing about the distinctive qualities of outstanding young adult literature can help readers to make informed choices.  In this episode, you’ll hear about those qualities along with a wide range of great new titles including adventure books, historical fiction, coming of age books, and story collections.

After listening to this episode, be sure to print out this list of recommended titles to take to the library or book seller.

Recommendations in this episode include

• Impossible by Nancy Werlin (Dial, 2008)
• The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (Henry Holt, 2008)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, 2008)
• The Compound by S. A. Bodeen (Feiwel & Friends, 2008)
• Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Pena (Delacorte, 2008)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Hyperion, 2008)
• Laika by Nick Abadzis (First Second, 2007)
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon & Schuster, 2008)
• Does This Book Make Me Look Fat? edited by Marissa Walsh (Clarion, 2008)
• Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine, 2009)
• Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (Simon Pulse, 2008)
  

Published October 29, 2008

About the Host

Jennifer Buehler taught English for ten years before entering a doctoral program in English Education at the University of Michigan. As a high school teacher, she developed an extensive classroom library to engage and inspire her ninth graders as readers. Watching her students select reading materials led Jennifer to expand her own reading accordingly, allowing her to match books successfully with teens’ wide-ranging tastes and interests.

While teaching high school, Jennifer earned a master’s degree in children's literature at Eastern Michigan University.  During that time she learned to conduct classroom research with the help of a teacher-research group.  As a result of this research, she developed a handbook for parents that shared insights about the growth and development of her students as readers.

An avid reader of books for teens, Jennifer now shares her knowledge of young adult literature in professional development workshops with area teachers and in university classes with future teachers. She is also an active member of NCTE's Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN).