just getting into YA lit

[Autumn Skye]

what would you recommend to someone just becoming a teenager (say, turning twelve or thirteen)?
what would be the best choice for First young adult book to read?

[An]

again, i'm gonna have to go with TheGiver... or the christopher pike books i mentioned in the other post.

of course, i don't know what the "kids these days" are into... but i really liked those books when *I* was an early teen

[Lara]

The Giver is a really good book to show the reader the Utopian/ Distopian lifestyle.

I would have to know the child's likes and dislikes before truly recommending anything for them to read, however, I can say that books such as The Once and Future King, by T. H. White or Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury are very good "beginner" books.

I remember when I was younger, I would read anything I could get my hands on. I even read travel books! I also formed a great appreciation for gothic lit as well as horror when I was 12, so it really depends on the child.

[jacky]

I think I disagree with Lara. I have not read either book she suggested, but am familiar with the titles. I teach 14 year olds, and most of them would be intimidated by 640 pages of The Once and Future King. Also, I have my students read The Veldt and There will Come Soft Rains, both by Bradbury, and they struggle with them. I offer Fahrenheit 451 to my honors students late in the year and many of them have difficulty with that as well. So, I would say that those texts are probably too much for your average 12 year old.

I would instead recommend the older character Judy Blume books (like Forever or Tiger Eyes) for girls (those are what I read at that age). Other titles: Stargirl, The Giver, Speak, Before We Were Free, Holes, The Westing Game, Out of the Dust. As far as authors: Gary Paulson, Ann Rinaldi, Jerry Spinelli, and Chris Crutcher.

[Diane]

Some other good choices: Thief Lord by Funke, Coraline by Gaiman, The Thief by Turner, Poison by Wooding, the Alex Rider adventures by Horowitz, Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer, Hatchet by Paulsen,Sharon Creech's books, such as Walk Two Moons or Catherine Called Birdy, and of course The Giver (and Gathering Blue and Messenger)!
We make it easy at the library I work at, since we have a YA section downstairs by the adult area, and upstairs by the children's area we have a YA2 section, with books appropriate for 6th through 8th graders.

[Autumn Skye]

that's a really interesting system, i've definitely never seen anything like that at the libraries near me.

[Jessica]

Our library has two areas for young people -- the large children's room has a special area for 5th and 6th graders, with appropriate literature, plus a shelf of illustrated books for older readers. The 7th-12th grade YA area is a special room right off the adult non-fiction circulating stacks, and it's wonderful, with a full collection of YA fiction and non-fiction, big cushy chairs, a homework area, and cool neon signs. It's a very inviting place for teens, and not childish at all. It's very cool that it's located off the adult library. I only wish it had been there when I was growing up in my town.