The Top 40 Books for Teens to Add to Their Reading Lists

This delightfully weird boxed set starts out when Jacob Portman journeys to a mysterious island off the coast of Wales following a terrible family tragedy. There, he finds the ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and so, so much more.

When Dante and Aristotle first meet at the pool, they don't seem to have anything in common. But as they get to know each other, they form an unlikely friendship — that soon reveals the possibility of something more.

Esperanza Cordero is a young Latina who's just trying to figure herself out while growing up in Chicago. Sandra Cisneros first penned The House on Mango Street more than 25 years ago, but her lessons on challenging stereotypes of the immigrant experience still hold up today.

In this National Book Award finalist, a young woman named Ada goes away to college and begins to find herself. Her journey to explore her sexuality, processing her mother's struggle with addiction and how she wants to be in the world will ring true to many.

Between her temperamental cat, accidentally shaving off her eyebrows and all of the cringeworthy hijinks that come with being an awkward teenager, this book is laugh-out-loud hilarious and almost too relatable. Guaranteed to boost any bad day within the first five pages.

Then-18-year-old S. E. Hinton set the groundwork for YA fiction when she wrote The Outsiders in high school, with a book that spoke directly to her peers. Ponyboy's journey shows that things can go too far very quickly when you're willing to do anything to belong.

It's been 20+ years since we first met the boy who lived, but the adventures of Harry and friends Hogwarts still resonate with teens today. Relieve the experience by reading along with your kids, right from the book that started it all.

The winner of a whole list of awards, this book takes place in a tight 60 seconds, the time it takes 15-year-old Will to decide whether to retaliate against the guy who killed his brother. It feels as powerful as a loaded gun.

After Julia's sister Olga passes away tragically, her broken family looks to her to hold them together. But Julia isn't the perfect daughter her sister was. Then again, was Olga? This story delves into the pressures of being a Mexican-American daughter and what it means to carry the weight of loss on your shoulders.

Since the 1970s, Judy Blume has won more than 90 awards for her ability to perfectly capture the inner turmoil of being a teenager. In one of her most well-known, Margaret Simon longs to just grow up already in a story that's just as relatable as the day it came out.

After Zayneb gets punished for confronting a racist teacher, she goes to cool off with her aunt in Qatar. That's when she crosses paths with Adam, who's dealing with a difficult diagnosis and trying to keep it a secret from his widowed father. As the two open up, they discover there's more to each other (and themselves) than they realize.

If your teen missed the sensation before it became a blockbuster, slide this dystopian adventure their way. You'll root for Katniss Everdeen as she fights for her life in Panem's annual Hunger Games in a world that's eerily similar to our own even as it feels foreign.

This cult favorite takes a stark look at the heartbreaks, friendships and weirdness of high school in all its honest glory. Kids who feel misunderstood may find a kindred spirit in Charlie, as he navigates the rocky road between childhood and adulthood.

Fantastical, captivating and deeply original, this series will have your teen begging to read "just one more chapter." Get them the boxed set, so they can follow all the way along with Lyra and Will's otherworldly adventures.

Mark Haddon's novel follows a boy with autism who is working to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog. The language gives readers a look inside the complicated mind of Christopher John Francis Boone, offering a new perspective on an entrancing narrative.

Daunis has always felt like an outcast, but that starts to change when she meets hockey star Jamie. But then, when she witnesses a murder and has to go undercover to use her knowledge of Ojibwe medicine to help with the investigation, she has to decide where her loyalties lie and how far she'll go to protect her community.

After her mother dies by suicide, Leigh travels to Taiwan to seek answers. This beautiful, surreal story is perfect for any teen who has ever lost someone, as it explores the many ways grief can manifest, as well as the healing power of family.

Even reluctant readers will find something to love in this absorbing New York Times bestseller. It explores a Nazi society in which a young girl's passion for reading feeds her soul when all else seems hopeless.

This graphic memoir about growing up in Tehran during the Iraq Revolution grapples with the horrors of war and the mundane struggles of childhood, and the absurdity that can come from the intersection between living through history and daily life.

Eleanor and Park aren't your fairytale lovers. They understand that first love almost never works out, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try. Set in 1986, this offbeat romance captures how young love can feel desperate, overwhelming and catastrophic.