ACPL's Books for Teens

 

Fantasy Contemporary and Urban

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Fantasy: Contemporary and Urban

Entries marked with a ♥ are staff favorites

Black, Holly Tithe

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.   (S)

Black, Holly Valiant

When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system. But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they are all involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.  (S)

Clare, Cassandra City of Bones

When Clary Fray witnesses a murder in a Manhattan nightclub, she is unable to prove the crime because the victim disappears right in front of her eyes, and no one else can see the killers. Soon Clary is thrown into the world of Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons.  (J,S)

de Lint, Charles Little (Grrl) Lost

When fourteen-year-old TJ and her family are forced to move from their farm to the suburbs, she has to give up her beloved horse, Red—but she makes a surprising new friend. Elizabeth is a “Little,” a six-inch-high punked-out teen with an attitude, who has run away from home to make her way in the world. TJ and Elizabeth—the Big and the Little—soon become friends, but each quickly finds herself in a truly life-threatening situation, and they are unable to help each other.  (J,S)

de Lint, Charles The Blue Girl

Seventeen-year-old Imogene’s rebellious nature has caused her more harm than good — so when her family moves to Newford, she decides to reinvent herself and try to stay out of trouble for a change. But trouble shows up anyway. Imogene quickly catches the eye of Redding High’s bullies, as well as the school’s resident teenage ghost. Then she gets on the wrong side of a gang of malicious fairies. When her old imaginary childhood friend, Pelly, actually manifests, Imogene realizes that the impossible is all too real. And it’s dangerous.  (J,S)

Kindl, Patrice Owl in Love

Fourteen-year-old Owl Tycho, who can transform herself into an owl at will, discovers interesting new relationships with both humans and owls when she develops a crush on her science teacher.  (J)

Larbalestier, Justine Magic or Madness

For fifteen years, Reason Cansino has lived on the run.Together with her mother, Sarafina, she has moved from one place to another in the Australian countryside, desperate not to be found by Reason’s grandmother Esmeralda, a dangerous woman who believes in magic. But the moment Reason walks through Esmeralda’s back door and finds herself on a New York City street, she’s confronted by an unavoidable truth— magic is real.   (J,S)

Lowry, Lois Gossamer

Littlest One is a tiny creature slowly learning her job of giving happy dreams to humans. But the dreaded Sinisteeds, dark fearsome creatures that plague their victims with nightmares, are always at work against the dreamgivers. When the old woman takes in John, an angry foster child with a troubled past, the Sinisteeds go after him with their horrifying nightmares. Can Littlest One, and her touch light as gossamer, protect John’s heart and soul from the nightmare of his dark past?  (M,J)

Marr, Melissa Wicked Lovely

Aislinn has always seen faeries. She fears their cruelty — especially if they learn of her Sight — and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them is even trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything and everyone she loves is on the line.  (J,S)

Mieville, China Un Lun Dun

In present-day London, strange things start happening around Zanna: dogs stop to stare at her, birds circle her head. Then, she and her friend Deeba find themselves in an alternate reality where obsolete objects such as old typewriters eventually "seep" and strange people and creatures dwell, including sentient "unbrellas." The girls soon learn that Zanna is the chosen one, the "shwazzy," of UnLondon.  (M,J,S)

Riordan, Rick The Lightning Thief

When Percy Jackson's mother sends him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds, and together with his friends - one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.  (M,J)

Westerfeld, Scott The Secret Hour

For one secret hour each night, the town of Bixby, Oklahoma belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of misfits know about the secret hour - these people call themselves Midnighters. For years the Midnighters and the dark creatures have shared the secret hour, uneasily avoiding one another. All that changes when new girl Jessica Day arrives. Jessica is not an outsider like the other Midnighters. She acts perfectly normal in every way. But it soon becomes clear that the dark creatures sense a hidden power in Jessica...and they're determined to stop her before she can use it.   (J,S)

 

 

  Grade Level Interest
M Middle School (defined as grades 6-8).
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for teens.

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