The Best of the Best: New Teen Classics from the 1990s

At a recent ‘Best of the Best’ conference held during the annual ALA (American Library Association) conference, 100 titles were chosen as the best books written for teens from 1966 to 2000. Click on the title below to see the book in our online catalog. Here are a few of the fiction titles:

Blue Heron by Avi, 1993
A solitary blue heron becomes a symbol of strength and peace for Maggie when she discovers a change has come over her father and his new family.

Nothing but the Truth by Avi, 1992
It's against regulations to hum the national anthem in school. Philip decides to disobey the rule, and the whole nation watches what happens.

Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer, 1999
Seventeen-year-old Jenna's job at Mrs. Gladstone's shoe store leads to driving Mrs. Gladstone across country to Texas to prevent a company takeover.

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block, 1990
Lanky lizards! Punk teens Weetzie and Dirk search for love in a modern fairy tale that is funny, moving, and unlike any book you've read before.

Flight #116 Is Down by Caroline Cooney, 1993
A 747 crashes on the grounds of her family's estate, and 16-year-old Heidi, alone and terrified, pulls herself together to help rescue the survivors.

Ironman by Chris Crutcher, 1996
When he calls his teacher an a**hole in class, Bo is forced to attend an anger management program, where he learns to deal with his real problem--his cruel father.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher, 1994
When the horrific truth about Sarah's past is revealed, only her true friend Eric ("Moby") Calhoun can help her come to terms with her family and plan for her future.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, 1995
Fighting fleas, unsuitable suitors, and her mother's attempts to make a lady of her, Catherine writes in her diary about her frustrations with her life as a young noblewoman in medieval times.

On the Devil's Court by Carl Deuker, 1990
Seventeen-year-old Joe Faust must decide if it's worth selling his soul to the devil for one perfect season of basketball.

Eva by Peter Dickinson, 1990
After a violent auto accident, 13-year-old Eva wakes up in a hospital to find she must learn how to live as a chimpanzee.

Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper, 1996
High-school senior Andy Jackson is overcome by guilt after his best friend dies in an automobile accident that happened when Andy was driving drunk.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer, 1995
When General Matsika's three children are kidnapped, their mother hires the best detective team available in 2194 Zimbabwe--the appropriately named mutant partners--the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm.

Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, 1999
After killing a girl when driving drunk, Brent Bishop learns a lot about himself and life when he's forced to pay for his crime by traveling to the four corners of the U.S. to build whirligigs in her memory.

Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser, 1999
Tara struggles to live with her obsessive-compulsive behavior, but before her condition is diagnosed, her relationships with family and friends begin to crumble.

Far North by Will Hobbs, 1997
Stranded in the Canadian wilderness, two boys endure a brutal sub arctic winter of bear, wolf, and moose attacks while they repeatedly struggle to escape.

A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin, 1996
Seventeen-year-old best friends Juliana and Samantha share a passion for dance, for life, and for each other--then Jules is diagnosed with cancer and must travel a path Sam cannot follow.

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause, 1991
Feeling alienated from everyone during her mother's terminal illness, Zoe comes under the spell of Simon, a vampire doomed to live until he avenges the death of his mother 300 years earlier.

Kiss the Dust by Elizabeth Laird, 1993
It's Iraq and Tara's family are Kurds. "He" has put out the word, and they must flee for their lives.

The Giver by Lois Lowry, 1994
At the age of 12, Jonas is given his life assignment - to become the receiver of memories from far-past times--and discovers the horrible secret that his society has hidden for the "safety and happiness" of its citizens.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden, 1996
When they return from a wilderness camping trip, Ellie and her friends are shocked to discover Australia has been invaded and soon find fighting and surviving have become their way of life.

Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald, 1997
Depression, guilt, and fear plague Michael's dreams after a stray bullet from his rifle kills a man.

Slam by Walter Dean Myers, 1997
"Slam" Harris is a talented basketball player whose dreams of fame and fortune in the NBA can come true--if he can control his anger.

Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers, 1993
Jimmy is shocked when an unexpected visitor turns out to be his father, who has been in prison for eight years and now wants Jimmy to drive with him to Chicago.

Sabriel by Garth Nix, 1997
Sabriel makes a desperate quest through the Gates of Death to free her necromancer father from the strengthening powers of the spirits of the dead.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, 1991
In these candid short stories based on O'Brien's Vietnam experiences, pictures, heartaches, dreams and terror are the things soldiers in Vietnam carry.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, 1999
With only a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead as a clue to his true identity, Harry Potter, by a twist of fate, leaves his unloving foster family for a life of wizardry and celebrity.

Holes by Louis Sachar, 1999
Stanley Yelnats is sentenced to Camp Green Lake, where he finds a treasure and puts an end to a long-running curse on his family.

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples, 1990
Torn between allegiance to her family and her growing independence and strength, Shabanu tells the story of her life as a member of a nomadic tribe in the Pakistani desert.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, 1990
Chinese American daughters find conflict, love and connection with their mothers, who are haunted by their early lives in China.

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff, 1994
High-school student LaVaughn, determined to earn money for college, baby-sits for Jolly, an unwed teenage mother of two, and matures in the process.

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson, 1999
Jeremiah, who is white, and Ellie, who is African American, feel an immediate connection and then must cope with the reactions to their relationship by the people around them.

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, 1993
Grandmother Gemma always told the story of Briar Rose, and after she dies, her granddaughter discovers that Gemma was a real-life Sleeping Beauty--a Holocaust survivor.     

April 11, 2006