Top 10 Best Books for Teens in 2002

Click on "This Library Owns a Copy" button to see if this book is available for check-out. All books are listed in alphabetical order by author.
 

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

by Ann Brashares
Four friends share a magical pair of pants.





 

The Rag and Bone Shop

by Robert Cormier
Trent, an ace interrogator, works to get a confession from an introverted 12-year-old accused of murdering his 7-year-old friend.





 

Whale Talk

by Chris Crutcher
TJ shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school’s less popular students.




 

Breathing Underwater

by Alex Flinn
Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Nick recounts his relationship with her and examines his controlling behavior and anger.



 

Damage

by A.M. Jenkins
Seventeen-year-old football hero, Austin, tries to understand the inexplicable depression that has drained his interest in life.




 

Zazoo

by Richard Mosher
A Vietnamese orphan raised in rural France by her aging “Grand-Pierre” learns about life, death, and love.




 

Lirael

by Garth Nix
When a dangerous necromancer threatens to unleash a long-buried evil, Lirael and Prince Sameth are drawn into a battle to save the Old Kingdom and reveal their true destinies.




 

The Land

by Mildred Taylor
After the Civil War, Paul finds himself caught between two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own.




 

Every Time a Rainbow Dies

by Rita Williams-Garcia
After seeing a girl raped and becoming obsessed with her, Thulani finds motivation to move beyond his interest in his pigeons and his grief over his mother’s death.



 

True Believer

by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, LaVaughn learns from old and new friends that life is what you make it – an occasion to rise to.