Young Adult Beach Reads

Atkins, Catherine. Alt Ed. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2003. (14 and up)
Rebel characters are forced to attend after-school group counseling in order to avoid suspension.

Balliet, Blue. Chasing Vermeer. New York: Scholastic, 2004. (12 and up)
Art thieves run off with a famous painting, and two teens are the only ones savvy enough to track it down.

Brooks, Kevin. Kissing the Rain. New York: Chicken House, 2004. (15 and up)
Chubby teen “Moo” witnesses a murder involving the mob and his life changes two-fold.

Caletti, Deb. Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. (14 and up)
Ruby tries to overcome her shyness by dating and joining a book club.

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York: Putnam, 2004. (11 and up)
Humor abounds when Moose is forced to move to Alcatraz Island because of his father’s new job.

Cohn, Rachel. Pop Princess. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. (13 and up)
Wonder Blake discovers instant fame isn’t always glittery and glamorous.

Dean, Zoey. The A List. New York: Little, Brown, 2003. (15 and up)
The “A List” wealthy girls of L.A. don’t like east coaster Anna dating one of their own boys.

Fisher, Catherine. The Oracle Betrayed. New York: Greewillow, 2004. (10 and up)
A British fantasy set in ancient times finds Mirany on a quest to find the replacement of earth-god Archon.

Fredericks, Mariah. The True Meaning of Cleavage. New York: Atheneum, 2003. (12 and up)
Two friends’ friendship becomes strained when they enter high school and their looks begin to take on super-importance.

Frost, Helen. Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004. (10 and up)
Inner thoughts, fears, experiences professed through poems from each student of classroom 214.

Gideon, Melanie. The Map That Breathed. New York: Henry Holt, 2003. (11 and up)
Nora travels through a portal into a fantasy-land that also allows its creatures to travel to earth as well.

Henkes, Kevin. Olive’s Ocean. New York: Greenwillow, 2003. (10 and up)
Martha experiences a first kiss and learns about her grandmother’s secrets while vacationing on Cape Cod.

Horowitz, Anthony. Eagle Strike. New York: Philomel, 2004. (12 and up) Fourth title of The Alex Rider series
Teenage spy Alex becomes a character in a video game in order to stop an assassin. It is not necessary to have read the previous titles in the series to enjoy this one.

Jenkins, A.L. Out of Order. New York: HarperCollins, 2004 (14 and up)
Colt is a fantastic baseball player, part of the in-crowd and has a girlfriend--this changes when Corinne becomes his tutor.

Jones, Diana Wynne. Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. (12 and up)
Short stories spanning all fiction genres with many involving fantasy and science fiction.

Jones, Patrick. Things Change. New York: Walker & Co., 2004. (13 and up)
An intense read about Paul taking out his frustrations on his girlfriend Joanna.

Juby, Susan. Miss Smithers. New York: HarperTempest, 2004 (13 and up) (sequel to Alice, I Think)
Alice enters the Miss Smithers pageant, once again testing her sense of self.

Koja, Kathe. The Blue Mirror. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004 (14 and up)
Maggy, an artist who spends her time at a local café, falls in love for the first time with an unfortunate end.

Korman, Gordon. Jake, Reinvented. New York: Hyperion, 2003. (15 and up)
High schooler Jake throws parties to try and impress beautiful classmate Didi. A pop-culture version of The Great Gatsby.

Lamm, C. Drew. Bittersweet. New York: Clarion, 2003. (13 and up)
An emotional read about a 16-year old who comes to grip with a grandma’s illness, and also the way her relationship with two friends changes for the better and for the worse.

Lowry, Brigid. Guitar Highway Rose. New York: Holiday House, 2003. (14 and up)
Set in Australia, two teens that don’t fit in decide to hitchhike their way to self-awareness.

Lubar, David. Wizards of the Game. New York: Philomel Books, 2003. (11 and up)
A wizard game causes an uproar—is the game a bad influence on teens or is it just harmless fun?

Mass, Wendy. Leap Day. Boston: Little Brown & Co., 2004. (12 and up)
Josie’s 16th birthday is chronicled from the viewpoints of all involved in the day’s event.

Myracle, Lauren. Eleven. New York: Dutton Books, 2004. (10 and up)
Winnie feels out of place because her best friend suddenly becomes boy-crazy.

O’Brien, Judith. Mary Jane: A Novel. New York: Marvel, 2004. (12 and up)
A Spiderman tale finds Mary Jane and Peter cracking the secret behind a new invention.

Sones, Sonya. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. (13 and up)
Ruby reluctantly moves-in with her famous, Hollywood father after her mother dies.

Tashjian, Janet. Vote For Larry. New York: Henry Holt, 2004. (14 and up)(sequel to The Gospel According to Larry)
Josh uses his famous musician friends to help him run for president of the United States—all at the age of eighteen.

Updale, Eleanor. Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? New York: Orchard Books, 2004. (13 and up)
A thief deceives high society and scoundrels with his sinister plots in Victorian England.

Werlin, Nancy. Double Helix. New York: Dial Books, 2004. (13 and up)
Eli is excited to take a summer job working with a genetic doctor, but he soon begins to question the doctor’s experiments.