I need some really good summer reading and I'm running out of books! Keep in mind that I'm 13 years old. Thanks a bunch!
My Fave Authors
Caroline B. Cooney
Louisa May Allcot
J.K. Rowling
I hope some of my suggestions help you!!

My daughter (also 13) has recently enjoyed:
The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The City of Ember
Artemis Fowl (now a 4 book series)

She has read these several times each:
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lemony Snicket books
Harry Potter (of course)

She wants to read:
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (due out in July?)


I'm sure there are others... I'll ask her for recommendations when she wakes up tomorrow. You might also ask the librarian at your city library - most libraries have recommendations for summer reading for various age-groups or for different genres of books (sci-fi, thriller, etc.)

One thought... don't necessarily limit yourself to what is considered Young Adult or Teen literature. You might find that you really enjoy spy novels or mysteries or horror (Stephen King was a favorite of mine at your age). You might also like some of the 'classics' though many of those are harder to get through because the writing style often isn't like books written today. But if you liked Little Women, you might also enjoy something like Pride & Prejudice. Again this is an area that the librarian could likely help you with.

Hope this helps -
Amy


PS - my daughter has a user-name set up here ( superchic-k- ) but hasn't posted any reviews yet... I'm hoping to convince her that it's fun to do. Maybe we can convince you too...

:)

Let's see here...

Ender's Game (by Orson Scott Card) is a good sci-fi novel. There are two other books that go along with it, and they are Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hedgemon.

The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez (by Judy Goldschmidt) is also a good book. It is set up as the weblog Raisin uses to keep in touch with two of her friends.

Time Stops for No Mouse and The Sands of Time (by Michael Hoeye) are based on the adventures of one Mr. Hermux Tantamoq, a mouse who works as a watchmaker.

The Xanth books (by Piers Anthony) are about various people/creatures who live in the magical land of Xanth. The first book is called A Spell for Chameleon, and two people go off to find a cure for Chameleon's magical talent. However, you can pick up just about any of these 28 novels and understand what is going on because they stand on their own.

superchic-k-

Harry Potter - If you haven't read Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, those are quick reads that'll tide you over. The next book is due out July 16th, by the way.

If you like Rowling, then give Diana Wynne Jones a try. She's written a lot of books. Howl's Moving Castle is probably the best one. There's a Japanese animated movie based on it due to hit the US theatres next week!

I second the recommendation for Ender's Game. You can keep going after that to the two divergent series, or stop with Ender's Game. I think it's still the best of all of them.

Here's the two divergent series:

Ender's Game-> Speaker for the Dead -> Xenocide -> Children of the Mind

Ender's Game-> Ender's Shadow -> Shadow of the Hegemon -> Shadow Puppets -> Shadow of the Giant

Ender's Shadow is actually a parallel novel. It covers many of the same events of Ender's Game, but from the point of view of another character. So you can actually read that one first if you feel like it.

The first series follows Ender's life, the second series follows the lives of Bean, Ender's brother, and other students. I prefer the second series myself, though I haven't read the last book yet.

ˇAdiós, Cuba!

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series is pretty decent.

Lloyd Alexander's Taran series (beginning with "The Book of Three") is also good.

So is "The Neverending Story". I forget who wrote that one though.

Pretty much anything by Neil Gaiman is decent. I liked "Stardust" and "Coraline" quite a bit and both would be cool for younger readers. Some of his other stuff might be a bit more suited for older readers though I suppose.

Ander

Never read the book. Liked the movie though.

And the guy who sang the song had some beautific hair.

-Andy

In another thread in the books, someone had recommended "The Last Unicorn," by Peter S. Beagle. Would you believe that my city library had every other book of his, except the Unicorn one. Yet EVERY one of his books had the blurb on the cover about his being the author of the Unicorn book. Can't figure that.

I read another of his books and it was delightful but I doubt if it's suitable for 13-yr-olds.

Saw the animated movie of The Last Unicorn, years ago, and never forgot it. So it should be a great one to recommend here.

Lorace

ps - you all steered me toward Ender's Game, and I add my hearty support. Fascinating!

...Caroline Cooney, you might also enjoy Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Katherine Paterson. They've both written excellent books in a similar genre.

Avi has also written some good ones, in particular "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" and "Crispin: Cross of Lead."

When my neice was your age and looking for books, I recommended the following to her:

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Phantom Tollbooth (one of my all-time favorites!) by Norman Juster
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Philip Hall Likes Me I Reckon Maybe by Bette Greene
The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw
The Ear, The Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken
Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite DeAngeli (a rather short book)

And while I didn't particularly care for it, "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke has been well-received by a lot of the people who like the Harry Potter books. I liked the concept of it, I didn't care for its execution.

Is that also a Susan Cooper book?