Summer Quest Reading Suggestions for Teens
Our Summer program is now for all ages! Read, Do and Go this summer to win prizes! Join us on a Quest!
Librarians at Seattle Public Library created this list of teen titles to help you on your Quest. Annotations provided by publisher unless otherwise noted.
GN = graphic novel MS = middle school appropriate
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The Assassin's Guide to Babysitting
Tru has been hiding all her life. Her parents taught her to conceal her bastion Talent: indestructible skin, muscles, and bones. In a world where Talents are common and varied, no one trusts a bastion--they're too powerful. Hiding failed to keep Tru's parents alive, but moments before their murder, Tru's mom pointed her to Logan Dire, a famed recluse assassin who adopted and trained orphaned Tru. At seventeen, she's still hiding. Not even her closest friends know her true name or Talent, or that she's balancing high school with knife and stealth training (while crushing on her BFF's older sister).When assassins interrupt a mundane babysitting job booked through BountyApp--where lethal hunters find work and babysitters for their kids--Tru flees with a one-year-old strapped to her chest and spiraling questions: Who killed her parents? Whom can she trust? What does it mean to be a bastion? And is it ever OK to kiss a girl who's trying to hunt you down? - from publisher
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Beasts
The world has been overrun by hitherto unknown beasts. Society has collapsed: the power is gone, cars are abandoned across the highways, and anyone left is hiding from the terrifying creatures --and one another. Thirteen-year-old Abdi and his five-year-old sister Alva are on the run. Their last hope is pto escape through the forest and to the sea. As they recall the strange events that led to the beasts' arrival, and how the two of them got to where they were, they must ask themselves who they can trust and what they will do to survive. - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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La Belle Sauvage
When Malcolm finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust, he finds himself embroiled in a tale of intrigue featuring enforcement agents from the Magisterium, a woman with an evil monkey daemon, and a baby named Lyra. - from publisher. First in a trilogy. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Big Jim and the White Boy
"Big Jim and the White Boy is a radical retelling of this American classic, centering the experiences of Jim, an enslaved Black man in search of his kidnapped wife and children, along with his cheeky sidekick, Huckleberry Finn. Jim and Huck's high-stakes adventures take them on an epic voyage across the antebellum South and Midwest, through Confederate war camps and runaway safe houses, into Old West standoffs, and on the road as covert Underground Railroad agents. Intertwined into the story of Jim and Huck are the stories of Jim's descendants in the 1930s, 1980s, and 2020s, making this a multigenerational family epic as well as an adventure story. Big Jim and the White Boy takes readers on a journey through Jim and Huck's past, present, and future, delving into their incredible friendship and years of adventures--a bond that transcends the gruesome racism of the Civil War era." - from publisher. GN
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Breath of the Dragon
Sixteen-year-old Jun, determined to restore his father's honor despite not being breathmarked, secretly enters in the elite Guardian's Tournament, where he discovers he is fighting for the country's fate. - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Breath of the Giant
The Giants live in the Lost Territories of the North, atop the mountains. The Ones who find their way there will, by killing one of these beasts, collect his breath and pass it on to a lifeless body. Against the Gods' will, the deceased will then come back to life. Sisters Iris and Sophia are determined to find one of these Giants. They lost their mother too soon and put all their hopes in this quest. But the journey ahead of them will bring way more than they were bargaining for. Can magic ease their pain and reunite them with their dearly departed parent? - from publisher. GN, MS
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Bridge of Storms
"Tamzin Pook and her motley crew of friends have been hired to save Museion, a traction city full of precious books and art, from the Junkyard Dogs. They're a vicious gang that has surrounded Museion and keeps it trapped in the mountain valley known as the Frying Pan. Only a seasoned fighter like Tamzin can find a way to stop them--or so she hopes. She and her friends might be in for the toughest fight of their lives. But things are not so simple. As they battle for the fate of Museion against the terrible predators that surround them, people on board Museion start to die one by one. There's a traitor within the city. A great storm is coming, attackers wait on all sides, and a deadly threat lurks within... They've got to find an escape from the Frying Pan, but every direction looks like a trap." - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Canto
"Enslaved for generations, Canto's people once had hearts. Now they have clocks. They are forbidden to love, yet Canto loves a little tin girl. When slavers damage her clock beyond repair, Canto embarks on an incredible journey through his strange and fantastic world to bring back her heart" - from publisher. First in a series. GN MS
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Capitana
"Ximena Reale has spent most of her life training at La Academia to join the Cazadores, seafaring hunters who track down pirates. Buther future is uncertain, thanks to her parents' questionable reputation. They were traitorous pirates, and though they were executed when Ximena and her sister were young, they permanently damaged the Reale name in the eyes of the Luzan Empire. Ability alone won't make Ximena a Cazadoro--or earn her the coveted Cazadoro cloak. So, when the legendary pirate Gasparilla returns and captures the Empire's queen, Ximena offers to bring back the queen and the notorious pirate in exchange for a cloak. But there's a catch: only one cloak is available, and Ximena's competition is Dante, an infuriating yet handsome classmate with mysterious motives" - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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City of the Beasts
"Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold is about to join his fearless grandmother on the trip of a lifetime. An International Geographic expedition is headed to the dangerous, remote wilds of South America, on a mission to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast. But there are many secrets hidden in the unexplored wilderness, as Alex and his new friend Nadia soon discover. Drawing on the strength of their spirit guides, both young people are led on a thrilling and unforgettable journey to the ultimate discovery. . . ." - from publisher. First in a trilogy. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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