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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Rebellion 1776
"In March 1776, Elsbeth Culpepper finally had hope. Hope that the Patriots would beat the British Army and free Boston. Hope that she could quit working as a kitchen maid and start apprenticing with a seamstress. Hope that she and Pappa would live together under the same roof again, something they hadn't done since Momma...and her brothers and baby sister...Well, it's too sad to say. But the flames of war quickly turn all her hopes to ash. The British and Loyalists prepare to flee, plunging Boston into chaos. As Elsbeth searches for her missing father, she stumbles across a stranger dying of smallpox. An epidemic rages in tandem with the American Revolution. Suddenly, her dreams of the future are reduced to one simple wish: survival." - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Shadow Road
After electric dragon-like monsters descended upon the earth and wiped out the power, teen survivors Thomas and Cassie embark on an epic journey to defeat the creatures and save humanity. - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Song of A Blackbird
"In 1943 Amsterdam, Emma Bergsma's world changes when she witnesses Jewish families being forcibly deported to concentration camps. That pivotal moment lights a fire within her, and she decides to jointhe Dutch Resistance. Before long, Emma is drawn into a clandestine world of printing presses and counterfeiters, with thousands of lives on the line. In 2011 Amsterdam, teenage Annick's world has changed as well. A search for a bone marrow donor for her beloved oma leads to a shocking revelation: her grandmother was secretly adopted as a child. The only clues to finding their lost family are a series of art prints hanging on the wall--each signed by a mysterious "Emma B."" - from publisher. GN
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Spice Road
When she learns that her brother is spreading the nation's secret spice magic to outsiders, sixteen-year-old Shield warrior Imani sets out on a dangerous mission to find him, discovering secrets that lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes--and in her own heart. - from publisher
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Star Splitter
"For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren't just hypotheticals--they're real. They're also the very real reason her scientist parents left her behind six years ago. Now she is about to be reunited with them, forced to leave behind everyone she knows and loves, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth. Teleportation is safe and routine in the year 2198, but something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Jessica wakes up in an empty, and utterly destroyed, landing unit from the DS Theseus, the ship where she was supposed to rendezvous with her parents. But Jessica isn't on the Theseus orbiting Carver 1061c. The lander seems to have crashed on the planet's surface. Its corridors are empty and covered in bloody handprints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, are the carefully, and recently, marked graves of strangers. Questions of self-determination and survival collide in this expertly crafted science fiction novel from Edgar Award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby. Kirby builds spine-tingling tension page-by-page in this imaginative and haunting story that spans both space and time" - from Goodreads. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Survivor Wants to Die at the End
"Paz Dario stays up every night, waiting for the Death-Cast call that would mean he doesn't have to keep faking his way through this lonely life. After a devastating day, Paz decides he's done waiting around for Death-Cast. If they say he's not dying, he'll just have to prove them wrong. But right before Paz can die, a boy saves his life. Alano Rosa is heir to the Death-Cast empire that encourages everyone to live their best lives, but he doesn't feel in control of his own existence thanks to his father. And with a violent organization called the Death Guard threatening Alano, his End Day might be closer than he thinks. It's time to live. Fate brings Paz and Alano together, but it's now up to the boys to survive the tragic trials ahead so no one dies at the end" - from publisher
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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A Thousand Steps Into Night
"In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper's daughter. But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continuously thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again. But with her transformation comes power and freedom she never even dreamed of, and she'll have to decide if saving her soul is worth trying to cram herself back into an ordinary life that no longer fits her... and perhaps never did.: - from publisher. MS
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Three Sisters
"Harper and her two sisters face extreme danger and unexpected natural disasters while hiking in the Cascades of Oregon" - from publisher
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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A Wizard of Earthsea
Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and unleashed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. Experience the bestselling first adventure of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle as a masterly crafted graphic novel. Fred Fordham brings new life to Le Guins iconic fantasy classic with his breathtaking illustrations and thoughtful text adaptation. - from publisher. GN MS
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Zombie Apocalypse Running Club
When twins Eira and Soren escape from their survivalist home into a world overcome by zombies, there's only one way to stay alive: run! Eira and Soren are queer twins living with their survivalist parents when a plague starts spreading that turns people into zombie-like monsters. They disagree with their parents about a lot, but they can't deny that their way of life keeps them safe while much of the world perishes--for now. When it becomes clear that their safety won't last, the twins decide to strike out on their own. They don't get far before encountering the one remaining person in the closest town: their friend Racer, a gold medal-winning Special Olympics champion. Racer is appalled at the twins' slow speed and tells them that their survivalist skills aren't worth anything if they can't outrun the monsters. He sets them on a training regimen that comes in handy when they embark on the bigger journey ahead of them. On their trek they find friends, enemies, and even love. But with zombies on their heels at every turn, will they ever be able to slow down? - from publisher
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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