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500 Great Books for Teens [Hardcover]

Anita Silvey (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 3, 2006
If you are looking for a book to give to a teenage reader, here's the reference you've been waiting for. Until now, there's been no accepted guide to what's good, bad, or indifferent in the flood of books coming off the presses in the hot new category of young-adult publishing. If it's true that you can't judge a book by its cover, it is especially true for teen books, as publishers take aim at a new class of readers. The books land on shelves without a history, and so there is no standard by which to judge them.

Anita Silvey, one of the country's leading authorities on books for young people, has interviewed teenage readers all over the country and immersed herself in young-adult books, with an emphasis on books published in the last five years. The result is this invaluable and very readable guide for parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, reading groups, and of course teens themselves.

With its extended essays describing 500 selections, parents will quickly see what their teenagers are actually reading -- and will be able to find good books to introduce them to. Teachers can spot excellent additions to summer reading lists. Booksellers can move customers from one favorite to a host of others in the same genre. Librarians can round out collections. Book groups -- for adults, teens, or both -- will have hundreds of new titles to consider.

500 Great Books for Teens is divided into twenty-one sections, including adventure and survival, politics and social history, horror, romance, war and conflict, fantasy, plays, graphic novels, poetry, memoir, and spirituality. Every section offers up classics, but the majority of titles are new. In "Beyond the 500," Silvey compiles a number of useful lists, including books organized by geographic location and historical period, as well as recommended audio books.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Great Books for High School Kids: A Teacher's Guide to Books That Can Change Teens' Lives $10.09

500 Great Books for Teens + Great Books for High School Kids: A Teacher's Guide to Books That Can Change Teens' Lives


Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Silvey has put together contemporary and classic adult and YA titles that meet her criteria for exemplary writing and wide appeal. Familiar groupings such as "Fantasy," "Historical Fiction," and "Mystery" accompany newer subject areas such as "Many Cultures, Many Realities," "Edgy, Trendsetting Novels," and "Politics and Social Conscience." Nonfiction titles, such as Into Thin Air and Young Men and Fire, are included in the "Adventure and Survival" category, and a unique chapter called "Information" contains books such as Undaunted Courage, Nickel and Dimed, and Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science. All Printz Award-winners and honor books are included, as well as some Newberys, Pulitzers, National Book Awards, and other noteworthy winners. In a conversational tone, Silvey introduces each chapter, noting characteristics of the genre followed by a two- or three-paragraph description of each book briefly outlining the plot and other elements such as writing style, themes, and significance to young adult literature. Silvey's classics include Hound of the Baskervilles, Our Town, and To Kill a Mockingbird, but librarians will agree she has a pulse on contemporary titles that will endure, such as The Da Vinci Code, Looking for Alaska, I Am the Messenger, and A Certain Slant of Light. Extras include a time line, geographical location for settings, additional titles for each subject area, and a list of recommended audiobooks.—Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Anita Silvey has spent more than thirty years in the children's book field, including several years as the Vice President and Publisher of Childrens Books for Houghton Mifflin Company, and eleven years as editor-in-chief at the Horn Book Magazine, during which time she launched the bi-annual publication of the Horn Book Guide. She is the editor of Children's Books and Their Creators.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; None edition (October 3, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0618612963
  • ISBN-13: 978-0618612963
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource for any Library, December 2, 2006
This review is from: 500 Great Books for Teens (Hardcover)
The first thing that I did when I saw this book was check the index to see if Harry Potter books was listed. It was. And the opening sentence about the book says: 'As a way to entice the young into reading, few stories surpass the Harry Potter novels.' Again as Ms. Silvey says, the Harry Potter books will naturally 'find its detractors.' Sure. But the first sentence is the key. More kids have gotten into reading by being introduced to Harry Potter than any other book ever.

OK, if she got this one right, how about other books? In this same section: 'Fantasy' - Ms. Silvey talks about the Diana Wynne Jones Chrestomanci series. About these books she says: 'its advocates always argue its literary superiority to the Harry Potter saga.' Right On! When the kid has finished the Harry Potter series and looking for something else, point him to the Jones books. Or to Narnia. Or to Anne McCaffrey -- all of which are discussed by Ms. Silvey.

This is exactly what a book like this should do. Give you the ideas to get the youngers to reading. And this is exactly what the book delivers. If not in Fantasy, then in advernture, history, mystery, science fiction and several other categories.

Complaints, a few - she doesn't list Isaac Asimov's Foundation series in the science fiction section. Things like that. But could you ever pick 500 titles upon which we would all agree.

An excellent resource book.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable guide!, December 28, 2006
This review is from: 500 Great Books for Teens (Hardcover)
I am usually skeptical when reviewing resources or ads because, as a shopper, I have to know what I'm recommending and stand by it. I was recently given carte blanche to handle several people's gift lists AND review lists. The review buying is easy, it's largely what juts came out. The gift selections need to be more specific, and with all the product out there shouting to be bought --well, the task is trying enough for those of us who just want a good read, let alone purchase them for other people.

THIS reference was an invaluable help to me, and will be to parents, teachers, librarians and anyone facing the huge variety of choices out there. The book lists 500 titles, and each one has a very readable and detailed essay about the selection.

It is further categorized in 21 different genre sections: adventure and survival, politics and social history, horror, romance, war and conflict, fantasy, plays, graphic novels, poetry, memoir, and spirituality.

This reference has a balanced mix of classics, but the majority of titles are new. Since many readers are familiar with classics, this volume does well in mostly sorting out what's new. It also gets a parental recommendation because you can know what your teen is reading and promote discussion. If you're a shopper, this is your bible!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars It's an excellent librarian's or parents' pick, February 2, 2007
This review is from: 500 Great Books for Teens (Hardcover)
Any shopping for a book to give to a teen reader will welcome 500 Great Books for Teens, a guide to some of the newest in the young adult publishing world. Silvey is one of the nation's foremost authorities on books for teens, has interviewed teen readers across the country, and emphasizes here books published in the past five years. It's an excellent librarian's or parents' pick; especially considering how many books on 'best of pick for teens' focus on those over published over ten years ago.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
golden child, francesca lia block, high school reading lists, books for teens
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Houghton Mifflin, New York, United States, Random House, Civil War, Harry Potter, Holden Caulfield, Native American, New Jersey, North Carolina, The Catcher, Separate Peace, Robert Cormier, The Giver, Sherlock Holmes, Los Angeles, West Virginia, Clockwork Orange, Front Street, King Arthur, Iwo Jima, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico
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