Margaret Peterson Haddix's Summer Reading List

I was lucky enough not to face any required summer reading lists until I went to college. So I still think of summer as the best time to read for fun. Here are some recent teen books I've liked (though, if you really need to impress your teachers next fall, you can also call them thought-provoking):

THE WOMAN IN THE WALL
by Patrice Kindl
Puffin
ISBN: 0141301244
192 pages

 

 

About a girl who's so shy in a house that's so huge that she virtually disappears in it ... until she falls in love.

 

ELSKE
by Cynthia Voigt
Aladdin Paperbacks
ISBN: 0689844441
256 pages

 

 

About a strong-minded and strong-willed girl in a society that expects females to be weak.

 

HARD LOVE
by Ellen Wittlinger
Aladdin Paperbacks
ISBN: 068984154X
224 pages

 

 

About a boy who falls in love with the wrong person.

 

HIDDEN TALENTS
by David Lubar
Tor Books
ISBN: 0812541707
256 pages

 

 

About a group of kids at a special school who discover that their talent for making trouble really does involve talent. Very funny.

 

SPEAK
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Puffin
ISBN: 014131088X
208 pages

 

 

A book about rape should not be funny, but this one is. It's also poignant, powerful and amazing.