Teen Summer Reading 2017

We’re going to read 180,000 books together this summer! The Library’s Teen Specialists created this booklist with diverse subject matter and characters, and a wide variety of genres to help get your started. We hope that everyone can find at least one book they like on this list. We love to hear what you’re reading, so share it on Instagram or Twitter with #PGHReads.


Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen

Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings–named one of “The 25 most influential teens” of the year by Time–shares her very public transgender journey, as she inspires people to accept the differences in others while they embrace their own truths.



Curse of the Boggin

When supernatural phenomenon start following Marcus O’Mara around, he discovers a key that leads to The Library, a place where all the stories of the living and dead are kept that will help him and his friends solve a terrifying mystery.


Dumplin'

Sixteen-year-old Willowdean wants to prove to everyone in her small Texas town that she is more than just a fat girl. So, while grappling with her feelings for a co-worker who is clearly attracted to her, Will and some other misfits prepare to compete in the beauty pageant her mother runs.


Falling Over Sideways

Claire’s life is a joke . . . but she’s not laughing. While her friends seem to be leaping forward, she’s dancing in the same place. The mean girls at school are living up to their mean name, and there’s a boy, Ryder, who’s just as bad, if not worse. And at home, nobody’s really listening to her — if anything, they seem to be more in on the joke than she is.


Ghost

Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential.


Goldie Vance. Volume One

When in-house detective Charlie comes up against a case he can’t crack, he calls upon sixteen-year-old Goldie, who uses her skills, smarts, and connections to solve the case.


Goodbye Stranger

As Bridge makes her way through seventh grade on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with her best friends, curvacious Em, crusader Tab, and a curious new friend–or more than friend–Sherm, she finds the answer she has been seeking since she barely survived an accident at age eight: “What is my purpose?”


Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World

A scrapbook-style teen guide to understanding what it really means to be a feminist packed with contributions from a diverse range of voices, including celebrities and public figures, and featuring more than forty-four pieces, including an eight-page insert of full-color illustrations.


In Real Life

Immersing herself in an online role-playing game where she enjoys fantasy heroics, Anda confronts a difficult choice when she befriends a gold farmer — a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game works illegally to collect valuable objects and sell them to other players for real money, which is strictly against the rules of the game. You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby. 


Lucy & Linh

In Australia, Lucy tries to balance her life at home surrounded by her Chinese immigrant family, with her life at a pretentious private school.


Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. Vol. 1

Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man! Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, will this thirteen-year-old live up to Peter Parker’s legacy?




One-Punch Man

Average-looking Japanese superhero Saitama has a not-so-average problem, he just can’t seem to find an opponent strong enough to take him on. Can Saitama find a monster who can go toe-to-toe with him for more than one punch, or is he doomed to a life of superpowered boredom?


The Only Road

Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous journey from his home in Guatemala to his older brother in New Mexico after his cousin is murdered by a drug cartel.You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby or as eAudio on Hoopla.



Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune

Documents the true story of the legendary samurai who was raised in the household of the enemies who killed his father before being sent to live in a monastery where he learned and perfected his fighting skills.




You Were Here

On the anniversary of her daredevil brother’s death, Jaycee breaks into Jake’s favorite hideout, an abandoned insane asylum, where her eccentric friends challenge her to rediscover buried parts of herself.