Best beach reads for teens

June 18, 9:33 AMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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Growing up, the worst part of summer was always the required reading I had to do.  Despite being an avid reader, there was no way I could power through Lord of Flies or Sir Gawin and the Green Knight.  

Instead, like most teens, I waited until the day before school started to buy the book (and cliff notes) and skimmed them enough to pass the quiz the next day.  Fortunately, I'm far from those days.  In the spirit of summer reading, I'm giving you the best beach reads for teens as something to help fuel the procrastination of reading Tale of Two Cities or Moby Dick (though kudos to all teens who read those first to get them out of the way).  Here's what I'm reading this summer and what I'm recommending to teens and adults to spice up their summer reading.  Unlike the adult summer beach reads, most of these are hardcover (but they're worth it).

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

Mia is on a drive with her brother and parents when their car is hot.. Her parents die and Mia is whisked away to a hospital.  While in a coma she reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live.  For fans of The Lovely Bones and for anyone who doesn't mind crying on the beach.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This first  young adult novel by local author and National Book Award winner Alexie is a semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian who is a regular target of bullies, loves to draw, and transfers to a white school nearby.  It is charming and hysterical and the art by Ellen Forney is fantastic.  This is perfect for even the most reluctant readers.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In this riveting dystopia story of a fascist  and futuristic United States, rebellious districts are punished by the government with the annual Reaping. Each district provides a child at the Reaping to fight to the death against the other districts' children in the Hunger Games, based on the Greek myth of Theseus.  The book which is a blend of suspense, science fiction, and romance, reads like a video game.  The second book of the trilogy, Catching the Fire is due out in September.

If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney

Jack Fountain knows that what’s happened to his family sounds like the most horrible soap opera anyone could ever write. But it happened.  What made it worse was that the media wanted to know every detail after his greedy aunt sells the story as a tragic reality show.  This gripping thriller details how love, devotion, and forgiveness make resilience and recovery possible.

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot

The second book in Cabot's Airhead series is part romance, part crime thriller, and part comedy.  Emerson Watts discovers that there are even worse things than being a braniac trapped inside the body of a teenage supermodel.

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby

Forget vampires, zombies are the new black.  High-school senior Mia inadvertently casts a spell that turns her entire senior class into flesh-eating zombies who believe that she is their queen. Fortunately, there is a new kid in school named Chase who is actually an agent from the Department of Paranormal Containment.  It is up to Mia, her best friend, Candice, and Chase  to reverse the spell before things get out of hand.

Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover by Ally Carter

In this long awaited third Gallagher Girls novel  Cammie Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States.  Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers' plot, with only their espionage skills from their spy school to save them.   

My Most Excellent Year:  A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger

The title pretty much sums it up.  Boston teens T. C., Augie, and Alejandra chronicle events their experiences with romance, baseball, and musical theater during their freshman year in the form of school assignments, letters, and instant messages.  

Paper Towns by John Green

In this Edgar Award-winning novel, Green involves the reader in a complex mystery.   Weeks before graduating from their Orlando-area high school, Quentin childhood best friend, Margo disappears.  At first he worries that she might have committed suicide, but then he begins discovering clues that seem to have been left for him, which might reveal Margo’s whereabouts. He begins to discover that the real mystery is not Margo’s fate but Margo herself.

The Treasure Map of Boys:  Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch--and me, Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart

Ruby is back at Tate Prep, and it's her thirty-seventh week in the state of Noboyfriend. Her panic attacks are bad, her love life is even worse.  Not only that, she’s also: running a bake sale, learning the secrets of heavy metal therapy, encountering some seriously smelly feet, defending the rights of pygmy goats, and The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book are also worth checking out.