By Dennis Abrams
What are the best-ever teen novels? NPR asked, and over 75,000 listeners responded. Here’s the top fifteen:
15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery
13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
12. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams
11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry
10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Breen
8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
7. The Lord of the Rings (series) by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
The list, perhaps naturally, tilts toward the new vs. classics, with the number one choice, the Harry Potter series, probably no surprise to anyone at all. There were, though, a few surprises. The author with the most titles on the list? John Green, whose popularity among young readers is apparent with a startling five. The oldest title to make the list? Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 classic, Treasure Island (closely followed by Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. But where’s Tom Sawyer? Little Women? Or, one of my personal favorites, Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time? (She’s represented at #63 with A Ring of Endless Light, but…come on…)
Of course, lists like this aren’t really “definitive” – they’re meant to stir up debate. So what would make your list of the “best-ever teen fiction?” Let the debate begin!
See the entire list here.