Lifhaker already compiled a selection of the best books for teenagers, which included lists from Time magazine, The Guardian, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and our editorial staff.
We suggested that you complete the selection with your favorite works from childhood and adolescence, and you actively connected. We present to your attention the list of the best books for teens according to the readers of the Lifehacker.
1. “Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof”, Astrid Lindgren
The first part of the trilogy, which is known to Soviet children primarily for cartoons. It’s funny how Boris Stepantsev adapted the literary material. According to the book Baby – spoiled selfish child. He has not only parents but also friends (Christer and Gunilla). In the cartoon Baby – a lonely boy, under the watchful eye of the “inquirer” Froken Bock, who invented himself a friend. And Carlson’s favorite food in the book is not jam with sweets, but meatballs.
Buy on Litres.ru
2. “The Little Prince”, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A children’s fairy tale for adults of the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, published in 1943. The story of a boy with golden hair is a fount of wisdom. “The Little Prince” translated into more than 180 languages, based on his motives films were shot, music was written. The book became part of modern culture and was scattered into quotations.
Buy on Litres.ru
3. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, Mark Twain
What did not have to do twelve-year-old swagger Tom in the pages of this story! He witnessed the murder, got lost in the cave, found a treasure, fled the house to become a pirate, and, of course, fell in love. The work of Mark Twain presents the whole palette of teenage experiences. Probably, that’s why it is so close to them.
Buy on Litres.ru
4. “The Adventures of Alice”, Kir Bulychev
Alisa Selezneva is a schoolgirl, a “guest from the future”. She is childishly spontaneous and fearless. Alice travels through galaxies and gets to know their inhabitants, whereas on Earth the civilization of people has long been flourishing. In addition to the exciting adventures of the main character, children of the 21st century will certainly be interested to know how Kir Bulychev represented life at the end of their century.
Buy on Litres.ru
5. “The Mysterious Island”, Jules Verne
This novel remains popular for almost 150 years (the first publication dates back to 1874). The adventures of Captain Nemo on the uninhabited island conquered the hearts of the readers no less than the previous works of Verna (“20 000 lei under the water” and “Children of Captain Grant”).
Buy on Сhitai-gorod.ru
6. “Treasure Island”, Robert Stephenson
The search for the treasures of Captain Flint excited the imagination of more than one generation of boys and girls. Perhaps in our time pirate adventures are not so relevant, but the philosophical motives raised in the book are interesting even now.
Buy on Litres.ru
7. “The Island of the Lost Ships”, Alexander Belyaev
The science fiction writer Alexander Belyaev is best known for his novels The Amphibian Man and The Head of Professor Dowell. “The island of the lost ships” remains unread many, and in vain. The adventures of the detective, the “criminal” and the daughter of a millionaire who miraculously survived in the shipwreck and got on the “island of the lost ships”, are captured (albeit not from the first pages) and not released until the end.
Read on Labirint.ru
8. “Two Captains”, Veniamin Kaverin
Centenials will certainly give their interpretation to the immortal motto of this work: “Fight and seek, find and not surrender.” And it is unlikely that they will be imbued with the romance of the profession of the pilot and the polar explorer, but the true love and friendship described in this novel should find a response in them.
Buy on Labirint.ru
9. “The Lost World”, Arthur Conan Doyle
The first book from the series of works about Professor Challenger. The expedition, consisting of British scientists, journalists and aristocrats, reveals a “window” to the ancient world. Among dinosaurs and man-lovers, it is very dangerous, but very interesting.
Buy on Litres.ru
10. “The Mines of King Solomon”, Henry Haggard
Several readers of the Lifehacker said that every young man and girl must get acquainted with the works of the classic of world adventure literature of Sir Haggard. It is recommended to begin acquaintance with the first book about Allan Kvotermeyne – “The King of Solomon’s Kope”.
Buy on Litres.ru
11. “The Ruined Empire”, Mark Lawrence
The trilogy “The Ruined Empire” was written in 2011-2013 by Anglo-American writer Mark Lawrence in the best traditions of fantasy. It includes the novels Prince Ternius, King Ternius and Emperor Ternius. Teenagers are particularly interested in the first book, where the main character is being formed.
12. “Hyperboloid engineer Garin, Alexei Tolstoy
The plot where the employee of the Soviet Criminal Investigation and the general uprising of the workers defeated the capitalist Pierre Harry, who imagines himself the ruler of the world, in modern realities looks funny. But anyway, this book is still about the victory of good over evil. Alexei Tolstoy should be applauded at least for the fact that, in fact, he foresaw the invention of the laser.
Buy on Litres.ru
13. “The Count of Monte Cristo”, Alexander Dumas
Classics of French literature. Adventure novel about love, betrayal and revenge. A simple Marseilles sailor, Edmond Dantes, turns into the mysterious and eccentric Count of Monte Cristo, but does man have the right to call himself an instrument of justice?
Buy on Сhitai-gorod.ru
14. “Les Miserables”, Victor Hugo
One of the greatest novels of the XIX century and the apotheosis of creativity Hugo. On the example of the hard life of Jean Valjean the author raises eternal philosophical problems. What is stronger – the law or love? Can the rich and the poor understand each other’s suffering? Does the desire for good always win in a person? The book is more suitable for older teens.
Buy on Litres.ru
15. “The Story of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin”, Alexander Pushkin
“Shot”, “Blizzard”, “Undertaker”, “Stationmaster”, “Maiden-peasant woman” – the names of these stories are known from the school bench. And this is the rare case when the works from the school program are truly captured and liked at a young age.
Buy on Сhitai-gorod.ru
16. “The Catcher in the Rye,” by Jerome Salinger
A novel about youth and the thirst for freedom. Seventeen-year-old Holden with his characteristic youth of maximalism expresses his opposition to a false public morality. Publisher Modern Library included him in the list of 100 best English-speaking novels of the last century. The work was very popular in the twentieth century and still receives recognition from young rebels.
Buy on Сhitai-gorod.ru
17. “Portrait of Dorian Gray”, Oscar Wilde
Dorian Gray is young and beautiful, but in the pursuit of pleasures is buried in selfishness and vices. Oscar Wilde’s excellent instructive story and his only published novel.
Buy on Litres.ru
18. Martin Eden, Jack London
In many ways an autobiographical novel about a man who made himself. To achieve the love of the girl not his own circle, Martin Eden actively engaged in self-education and succeeded a lot. But only the feelings have not been tested by social disunity. If you want to introduce the teenager to the philosophy of Nietzsche and Spencer in an exciting way, give him this book.
Buy on Litres.ru
19. “Collector”, John Fowles
John Fowles is an English writer, one of the outstanding representatives of postmodernism. A novel about a lone clerk and at the same time a butterfly collector Frederick Clegge, who abducts and detains a pretty girl at home, was written by Fowles in 1963. The book is read in one breath, but for a long time it makes you think about cruelty, loneliness and indifference.
Buy on Labirint.ru
20. “Body”, Stephen King
Another name is “Corpse.” “Not a very suitable book for children,” can say those who have not read the story published in the “Method of Breathing” collection. In fact, the story of the death of the boy takes less than a quarter of the book. The rest is memories of the youthlessness of the youth and the story of the difficult process of growing up. Many teenagers will recognize themselves in the main characters.
Buy on Litres.ru
21. “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Kies
A sci-fi story, subsequently written down to the novel, about a weak-minded man who, as a result of a scientific experiment, became the most intelligent on the planet. The age-old problem of grief from the mind and subtle ethical paradoxes make it necessary to read this book without stopping. The story was published in 1959, but in the XXI century, in the light of bioengineering developments and artificial intelligence, it acquires a special urgency.
Buy on Litres.ru
22. “Animal Farm”, George Orwell
This book is an excellent training for the brain of the younger generation. A satirical tale-parable depicting the transition from unlimited freedom and universal equality to dictatorship: “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others. “
Buy on Litres.ru
23. “Monday begins on Saturday,” the Strugatsky brothers
Many of the readers of the Lifehacker love the works of Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. We, too. Teenagers are best acquainted with these wonderful authors with a satirical tale about the programmer Privalov. In the future, we also recommend reading “The City of the Doomed”, “The Picnic on the Roadside” and “It’s Hard to Be a God”.
Buy on Litres.ru
24. “Young Guard”, Alexander Fadeev
The novel is dedicated to the activity of the same youth underground organization, which existed during the Great Patriotic War. Most of the main characters in the novel are real people, but the events described by the author did not always happen in reality. Nevertheless, the “Young Guard” is considered one of the best patriotic works.
Buy on Litres.ru
25. “The list did not appear”, Boris Vasilyev
The action of this story takes place at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The history of heroism and love of Lieutenant Nikolai Pluzhnikov is compulsory for reading for the upbringing of patriotism and genuine love for the Motherland.
Buy on Litres.ru
