Tenth Presbyterian Church Library - Summer Reading Contest


Suggested Reading for Teens (ages 12-16)
starred (*) selections are owned by Tenth's library


Achebe, Chinua
    Things Fall Apart

Austen, Jane
    Emma
    Mansfield Park
    Persuasion
    Pride and Prejudice*
    Sense and Sensibility


Batson, Wayne Thomas
    The Door Within trilogy

Bernanos, Georges
    Diary of a County Priest

Bradbury, Ray
    The Martian Chronicles
    Farhenheit 451


Bronte, Charlotte
    Jane Eyre

Buchan, John
    Witchwood
(Some may find Witchwood theologically distressing in its portrayal of Scottish Presbyterianism run amok)

Cabot, Meg
    Princess Diaries series

Card, Orson Scott
    Ender's Game

Carlson, Melody
    Diary of a Teenage Girl series
    True Colors series


Davis, Bryan
    Dragons in Our Midst series

Dickens, Charles
    Great Expectations

Dumas, Alexander
    The Count of Monte Cristo
    The Three Musketeers


Endo, Shusako
    Silence

Enger, Leif
    Peace Like a River

Finley, Martha
    Elsie Dinsmore series
    Mildred Keith series


Fox, Paula
    The Slave Dancer

Gibson, William
    The Miracle Worker

Greene, Graham
    The Heart of the Matter
    The Power and the Glory


Hancock, Karen
    Light of Eidon
    The Shadow Within


Henderson, Dee
    The O'Malley Family series

Herriot, James
    All Creatures Great and Small
    All Things Bright and Beautiful
    All Things Wise and Wonderful
    Every Living Thing
    The Lord God Made Them All


Hickam, Homer
    The Coalwood Way
    Rocket Boys


Hijuelos, Oscar
    Empress of the Splendid Season
    Mr. Ives' Christmas


James, P.D.
    Children of Men

Johnson, Lois Walfrid.
    Viking Quest series

Karon, Jan
    The Mitford series*

Kingsolver, Barbara
    The Poisonwood Bible
(While brilliantly written and raising important issues for Christians, some readers may be disturbed Kingsolver's portrayal of a missionary's spiritual hubris and self-destruction)

Lawhead, Stephen
    The Pendragon trilogy*
    Song of Albion series*
    The Black Rood
    Grail
    In the Hall of the Dragon King*
    The Iron Lance
    The Mystic Rose
    Pendragon
    The Sword and the Flame*
    The Warlords of Nin*


L'Engle, Madeleine
    An Acceptable Time*
    Arm of the Starfish*
    Dragons in the Waters*
    Meet the Austins
    Moon by Night*
    Ring of Endless Light*
    A Swiftly Tilting Planet*
    The Young Unicorns
    A Wind in the Door*
    A Wrinkle in Time*


Lewis, C.S.
    Narnia Series*
    Space Trilogy*
    The Great Divorce*
    The Pilgrim's Regress*
    The Screwtape Letters*
    Till We Have Faces


London, Jack
    Call of the Wild
    White Fang


Marshall, Katherine
    Christy*
    Julie*


Miller, Calvin
    Singer series*

Montgomery, L.M.
    Anne of Green Gables series
    Emily series


Morris, Gilbert
    Seven Sleepers series

Paul, Donita K.
    Dragon Keepers series

Potok, Chaim
    The Chosen
    My Name Is Asher Lev
    The Promise

(Though Potok was Jewish, his novels present a positive portrayal of people of traditional faith as they negotiate their way through a modern world)

Peterson, Katherine
    Angels and Other Strangers
    Jacob Have I Loved*
    Parzival
    Preacher's Boy
    Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom


Robinson, Marilynne
    Gilead

Sebestyen, Ouida
    Words by Heart

Siegel, Robert
    Alpha Centauri

Speare, Elizabeth George
    The Bronze Bow
    The Sign of the Beaver
    The Witch of Blackbird Pond


Smith, Cordwainer
    Norstrilia*
(Smith is the pseudonym for Paul M. A. Linebarger, a devout Christian science fiction writer during the middle of the 20th century)

Stevenson, Robert Lewis
    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
    Treasure Island


Stowe, Harriet Beecher
    Uncle Tom's Cabin

Taylor, Mildred
    Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Ten Boom, Corrie
    The Hiding Place

Thoene, Bodie
    Zion Chronicles series*
    Zion Covenant series*


Tolkein, J.R.R.
    The Fellowship of the Ring*
    The Return of the King*
    The Silmarillion
    The Two Towers*


Twain, Mark
    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
    Life on the Mississippi
    The Prince and the Pauper


Voigt, Cynthia
    The Tillerman Series
    Elske
    Jackaroo
    On Fortune's Wheel
    A Solitary Blue
    The Wings of a Falcon


Wangerin, Walter
    The Book of God
    The Book of the Dun Cow*
    The Book of Sorrows*
    The Crying for a Vision
    The Orphean Passages
    Paul: a novel*
    Saint Julian*


Webster, Jane
    Daddy Long Legs*

White, John
    Archives of Anthropos series*

Williams, Charles
    All Hallow's Eve
    Descent into Hell*
    The Greater Trumps*
    Many Dimensions
    Place of the Lion*
    Shadows of Ecstacy
    War in Heaven*

(A Christian and colleague of Tolkien and Lewis, Williams' novels have been described as "metayphysical thrillers" with peculiar supernatural occurences and some occult aspects)


Tenth Presbyterian Church - 1701 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 - www.tenth.org