Several authors have written books with themes that revolve around teen girls. Be it fiction or non-fiction, these books are usually written in a manner that will help teen girls understand and relate to the world they live in. Some of these books tackle issues relating to love, romance, hygiene, career, self-esteem, peer pressure, and academics. Some authors have also written books that confront controversial, and occasionally taboo subjects like racism, drug abuse, feminism, and bullying. Examples of such books are Janet Fitch’s White Oleander.
These Books Are A Must Read For Every Teenage Girl
1. This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl
- Authors – Esther Earl, Lori Earl, Wayne Earl and John Green
Grace Earl’s This Star Won’t Go Out was first published in 2014. Through the pages of this interesting read, the author demonstrates that the true meaning of life is in loving and helping others. The book is a collection of Grace’s journals, fiction, letters, and sketches before she passed away in 2010 after battling Thyroid Cancer. She was aged 16.
2. White Oleander
Author: Janet Fitch
Fitch’s White Oleander was released in 1999 and since then it has remained a major sensation. The book revolves around 12-year-old Astrid’s relationship with her mother who is a self-centered and eccentric poet. When her mother is imprisoned for poisoning her boyfriend, Astrid has to be pushed from one foster home to another. The book shows the complexities of a relationship between mother and daughter that centers around the themes of betrayal and abandonment.
3. I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives
- Authors: Caitlin Alifirenka, Liz Welch & Martin Ganda
This book is a true story account of an American girl and a Zimbabwean boy whose lives changed forever after becoming pen pals. In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends—and better people through their inspiring long-distance exchange.
4. Eleanor & Park
- Author: Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor and Park are each other’s first love but they had difficulty in pulling it through. Neither Eleanor nor Park’s parents want them to be together, but the more they spend time with each other, the harder they fall in love.
5. The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives
- Author: Dashka Slater
Through this New York Times bestseller, Dashka describes the circumstances behind the meeting of Sasha and Richard who were both high school students from Oakland California. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a Black teen, lived in the economically challenged flatlands and attended a public school. Each day, the paths of the young lads cross for about 8 minutes. But while on the bus one afternoon, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned. What might at first seem like a simple matter of right and wrong turned out to be very complicated and heartbreaking.
6. Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies): Amazing women on what the F-word means to them
- Authors: Scarlett Curtis
This book is a collection of writing from extraordinary women, from Hollywood actresses to teenage activists, each telling the story of her relationship with feminism. Often funny, sometimes surprising, and always inspiring, this book aims to bridge the gap between the feminist hashtag and the scholarly text by giving women the space to explain how they feel about feminism. Reese Witherspoon says the book is brilliant, truthful, and real and will illuminate the path for future female leaders.
7. We Should All Be Feminists
- Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Published in 2015, Chimamanda takes her readers through thought-provoking discussions about gender, equality, and feminism. The book was so inspirational that the Swedish Women’s Lobby said it would be distributing a copy every 16 years in the country.
8. The Tracey Beaker Trilogy
- Author: Jaqueline Wilson
This trilogy features Jacqueline’s most popular character, Tracy Beaker. Tracy lives in a Children’s Home but would like a real home one day, with a real family. She tries to follow her adventures and share her hopes for the future in these three beautifully observed, hilarious, and touching tales.
9. Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood
- Author: Marjane Satrapi
Set in 1980, this novel focuses on the experiences of the writer while growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. In this book Satrapi – an intelligent and outspoken child – paints a world through a child’s lens where a country is devastated by internal turmoil and war.
10. Honor Girl
- Author: Maggie Thrash
This book tells the story of Thrash’s first love experience in a summer camp with a female counselor, Erin. But Camp Bellflower is an impossible place for a girl to fall in love with another girl.
SEE ALSO: Christian Books For Teens
11.13 Reasons Why
- Author: Jay Asher
Jay’s 13 Reasons is a book that is centered around suicide and rape. In the book, Clay Jensen returns home from school and finds a strange parcel with his name on it. Inside the package, he discovers several tapes recorded by Hannah Baker. Hannah is his classmate and crush who ended her life 2 weeks earlier. From the tape recordings, Hannah tells Clay that there are thirteen reasons why she committed suicide. Unfortunately, Clay is one of them.
12. The Color Purple
- Author: Alice Walker
First published in 2003, The Color Purple is a major voice in modern fiction. The author narrates the story of two sisters—one a missionary in Africa and the other a child wife living in the South. The themes throughout are graphic, but will help open the readers’ eyes to some of the realities women have faced in history. The book also teaches young women about abuse and how they should always stay strong and keep fighting.
13. The Lovely Bones
- Author: Alice Sebold
In The Lovely Bones (2003), Alice tells the story of Susie, a 14-year-old who was raped and murdered by a man from her neighborhood. Susie later goes to heaven and always observes her happy, suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, and do all the things she never had the chance to do herself.
14. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
- Author: Jenny Han
Jenny’s New York Times bestselling is the story of a Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox that was given to her by her mother. The letters are not love letters that anyone wrote for her. They are letters she wrote herself to the men she ever loved. When she writes the letters, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Her secret letters are later mailed, and suddenly, Lara’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.
15. Children of Blood and Bone
- Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is centered around themes relating to racism, oppression, and slavery. Adeyemi tells the tale of the conflict between the kosidán and maji, with the kosidán possessing lighter skin and having enslaved segments of the Maji. The story is told through the eyes of Zélie, a young maji who looks to harness her powers to help bring magic back to her people and overthrow her oppressors.
16. The Twilight Saga
- Author: Stephanie Meyer
Twilight Saga is a deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful franchise that captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. Meyer narrates the story of Bella Swa who moves to a small town in Washington and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire. Teens will be gripped by the amazing love triangle that forms between Bella, Edward, and werewolf Jacob Black, and what happens in the dangerous world of vampires when humans come into contact with them.
17. Everything, Everything
- Author: Nicola Yoon
Nicola’s Everything Everything is an all-encompassing masterpiece that could make you cry, laugh, and anything in between. It’s the story of 18-year-old Madeleine who has never left her home because she has a rare genetic condition. When Olly moves in next door, he desires to become her friend and they eventually become lovers. This development begins to unravel a lot.
18. The Kissing Booth
- Beth Reekles
Ellev Evans is very popular in her school but she has never been kissed by anyone. When Elle decides to run a kissing booth at her school’s Spring Carnival, she locks lips with Noah, and her life is turned upside down. Her head says to keep away, but her heart wants to draw closer. This romance seems far from a fairy tale.
19. The Fault In Our Stars
- Author: John Green
John’s The Fault in Our Stars is an interesting romance novel about 16-year-old Hazel who is a cancer patient who does not have much time left to live. She meets Augustus Waters at a Cancer Kid Support Group. Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten with her newfound love.
20. The Hate U Give
- Author: Angie Thomas
Angie’s The Hate U Give was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Published in 2022, Angie tells the story of Starr, a 16-year-old girl who witnesses her best friend being shot by a policeman, and the impact of the aftermath. The book is a must-read for teens who desire to understand issues around racism.