Book Discussion Kits for Teens
How do I have a teen book discussion?
Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 14:54
Frequently Asked Questions - Reader Services
The Pioneer Library System makes holding a book discussion as easy as checking out a kit! All you have to do is gather the friends and open the book. We do all the rest for you!
PLS maintains Book Discussion Kits that have everything you need to have a successful group reading experience. Each kit contains 10-12 copies of the listed book, bookmarks, a manual containing discussion questions, reviews, articles about the book, and information about the author. Each kit can be checked out for 6 weeks.
So whether your interests are fiction or nonfiction or romance or mystery - Pioneer Library System has a kit that you and your friends will enjoy.
To reserve a kit for pick-up at your hometown library please call (405) 701-1847 or (405) 701-1839. Please allow 3 working days for delivery.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a seventeen-year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. More than a century after its publication it remains a major work that can be enjoyed at many levels: as an incomparable adventure story and as a classic of American humor.
After by Amy Efaw
In complete denial that she is pregnant, straight-A student and star athlete Devon Davenport leaves her baby in the trash to die, and after the baby is discovered, Devon is accused to attempted murder.
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
Orphaned at age five, Lucinda, now fifteen, stands with courage against the man who took everything from her, aided by a thief, a clever goat, and a mysterious woman called the Witch of Amaranth, while the prince she knew as a child prepares to marry, unaware that he, too, is in danger.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic book format.
Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman
Fourteen-year-old Anthony "Antsy" Bonano learns about life, death, and a lot more when he tries to help a friend with a terminal illness feel hopeful about the future.
Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
With the encouragement of one of her teachers, a Chinese American high school senior asserts herself against her demanding, old-school mother and carves out an identify for herself in late 1980s San Francisco.
Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney
In alternating chapters, the lives of three teenage girls from three different generations are woven together as each girl learns about forgiveness, empathy, and self-respect.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
Born to Rock by Gordon Korman
High school senior Leo Caraway, a conservative Republican, learns that his biological father is a punk rock legend.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence.
Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja
Justin spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom the school bullies torment and call Buddha Boy, and ends up making choices that impact Jinsen, himself, and the entire school.
Bystander by James Preller
Thirteen-year-old Eric discovers there are consequences to not standing by and watching as the bully at his new school hurts people, but although school officials are aware of the problem, Eric may be the one with a solution.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Taken from a kindly owner, Buck is forced into the perilous life of a sled dog in the treacherous Yukon Territory during the Klondike gold rush.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Presents the life of the Alabama teenager who played an integral but little-known role in the Montgomery bus strike of 1955-1956, one by refusing to give up a bus seat, and again by becoming a plaintiff in the landmark civil rights case against the bus company.
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
After his parents, two sisters, and he have spent six years in a vast underground compound built by his wealthy father to protect them from a nuclear holocaust, fifteen-year-old Eli, whose twin brother and grandmother were left behind, discovers that his father has perpetrated a monstrous hoax on them all.
Cracker: the best dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata
A young soldier in Vietnam bonds with his bomb-sniffing dog.
Crash by Jerry Spinelli
Seventh-grader John 'Crash' Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.
Deadline by Chris Crutcher
Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom. Book One of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.
Define Normal by Julie Anne Peters
When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good friend.
Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams
Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her home town of Echo Falls.
The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr by Judith St. George
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr lives' were intertwined for some twenty-five years, with their resentments and misunderstandings culminating in a tragic duel.
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Following her conscience leads high school freshman Mena to clash with her parents and former friends from their conservative Christian church, but might result in better things when she stands up for a teacher who refuses to include "Intelligent Design" in lessons on evolution.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. . . to burn books, along with the houses in which they were hidden. He had been a fireman for 10 years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames . . . never questioned anything until he met a 17-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think, and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do…
First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his baby daughter, whom he adores. He soon discovers that doing the right thing isn't as easy as he thought.
Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan
After he takes a photograph of a woman who is living on the streets and discovers it to be the meth-addicted mother of his closest friend Marissa, Blake finds himself spending more time with Marissa than with his girlfriend.
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years. Julia Baker devoutly believes in three things: the sanctity of trees (especially her beloved sycamore), the wholesomeness of the eggs she collects from her backyard flock of chickens, and that someday she will kiss Bryce Loski.
The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers
This is the story of one family. A family whose history saw its first ancestor captured, shackled, and brought to this country from Africa. A family who can still see remnants of the psychological shackles that hold some of its members slaves--even today. It is a story of pride, determination, struggle, and love. And of the piece of land that holds them together through it all. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.
Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
Fletcher Moon is a very bright kid who gets his certification for detective work but he gets framed by a crime family so he really has to work to clear his name.
Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Danica Shardae is an avian shapeshifter who has taken the form of a golden hawk. As heir to the avian throne, she'll do anything to stop the war that's been raging between her people and the serpiente for as long as she can remember. Including marry Zane Cobriana, the leader of the serpiente.
Heat by Mike Lupica
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Chronicles the off-beat and occasionally extraterrestrial journeys, notions, and acquaintances of galactic traveler Arthur Dent.
Holes by Louis Sachar
As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
The first time Roy saw Dana Matherson, he was running away from the school bus. Noting that the boy had no books, and wore no shoes, Roy's curiosity was aroused. He decided to follow him. As the chase proceeded, Roy was introduced to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes. Hiaasen plunges readers right into the middle of an ecological mystery, made up of endangered miniature owls, the Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House scheduled to be built over their burrows, and the owls’ unlikely allies – three middle school kids determined to beat the screwed up adult system.
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weights whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
When seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers her family is under an ancient curse by an evil Elfin Knight, she realizes to break the curse she must perform three impossible tasks before her daughter is born in order to save them both.
Inkheart by Cornelia Caroline Funke
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless locked box--set aside by his father before his death five years earlier--that purportedly contains the meaning of life.
Just Ask, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Kim, Book 1 by Melody Carlson
Sixteen-year-old Kim Peterson learns more about herself and her friends, and practices her new commitment to God, by writing a teen advice column for the newspaper on which her father is managing editor.
Leaving Protection by Will Hobbs
Sixteen-year-old Robbie Daniels, happy to get a job aboard a boat fishing for king salmon off southeastern Alaska, finds himself in danger when he discovers that his mysterious captain is not only fishing, but searching the coastline for long-buried historic metal Russian plaques that lay claim to Alaska. Soon, a violent storm at sea and the captain's wrath has Robbie putting his courage and wits to the ultimate test.
Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
A disparate group of high school students thrown together in detention form a band to play at a school talent show and end up competing with a wildly popular rock band.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Set in New England during the Civil War, it chronicles the lives and loves of Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth, four sisters who must rely on each other for strength in the face of tragedies both large and small, after their father leaves for battle.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.
Marked by P.C. Cast
Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is Marked as a fledging vampyre and joins the House of Night where she will train to become an adult vampyre.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.
Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick
After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.
Paper Towns by John Green
One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.
Peak by Rolan Smith
A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Peeled by Joan Bauer
In an upstate New York farming community, high school reporter Hildy Biddle investigates a series of strange occurrences at a house rumored to be haunted.
Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
While recuperating in a Baghdad hospital from a traumatic brain injury sustained during the Iraq War, eighteen-year-old soldier Matt Duffy struggles to recall what happened to him and how it relates to his ten-year-old friend, Ali.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
The life of a struggling Black family in a cramped Chicago flat and how it was affected by the promise of a $10,000 life insurance check.
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
Living near the water on Maryland's Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.
Revenant by Sonia Gensler
When seventeen-year-old Willemina Hammond fakes credentials to get a teaching position at a school for Cherokee girls in nineteenth-century Oklahoma, she is haunted by the ghost of a drowned student.
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
An angry, grieving seventeen-year-old musician facing expulsion from her prestigious Brooklyn private school travels to Paris to complete a school assignment and uncovers a diary written during the French revolution by a young actress attempting to help a tortured, imprisoned little boy--Louis Charles, the lost king of France.
The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
Seventeen-year-old Matthew recounts his attempts, starting at a young age, to free himself and his sisters from the grip of their emotionally and physically abusive mother.
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
When Madeline Gladstone, the elderly president of Gladstone Shoe Stores, hires Jenna to be her driver and hands over the keys to her enormous white Cadillac, Jenna begins a summer-long cross- country adventure. Flanked by retired shoe models and Harry Bender, the world's greatest shoe salesman, Jenna learns a lot more than just the rules of the road.
Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen
After running away from her fifth foster home, Holly, a twelve-year-old orphan, travels across the country, keeping a journal of her experiences and struggle to survive.
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen
Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother.
Schooled by Gordon Korman
Capricorn (Cap for short) had lived every day of his life on Garland Farm growing fruits and vegetables. He was homeschooled by Rain, the only person he knew in the world. Life was simple for Cap. But when Rain falls out of a tree while picking plums and is hospital-ridden, he has to attend the local middle school and live with his new guidance counselor and her irritable daughter. While Cap knew a lot about Zen Buddhism, no amount formal education could ready him for the trials and tribulations of public middle school.
The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman
Antsy is fascinated by 'The Schwa Effect,' which is essentially the fact that no one ever sees Calvin Schwa. Even when he acts weird and dresses like a total freak, The Schwa is only barely noticed. The two boys form a partnership and get away with all kinds of mischief, from conducting experiments at school to confounding opponents on the basketball court. However, when even Antsy starts losing sight of him, The Schwa vows to do something that will make him so visible, no one will ever forget him.
The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield
Upon moving to Bixby, Okla., 15-year-old Jessica Day learns that she's one of a group of people who have special abilities that help them fight ancient creatures living in the hour from midnight to 1 a.m.--creatures that seem determined to destroy Jess. First book of The Midnighter's trilogy.
Shooting the Moonby Frances O’Roark Dowell
When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
This book's largely autobiographical chapters take the reader through the maze of African-American life after the Emancipation Proclamation: from poverty, sharecropping, illiteracy, and lynching, to the heights of humanity reached by the spiritual 'sorrow songs' that gave birth to gospel music and the blues.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect of Melinda's freshman year in high school.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don't stand out. Then Stargirl arrives and changes everything for Leo and the entire school. But the delicate scales of popularity suddenly shift, and Stargirl is shunned for everything that makes her different. And somewhere along the line, Leo has fallen in love with her.
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr
In the three years since her father caught her in the back seat of a car with an older boy, sixteen-year-old Deanna's life at home and school has been a nightmare, but while dreaming of escaping with her brother and his family, she discovers the power of forgiveness.
Sunrise Over Fallujahby Walter Dean Myers
Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there profoundly changes him.
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson; adapted for young readers by Sarah Thomson
One man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia: in 1993 Greg Mortenson was an American mountain-climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of a Pakistani village, he promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time--Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. In a region where Americans are often feared and hated, he has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself--at last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
A survival story of a young man banished to a remote Alaskan island to learn to cope with his anger, rage, and hate. An altercation with the Spirit Bear of Native American legend leaves him clinging to life and learning lessons about accepting responsibility for his actions and the effects they have on his life and others.
Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
Macy has a surprising and very welcome summer that helps her pick up the pieces of her life and fit them back together after her father's death.
Tulsa Burning by Anna Myers
In 1921, fifteen-year-old Noble Chase hates the sheriff of Wekiwa, Oklahoma, and is more than willing to cross him to help his best friend, a black man, who is injured during race riots in nearby Tulsa.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.
Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott
Fourteen-year-old Absina escapes the escalating violence, prejudice, and religious fervor of her home town, Vranille, and sets out with a dwarf, Haret, to seek the father she has never met in a place called Watersmeet.
Wednesday Wars by Gary D .Schmidt
During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in.
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