The most recommended books for 16 year olds

This book will always stick with me because of the amazing thought put behind one of the main character’s plotting. Kaz easily has one of the best minds in any book I’ve ever read. Along with Kaz, though, there are multiple other POVs which are equally as important to the story.

It had more POVs than any book I had read previously, but the way Bardugo wrote them had me wanting more of them all and unable to pick a favorite. Each character has a unique voice and story that perfectly complements the overarching plot.

Even when I wasn’t sure how something would fit into the main thread of the story, it wove back in at the right moment and made perfect sense.

Hoose tells the fascinating history of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a magnificent creature of the swamps and forests of the southeastern US. The book sweeps through two hundred years of history as the bird is hunted, harassed, and its habitat destroyed. By the twentieth century, the birds are so scarce that ornithologists launch the first of many searches, heading into the swamps to find evidence of the bird. To this day, the mystery remains maddeningly unsolved: does the ivory-billed woodpecker still exist or is has it been driven to extinction? A haunting story and one that might make you cry.

I was quickly captivated by the story of Princess Ani and her magical gift of animal speak. I related to her insecurity of being an outcast, feeling different, and finding refuge within the natural world. Her fast-paced story engages with both colorful and menacing characters as she confronts parental conflict, loss, betrayal, and true love.

Inspirational to read as she faced these challenging obstacles and evolved into self-acceptance, realizing that her differences and gifts were actually her greatest allies. This story explores bonds to animals and nature, parental conflict, betrayal, determination, insecurities around being different, acceptance, and listening to one’s inner voice.

How could I not include the first-ever fantasy/paranormal book I ever read? It delivers on the promised suspense, death, and romance to die for. But I most loved the way the story focused on Evie, the main character, finding herself. She is thrust on this path where she literally has no choice but to find out who she really is, what it means, and how to deal with it. She has to face some hard things for a teenager all while trying to still just be a kid. The best part of YA books is the path of discovering one’s self the MCs go on. This one resonated with me on a personal level.

Whether this book should be taken as a polemic against feminism or support of feminism at its most radical—i.e., women may not always get it right in their fiercest battles, and that’s okay—is probably in the eye of the beholder-slash-reader.

But it doesn’t matter which side I’m on (cough, the second one) in terms of what this book means to me. Which is that adolescence is a tumultuous time when we all get to learn who we are and what matters most to us—if we’re lucky. If we’re less lucky, someone may come along and take advantage of our fresh, unfolding minds such that we never get a chance to bloom. 

The Dangerous Art of Blending In is about Evan, who is trying to figure out his place in the world. He has a strict (read: abusive) Greek immigrant mother, a father who works works works, and he is struggling with his sexuality and the boy he kissed over the summer. Evan’s been silent about so much all this time, that it’s now time for him to find and use his voice. And he does so in such a beautiful and inspiring way. This book will make you feel so many things. 

I instantly fell in love with this enchanting book.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a writer I have long admired, but this was the first time I had read any of his books aimed at younger readers. As with all of his adult books, I knew that I had embarked upon a very special journey before finishing the first page.

I found the plot so intriguing and delightfully impossible to second-guess. It took all of my willpower to keep my urge to read the story through the night in check in order to fully savour it.

I am far from a young reader myself, but thankfully young enough at heart to be captivated by this magical read which is by turns thrilling, scary, and heartbreaking.

In the most elegant piss-take on the travel writing genre ever crafted, Swift’s hero traverses lands impossibly strange and, well, just impossible, giving satire a whole new modus operandus: expanding the cosmos!

Whenever I start to feel blue about living in an era that seems to underrate imaginativeness – especially in literature, I go back to Swift, who always reminds me that there is a path veering toward the limitless, and that path will never disappear. 

I first wanted to read The Stolen Songbird when I was 16, but my local library didn't buy a copy, and I eventually forgot about the book. But a few months ago, I stumbled upon it again… and immediately remembered how much younger I wanted to read it! Was it worth the fourteen-year wait? ABSOLUTELY!

If you're looking for a forced marriage and bond to an otherworldly creature (without instalove or spice), I would highly recommend this book. The characters were fleshed out and complex, as is the world-building.

And as for the "trolls?" They may not be what you assume them to be... But that's all I'll say!

I love the author's beautiful, hypnotic writing. The prologue was so alluring I just had to read on.

Then I fell in love with the book when I read this line in one of the earlier chapters: In his bitter mind's eye, he saw the little hill town for what it was, a shabbily self-satisfied knot of shops and houses, peering over its surrounding wall like a gossip over a fence. I swooned, and when I recovered, I was hungry for more of her intoxicating words and devoured the book.

I am in awe of the author for creating such an enchanting story with layers and underlying themes. The consequences of our life choices and mental health like PTSD are very cleverly weaved into this plot. An amazing read!