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Books with Teenage Characters
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in the Lifetime of Reading Challenge, or simply interested in reading books with teen characters, we’ve curated a diverse list of recommendations with main characters ranging from ages 13 to 19.
Before we get to the book list, let’s start with some definitions. Throughout our book descriptions, we often use the terms YA and coming-of-age, but it’s helpful to step back and look at what these terms really mean.
What is a YA book?
YA stands for Young Adult, which is a category of fiction written with teenage readers as the intended target audience. However, statistics show that approximately half of YA readers are adults.
What are coming-of-age novels?
A coming-of-age story is one in which a young person is heading toward adulthood while gaining knowledge and maturity along the way. Every teenage experience is unique, but for most people, a few things are true – the teen years are often challenging, always formative, and very few people get out of them without some heartbreak.
These years between childhood and adulthood are a balancing act between needing guidance and seeking independence. This balancing act leads to compelling storylines in fiction and memorable non-fiction accounts of growing up.
The Best Books with Teenage Main Characters
The People We Keep
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Book Summary
April has a rough life, fending for herself in a motorless motorhome that her father won while playing poker. She works at a diner but dreams of being a songwriter. After flunking out of school and another fight with her dad, April sets off to find a better life for herself.
Along the way, she meets others with complex stories, which are the perfect inspiration for her songs. But even more important than that, she finds that family doesn’t have to mean the community you were born into. Instead, people you meet can become family.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a beautifully written, character-driven, coming-of-age novel. April isn’t always likable, and she makes many bad decisions along the way. But she’s a raw and real character you’ll come to love despite her flaws.
This book is packed with so much genuine emotion, honesty, and heart that you’ll want a copy on your shelf so that you can read it again!
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Mary Jane
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Book Summary
Mary Jane tells the story of two very different family lifestyles and a 14-year-old girl trying to decide who she really is. Mary Jane is a quiet, book-loving girl from a traditional, conservative family in 1970s Baltimore. When she is offered a job as a nanny for a local doctor, her mom assumes their home is equally tidy and respectable.
However, the house is a huge mess and it’s about to get crazier. The doctor has welcomed a rock star and his wife to stay at the house while he tries to get sober. Mary Jane has a lot to teach them about tidiness and schedules, and all the while, they are opening her eyes to the world outside her bubble. By the end of the summer, she’ll have a much better understanding of who she wants to be.
The Book Girls Say…
This was one of our favorite books of the last few years, and one that really stuck with both of us! It’s a beautiful and entertaining story of a 14-year-old girl seeing herself as a separate person for the first time. Angela really enjoyed listening to the audiobook because it incorporates music.
Although the main character is a teenager, this is an adult novel, not a YA title. It makes an excellent read because of the perspective that comes from looking back at the years between innocence and maturity.
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Concrete Rose
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Book Summary
Seventeen-year-old Mav is following in his father’s footsteps, which unfortunately means dealing with the King Lords gang in order to help provide for his hard-working but underpaid mom. He thinks he has life under control until he finds out that he’s a father himself.
When presented with a rare opportunity to break out of gang life, he has a chance to change the direction of his family. But it’s difficult to walk away from the only lifestyle you’ve ever known, especially when loyalty is everything to the King Lords.
The Book Girls Say…
Concrete Rose is the prequel to the popular book, The Hate U Give, which is also a great choice for this month if you haven’t read it yet! The book is written in dialect true to the characters, which helps transport you directly to Mav’s neighborhood. This also makes it an excellent choice for an audiobook.
Demon Copperhead
Book Summary
This is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield. Like Copperfield, Copperhead examines institutional poverty, but in contemporary Appalachia.
Born to a teenage single mother, Damon (soon to be known as Demon) braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, opioid addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
The Book Girls Say…
Angela was hesitant to read this 500-page book because it sounded quite depressing, but once she picked it up, she was immediately hooked. While it is heartbreaking throughout, it’s also an incredibly touching story that somehow feels both meandering and fast-paced at the same time, thanks to Kingsolver’s gorgeous writing.
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The Fountains of Silence
Book Summary
This young adult historical fiction focuses on life in post-war Spain under Franco’s dictatorship. In 1957, the regime needed money and opened the country to Americans hoping for investment. Eighteen-year-old Daniel travels with his oil tycoon father from Houston to Madrid.
Daniel brings his camera, eager to explore the city beyond the image that Franco is projecting to the world. Along with Ana, the young hotel maid tasked with assisting his family, Daniel discovers and documents the atrocities happening in the fascist regime.
The Book Girls Say…
While this is a YA book, it is a long read at over 500 pages. Don’t let this intimidate you though, because the character development and plot will draw you and you won’t be able to put it down!
If you’ve already read Fountains of Silence, we recommend any of Ruta Sepetys’s other novels. They’re all excellent, eye-opening historical reads with teen characters.
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The Girl With the Louding Voice
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Book Summary
Adunni is a 14-year-old girl living in poverty in a Nigerian village. She loves school and knows that learning all she can is the key to achieving a better life. But, despite promising to allow Adunni’s schooling to continue after her mother’s death, Adunni’s father makes a decision that ends her education in the village and changes the trajectory of her life.
You’ll be moved to both tears and cheers as Adunni endures and overcomes heartbreaking challenges while remaining focused on her dream of an education.
The Book Girls Say…
In August of 2024, the sequel, And So I Roar, was released. It picks up when Adunni is 15 years old, and the husband she escaped is searching for her. Again, she will need to use her louding voice to protect herself and others in her village.
While we didn’t experience this ourselves, some readers struggle with the dialect in either audio or written form, but find that the other form works well for them (ie: if the audio isn’t working for you, try reading and vice versa). The main character, Adunni, tells the story using her limited English, and one of the beautiful parts of the writing is that you can see her improvements over time.
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The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship and Hope in America
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Book Summary
The Newcomers follows twenty-two immigrant teenagers throughout the 2015-2016 school year as they land at South High School in Denver, Colorado. Ranging in age from fourteen to nineteen, most of these students came directly from refugee camps in countries plagued by war, famine, or drought.
The book follows the student’s English language education with their dedicated and creative teacher, Mr. Williams. As they get a grasp of the languages, their individual histories unfold and add faces, names, and stories to those seeking asylum.
The Book Girls Say…
The author not only gets to know the students, but also the families of those who are comfortable sharing their stories with her. This provides insights into the challenge of starting over for the parents whose education and career achievements in their home countries often mean little in the US because of the language barrier forcing them to start over in more ways than one.
Angela lives in a neighborhood adjacent to South High School and has seen the positive impacts of the Newcomer program throughout the community.
Ordinary Grace
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Book Summary
The summer of 1961 started out full of hope and innocence in New Bremen, Minnesota – a new young president, the Twins baseball team playing their debut season, root beers at the soda counter, and comic books on the barbershop magazine racks. But the summer soon turned grim, with multiple deaths. Accident? Natural? Suicide? Murder?
When the tragedies occur in town, 13-year-old Frank Drum is thrust into adulthood overnight. The novel is part mystery and part coming-of-age story, told by Frank himself as a 40-year-old adult looking back on that fateful summer.
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Tell The Wolves I’m Home
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Book Summary
Fourteen-year-old June had a very close relationship with her uncle, Finn, and was devastated when he died in 1987 from AIDS, which was then still a mysterious and seldom talked about illness.
June meets a stranger at Finn’s funeral – someone who is also struggling with the loss – and as the two get to know each other, their unexpected friendship may be what they each need to heal.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers say this 2012 Goodreads Nominee for Best Fiction takes you back to the AIDS fears of the 80s and provides a great glimpse into the decade. That said, the book is more about the characters and relationships and has fewer details about the overall AIDS crisis.
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Beartown
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Book Summary
In the tiny community of Beartown, life revolves around hockey. It provides entertainment and hope for a better future. It’s a story about hockey, small-town life, and much more. When a shocking event occurs, the town quickly takes sides. Who will stand up for the truth and put hockey above humanity? The themes are definitely relevant to the decade.
If you’ve already read Beartown and the sequel Us Against You, this is a great excuse to pick up the final book in the Trilogy, The Winners, which was published in September 2022. It’s set two years after Beartown, so it still sneaks into the 2010s.
The Book Girls Say…
This was a 5-star read for both of us! Some will say you have to like hockey to like this book, but the book really isn’t about hockey – it’s about people. Fredrick Backman has a gift with words and melodic phrasing, along with a phenomenal insight into the motivations of the teenagers and adults alike. He writes characters that are so well-rounded that even when you don’t agree with their decisions, you will still understand what they were thinking.
NOTE: This story includes one scene with sexual violence.
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Circle of Friends
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Book Summary
Benny, Eve, Nan, and Jack; 17-18 years old
Life-long friends Benny and Eve grew up in the small Irish village of Knockglen during the 1950s. At the age of 17, they both head to university in Dublin, where their circle of friends expands to include beautiful Nan and handsome Jack. But heartbreak and betrayal result when their worlds of Knockglen and Dublin collide, and long-hidden lies emerge that will test the bonds of their friendship.
The Book Girls Say…
Angela read this book in high school, and it still stands out as one of her all-time favorite coming-of-age novels! It’s a simple, character-driven story about friendship that is heartwarming and beautifully told from the first page to the last (but be aware that there are more than 700 pages in between). Her most vivid memory of this book is the warm feeling it left her with.
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The Black Kids
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Book Summary
Ashley Bennett grew up in LA in a wealthy and prominent family. She’s leading a charmed life where her senior year is split between the classroom and the beach.
Everything changes on an April afternoon when four LAPD officers are acquitted in the beating of Rodney King. As LA erupts in violent riots around her, Ashley tries to continue with her normal life, but she’s no longer just a teenager – now she’s a “black kid.”
The Book Girls Say…
This book is perfect for fans of Angie Thomas’ The Hate You Give, which is set in the 2010s.
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Dear Edward
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Book Summary
Twelve-year-old Edward boards a plane with his beloved older brother and his parents, bound for their new home and life in California. But when the plane tragically crashes, Edward emerges as the sole survivor. After recovering from his injuries, he goes to live with his mom’s sister and her husband with the eyes of the world on him. Everyone is eager to hear his story.
His aunt and uncle work hard to shield him from all the attention and to allow him time to process his loss, but when Edward uncovers a stack of letters, he discovers an unexpected path to healing.
The chapters in the book alternate between Edward’s day-to-day life during the three years following the accident, and a minute-by-minute recounting of the ill-fated flight, through which we are introduced to many of the other passengers.
The Book Girls Say…
Although the main, named character is a teen, this is not a YA book. Half of the book details the experiences of the adults on the plane. As you would expect, this book is heavy in the grief department, so be prepared and keep the tissues close by.
Dear Edward was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Fiction in 2020. Though it is a work of fiction, the author has stated that it was loosely inspired by the 2010 crash of Libyan-operated Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, in which the sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy. When Ann Napolitano learned about this crash, she said, “This story flayed me. I could not imagine how that boy would be OK and I could feel from the stickiness of my obsession that I was going to have to write a book that created a set of circumstances to make him OK.”
The book has also been adapted into a television series on Apple TV+.
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The Firekeeper’s Daughter
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Book Summary
This YA thriller, written by a Native American author, is about a biracial teen who is an unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe. Eighteen-year-old Daunis has never quite fit in at home or on the reservation. She dreams of heading to college, but after a tragedy, she must remain home to care for her mom.
Life takes another big turn when she witnesses a murder and then reluctantly goes undercover in the criminal investigation to infiltrate a drug ring in her community.
The Book Girls Say…
Although some feel that this book starts slow, it made the list of our reader’s favorite books of 2021! They mentioned that it’s great on audio to hear the beautiful native language woven into the book.
Heads Up: The book contains a sexual assault.
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The Fault in Our Stars
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Book Summary
Hazel has known her life would be cut short since she was first diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She reluctantly attends the “Cancer Kid Support Group” at the request of her mom, but what she finds there is the last thing she expected – first love.
Hazel and the charming Augustus Waters have many things in common, including their favorite author, whom they are determined to meet, even if they have to travel to Amsterdam to do it.
The Book Girls Say…
John Green helped the YA (young adult) book scene explode into mainstream popularity in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Another very influential YA author during the same time was Rainbow Rowell, who published the popular Eleanor and Park in 2012.
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The Lincoln Highway
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Book Summary
This entire novel takes place over the course of 10 days in 1954. Eighteen-year-old Emmett has finished his term on a work farm, where he was sent after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
The warden drives Emmett home to Nebraska, where he plans to pick up his 8-year-old brother before heading west for a fresh start. However, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work camp, Duchess and Wooly, have stowed away in the trunk. The three teens and 8-year-old Billy adjust their plans and set out across the country together. The book is told from alternating points of view.
The Book Girls Say…
Despite its title, this book is about a journey of self-discovery as much as it is about a cross-country journey. Portions of the book are set along the Lincoln Highway, but some readers are surprised that this is less of an adventure novel and more introspective.
Lincoln Highway was voted as one of our reader’s overall favorite books in both 2021 & 2022.
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The Serpent King
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Book Summary
Dill’s father is a Pentecostal minister who first drew attention for his extreme beliefs and then for a scandal. His friend Travis has his own demons in the form of an abusive father, so he escapes into a book series called Bloodfall. Dill has secret feelings for friend Lydia, a free spirit, sarcastic, fashion blogger who dreams of leaving rural Tennessee and heading to New York.
Woven into this story of three unlikely friends trying to navigate the end of high school are stories of small-town life and themes of courage. But you’ll also need a box of tissues handy!
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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
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Book Summary
It all starts with a pair of jeans at a thrift shop discovered by fifteen-year-old friends Carmen, Tibby, Lena, & Bridget. When everyone loves them, the group decides to let everyone try on the jeans to see who they fit best.
Somehow, the jeans fit everyone perfectly, so the friends decide to form the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Throughout the summer, the pants see all and keep the friends connected as they each experience the most memorable summer of their lives.
The Book Girls Say…
Neither of us read this book when it was first popular because we mistakenly thought it was just a fluffy YA book. We were surprised to read review after review that describes this book as a “deeper than you expect” coming-of-age book that deals with love, forgiveness, sex, and death, while still being squarely based in teenhood and filled with humor. This book will give you “all the feels!”
Reconstructing Amelia
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Book Summary
Kate is in the middle of an important meeting when she gets the frustrating call that her fifteen-year-old daughter has been caught cheating at her exclusive school.
When she arrives to pick Amelia up, the school is surrounded by emergency vehicles, and Kate learns that her daughter jumped to her death. At least that is what she believes until an anonymous text tells her that Amelia didn’t jump.
This suspense/mystery is a great insight into the increasing role of social media during the 2010s and the damage that comes along with it.
The Book Girls Say…
Unlike most of the books on this list, this book is told from the mother’s perspective, but we still feel that this is a great pick for the teenage years because the entire story centers around Kate’s efforts to understand her daughter’s life. Additionally, we see the story through teenage eyes by way of the emails, text messages, and blog posts that Kate pours over as she attempts to piece together her daughter’s final days.
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Necessary Lies
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Book Summary
Ivy Hart lost her parents at just fifteen years old and was left to care for her aging grandmother, her mentally ill older sister, her nephew, and even the tenants on the family’s small tobacco farm. It’s too much for any teenager, but especially one who also struggles with her own epilepsy. Who will care for Ivy?
Jane Forrester takes a job as the new social worker for Grace County and quickly becomes invested in the lives of the residents she works with, including the Hart women. Maybe even too invested, according to her boss and her husband.
Soon, Jane begins to uncover some of the dark secrets of small-town life in rural North Carolina. A decades-long Eugenics sterilization program in the state sought to determine which people were fit to reproduce. Once Jane learns the truth, she must decide whether standing up for what she believes is right is worth the risk.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Historical Fiction in 2013.
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The Nickel Boys
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Book Summary
It’s the 1960s, and Elwood has been raised by his loving but strict grandmother. His hard work and focus on always doing the right thing are about to pay off.
Elwood is getting ready to enroll in the local black college and has big dreams. Everything changes when an innocent mistake causes him to be sent to The Nickel Academy to be “reformed” from his so-called crimes.
While the 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys is fiction, it’s based on real “schools” and the unspeakable treatment of young Black men who were sent there during the 1960s. Elwood does his best to remain optimistic, but his positive attitude is challenged by his new friend Turner, who has experienced a different world growing up.
The Book Girls Say…
This book will make you feel every emotion. Through Colson Whitehead’s writing, you really get to know and feel for the characters and the situation they are thrown into. Regretfully, racial inequality in America is embarrassingly still a relevant topic today. This is not an easy book to read, but books like this are very important to adding perspective to the ongoing pushes for equality.
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Book Summary
When Cameron Post suddenly loses her parents to a tragic car accident, alongside her shock and grief, she also feels a sense of relief that they’ll never know she had – just hours before – been kissing a girl.
Orphaned, Cameron is forced to move in with her conservative aunt and old-fashioned grandma in rural Montana. Then, Cameron meets Coley Taylor – a beautiful cowgirl with a perfect boyfriend. The girls form a close friendship that seems to leave the door open for something more to develop in their relationship.
When Cameron’s ultra-religious Aunt Ruth tries to “fix” her niece through conversion therapy, Cameron must come to terms with her true self.
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Ginny Moon
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Book Summary
Ginny is fourteen, autistic, and hiding a secret. She’s been in the foster care system since the age of nine, when she was taken away from her mother after suffering years of abuse. The social workers are determined to find Ginny a loving forever family, but they’ve yet to find the right fit. Ginny always runs away. She is now on her fourth “forever family” with parents who are determined to give her the love she deserves, but she’s still determined to go.
Although Ginny struggles to communicate with the world around her, we – the readers – hear Ginny’s inner thoughts and opinions as she tried to make sense of a world that often doesn’t make sense.
The Book Girls Say…
The author is the adoptive father of an autistic teenager, and he brings that compassion and understanding to the character of Ginny.
Dear Evan Hansen
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Book Summary
When notoriously troubled high school student Connor Murphy commits suicide, anxiety-prone Evan Hansen finds himself in a tricky situation. Connor’s grieving parents believe that Evan was Connor’s secret friend. When they invite him to dinner to hear more about their son, Evan isn’t sure what to do, and attends, deepening his involvement with Connor’s family.
Suddenly, Evan’s life has more purpose, and as his confidence grows, his life improves. However, how long can it last when everything is based on a lie that spiraled out of control?
The Book Girls Say…
In a twist, this book was actually a hit Broadway musical before it became the book. The creators of the show worked with author Val Emmich to adapt it into novel form. If you haven’t seen it yet, we recommend getting tickets whenever it’s scheduled near you, and in the meantime, listen to the soundtrack!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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Book Summary
Christopher knows many things – he knows all the countries in the world and their capitals; he knows all of the prime numbers up to 7,057; he knows that he hates to be touched; and he knows that he detests the color yellow! One thing he does not know is how to understand human emotions.
When this 15-year-old autistic protagonist decides to investigate the suspicious death of a neighbor’s dog, the result is a captivating and unusual novel.
The Book Girls Say…
This highly-rated read is a short 226 pages, but if you choose this book it’s important to go in with the right frame of mind. The structure of this novel is non-standard and it’s been described as disassociating. Additionally, there are charts, diagrams, and math problems intersected into the flow of the story, making this a book better read in paper form.
Speak No Evil
Book Summary
Best friends Niru and Meredith are privileged teenagers growing up in Washington D.C. but come from very different backgrounds. Niru appears to lead a very charmed life. He’s a track star at his prestigious private school, and after graduation, he is Harvard-bound. He has very attentive Nigerian parents, but he’s keeping a big secret from them – one that conflicts with their conservative views. Niru is gay.
Meredith – the daughter of two prominent Washington insiders – is the only one who knows Niru’s secret. But when Niru’s dad discovers that he’s gay, Meredith doesn’t lend Niru the support she knows he needs because she’s emotionally drained from dealing with her own troubles.
The Book Girls Say…
This book tackles many of the biggest issues facing teens today, including race, class, immigration, gender, and sexual orientation.
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Printable Version of the Challenge Book List
Readers who support The Book Girls’ Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee (BMAC) membership site as Inner Circle or BFF members can access printable versions of the reading challenge book lists. As we update the Lifetime of Reading Challenges throughout the year according to the challenge schedule, the lists will become available in a single-page printable format for our BMAC members.
We offer two membership levels. Both our BFF members and our Inner Circle members get access to the single-page printables for the year-long reading challenges. Visit our Buy Me a Coffee membership page for a full list of benefits for each level.
Our BMAC members help cover the cost of running the challenges so we can keep them free for everyone!
If you have a suggestion for a book that you think would be a great addition to this list, please fill out this form.
Book Lists By Character Age
Links to our book recommendations for all twelve of the Lifetime of Reading challenge prompts can be found below:
- Books with a Child Protagonist (Bildungsroman Novels)
- Books with Teenage Characters
- Books with Characters In Their 30s
- Books With Characters in Their 50s
- Books With Characters in Their 60s
- Books With Characters in Their 70s
- Books With Characters in Their 80s
- Books With Characters in Their 90s and 100s
- Intergenerational Novels: Books that Connect Generations
- Books Spanning a Character’s Lifetime
- Books With Characters in Their 40s
- Books with Characters in Their 20s
