By Maddox Brown
Salutations!
There have been cases all around the world of new variants of this dreaded virus reported, some even more deadly than the original. From this, we will have to expect a prolonged “vacation” from our everyday lives. I know some people are probably bored with having to stay home all day, so I have compiled some well known books for teenagers to read during the pandemic. These books range from established classics, to more recent contemporary bestsellers. Keep in mind that this list is not in order, and that each book listed below is as good as the next.
1. To Kill A Mockingbird :
This book is an absolute classic of modern American literature. It even won a Pulitzer Prize, which for those who don’t know, is generally awarded for outstanding achievements in journalism, literature, and even music composition within the United States. This was truly an astounding accomplishment for a realistic work of fiction dramatizing the horrific depths of racial prejudice in the USA. The book even had its own movie adaptation created in 1962.
To Kill a Mockingbird, written by author Harper Lee and published in 1960, deals with class issues as well as prejudice, injustice, rape, and civil rights. It also displays the coming-of-age of two of the book’s main characters, Scout and Jem Finch. All in all, the book really shines a light on injustice in terms of gender and race from different points of views. If you are tempted now to get your hands on a copy of this book, well let’s just say that you need to live in the right school district. To Kill a Mockingbird has been banned from multiple schools and libraries due to its profanity, racial slurs and discussion of rape. Nevertheless, it is also one of the most read books in American high schools, meaning that if you have read the book or are reading it, you can get a headstart in your English class. It remains an influential novel, and one especially worth reading, in my opinion at least.
2. Harry Potter (All Books):
Whenever I ask any of my friends to name their favorite novel, most of the time they’ll say any book from the Harry Potter series, and I can see why. The Harry Potter books were written by the brilliant author J.K. Rowling. These became so popular that each new tint all meant was eventually adapted into its own movie. Two individual story arcs in the series, namely the Deathly Hallows and the Philosopher’s Stone are amongst some of the best selling books of all time. Each chapter takes you into a fantasy world filled with wizards, witches, and a whole lot of monsters, but the books can also involve bits and pieces of reality that make you relate to some of the characters.
Themes that are implemented in the books involve strong and lasting friendships, the inevitability of death, love, and the quest for power. The main protagonist, Harry Potter is one of the most relatable characters because he struggles with ordeals that are similar to ones we deal with in reality. The best part is that people of all ages can read and enjoy these books, as long as they are able to read. Surprisingly, these books are banned in some libraries and schools due to a religious fear of the books somehow “conjuring or summoning evil spirits”. As outlandish as this may seem to you, it is true and apparently became a valid reason for the books’ banishment. Nevertheless, if you want a good, well written, fantasy story to read, I assure you that these books won’t disappoint.
3. Lord of the Flies :
This piece of literature is iconic in the popular horror industry not for it’s jumpscares, or haunts, but for it’s perception of the human heart and psyche. The book also has its fair share of violent scenes which will turn the stomachs of some people who underestimate the visionary content that dwells within it. Lord of the Flies was written by famous author, William Golding and was published in 1954. It was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, which is a huge accomplishment that should not be taken lightly since it is only awarded to authors who have provided the greatest benefit for mankind in the form of literature.
Lord of the Flies conveys a message that if there’s no social order, consensus morality, or law-based government to keep our living environments safe, mankind will become corrupt and revert back to its animal instincts. This book provides an accurate prediction of how the world would be if there were no social order or justice, with every man and woman only look out for themselves—truly a world that I would not want to be in at all. This book, even though it contain an important message, suffers the same fate in certain places as To Kill a Mockingbird and the Harry Potter books, which have been banned from multiple libraries and schools. The reason is that some adults feel that this book contains too much violence and inappropriate language for young readers to handle. However, I highly recommend you read the book if you are wondering what could happen if there were no order in society.
4. Wonder :
Written by R.J. Palacio, this book teaches us how to accept and deal with people who are born different. It conveys a strong message of acceptance, friendship, companionship, courage, and much much more. It is a book people of all ages should read in order to understand the struggles of those people who were born different and how they are treated in public. To me, this is not surprising but the book has won a myriad of awards, including the Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award, Amazon’s Best of the Year, Barnes and Noble’s best book of the year, and the Arkansas Charlie May Simon Children’s book award.
Later, Wonder had its own movie adaptation created in 2017, which also earned its fair share of awards and recognition. Some of the themes presented in the book are a sense of friendship amongst peers, the need for tolerance, acceptance, and courage, plus the problem of bullying and how it can affect someone..
5. The Book Thief :
Do you want to read some fictional depictions of what life was like during Nazi rule? Give this book a shot. The Book Thief was written by established author Markus Zusak in the year 2005. The famous novel became an international best seller with 16 million copies sold and was translated into about 63 languages.
The Book Thief has some fictional assets in it like the setting that the majority of the story takes place in, Molching as well as the characters that reside in it. Themes that are present in the novel are, thievery, dehumanization, cowardice, death, suspense, danger, and friendship. The book, even though it’s fictional, was based on real life events according to the author. It centers around the bombing of Munich and a teenage boy who had offered an emaciated (abnormally weak or thin) Jewish man some bread; a kindness that ultimately got both of them whipped by a soldier. The novel was threatened several times with being banned due to its sensitive content, but thankfully escaped this fate.
Honorable Mention: A Dictionary/Thesaurus:
Now this book doesn’t have a plot or a story, but if you want to up your vocabulary game even by a little bit, give this beauty a shot. You can pick up any dictionary or thesaurus from your local library and you’ll have the same great experience. Granted, you could just go to urban dictionary or some other online dictionary, but for the authenticity and for the convenience, get the book, trust me.
To round this off, these books are undoubtedly really good books to read while sipping a nice glass of coffee. They convey powerful and meaningful messages to the reader as well as provide really well written dialogue between the characters. The books were immensely recognized, winning countless awards, a lot of them I didn’t mention because of how vast they are. A good amount of these books, surprisingly or not surprisingly are banned from libraries for how strong the content is. If you are now tempted to get a download of these books or get them off the library, then you should, but make sure you wear a mask.
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