Discover Must-Read Books for TeenTober!
- 10/03/2024
- 19:01
- maureen
October is here, the leaves are falling and the books are calling. At Seymour Library that means it’s time for TeenTober! TeenTober is a nationwide celebration created to encourage learning in and outside the library. Hosted by libraries across the country TeenTober is the perfect time to dive into reading, learn new skills, and discover what makes the library an ideal place for teens to escape.
At Seymour Library, we’re excited to celebrate TeenTober by sharing a list of fantastic books for young adults. Whether you love heart-pounding thrillers, swoon-worthy romances, or mind-bending mysteries, we’ve got something for everyone. And don’t forget—reading in any form, from books to audiobooks, comics to eBooks, is a great way to explore new worlds.
Why TeenTober Matters
In addition to being loads of fun, TeenTober is about recognizing the crucial role reading plays in helping teens succeed. Studies show that reading for fun can improve academic performance, and talking about books with family and friends can foster a lifelong love for reading. Let’s make this October a month to celebrate the joy of reading and the incredible ways it can open doors for teens.
If you’re looking for a great place to start, check out these exciting reads we’ve handpicked for TeenTober!
Top TeenTober Picks:
A Fragile Enchantment – Allison Saft
When eighteen-year-old magical dressmaker Niamh is commissioned for a royal wedding, she finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom.
Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world. A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue. Unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages! Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.
But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more until an anonymous gossip columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.
Darker by Four – June CL Tan
Rui has one goal in mind, honing her magic to avenge her mother’s death. Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet, had he been born with magic. Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble, and the human world will be next if the King is not found.
When an accident causes Rui’s power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King. As darkness takes over, three paths intersect in the shadows. And three lives bound by fate must rise against destiny before the barrier between worlds falls and all Hell breaks loose, literally.
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You – Ann Liang
Channeling her frustrations into email drafts–ones that she’d never send–seemingly perfect Sadie Wen finds her carefully crafted, conflict-free life turned upside down when the email is sent out accidentally, and the only person growing to appreciate the ‘real’ Sadie is the only boy she’s sworn to hate.
Looking for Smoke – K.A. Cobell
When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation. Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered. Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them–Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli–have a complicated history with Samantha. Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.
A Darker Mischief – Derek Milman
At the elite Essex Academy Cal Ware, a poor, queer kid from Mississippi, is an outsider, but when he learns about a secret society on campus, he thinks that he may have found a way to reinvent himself–but as the initiation rituals grow riskier he must decide who to trust and how far he is willing to go to belong.
The House Where Death Lives – Alex Brown
The house beckons you inside. Do you enter? A dance to the death. A monstrous girl who lures people into dark water. A hallway that’s constantly changing — and hungry. All these stories exist within a house unbound from the laws of time and space. From the attic to the library to the grounds, each chilling story in this anthology focuses on a different area of the haunted house and features unique takes on monsters from a wide array of cultural traditions. Whether it’s a trickster djinn, a water-loving rusalka, or a horrifying, baby-imitating tiyanak, there’s always something sinister lurking in the shadows.
Check & Mate – Ali Hazelwood
After chess led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory Greenleaf’s focus is a dead-end job that keeps the lights on for her mother and sisters. When she plays in a charity tournament and wipes the board with current world champion Nolan Sawyer, the victory opens the door to sorely needed cash prizes. Mallory struggles to keep her family separated from the game, but she soon realizes that the games aren’t only on the board. The spotlight is hotter, and the competition can be fierce … and fiercely attractive.
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight – Kalynn Bayron
Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business. But on the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need to figure out what this killer is after. Is there more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?
Caught in a Bad Fauxmance – Elle Gonzalez Rose
From debut author Elle Gonzalez Rose comes a fresh, fun contemporary rom-com about an aspiring artist who agrees to fake date one of his family’s longtime enemies in the hopes of gathering intel strong enough to take down their rivals and keep the family cabin they gambled in a risky bet. Devin Bez is prepared for a relaxing winter break after his rough, first semester of art school. Sure, his family’s old Florida lake cabin is falling apart, and everything in it reminds him of his late mom. And yes, the Baezes’ next-door neighbors, the Seo-Cookes, are still petty, but things could be worse.
All My Rage – Sabaa Tahir
A family extending from Pakistan to California deals with generations of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness.
Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Clouds’ Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start. Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding. Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism.
Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him–and Juniper–forever. When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth–and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst. From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness–one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.
Stop by the library this October, pick up one of these incredible books, and fuel your passion for reading!
There’s More to Explore!
At Seymour Library, we’re passionate about providing resources for teens all year long. During TeenTober, we invite teens to explore all the ways they can connect with the library—whether it’s through books, programs, and events including our upcoming Thriller Thursday Movie Night, or when you borrow the unexpected with our library of things – to inspire creativity and skill-building.
Discover a new hobby or game today, all you need is your library card!