Adolescent World Literature
Discover the best adolescent world literature with curated picks like Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, Adeline Yen Mah's Chinese Cinderella, and global coming-of-age classics—from fiction to biography.
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The Inquisitor
by Catherine Jinks
I hereby record those events which took place in and around the city of Lazet relating to the assassination of our venerable Brother Augustin Duese in the year of the Incarnate Word, 1318. So writes Brother Bernard, an Inquisitor of Heretical Depravity, following the discovery of his superior's dismembered corpse. At a time when heresy is a heinous offence, routed out with ruthless determination, Brother Bernard is accustomed to dispensing harsh justice. But as he attempts to make sense of this shocking crime, he himself becomes an object of persecution-thanks to his passionate involvement with a mysterious suspect and her beautiful daughter. Pursued as a heretic, implicated as a murderer, Bernard must now face his accusers. To fail such a task, in fourteenth century France, means certain death. In the tradition of The Name of the Rose, Catherine Jinks has crafted a magnificent tale of murder, forbidden lust and betrayal.
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The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams." Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come. The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.
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Lionboy
by Zizou Corder
When his parents are kidnapped, what's ten-year-old Charlie Ashanti to do? Rescue them, that's what! He doesn't know who has taken his parents, or why. But he does know that one special talent will aid him on his journey--his amazing ability to speak Cat. Charlie calls on his clever feline friends--from stray city cats to magnificent caged lions--for help. With them by his side, Charlie uses wit and courage to try to find his parents before it's too late. With its whirlwind action and suspense, Lionboy is a nonstop page-turner. This mother-daughter writing team will fascinate readers of all ages with their Cat-speaking hero! "A zinger of a story, told with a J.K. Rowling-like blend of humor, drama and headlong plotting." --The Washington Post
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Gangsta Rap
by Benjamin Zephaniah
When teenage Ray and his two friends, Prem and Tyronne, form a successful rap band in the London's East End where they live, they soon find themselves embroiled in increasingly violent gang warfare.
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Chinese Cinderella
by Adeline Yen Mah
Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.
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Someone to Run With
by David Grossman
Capturing the lives of Israeli street kids, follows two teenagers--Assaf, a shy and awkward sixteen year old, and Tamar, a talented young singer--and the missing dog that brings them together.
