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2020 has been a particularly tough year for those approaching the latter years of high school.<\/p>\n2020 has been a particularly tough year for those approaching the latter years of high school.<\/p>\n
Young people have witnessed large-scale economic insecurity and unstable education systems. Teenagers have reported\u00a0high levels of stress and anxiety<\/a>. But they have also demonstrated\u00a0outstanding resilience<\/a>\u00a0and resolve in adapting to the \u201cnew normal\u201d.<\/p>\n During COVID-19, cultural texts have become\u00a0more important than ever<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a place to turn to for knowledge, reflection, support and escape.<\/p>\n Reading\u00a0can be therapeutic<\/a>\u00a0for young readers during difficult times<\/a>. It offers something other media\u00a0doesn\u2019t<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 greater\u00a0social and emotional benefits<\/a>. It also does more to stimulate the imagination and creates a sense of moral achievement in readers.<\/p>\n With this in mind, here are some summer reading ideas for older teenagers. The texts I have chosen demonstrate how young characters have coped with trauma and uncertainty.<\/p>\n Research suggests young people are\u00a0more likely to listen to their peers<\/a>\u00a0than their teachers when it comes to reading recommendations.<\/p>\n So, I spoke to my 18-year-old son and asked him to name five types of books he would like to read over the summer.<\/p>\n He suggested:<\/p>\n Inevitably some of my selections meet more than one of his criteria.<\/p>\n The Outsiders is thought to be one of the first novels written specifically for young adults. Penguin<\/p><\/div>\n by S.E. Hinton<\/strong><\/p>\n The Outsiders is thought to be one of the first novels written\u00a0specifically for young adults<\/a>. The coming of age novel explores the class divide between the rival Greasers and Socs gangs in the American South in the mid-1960s.<\/p>\n The book\u2019s challenging and emotive representations of inequality, violence, crises of conscience, and the powerful love of family and friends, make it an enduring standout for young readers. The first-person narration constructs intimacy between the reader and our protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis, as he approaches an increasingly uncertain future.<\/p>\n Hinton started the book at 15, finished it at 16, and it was published when she was 18. It is said she wrote the book because it was the sort of book\u00a0she herself wanted to read<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a year when many young people have experienced isolation and separation, Ponyboy\u2019s wisdoms should resonate powerfully:<\/p>\n It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren\u2019t so different. We saw the same sunset.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Joy Harjo\u2019s memoir is confronting and, at times, graphic. W.W. Norton<\/p><\/div>\n by Joy Harjo<\/strong><\/p>\n Cherokee<\/a>,\u00a0Creek<\/a>\u00a0painter, musician and\u00a0US Poet Laureate<\/a>, Harjo wrote her memoir when she was 61.<\/p>\n Crazy Brave recalls her early life from birth to her early 20s. The story is abstract and non-linear in structure, making the memoir unpredictable, which destabilises the reader\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n Harjo\u2019s memoir is confronting and, at times, graphic. But her spiritual connections, and trust of her own \u201cknowing\u201d (instinct, or inner vision) will inspire readers keen to escape problematic right or wrong, or black and white perceptions of experience. As Harjo astutely observes:<\/p>\n In the end, we must each tend to our own gulfs of sadness, though others can assist us with kindness, food, good words, and music. Our human tendency is to fill these holes with distractions like shopping and fast romance, or with drugs and alcohol.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is not a fun read, but it is a timely one. Allen & Unwin<\/p><\/div>\n by Jessie Tu<\/strong><\/p>\n 28-year-old Tu\u2019s debut novel presents 22-year-old violinist child prodigy Jena Chung. We follow Jena\u2019s sense of alienation and detachment as she attempts to find meaning in the world.<\/p>\n Lonely Girl is not a fun read, but it is a timely one. We need to see more Asian-Australia women\u2019s voices in literature because of the important provocations they make about race and misogyny in Australia. Tu wanted this novel to be a conversation starter and\u00a0it certainly is<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tu\u2019s is a powerful intervention young readers will appreciate. It is a book about making bad choices while feeling so much pressure to be \u201cgood\u201d:<\/p>\n I throw myself into things, expecting always to get what I want. And I always get what I want. Now it feels like I\u2019ve failed all over again. Only this time there\u2019s no motivation behind it. I\u2019ve just failed myself, and it hurts in a strange, unfamiliar way. The wound is deeper than anything I\u2019ve ever felt.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This novel contains graphic representations of sex. It is recommended for readers 17 and over.<\/p>\n This is Newcastle-based author Ewa Ramsey\u2019s debut novel. Allen & Unwin<\/p><\/div>\n by Ewa Ramsey<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a wonderfully compassionate book about living with anxiety caused by our 20-something protagonist Caitlin\u2019s fear of death. The Morbids explores the value of friendship and romance amid youthful fears and phobias.<\/p>\n Ramsey\u2019s debut novel is a difficult read. The style of the novel (fragmented, sometimes repetitive language<\/a>) attempts to bring the reader closer to the experience of mental illness. But the characterisations are warm and the moral is ultimately hopeful.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a book about therapy and letting people in when it is the last thing you feel like you can do, because \u201cSometimes you need to give up on death \u2026 to have the time of your life\u201d.<\/p>\n Love, Creekwood is narrated via the characters\u2019 emails to each other. Penguin<\/p><\/div>\n by Becky Albertalli<\/strong><\/p>\n Not exactly a throwback, but if you enjoyed\u00a0Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda<\/a>\u00a0as much as my teens and I did, here is the latest instalment of the\u00a0Simonverse<\/a>.<\/p>\n Love, Creekwood is a short epistolary romance novella (the story is narrated via the characters\u2019 emails to each other). It is \u201cpart 3.5\u201d in the series and functions as an epilogue.<\/p>\n Love, Creekwood follows the characters to college and we follow the progression of two same-sex relationships. The book explores the challenges of being too close and too far away from a partner. It explores the mental health struggles often triggered by loneliness and fear.<\/p>\n Love, Creekwood is a light-hearted but genuine representation of what the first year of university can feel like.<\/p>\n As Simon explains:<\/p>\n When we say we want to freeze time, what we mean is that we want to control our memories. We want to choose which moments we\u2019ll keep forever. We want to guarantee the best ones won\u2019t slip away from us somehow. So when something beautiful happens, there\u2019s this impulse to press pause and save the game. We want to make sure we can find our way back to that moment.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Albertalli is donating all proceeds from the sale of this novella to\u00a0The Trevor Project<\/a>, an organisation committed to crisis and suicide prevention for LGBTQIA youth.<\/p>\n\n
1. The classic:\u00a0The Outsiders<\/a>\u00a0(1967)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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2. Autobiography (memoir):\u00a0Crazy Brave<\/a>\u00a0(2012)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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3. Young author:\u00a0A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing<\/a>\u00a0(2020)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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4. Written in 2020:\u00a0The Morbids<\/a>\u00a0(2020)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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5. Throwback:\u00a0Love, Creekwood<\/a>\u00a0(2020)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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