Monday’s Maven – NPR’s 100 Must-Read Books For Children Ages 9 – 14

Click on this image to go to the NPR article – 100 top books recommended for ages 9-14

This Monday’s Maven post is not about a tangible product, but a list. In August 2013, NPR put out its recommended list of the top 100 books for children ages 9 – 14. I came upon it recently and as I reviewed it, I was reminded of several books I have loved.

Many of the books on the list I haven’t read but certainly saw on the bookshelves of my childhood home as well as on the bookshelves of the home in which I raised my own two avid readers.

Below is the list of some of the books on the NPR list that I’ve read, some at the suggestion of my children, such as Harry Potter series and Ella Enchanted and The Hatchet and Holes and The Giver as well as the two series by Philip Pullman and Susan Cooper. Of course, like so many of you, I remember the Harry Potter series as being a delightful craze in our house for two years or more. Each book release was anticipated with the same thrill and excitement that I remember surrounding the release of a Beatles album when I was a teen!

The books listed here left a lasting impression on me.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
A Wrinkle In Time Series by Madeleine L’Engle
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

As soon as I finish writing this post, I’m going to send the link to the NPR list to my children so they can have the same enjoyment I have had reviewing the list.

I hope you, too, find some forgotten treasures as you review the list. And I hope the list inspires you to have a look at some not yet read, as I plan to.

And, most of all, perhaps we should consider these books when giving gifts to the young people in our lives.