Good Reads

Book Discussion Kits for Teens

Young adult and juvenile book discussion kits feature a range of genres and literary styles, exposing readings to a variety of issues designed to promote thought and discussion.

Each kit contains a set of thirty identical books accompanied by a book discussion guide. Click on a title to find out if it is available and be sure to read the discussion questions!*

We also have Book Discussion Kits for younger kids as well as Literacy Connection and Family Fun Backpacks

	American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang Three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant, and action-packed. This graphic novel won the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature. Suggested for Grades 7 & up (Discussion Guide)
	The Color of Water By James McBride James McBride shares his inspirational story of growing up in an interracial family headed by a white Jewish mother. Suggested for Grades 9 & up (Discussion Guide)
	The Giver By Lois Lowry In a perfect world where everyone is happy, a twelve-year-old boy is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Following the guidance of the Giver, the boy realizes the truth about his world and struggles with its duplicity. Suggested for Grades 6 & up
	Holes By Louis Sachar As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Suggested for Grades 6 & up
	I Am the Messenger By Markus Zusak When Ed and his friends get caught in a bank robbery, their lives will never be the same. Then Ed receives a playing card with addresses on it, and he becomes a messenger for a person and purpose that is unknown to him. Suggested for Grades 9 & up (Discussion Guide)
	Make Me Wanna Holler By Nathan McCall The author looks back on his angry youth, a violent whirl of gang-fights, gang-bangs, theft, and drugs that landed him in prison for armed robbery before he was twenty-one. Suggested for Grades 9 & up
	Maniac MaGee By Jerry Spinelli The serious topic of race relations is blended with a modern day tall tale in the story of “Maniac” Magee, an orphan boy whose athletic prowess takes a town by storm. Suggested for Grades 6 & up
	The Maze By Will Hobbs Escaping from a juvenile detention center, 14-year-old Rick Walker ends up in the remote Colorado canyon area called the Maze. There he begins the adventure that will change and ultimately save his life. Suggested for Grades 6 & up
	Money Hungry By Sharon Flake Raspberry Hill tries to sell just about anything—pencils, candy, and even her lunch— to her friends just to make a few bucks. Raspberry and her mother used to be homeless, and the idea of going back to that lifestyle is very frightening to 13-year old Raspberry. Suggested for Grades 7 & up (Discussion Guide)
	Monster By Walter Dean Myers The word echoes in his head: “MONSTER.” Steve Harmon finds it harder and harder not to think of himself as a monster. Sitting in jail, awaiting his trail for taking a part in a robbery that ended in murder. He feels like it is all a movie. Where he is the lead character, fighting for his life. He does not and cannot comprehend the reality of what is happening to him and how he came to be in this position. Suggested for Grades 7 & up (Discussion Guide)
	Romiette and Julio By Sharon Draper Romiette Cappelle is an African-American girl in Cincinnati, OH. Julio Montague is Mexican-American boy, newly moved from Corpus Christie, TX. Like Shakespeare's starred cross lovers of similar names, the story of Romiette & Julio is filled with complications. Suggested for Grades 7 & up (Discussion Guide)
	Running Out of Time By Margaret Peterson Haddix 13-year-old Jessie lives with her family in the small frontier village of Clifton, Indiana, in 1840. However when the children of Clifton get deathly ill, Jessie’s mother reveals a shocking secret. Jessie must now travel beyond Clifton to find help to save the children. However, beyond the safety of Clifton is a world more alien than Jessie could ever imagine and she soon finds her own life in jeopardy. Suggested for Grades 6 & up (Discussion Guide)
	Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants By Ann Brashares Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants. Suggested for Grades 9 & up (Discussion Guide)
	Slam! By Walter Dean Myers Greg “Slam” Harris can do anything on the basketball court but the rest of his life is a shambles. His father drinks, his best friend deals drugs and his teammates resent his flashy playing style. There are no easy solutions as Slam struggles to make his pride work for rather than against him. Suggested for Grades 9 & up
	Tangerine By Edward Bloor Paul Fisher’s parents idolize his football playing older brother and ignore his vicious nature. When the family moves to Tangerine, Florida, legally blind Paul finds acceptance in a place where weird is normal and many things finally become clear. Suggested for Grades 7 & up
	Walk Two Moons By Sharon Creech As they travel west, 13-year-old Samantha tells her eccentric grandparents the story of her friend Phoebe whose mother has disappeared. It is a story that becomes Sam’s as she struggles to accept the loss of her own mother. Suggested for Grades 6 & up
	Witness By Karen Hesse A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town. Suggested for Grades 6 & up (Discussion Guide)
	The Gospel According to Larry By Janet Tashjian 17-year-old Josh has a serious dilemma. All he wanted to do was start a little website to show the world how their lives were being run by consumerism. Instead his website took off and under the pseudonym of “Larry” he became a star. The problem was no one knew who “Larry” really was, including his best friend in the whole world, Beth. Suggested for Grades 8 & up (Discussion Guide)