At age twelve, you are already on your way to becoming a teenager. This will be your last year as a kid. A good habit of reading books should be maintained at this age. Even if we are living on a computer age, it is still best if you can read a literal book. The next list will give you a clue on what you can read and share ideas with friends of the same age as yours.
1. Holes (Holes #1) by Louis Sachar
*There is a curse that runs from Stanley Yelnat's great-great-grandfather down through the Yelnat's generations. Stanley was sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake. This is where boys are ask to dig holes all day, every single day to build their character. Shortly after being detained, Stanley realized that the warden is looking for something and digging of holes is not just simply character improvement. Stanley tries to dig up the fact in this imaginative, sad and hilarious fable of wrongdoing and castigation and then restitution.
An American children's book writer Louis Sachar is famous for his Wayside School series and Holes. He is born March 20 of 1954 in East Meadow, New York, United States. He's been an attorney for so many years but he chose to devote his time to writing children's books. Louis Sachar is an award-winning author of twenty-five books for children and young adults. Holes was awarded the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1998.
2. The Giver (The Giver #1) by Lois Lowry
*Jonas, a twelve year old boy lives in a world which he thought to be perfect. Everyone there is happy. Until Jonas was chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories and he meets an elder named The Giver. Together, they look at memories of past world or rather real world which is hidden from rest of the community. From the Giver, Jonas learns not only of love and family, but also of pain, war, and all the unhappy truths the world holds. How Jonas perceived the current world has changed completely. He quickly realizes that this community is fake. One day, he discovers that a little boy he names Gabriel, will be terminated. Jonas gives his whole abilities to let him see color, feel pain, and show and receive love in order to save him. But the question is, will Jonas succeed? Can he save Gabriel from being released?
Lois Lowry is an American writer credited with more than thirty children's books. She was born on March 20, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the age of eight or nine, Lois already wanted to be a writer. This is where she always excel even at school. Her first novel - A Summer to Die, which has a very serious drama story. Afterwhich she wrote several children's books for young adults to show the lighter side of her. Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer.
3. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
*The Diary of a Young Girl named Anne was discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life. Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank was a Jewish girl born in the city of Frankfurt, Germany. During the Holocaust in 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, Anne and her family hid in the attic of her father's office for the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo. It was during that time that she had recorded her life's experiences in her diary. She wrote a diary while hiding with her family in Amsterdam during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II. Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period in her diary. Her fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty has made this diary classic over time. This remarkable diary became a world classic. It serves as a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. But this compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman was tragically cut short, when she died in Bergen-Belsen, in February 1945, at the age of 15.
4. A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet #1) by Madeleine L'Engle
* A Wrinkle in Time is the story of Meg Murry, a high-school-aged girl. Meg,her younger brother Charles along with her friend Calvin are transported on an adventure through time and space. Together they travel through a wrinkle in time. Their mission is to rescue Meg's father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet. It is yet for us to know if will they be able to outsmart the evil forces that they will encounter. Let us join these kids on their heart-stopping journey through space.
The author of this Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters is Madeleine L'Engle. She was an American writer best known for her Young Adult fictions. Her works reflect her strong interest in modern science which is very prominently in her writings. Madeleine was born on November 29th, 1918, and spent her developmental years in New York City. Madeleine now lived through the 20th century and into the 21st and has written over 60 books and she still keeps on writing.
5. Little Women (Little Women #1) by Louisa May Alcott
* This is a story of the lives of March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and their journey detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood. Their father is away serving as a chaplain in the Civil War. These girls are guided in their personal growth by their mother, Marmee and by their religious faith. These four sisters struggle to support themselves and to keep their household running knowing the fact that the family had recently lost its fortune. In the process, they become close friends with Theodore Laurence, known as "Laurie", their wealthy neighbor who will have a special role in the lives of the March sisters.
Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Their father, Bronson Alcott, who is a philosopher and teacher is the one who educated them. Their mother, Abigail May raised them on the practical Christianity. Louisa May Alcott also has 3 sisters. Little Women was written at Orchard House from May to July 1868. The novel is based on Louisa and her sisters’ coming of age and is set in Civil War in New England.
6. Switch! The Lost Kingdoms of Karibu (Lost Kingdoms of Karibu #1) by Karen Prince
*This is an exciting frontier adventure with a fantasy twist about magic, friendship and bravery. Trouble is about to bloom in Karibu. Gogo Maya, the witch, and her leopard are about to make matters worse. They been working on a risky switch. They suck an ordinary Zimbabwean boy through the vacuum into the mess they left behind them. Now the witch’s leopard starts communicating and giving instructions right into his head. Ethan's thoughts is alarmed. He is about to team up with fearsome characters and travel into dark places. His thoughts is also disturbed about Joe who is in terrible danger unless he learns to use the magic just right in time to rescue his cousin, Joe. Ethan needs to find way quickly before Joe falls into the wrong hands and gets himself killed.
Zimbabwe, a perfect place for someone who always wanted to become a writer. Luckily, Karen Prince was raised on a wildlife farm in Zimbabwe. As a child I spent a lot of time in the bush. Her experiences as a child and her pleas for rescue as she grows made her an avid writer. Switch! Is her first novel in the Kingdoms of Karibu series.
7. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
*The story is set in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1943, this is the third year of the Nazi's invasion of Denmark. Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen used to think about their life before the war. Now their life is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers who keeps on marching through town. Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family when the Jews of Denmark are "relocated". On the later part of the story, Annemarie will be asked to go on a dangerous mission, and that is to save her best friend Ellen's life.
"I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another." - this is the very word of the author, Lois Lowry. She's a middle child and she consider this a fortune because this is exactly where she wanted most to be: on her own. She was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and her own vivid imagination. Her father was a career military officer - an Army dentist. That is why she literally lived in different places, countries and have seen different cultures and era, and come in contact with different people. All of this contributed to her passion of writing which she truly loves doing since her childhood.
9. Island of the Blue Dolphins (Island of the Blue Dolphins #1) by Scott O'Dell
*This novel tells the story of Karana, an Indian young girl who was stranded alone for years on an island off the California coast. This is based on the true story of a Nicoleño Native American who was left alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island during the 19th century. Karana and her tribe, led by her father, lives on the Island of the Blue Dolphins in the Pacific. There are times that the Aleuts come and bother them to take otter from the island. There was one time that the conflict with the Aleuts grew worse and ended up in a huge fight. Many of the men on the island are killed. The new leaders decide to leave the island and go to the mainland to find better fortune. In the rush to leave the island, the rescue boat left Karana's little brother Ramo. Karana jumped off the boat to accompany her brother in the island but eventually, Ramo was killed by the wild dogs. Karana is now left alone on the Island of Blue Dolphins. She watched one season pass from year into another. She waited for a ship to take her away. However, on the process, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.
Scott O'Dell was an American children's author who is famous in writing 26 novels for young people. Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960) won the 1961 Newbery Medal as well as a number of other awards. Scott O'Dell grew up in a California that was still wild and natural. No freeways, no asphalt, no hundred-story buildings. He wrote novels to encourage young people and make them realize that history had a very real connection to their lives. The heroes and heroines of his novels are smart and plucky, learning to take what life throws at them and work for their own independence.
10. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
* On this novel, we will meet Percy Jackson. He is twelve years old. Just after his sixth-grade year, Percy discovers that he is half blood: half-human, half-god. To keep him safe from monsters that like to attack half-bloods, he is taken to Camp Half-Blood in New York. This is where Percy learns more about himself. He knew that he's a brother to Zeus and his father is Poseidon. He also learns that the the master's bolt of Zeus was stolen and must be return to him before he declare war with Poseidon whom he accused of stealing his power to create lightning. So, Percy decided to embark in a quest to find the Lightning thief. Grover, Percy's best friend and Annabeth, a smart demi-goddess and daughter of Athena helped Percy on this journey. Percy has a great time living the life of a hero at Camp Half-Blood. After telling Percy that he is proud of him, Poseidon gave him a choice whether he will stay in the camp or he can go home to his mom's apartment in New York.
Richard Russell Riordan Jr. or better known as Rick Riordan is known as the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books which includes the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He is a two-time Mark Twain Award winner (2008 & 2009), as well as winner of the Children's Choice Books Awards for Author of the Year in 2011.
