Little stories for teenagers 14 years old. Ken Kesey "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" The best books for teenagers according to Lifehacker

How to choose interesting and instructive book , which is suitable for a teenager of 14 years old?

We offer you a unique selection of 14 books that inspire, teach love, hard work and empathy.

Erich Maria Remarque

A “living” book, full of love, deep friendships, severe trials, caustic loneliness and endless grief. The development of events takes place in the post-war period, and we are talking about the problems of a person who lived through this war.

The book will teach humanity, sincere empathy, understanding at the tender age of 14 inner world another.

Paulo Coelho

Shepherd Santiago one day has a dream that tells him about treasures lying near the Egyptian pyramids. The call of fate forces him to sell his sheep and set off on a difficult journey.

“The Alchemist” is a popular novel by a Brazilian writer that gives us inner direction, the desire to follow our destiny and know the “soul of the world.”

Daniel Defoe

The work is presented in the form of a diary of the main character, who was shipwrecked and thrown ashore. A book showing the incredible capabilities of a person striving to survive on a desert island.

The realistic description of all the difficulties and obstacles in the life of the tireless Robinson Crusoe captivates and amazes so much that it gives you the feeling that you yourself are on an island in the Caribbean.

Ethel Voynich

A novel that touches on the most subtle thoughts, excites the purest notes of the soul, giving rise to the deepest response in our heart. When reading this book, everyone lives life together with a tireless young man, a fighter for justice and independence.

A must read for everyone at the age of 14, when a person is most susceptible to the tragedies, joys and trials of someone else's fate.

Mark Twain

A fascinating story of the “exchange of destinies” between the thief Tom and Prince Edward. How can a pampered person from the royal palace cope with the difficulties of street life? What awaits the fake prince in luxurious surroundings?

This is an invaluable description of someone else’s experience during a radical change in life circumstances.

Ernest Hemingway

A touching story about a poor old man living in the here and now, enjoying every day. He enters into a fight with the “big fish” - his first success in Lately- which proceeds with varying success.

Hard work and a steady pursuit of the goal—that’s what the pages of this book reveal.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

A novel that at one time changed the public's views on slavery in America. The book talks about how those who own people can forget about simple humanity and begin to consider their charges as simple things.

After reading, the view on many events in life will no longer be the same, the suffering of other people will be perceived more deeply and will cause a desire to help.

Mayne Reid

A beautiful love story that takes place against the backdrop of a frightening and mysterious event - the appearance of a headless horseman wandering around Texas.

The richness of events makes the book truly exciting, and the suspicion of the murder of an innocent person raises a storm of emotions and affects our sense of justice.

Haruki Murakami

The novel by a Japanese writer is categorically different from everything that teenagers are used to reading in the school curriculum. This book can instill a love for modern literature and a completely different appreciation of the printed word. The author's unusual language fascinates and attracts.

The mystical plot makes you stop and think, and sometimes just baffles you. Once you “taste” Murakami, it is no longer possible to forget him.

William Shakespeare

Everyone knows from childhood the tragedy of love between a boy and a girl from warring families. Even those teenagers who are not inclined to read will easily read this masterpiece of the English classics.

And, undoubtedly, they will remain full of impressions and conflicting feelings, and will also be full of desire to become more familiar with the work of this writer.

Ray Bradbury

One of the greatest dystopian books. Talks about possible development our society in the future. The fictional world evokes a deep sense of injustice and detachment, allowing us to more fully appreciate the opportunities that we have in our time, but, unfortunately, we rarely use them.

Awakens in a person sensuality and the desire for spiritual pleasures in life.

Robert Monroe

The fascinating adventures of Mr. Monroe beyond reality. This book of an esoteric nature, written as a fiction novel, will help everyone expand the boundaries of their worldview and look beyond the boundaries of our everyday life. It will be of particular interest to teenagers due to the growing popularity of the phenomenon of out-of-body travel.

Robert Stevenson

This adventure novel gives you a break from reality and immerses you in its unique atmosphere. A book that is read avidly.

Tells about the extraordinary intelligence of the main character, about his ability to find himself in right time V in the right place and about his many tricks undertaken to deceive the pirates and find the treasures.

Richard Bach

A novel written by Richard Bach in moments of wonderful insight. As a result, it turned out to be a kind of teaching of life, teaching of self-improvement, finding a path, feeling right and wrong.

And all this is told in the form of a stunning metaphor about the flight of a seagull.

My story is very interesting. I've been in love with Timur since kindergarten. He's cute and kind. I even went to school for him ahead of schedule went. We studied, and my love grew and strengthened, but Tima had no reciprocal feelings for me. Girls were constantly hovering around him, he took advantage of this, flirted with them, but did not pay attention to me. I was constantly jealous and cried, but could not admit my feelings. Our school consists of 9 classes. I lived in a small village, and then moved to the city with my parents. I entered medical college and lived a quiet, peaceful life. When I finished my first year, then in May I was sent to practice in the area where I lived before. But I wasn’t sent there alone... When I got to my native village by minibus, I sat next to Timur. He became more mature and handsome. These thoughts made me blush. I still loved him! He noticed me and smiled. Then he sat down and started asking me about life. I told him and asked about his life. It turned out that he lives in the city where I live and studies at medical college, where I study. He is the second student sent to our regional hospital. During the conversation, I admitted that I love him very much. And he told me that he loved me... Then a kiss, long and sweet. We didn’t pay attention to the people in the minibus, but drowned in a sea of ​​tenderness.
We are still studying together and we are going to become great doctors.

Selections of the best books for teenagers according to Time magazine, The Guardian newspaper, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, and also, as a bonus, according to the editors of Lifehacker. Adolescents will be considered boys and girls aged 10 to 19 years, according to the terminology of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Time's 10 Best Young Adult Books

In 2015, the weekly Time magazine published a selection of the hundred best books for young people. The list was compiled based on recommendations from reputable critics, publishers and reading clubs from around the world. You can see the full list, but here are the top ten.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Half-Indian by Sherman Alexie. Original title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. A partly autobiographical book about a boy growing up on an Indian reservation, for which the author received a National Book Award. The main character is a “nerd” who dreams of becoming an artist, challenging the system and prejudices of society.
2. Harry Potter series, JK Rowling. The first of seven books about a young wizard and his friends studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was published in 1997. The story of Harry Potter has become incredibly popular all over the world. The books have been translated into 67 languages ​​and filmed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series, starting with the first novel, has won many awards.
3. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. Original title: The Book Thief. The novel, written in 2006, tells about the events of World War II, Nazi Germany and the girl Liesel. The book is on the bestseller list New York Times and, as the literary magazine Bookmarks aptly notes, is capable of breaking the hearts of both teenagers and adults. After all, the story in it is told from the perspective of Death.
4. "A Crack in Time" by Madeleine Lengle. Original title: A Wrinkle in Time. A science fiction novel about thirteen-year-old Meg, who is considered too wayward by her classmates and teachers. Perhaps the girl would have remained a thorn and would have continued to suffer due to the sudden disappearance of her father, if not for one nightly incident... The book was published in 1963 and received a number of awards.
5. Charlotte's Web by Alvin Brooks White. Original title: Charlotte's Web. This beautiful story about the friendship of a girl named Fern and a pig named Wilburg was first published in 1952. The work was twice filmed in the form of animated films, and also formed the basis of a musical.
6. "The Pits" by Louis Saker. Original title: Holes. This novel by a Danish writer has won several awards and is ranked 83rd on the BBC's 200 Best Books list. The main character's name is Stanley, and he has absolutely no luck in life. So much so that he ends up in a correctional camp, where he has to dig holes every day... Unfortunately, the book has not been translated into Russian, but has been filmed under the title “Treasure.”
7. "Matilda", Roald Dahl. The original name is Matilda. This novel came from the pen of an English writer, whose children's books are famous for their lack of sentimentality and often dark humor. The heroine of this work is a girl named Matilda, who loves to read and has some supernatural abilities.
8. "The Outcasts" by Susan Eloise Hinton. Original title: The Outsiders. The novel was first published in 1967 and is a classic of American teen literature. It tells about the conflict between two youth gangs and a fourteen-year-old boy, Ponyboy Curtis. It is noteworthy that the writer began working on the book when she was 15, and finished it at 18. In 1983, Francis Ford Coppola shot a feature film of the same name.
9. "Cute and the Magic Booth" by Jaster Norton. Original title: The Phantom Tollbooth. A work published in 1961 about the exciting adventures of a boy named Milo. Readers can expect puns and naughty game words, and thanks to the illustrations of Jules Phifer, the book is perceived as a cartoon.
10. "The Giver", Loris Lowry. Original title: The Giver. This novel, written in the dystopian genre, rare for children's literature, received the Newbery Medal in 1994. The author paints an ideal world where there are no diseases, wars or conflicts and no one needs anything. However, it turns out that such a world is devoid of colors and there is no place in it not only for suffering, but also for love. In 2014, the film “The Dedicated” was made based on the novel.

The Guardian's 10 Best Books for Teens

In 2014, the British daily newspaper The Guardian published a list of 50 books that young men and women should read. The list was compiled based on the results of voting by 7 thousand people. The works were divided into categories: “books that help you understand yourself,” “books that change your worldview,” “books that teach you to love,” “books that will make you laugh,” “books that will make you cry,” and so on. Here is the list.

The top ten included books that help shape the personality of a young reader and inspire them to overcome difficulties.

1. The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins. Original title: The Hunger Games. The first book in this series was published in 2008 and within six months became a bestseller. The circulation of the first two novels exceeded two million copies. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, and Collins said she was inspired by ancient Greek mythology and her father's military career. All parts of the trilogy have been filmed.
2. “The Fault in Our Stars”, John Green. Original title: The Fault in Our Stars. A touching story the love story between sixteen-year-old Hazel, who has cancer, and seventeen-year-old Augustus, who has the same illness, was published in 2012. That same year, the novel entered The New York Times bestseller list.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee. Original title: To Kill a Mockingbird. This work was first published in 1960, and a year later the author received the Pulitzer Prize for it. In the USA it is being studied as part of school curriculum. This is not surprising, because through the prism of a child's view, Harper Lee looks at very adult problems such as racism and inequality.
4. Harry Potter series, JK Rowling. Here The Guardian coincided with Time.
5. "", George Orwell. A dystopian novel about totalitarianism, published in 1949. Along with Zamyatin's "We" is considered one of the best in its genre. Orwell's work is ranked eighth on the BBC's list of the 200 best books, and Newsweek magazine ranked the novel second in the hundred best books of all time. Until 1988, the novel was banned in the USSR.
6. "The Diary of Anne Frank". Original title: The Diary of a Young Girl. The only non-fiction work on the list. These are the records kept by the Jewish girl Anne Frank from 1942 to 1944. Anna made her first entry on June 12, her birthday, when she turned 13. The last entry is dated August 1st. Three days later, the Gestapo arrested everyone hiding in the shelter, including Anna. Her diary is part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
7. "A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen. Original title: A Streetcat Named Bob. James Bowen was a street musician and had problems with drugs until one day he picked up a stray cat. The meeting turned out to be fateful. “He came and asked me for help, and he asked for my help more than my body asked for self-destruction,” Bowen writes. The story of two tramps, a man and a cat, was heard by the literary agent Mary Paknos and suggested that James write an autobiography. The book, co-written with Gary Jenkins, was published in 2010.
8. "The Lord of the Rings", John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Original title: The Lord of the Rings. This is one of the most popular books of the twentieth century in general and in the fantasy genre in particular. The novel was written as a single book, but due to its large volume, it was divided into three parts when published. The work has been translated into 38 languages ​​and has had a huge impact on world culture. Films have been made based on it and computer games have been created.
9. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. Original title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is a story about a guy named Charlie, who, like all teenagers, acutely feels loneliness and misunderstanding. He pours out his experiences in letters. The book was published in a million copies, critics dubbed it “The Catcher in the Rye for new times.” The novel was filmed by the author himself, main role played by Logan Lerman, and his girlfriend - Emma Watson.
10. "Jane Eyre", Charlotte Brontë. Original title - Jane Eyre. The novel was first published in 1847 and immediately gained the love of readers and critics. The focus is on the early orphaned girl Jane with strong character and a vivid imagination. The book has been filmed many times and is ranked tenth on the BBC's list of the 200 best books.

10 best books for schoolchildren according to the Russian Ministry of Education and Science

In January 2013, the Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation published a list of one hundred books for secondary school students for extracurricular reading. The list includes works outside the school curriculum.

The creation of the list and its contents caused a lively discussion in the press and on the Internet. Much criticism was expressed against the Ministry of Education and Science, and some literary figures proposed alternative lists.

Nevertheless, here are the first ten of “100 books on the history, culture and literature of the peoples of the Russian Federation, recommended for schoolchildren to read independently.”

Please note: the list is compiled alphabetically, so our top ten consists of the first ten surnames. We will consider two works by the same author as one item. This is by no means a rating.

1. “The Siege Book”, Daniil Granin and Alexey Adamovich. This is a documentary chronicle of the blockade, first published with banknotes in 1977. In Leningrad, the book was banned until 1984.
2. “And the day lasts longer than a century” and “The White Steamship”, Chingiz Aitmatov. The title of the novel “And the day lasts longer than a century” contains a line from a poem by Boris Pasternak. This is Aitmatov's first major work, published in 1980. The story “The White Steamer” about a seven-year-old orphan boy living on the shores of Issyk-Kul was published ten years earlier.
3. “Star Ticket” and “Island of Crimea”, Vasily Aksyonov. The story of the Denisov brothers, told on the pages of the novel “Star Ticket,” at one time “blew up” the public. The most harmless thing that Aksenov was accused of was the abuse of youth slang. The science fiction novel “Island of Crimea,” published in 1990, on the contrary, was received with a bang and became the main all-Union bestseller of the year.
4. “My brother plays the clarinet”, Anatoly Aleksin. The story, written in 1968, is in the form of a diary of a girl, Zhenya, who dreams of devoting her life to her musician brother. But it turns out that each person is like a separate planet, and everyone has their own goals and dreams.
5. “Dersu Uzala”, Vladimir Arsenyev. One of the best works of Russian adventure literature. The novel describes the life of the small peoples of the Far East and the hunter Dersu Uzal.
6. “The Shepherd and the Shepherdess” and “The Tsar Fish”, Viktor Astafiev. Two stories on two main themes in Astafiev’s work - war and the village. The first was written in 1967, and the second in 1976.
7. “Odessa Stories” and “Cavalry”, Isaac Babel. These are two collections of stories. The first tells about pre-revolutionary Odessa and the Benny Krik gang, and the second about the civil war.
8. “Ural Tales”, Pavel Bazhov. This is a collection created on the basis of mining folklore of the Urals. “Malachite Box”, “Mistress of the Copper Mountain”, “Stone Flower” - these and other works by Bazhov have been known and loved by many since childhood.
9. “Republic of SHKID”, Grigory Belykh and Alexey Panteleev. An adventure story about street children who lived in the Dostoevsky School of Social and Labor Education (ShkID). The authors themselves became the prototypes of the two characters. The work was filmed in 1966.
10. “Moment of Truth”, Vladimir Bogomolov. The action of the novel takes place in August 1944 on the territory of Belarus (another title of the work is “In August of forty-four”). The book is based on real events.

The best books for teenagers according to Lifehacker

We decided to find out what the Lifehacker team read as teenagers. They called “Harry Potter”, and “The Lord of the Rings”, and other aforementioned works. But there were a few books not mentioned in the top ten of any of the lists.

I read the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. There are thousands of thousands of strangers interesting words, and I, being small, sat down in the toilet, simply opened it to any page and read, read, read, learning new terms and definitions. Informative.

One of the books that most influenced me as a teenager was the novel “A Hero of Our Time” by Lermontov. Love, passion, nature, philosophy of nihilism - what else does a teenager need? :) Here it is, fertile ground for youthful maximalism. The work made me think about my place in this world, about the essence of existence and all that, eternal.

Sergey Varlamov

SMM specialist at Lifehacker

At the age of 12–13 I read the book “The Mysterious Island”. At this time I was generally interested in the books of Jules Verne, full of adventures and surprises. Mentally, together with the heroes, he overcame difficulties and traveled. “The Mysterious Island” taught that even in the most hopeless situation you should not give up. You need to dream, believe, and most importantly - do.

What did you read when you were 10–19 years old? What book will you definitely buy for your children when they are this age? And what do you think is a must-read for Generation Z?

Lifehacker has already compiled a selection, which included lists from Time magazine, The Guardian newspaper, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and our editorial office.

We invited you to supplement the selection with your favorite works from childhood and youth, and you actively participated. We present to your attention a list of the best books for teenagers according to Lifehacker readers.

1. “The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof”, Astrid Lindgren

The first part of a trilogy, which Soviet children know primarily from cartoons. It's funny how Boris Stepantsev adapted literary material. According to the book, the Kid is a spoiled, selfish child. He has not only parents, but also friends (Christer and Gunilla). In the cartoon, the Kid is a lonely boy under the supervision of the “housekeeper” Miss Bok, who has invented a friend for himself. According to the book, Carlson’s favorite food is not jam and sweets at all, but meatballs.

2. “The Little Prince”, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A children's fairy tale for adults by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, published in 1943. The story of the boy with golden hair is a storehouse of wisdom. “The Little Prince” has been translated into more than 180 languages, films have been made based on it, and music has been written. The book became part of modern culture and spread throughout the world.

3. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, Mark Twain

What did the twelve-year-old tomboy Tom not manage to do on the pages of this story! Witnessed a murder, got lost in a cave, found a treasure, ran away from home to become a pirate, and, of course, fell in love. Mark Twain's work presents the entire palette of teenage experiences. This is probably why it is so close to them.

4. “The Adventures of Alice”, Kir Bulychev

Alisa Selezneva is a schoolgirl, “a guest from the future.” She is childishly spontaneous and fearless. Alice travels through galaxies and gets acquainted with their inhabitants, while on Earth human civilization has long been thriving. In addition to exciting adventures main character, children of the 21st century will probably be interested to know how Kir Bulychev imagined life at the end of their century.

5. “The Mysterious Island”, Jules Verne

This novel remains popular for almost 150 years (the first publication dates back to 1874). The adventures of five brave northerners who found themselves on a desert island during Civil War in the USA, won the hearts of readers no less than Verne’s previous works: “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “The Children of Captain Grant.”

6. Treasure Island, Robert Stevenson

The search for Captain Flint's treasure has excited the imagination of more than one generation of boys and girls. Perhaps in our time, pirate adventures are not so relevant, but the philosophical motives raised in the book are still interesting today.

7. “Island of Lost Ships”, Alexander Belyaev

Science fiction writer Alexander Belyaev is best known for his novels “The Amphibian Man” and “The Head of Professor Dowell.” “The Island of Lost Ships” remains unread by many, and in vain. The adventures of a detective, a “criminal” and a millionaire’s daughter, who miraculously survived a shipwreck and ended up on the “island of lost ships,” are captivating (even if not from the first pages) and do not let go until the end.

8. “Two Captains”, Veniamin Kaverin

Centennials will certainly give their own interpretation to the immortal motto of this work: “Fight and seek, find and not give up.” And they are unlikely to be imbued with the romance of the profession of a pilot and polar explorer, but real love and the friendships described in this novel should resonate with them.

9. The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle

The first book in the series of works about Professor Challenger. An expedition of British scientists, journalists and aristocrats discovers a window into the ancient world. Among dinosaurs and apes it is very dangerous, but incredibly interesting.

10. King Solomon's Mines, Henry Haggard

Several Lifehacker readers said that every young man and girl should get acquainted with the works of the classic of world adventure literature, Sir Haggard. We recommend starting your acquaintance with the first book about Allan Quartermain - “King Solomon’s Mines.”

11. Shattered Empire, Mark Lawrence

The Broken Empire trilogy was written in 2011–2013 by the Anglo-American writer Mark Lawrence in the best traditions of fantasy. It includes the novels Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns, and Emperor of Thorns. Teenagers will be especially interested in the first book, where the development of the main character takes place.

12. “Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin”, Alexey Tolstoy

The plot, where an employee of the Soviet criminal investigation department and a general uprising of workers defeats the capitalist Pierre Harry, who imagines himself the ruler of the world, looks funny in modern realities. But be that as it may, this book is still about the victory of good over evil. Alexei Tolstoy should be applauded at least for the fact that, in fact, he foresaw the invention of the laser.

13. “The Count of Monte Cristo”, Alexandre Dumas

Classics of French literature. An adventure novel about love, betrayal and revenge. A simple Marseilles sailor, Edmond Dantes, turns into the mysterious and eccentric Count of Monte Cristo, but does a person have the right to imagine himself as an instrument of justice?

14. Les Misérables, Victor Hugo

One of greatest novels XIX century and the apotheosis of Hugo’s work. Using the example of a difficult life path Jean Valjean's author raises the eternal philosophical problems. What is stronger - law or love? Can rich and poor understand each other's suffering? Does the desire for good always win in a person? The book is more suitable for older teenagers.

15. “Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin”, Alexander Pushkin

“The Shot”, “The Blizzard”, “The Undertaker”, “The Station Agent”, “The Peasant Young Lady” - everyone knows the names of these stories from school. And this is a rare case when works from are truly captivating and enjoyable at a young age.

16. “The Catcher in the Rye”, Jerome Salinger

A novel about youth and the thirst for freedom. Seventeen-year-old Holden, with the maximalism characteristic of youth, expresses his rejection of false public morality. Modern Library included it in its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the last century. The work was extremely popular in the twentieth century and still receives recognition from young rebels.

17. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Dorian Gray is young and beautiful, but in the pursuit of pleasure he drowns in selfishness and vices. An excellent cautionary tale of Oscar Wilde and his only published novel.

18. Martin Eden, Jack London

A largely autobiographical novel about a self-made man. To achieve the love of a girl outside his circle, Martin Eden actively engaged in self-education and succeeded a lot. But the feelings did not pass the test of social disunity. If you want to introduce your teenager to the philosophy of Nietzsche and Spencer in a fun way, give him this book.

19. "The Collector", John Fowles

John Fowles is an English writer, one of the outstanding representatives of postmodernism. Fowles wrote the novel about a lonely clerk and butterfly collector Frederick Clegg, who kidnaps and holds a girl he likes in his home. The book is read in one breath, but for a long time it makes you think about cruelty, loneliness and indifference.

20. "The Body", Stephen King

Another name is "Corpse". "Not too much suitable book for children,” those who have not read the story published in the collection “The Breathing Method” can say. In fact, the story of the boy's death takes up less than a quarter of the book. Everything else is memories of the recklessness of youth and a story about the difficult process of growing up. Many teenagers recognize themselves in the main characters.

21. Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes

A science fiction story, later written into a novel, about a weak-minded man who, as a result of a scientific experiment, became the smartest on the planet. The eternal problem of grief from the mind and subtle ethical paradoxes make you read this book without stopping. The story was published in 1959, but in the 21st century, in the light of bioengineering developments and artificial intelligence, it becomes especially relevant.

22. Animal Farm, George Orwell

This book is an excellent workout for the brain of the younger generation. A satirical story-parable depicting the transition from unlimited freedom and universal equality to dictatorship: “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others."

23. “Monday begins on Saturday”, Strugatsky brothers

Many of Lifehacker's readers love the works of Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. We, too. It is best for teenagers to begin their acquaintance with these wonderful authors with a satirical story about the programmer Privalov. In the future, we also recommend reading “The Doomed City,” “Roadside Picnic,” and “It’s Hard to Be a God.”

24. “Young Guard”, Alexander Fadeev

The novel is dedicated to the activities of the youth group of the same name. underground organization, which existed during the Great Patriotic War. Most of the main characters in the novel are real people, but the events described by the author did not always happen in reality. Nevertheless, The Young Guard is considered one of the best patriotic works.

25. “Not on the lists,” Boris Vasiliev

The action of this story takes place at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The story of the heroism and love of Lieutenant Nikolai Pluzhnikov is a must-read for cultivating patriotism and true love for the Motherland.

Nowadays, teenagers of 14-15 years old usually choose and download books for themselves, but if it is customary in your family to consult about reading, here is a list of literature that contains a lot of unexpected things. The author, a literature teacher, works with some very reading children - part of the list of books was compiled according to their advice, but for general development it will be useful in any case.

The problem of choosing books at 14-15 years old is connected, in my opinion, with two things. Firstly, with the internal state of an individual child (some grow quickly and have long been eager to read books as adults, while others have not yet grown out of childhood). Secondly, with the inevitable but painful transition from a complete ban on reading (watching) anything about “adult” love to the ability to read (watch) about it calmly, without “obsessing”, that is, in an adult way.

It is impossible to save children from this threshold. Keeping them in blinders until the birth of their own children is not very wise, to put it mildly. Just from 14 to 17 years old, you need to somehow be able to take teenagers across this reading line, and each child probably needs to pave some kind of their own path into the jungle of purely “adult” books, which have ceased to have anything in them for a hundred years now. there was no need to be shy.

When compiling conventional lists of books for teenagers 14-15 years old, I did not try to embrace the immensity. I asked my friends, added their opinion to my memories and tried to build some system, however, not very logical and academic. I had, strictly speaking, one criterion - how much these books were loved and “readable”.

No “rules” (if we read “this”, why don’t we read “that” and violate historical justice?) are not recognized here. If “that” is unreadable for a teenager, that means we don’t read it. At the age of 14-15, the task is still relevant not to scare away from reading, but, on the contrary, to instill in every possible way a desire for this activity. The list includes only truly beloved books that have been read several times - strange as it may seem in some cases.

And one more consideration. An adult philologist, compiling such a list, willy-nilly begins to look around in embarrassment: how can I mention a book that has long been considered rather mediocre, or even does not stand up to any artistic criticism? Am I spoiling the taste of the young reader?

This kind of prejudice was not taken into account in this list. The point, in my opinion, is that in childhood and adolescence you need to read a lot not for aesthetic pleasure, but for the sake of your horizons. I once read a very apt remark from S. Averintsev: if a person knows only his time, his narrowly modern range of concepts, he is a chronological provincial. And if he doesn’t know other countries and customs, he’s a geographical provincial (this is my extrapolation). And in order not to be a provincial, by the age of 17 you need to read a lot of all kinds of books - just about life, about the “life and customs” of different peoples and eras.

The books in this list are grouped rather conventionally, and the groups are arranged in order of increasing “maturity”. This way, in my opinion, it will be easier to choose. As I present the texts, I will occasionally allow myself some comments.

Still “children’s” books

A. Lindgren Super detective Kalle Blomkvist. Roni is the daughter of a robber. Brothers Lionheart. We are on the island of Saltkroka.

The last book is the most “adult” on the list, but, strictly speaking, all this should have been read by the age of 12-13. As, indeed, other books in this section. But if a teenager has lingered in childhood and has not yet read everything he should have, then these books will not irritate with their “smallness.” They are specifically for teenagers.

V. Krapivin Knee-deep in the grass. The shadow of the caravel. Squire Kashka. Sailor Wilson's white ball. Captain Rumba's briefcase.(And another fairy tale about a poplar shirt - I don’t remember the exact name.)

Krapivin wrote many books, and some may prefer his “mystic-fantasy” cycles. And I love most of his books where there is almost (or no) fantasy, but there are real memories of childhood. The story about Captain Rumba is funny and cheerful - artistically, without effort, and teenagers lack this like vitamins.

R. Bradbury Dandelion wine.

Just a story about how difficult it is to leave childhood - from the point of view of childhood, not youth.

Alan Marshall I can jump over puddles.

Everyone suddenly remembered her with love.

R. Kipling Pack from the hills. Awards and fairies.

The history of England would also be added to this, or just an encyclopedia where you can clarify who is who and what is where...

Cornelia Funke King of Thieves. Inkheart.

This is already an “arbitrary” part of the list. The fact is that every reader needs (except for masterpieces) a layer of average books - for a snack, for a break, just so as not to lift weights all the time. And also for a correct understanding of the scale. Those who have been fed only masterpieces since childhood do not know the value of books. When you constantly read texts written for children, you forget some, while others still stand out, even though they are not masterpieces. But you can probably replace them with something else, I just came across these.

Lloyd Alexander A series of novels about Taren (The Book of Three. The Black Cauldron. Taren the Wanderer, etc.).

History, geography, zoology and more

D. London Northern stories. Smoke Belew. Smoke and Baby.

D. Curwood Ramblers of the North(and so on - until you get tired of it).

Jules Verne Yes, everything that is being read, if not already read.

A. Conan Doyle The Lost World. Brigadier Gerard (and this is already history).

W. Scott Ivanhoe. Quentin Dorward.

G. Haggard Daughter of Montezuma. King Solomon's Mines.

R. Stevenson Kidnapped. Catriona. Saint-Yves (alas, not completed by the author).

R. Kipling Kim.

Boys love this very much, if they have the ability to read not the easiest book. You can slip it in with a brief comment: this is a story about how an English boy became a spy, and even in India. And he was raised by an old Indian yogi (“Oh my son, didn’t I tell you that it’s not good to cast magic?”).

A. Dumas Count of Monte Cristo.

By now it would be high time to read the Musketeer epic. And “Queen Margot”, probably, too. But you can’t help but read it.

S. Forester The Saga of Captain Hornblower(three books have been published in the “Historical Library for Youth”).

The book was written in the twentieth century: the history of an English sailor from midshipman to admiral during the Napoleonic wars. Meticulous, adventurous, reliable, very charming. The hero evokes great sympathy, remaining an ordinary, but very worthy person.

T. Heyerdahl Travel to Kon-Tiki. Aku-aku.

Vet's notes, etc.

The books are autobiographical, funny and curious, full of everyday details. For lovers of all kinds of living creatures this is a great consolation.

I. EfremovThe Journey of Baurjed. On the edge of the Ecumene. Stories.

For some reason, even historians don’t know these books now. And this is such a help in history ancient world(Egypt, Greece), and by geography (Africa, Mediterranean). And the stories are rather “paleontological” - and also very interesting. This is early Efremov, there are no (or almost no) seductive ideas here - about yoga, the beauty of all kinds of bodies, etc., as in the later “The Razor's Edge” and “Thais of Athens”. And there is no politics, as in “The Hour of the Bull” (all this is hardly worth giving to children). But it may be interesting and harmless to read “The Andromeda Nebula” - it is, of course, a very outdated utopia, but it successfully eliminates ignorance in the field of astronomy. Efremov is generally good (in my opinion) precisely as a popularizer of science. He has a documentary story about paleontological excavations in Mongolia, “The Road of the Winds,” which is very interesting.

M. Zagoskin Yuri Miloslavsky. Stories.

And I don’t like “Roslavlev” at all.

A.K. Tolstoy "Prince Silver".

We’ve already read it, and no one particularly likes it - so, in moderation. And ghoul stories (“The Ghoul Family” especially) are tempting - but you probably need to read them for general development.

Books for girls

S. Bronte

E. Potter Pollyanna(and the second book is about how Pollyanna grows up, although, of course, this can be read by the age of 10).

D. Webbster Long-legged uncle. Dear enemy.

Charming, albeit simple books. And the rarest form is novels in letters, witty and quite action-packed.

A. Montgomery Anne Shirley from Green Gables.

Nabokov himself undertook to translate... But the book is weak. There is a wonderful Canadian TV movie. And a cool Japanese cartoon (they say) - but I haven’t seen it yet.

A. Egorushkina A real princess and a traveling bridge.

Fantasy, rather mediocre, and the sequels are completely weak. But girls 12-13 years old are absolutely delighted with her.

M. Stewart Nine carriages. Moonspinners (and other detectives).

And this reading is already for young ladies 14-16 years old. Also very beloved, educational and, it seems, harmless. English life after the war, Europe (Greece, France), marvelous landscapes and, of course, love. M. Stewart's detective stories are average, but good. Here is the story about Arthur and Merlin - a masterpiece, but about it in another section.

I. Ilf, E. Petrov The twelve Chairs. Golden calf.

L. Soloviev The Tale of Khoja Nasreddin.

The text is charming and mischievous. Perhaps the most suitable one to get used to adult conversations “about life” without unnecessary pain.

V. Lipatov Village detective. Gray mouse. The Tale of Director Pronchatov. Even before the war.

V. Astafiev Theft. Last bow.

"Theft" is very scary tale about an orphanage in the Arctic Circle, where children of exiled and already dead parents survive - an antidote to Soviet utopias.

V. Bykov The dead don't hurt. Obelisk. His battalion.

E. Kazakevich Star.

And a very interesting book, “The House on the Square,” is about a Soviet commandant in an occupied German town, but this, of course, is socialist realism with all its slyness. I don’t know any more lyrical prose about war. Is it “Be healthy, schoolboy” by B. Okudzhava?

N. Dumbadze Me, grandma, Iliko and Illarion.(And the film is even better - it seems with Veriko Andzhaparidze). White flags(a relatively honest exposure of the Soviet system, which was entirely bribed).

Ch. Aitmatov

However, I don’t know... About the later Aitmatov I’ll certainly say “no,” but about this I also can’t say with confidence that it’s worth reading. I just know for sure that children should have some idea of ​​life in Soviet times. It is wrong if there is simply a gap and emptiness left. Then it will be easy to fill it with all sorts of lies. On the other hand, we knew how to read Soviet books, putting lies out of brackets, but children no longer understand the conventions that were obvious to us.

Memories of upbringing

A. Herzen The past and thoughts (vols. 1-2).

As a child, I read with pleasure, precisely during these years.

E. Vodovozova The story of one childhood.

The book is unique: the memoirs of a graduate of the Smolny Institute who studied with Ushinsky himself. She writes both about Smolny and about her childhood on the estate very impartially (she is generally a “sixties person”), but intelligently, accurately, and reliably. I read it as a child (the edition was very shabby), but about five years ago it was republished.

V. Nabokov Other shores.

A. Tsvetaeva Memories.

K. Paustovsky A story about life.

A. Kuprin Junker. Cadets.

A. Makarenko Pedagogical poem.

F. Vigdorova The road to life. This is my home. Chernigovka.

This is the same Vigdorova who recorded the trial of Brodsky. And the books (this is a trilogy) are written about orphanage, created by Makarenko’s student back in the 30s. A lot of interesting details about life, schools and problems of that time. Very easy to read. The Soviet is noticeable, but the anti-Soviet is also noticeable.

A. Cronin Young years. Shannon's Path (continued).

And probably “Citadel”. “Young Years” is a very nice book, although all sorts of problems with faith arise there. The poor child grew up as an Irish Catholic surrounded by English Protestants and eventually became a positivist biologist.

A. Brushtein The road goes into the distance. At dawn. Spring.

The memoirs have a revolutionary accent, uniquely combined with the Jewish view of Russian-Lithuanian-Polish reality. And it is very interesting, informative and charming. I don’t know how it will be perceived by modern children, but the mass of realities of the early twentieth century is reflected so clearly in few places. Perhaps A. Tsvetaeva - but she rather emphasizes the exclusivity rather than the typicality of their way of life.

N. Rollechek Wooden rosary. Chosen Ones.

The books are rare and probably tempting. Memories of a girl given by her parents to be raised in an orphanage at a Catholic convent. The case takes place in Poland after its separation from Russia, but before the war. The life and customs of the shelter (and even the monastery) are quite unsightly; it seems that they are described truthfully, albeit impartially. But they show life from a side unknown to us.

N. Kalma Children of mustard paradise. Verney rooks. Bookstore on Place de l'Etoile.

What is called - under the asterisk. The author is a Soviet children's writer who specialized in describing the life of “your peers abroad.” It is very politicized, with class struggle, of course, strikes and demonstrations, but still, to some extent, the realities of a life completely unknown to us are faithfully depicted. For example, the election of a “president” in an American school or the life of a French orphanage during the war. Or the participation of very young teenagers in the French Resistance. It would be nice to read something more reliable - but for some reason there isn’t. Or I don't know. And these books are hardly easy to obtain anymore. But the author, for all his Soviet naivety, has some kind of peculiar charm, especially for teenagers. And I loved it, and just recently one of our children suddenly brought it to show me (“The Book Shop”) as something treasured and dear.

A. Rekemchuk Boys.

It is possible earlier, of course; Quite a children's story about a music school and a boys' choir. By the way, there is also an author, M. Korshunov, who also wrote about students of a special music school at the conservatory, and then about the railway vocational school. It's not all very serious, but it's very interesting at the right age. I don’t remember any other books of this kind, but there were a lot of them in Soviet times.