2006-07-01 06:41:14 · 14 answers · asked by Cc 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
It really depends on the 17 year old. Some at that age are more than ready for adult books, and others are still reading young adult books.
"Adult" books,
Science Fiction/Fantasy, Orson Scott Card has several series including the Ender/Shadow series. Try Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow which was recognized by the ALEX award committee as one of the best adult books for teens.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by Tolkien might also be a good choice depending on reading interests.
Classics
Gone With The Wind, Pride & Prejudice, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Anna Karenina, Little Women, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, etc.
On the young adult side,
I enjoy works by Sarah Dessen, Scott Westerfeld, Neal Shusterman, and Stephenie Meyer.
--------Here are the most recent Alex choices for 2006---
Bates, Judy Fong. Midnight at the Dragon Café. Counterpoint, $14 (1582431892)
Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate. St Martins, $19.95 (0312332688)
Gaiman, Neil. Anansi Boys. William Morrow & Company, $26.95 (006051518x)
Gallaway, Gregory. As Simple As Snow. Putnam, $23.95 (0399152318)
Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Alfred A. Knopf, $24 (1400043395)
Martinez, A. Lee. Gil’s All Fright Diner. Tor, $12.95 (076531711)
Palwick, Susan. The Necessary Beggar. Tor, $ 24.95 (076531097x)
Rawles, Nancy. My Jim. Crown, $19.95 (1400054001)
Scheeres, Julia. Jesus Land: A Memoir. Counterpoint, $23 (152433380)
Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir. Scribner, $25 (0743247531)
-----------And here are the Best Books For Young Adults (BBYA) Top Ten for 2006--------
Akbar, Said Hyder and Burton, Susan. Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story. Bloomsbury, 2005. $24.95. (1-58234-520-1).
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. Scholastic, 2005. illus. $19.95. (0-439-35379-3).
Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate. St. Martin's, 2005. $19.95. (0-312-33268-8).
Green, John. Looking for Alaska. Dutton, 2005. $15.99. (0-525-47506-0).
Lynch, Chris. Inexcusable. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, 2005. $16.95. (0-689-84789-0).
Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight: A Novel. Little, Brown/Megan Tingley, 2005. $17.99. (0-316-16017-2).
Vaughan, Brian K. Runaways: Volume 1 HC. Illus. by Adrian Alphona. Marvel, 2005. $34.99. (0-7851-1876-4).
Westerfeld, Scott. Peeps. Penguin/Razorbill, 2005. $16.99. (1-59514-031-X).
Wooding, Chris. Poison. Scholastic/Orchard, 2005. $16.99. (0-439-75570-0).
Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger. Knopf, 2005. $16.95. (0-375-83099-5).
2006-07-01 07:10:30 · answer #1 · answered by laney_po 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure why you think a seventeen year old has to read at a restricted level. Although I suppose if you are asking this question then it must mean that he/she is not a reader or hasn't shown much interest in books. Most people are giving you fiction selections I suggest you look at some non fiction books. What is the person interested in. When you discover that then find a good book about the history of that subject. I'm currently reading a book called 13 which relates the history of the superstition of the number 13.
Anyway I find history immensely interesting
2006-07-01 20:35:00 · answer #2 · answered by Rtaylor32 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dresden file book series by Jim Butcher.There are 8 books in the series beginning with stormfront. It narrates the story of Harry Dresden,chicago's only professional wizard who works as a detective.He stands between the general population who is ignorant about the supernatural world and the monsters-vampires,werewolves,fallen angels,fey.He is aided by Bob,a talking skull.Karrin Murphy-a police officer and Thomas-a white court vampire.
Reilly's Luck by Louis L'Amour.Its a western.A young boy is abandoned by his own mother(she tells her boyfriend to kill him)The boy ends up with a gambler and he brings him up.Turns out to be the best gamble he ever made.The boy grows up and later kills the people who murdered the gambler.The Daybreakers,Fair blows the wind,Galloway are also good books by the same author.
Count of Montecristo by Alexander Dumas.Its about a young French sailor who was unjustly imprisoned for 14 years before he escapes and ultimately takes revenge on his enemies.The author did a great job describing the emotions of the prisoner.Disbelief,denial,self pity,madness,apathy and finally hope.
Dragonjousters series(joust,alta,sanctuary) by Mercedes Lackey.The setting is ancient Egypt.Hunger, anger, and hatred are constants for young Vetch, rendered a brutally mistreated and overworked serf by the Tian conquest of his homeland. But everything improves when a Tian jouster requisitions Vetch to become the first serf ever to be a dragon boy. His training is intense, and his duty clear-cut: to tend his jouster, Ari, and his dragon, Kashet. He discovers that, because Ari himself had hatched Kashet, the dragon is different from others that have been captured live in the wild and must be drugged to be made tractable. Vetch finds he really likes and understands dragons, and soon he becomes the best dragon boy of all. He still harbors anger, however, toward the Tian invasion. Could he, perhaps, hatch a dragon, and then escape to help his people?
Landslide by Desmond Bagley.Bob Boyd wakes up in a hospital with no memory,the only surviver of an accident.He was burned badly all over and needed extensive plastic surgery which was payed by a mysterious sponser.He is told that he's a geology student with a bad history.However Bob recovers and gets on with his life.Hired by the powerful Matterson Corporation to survey land before they build a great new dam, he begins to uncover the shaky foundations of the Matterson family and becomes a fly in their ointment.His accident and the Matterson family have more in common than he thought.
2006-07-03 12:17:54 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I completely agree with the guy before me. That's a very general question, every person has their own reading level, it doesn't always go by age. People are as picky with what they read as with what they eat, even if they rarely pick up a book. Get something a topic the person doesn't like and they will never finish the book.
2006-07-02 15:21:57 · answer #4 · answered by nadia4u20 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oh, goodness. worked at barnes & noble for three years, i've got some answers:
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (a million times better than the movie)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Golden Compass (and series) by Philip Pullman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (OHMYGOD!!!! Such a great book)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (I know, its a Disney movie, but the books were actually really good)
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (actually, anything by Oscar Wilde...)
The Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
Night by Elie Wiesel
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
...and so much more.
2006-07-01 14:37:31 · answer #5 · answered by Hummingbird J 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read anything by Jane Austen.
I also loved The book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.
All of Tolkeins books
2006-07-06 13:11:55 · answer #6 · answered by kennypop 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best book I have read on that level is "The Mummy or Ramses the Damned" by Anne Rice. Frankly any book by Anne Rice is a good read. It depends on your reading level and if you are a boy or a girl. If you are a girl i sugest the Two Princess of Bamarie. Its a good one...if you are a boy....i dunno then Beasties is really good.
2006-07-01 14:27:39 · answer #7 · answered by hermiasdeath 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Night by Elie Wiesel, but it is graphic and will make you cry. It is the true story of a Holocaust survivor. I read it a few years ago, but it isn't for a light fun read.
2006-07-01 13:56:34 · answer #8 · answered by Jennifer T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wonder When You'll Miss Me by Amanda Davis
2006-07-03 21:14:04 · answer #9 · answered by Aurora 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Catcher in the Rye and Dracula
2006-07-01 13:49:15 · answer #10 · answered by avril r 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋