Top 5 stimulating novels for teenagers, chosen by Rebecca Westcott

Empowering teen novels to give readers a helping hand through their potentially difficult teenage years. Teacher-turned-author Rebecca Westcott picks her top five.

Are you there, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Reading this in 1981 was the first time I encountered periods, bras, or breasts in a book. More than half a century after its publication, this coming-of-age book is still relevant today.

Z for Zachariah by Robert C O'Brien

Ann Burden, 16, lived alone for an entire year, the last person alive in post-nuclear war America. At least that's what she thinks. When a scientist dressed in a radiation suit arrives, she thinks they can work together, but things take a sinister turn and the scientist is not who he seems.

After the first death of Robert Cormier

This book aimed at older readers tells the story of three very different teenagers, Miro, Kate and Ben, who are taken hostage. The teenage terrorist, the young bus driver and the general's son – all with their own stakes in the game and all desperate to get out alive.

The Unsavory Story of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart

This is a brilliantly funny and thought-provoking read for anyone who wants to take back the power, announce their presence loudly, and throw the bird at anyone who tells them they can't.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Published in 2017 and adapted into a Netflix film in 2021, this is the story of Viv Carter and the power of “holding your head high” in the face of sexism, harassment and cliques. Like my last book, it's about girls who refuse to be put in boxes.