The best books about being a teenager – according to our experts

By Michael Amess, Assistant Professor of Secondary Teacher Education, University of Birmingham
Ailish Kate Brassil, PhD Candidate, University College Cork
Andrew McInnes, Reader in Romanticisms, Edge Hill University
Carrie Paechter, Professor of Childhood, Youth and Family Life, Nottingham Trent University
Joanne Bowser-Angermann, Deputy Head of School for Education, Anglia Ruskin University
Karen Sands-OConnor, Visiting Professor of Education, University of Sheffield; Newcastle University
Roberta Garrett, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Cultural Studies, University of East London
Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Awkwardness and acne are the first things that spring to mind when thinking of adolescence, but they’re not always the full picture. We asked eight of our experts to tell us which book they feel best represents the experience of being a teenager.

1. Natives by Akala

In this biographical polemic, Natives, Akala captures the experience of being a teenager as a time when young people begin to recognise the social injustices shaping the worlds they inhabit.

Akala reflects on his teenage…

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