Divergent by Veronica Ross

This book is amazing and extremely exciting. We first get to know the lifestyle of Beatrice, a sixteen year old girl, in a dystopian world, where there are five factions of people: Abnegation, who put others before their own needs and where Beatrice is currently from, the Dauntless, who are brave and fearless, the Erudite, who crave knowledge, the Amity, who are peaceful, and the Candor, who are honest. Before Choosing Day, where each sixteen year old will decide which faction they wish to devote their life to, is a simulated aptitude test that will tell Beatrice which faction she would fit in most with...but for her, life will never be simple. Instead of having just one of these traits, as is normal, Beatrice possesses at least three, which classifies her as Divergent. This makes her a dangerous person for reasons she doesn't understand. She has to keep this information to herself or risk being killed, so she can't find the answers she craves. Beatrice ultimately has to make a decision that will change the rest of her life: stay with her family or choose what would really make her happy. If she lets her guard down, she faces becoming factionless, without friends or family. As she finds love, she finds another thing she never thought she would: herself.

Paper Towns by John Green

17-year-old Quentin Jacobsen has been in love with his next-door neighbor, beautiful and unattainable Margo Roth Spiegelman, for his entire life. A leader at their Central Florida high school, she has carefully cultivated her tough-girl image. Quentin is one of the smart kids, never allowed around Margo's clique. His parents are therapists and he is, above all things, "well adjusted." He takes a rare risk when Margo appears at his window in the middle of the night. They drive around "righting wrongs" via her brilliant, elaborate pranks. Then she runs away (again). He slowly uncovers the depth of her unhappiness and the vast differences between the real and imagined Margo. Green's prose is believable—from hilarious trash talk to devastating observation and truths. He nails it—exactly how a thing feels, looks, affects a teen—page after page. The mystery of Margo—her disappearance and her as a person—is fascinating, cleverly constructed, and profoundly moving. Green builds tension through both the twists of the active plot and the subject. He avoids the usual coming-of-age character arc. Instead, the teen thinks deeper and harder—about the beautiful and terrifying ways we can and cannot know those we love.