Today we are excited to share some classic books every teenage girl should read. From forbidden romances to racism and war. These books will immerse your teen into entirely different worlds giving them a perspective they cannot receive in this day and age.

Classic Books Every Teenage Girl Should Read

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

“My greatest thought in living is Heathcliff. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be… Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure… but as my own being.” Wuthering Heights is the only novel of Emily Bronte, who died a year after its publication. At the age of thirty. A brooding Yorkshire tale of a love that is stronger than death, it is also a fierce vision of metaphysical passion, in which heaven and hell, nature and society, are powerfully juxtaposed. 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the story begins to unfold during Christmastime. With their father away at war, the family must endure great poverty-induced hardship, oftentimes going hungry. Central to the theme of the novel is the issue of overcoming one’s character flaws. For Meg it is vanity; Jo, temper; Beth, shyness; and Amy, selfishness. Through the various activities of the four sisters told throughout the novel lessons are learned of the consequences of these particular flaws.

Classic Books Every Teenage Girl Should Read

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Dr Manette, wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years, is finally released and is reunited with his daughter Lucie, who despite her French ancestry has been brought up in London. Lucie falls in love with Charles Darnay, who has abandoned wealth and title in France because of his political convictions. When revolution breaks out in Paris, Darnay returns to the city to help an old family servant, but there he is arrested because of the crimes committed by his relations. Lucie, with their daughter and her father, follows him across the Channel, thus putting all their lives in danger.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice. It views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl. As her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

Teenage Girls Should Read These Classic Stories!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet. She deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the British Regency. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman. Living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London. Set in England in the early 19th century, Pride and Prejudice tell the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet’s five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr. Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighborhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth. 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The exemplary novel of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ third book, The Great Gatsby (1925), stands as the supreme achievement of his career. T. S. Eliot read it three times and saw it as the “first step” American fiction had taken since Henry James; H. L. Mencken praised “the charm and beauty of the writing,” as well as Fitzgerald’s sharp social sense; and Thomas Wolfe hailed it as Fitzgerald’s “best work” thus far. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance, and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

Thought-Provoking Classic Books Every Teenage Girl Should Read

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt 

Doomed to―or blessed with―eternal life. After drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. Ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret. The Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less of a blessing than it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. 

Classic Books for Teen Girls to Read

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The orphaned Jane Eyre suffers under cruel guardians, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. But her plain appearance belies her indomitable spirit, sharp wit and great courage. When she goes to Thornfield Hall to work as a governess for the mysterious Mr Rochester the stage is set for one of literature’s great romances.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment. And the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

More to Consider…