Pretty Little Liars

Sara Shepard's series opener is genuinely hard to put down — the mystery of who is "A" and what actually happened to Alison is constructed with real craft, and the social anxiety at the heart of the story captures something true about high school life. Commercially, the series became a cultural phenomenon for good reason. That said, families need a clear-eyed heads-up: this book includes a student-teacher romantic relationship, underage drinking, eating disorders, shoplifting, sexual content, and manipulation as entertainment. The character work is thin beneath the secrets-and-drama machinery. It is not appropriate for younger teens or faith-conscious families. For older teens who can engage it critically, the addictive plotting has its place — but go in knowing what it is.