School's almost out for the summer. Encourage your teen to stop staring at electronic screens and read real books! These new young adult novels are every bit as thrilling and absorbing as anything on the Internet.

"The Moon and More" by Sarah Dessen; Viking Books/Penguin; 435 pages; $19.99.

Dessen has nearly eight million books in print, and her latest "girl read" should send that number soaring. In Dessen's 11th novel, teen Emaline's enjoys her last summer before college in the beach town of Colby. She works at her family's beach rental business as her high school romance crumbles, and she finds herself drawn to a visiting city boy named Theo.

Much more than just a frothy beach read, Dessen adds the all-too-real dilemma of college tuition to her tale, as Emaline finds out her family's true financial problems, dashing her hopes of attending the pricey ivy league Columbia University.

Smartly explored by Dessen, her novel introduces the concept of attending a local college that offers a full scholarship and forgoing that coveted "dream" university. All too often a reality in today's world, Dessen somehow makes Emaline's reality a positive, letting readers know a bright future is always still possible, no matter what.

Promoted massively online through all the social media outlets, Dessen seems to have the knack of snagging teen readers no matter what changes the book market takes. A highly entertaining, real read girls will love, "The Moon and More" has romance, fun, beachy situations and college realism wrapped up in one smart package.

"Permanent Record" by Leslie Stella; Amazon Children's Publishing; 282 pages; $17.99.

A sometimes dark, other times funny, all times humane tale of a high school outcast, this new tale from Amazon Children's Publishing is a timely, important novel for teens. It tells the realistic tale of Badi Hessamizadeh, a 16-year-old boy who withdraws from public school, enters a new academy and reverts to small revenges and defiances to react to being an outcast. Badi grapples with his Iranian-American identity, clinical depression, bullying, unrequited love and a barely-bottled rage, which show up in the form of plummeting grades and a stressful home life.

With dark humor and emotional depth, author Stella's modern way of writing makes sense to readers, who will side with Badi and friend Nikki as they try to uncover the real culprit who's sending threatening letters to the school's newspapers. Stella's amazing debut for teens is timely and real and should certainly resonate with readers, male and female.

"Burning" by Elana K. Arnold; Delacorte Press; 320 pages; $16.99.

Many teens these days attend musical festivals and street fairs, from Coachella to Daisy Carnivals to, yes, even the desert's Burning Man. Part road trip, part otherworldly, "groovy" outdoor escape, Arnold's sizzling love story follows a small-town boy on track to a sports scholarship and a gypsy fortune-telling girl on her way to an arranged marriage.

For teens 14 and up, "Burning" is an uplifting, adventurous love story, and like many classics, it pairs two teenagers from different worlds together against all odds, this time amidst a steamy, dramatic backdrop. With magic, risks, transformation and ultimately adult choices as themes, "Burning" is a fabulous summer read full of surprises, beauty and escape. Older teen boys and girls will enjoy Arnold's passionate read, told from alternating points of view.

"Piece of My Heart" by Lynn Maddalena Menna; Merit Press; 240 pages; $17.95.

Perfectly timed to capture the attentions of teens who watch American Idol, The Voice and Dancing with the Stars, Menna's dramatic, exciting tale captures the popularity of Latina singing sensations. Growing up on the mean streets of East Harlem, Marisol Reyes ignores her friends to embark on the gritty New York music scene with its excesses and attractions.

When a big master rapper takes a questionable interest in the 17-year-old and she makes a fateful mistake at a Hamptons party, Marisol has to reevaluate her dreams and the dangerous ways she's going after them.

Debut author Menna brings her real-life experiences as a teacher for inner-city Latina girls to the forefront and writes with a street-smart appeal and gritty realism.

"Wide Awake" by Hilary T. Smith; Katherine Tegan Books/HarperCollins; 375 pages; $17.99.

Part of HarperCollins' Epic Reads, an online community for young adults to help them find books, discuss them, create them and access contests and videos at www.epicreads.com, "Wide Awake" is the debut from publishing blogger Hilary T. Smith.

An exhilarating and heartwarming tale that celebrates the drama that is age 17, "Wide Awake" also weaves in a murder situation amidst a summer of music, madness, heartbreak and joy. With non-stop excitement throughout, Smith's debut tale also explores love and loss, with lots of real teen dilemmas thrown in. Starring a teen named Kiri Byrd who discovers a startling family secret and then finds herself in a world of mental illness and first love, "Wide Awake" is a rollercoaster, but then again, so is life.

To find out more about Lee Littlewood and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.