This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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If you’re holiday shopping for the YA lover in your life, it’s time to look beyond the adventures of Katniss Everdeen. YA has only gotten more popular in the seven years since The Hunger Games came out in 2008. Blockbuster adaptations of stand-alone novels and series like The Fault in Our Stars, The Maze Runner, and Divergent have made YA familiar even to those who haven’t picked up a book written for teens since they were a teen themselves. But just because the box office is dominated by dystopian landscapes and John Green doesn’t mean that’s all YA has to offer.
Recent titles destined to become classics represent all sub-genres. There’s everything from historical fiction to magical realism and literary fiction. Here are some recent YA titles that should be at the top of your must-read pile. And feel free to ask anyone who tries to mock you for reading “kids’ books” how many times they saw T oy Story 3. Anyone and everyone can enjoy YA.
Still Life With Tornado, A.S. King
As Sarah deals with the fall-out of broken friends and an even more fractured family, she’s visited by her ten-year-old and twenty-three-year-old self.
Photo: Courtesy of Dutton Books for Young Readers.
This One Summer, Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
This beautifully illustrated graphic novel follows a preteen girl on her family vacation as she tries to make sense of her evolving sense of self, and her subtly shifting family.
Photo: Courtesy of First Second.
If I Was Your Girl, Meredith Russo
If I Was Your Girl tells the story of a young transgender woman who wants a new start at a new school without the burden of her past. But as she starts to make friends, she begins to wonders if she’ll ever really be close to anyone she’s keeping so many secrets from.
Photo: Courtesy of Flatiron Books.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green & David Levithan
Green and Levithan each write the perspective of a teen named Will Grayson. Though the two Wills couldn’t be more different, when they finally meet they’re able to change each other’s lives for the better.
Photo: Courtesy of Speak.
The Sun Is Also A Star, Nicola Yoon
Yoon’s latest novel is already a National Book Award Finalist. The book follows two teenagers who both have believed they don’t have the time or inclination to fall in love— until they meet each other.
Photo: Courtesy of Delacorte Press.
Shadowshaper, Daniel Jose Older
Sierra Santiago loves to create murals. But when she notices something very strange happening to the street art in her community, she learns her family history is more complicated, and magical, than she could have ever believed.
Photo: Courtesy of Scholastic.
The Strange And Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, Leslye Walton
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist explores three generations of women as they find and lose love. It eventually focuses on Ava Lavender, a girl born with wings who was raised apart from so much of the world but still isn’t safe from it.
Photo: Courtesy of Candlewick.
Nimona, Noelle Stevenson
The National Book Award finalist follows the adventures of Nimona, an aspiring supervillain (with magical powers, of course) who finds a very reluctant mentor in Lord Ballister Blackheart, a man with a mysterious past. The story is illustrated by popular webcomic creator Noelle Stevenson.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperTeen.
Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli
Simon has never had a boyfriend, but he does have a mysterious e-mail pen pal he can’t wait to talk to every day. As their messages become more personal, Simon begins to wonder what a real-life meet-up could lead to.
Photo: Courtesy of Balzer + Bray.
Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell
As Cath goes through her first year of college, the one comforting constant is her fan fiction. Even as her sister pulls away, her relationship with her parents gets more complicated, and her love life becomes, well, suddenly existent, she knows she can go back to the characters she loves. But what happens when her story ends?
Photo: Courtsey of St. Martin’s Griffin.
Extraordinary Means, Robyn Schneider
In a not so distant future, drug-resistant TB has become a health crisis — and teens suffering from the illness live in sanatoriums meant to help them recover, and keep them separate from the general population. When Lane first arrives at the Latham House all he can think about is getting better and getting out — until he finds a group of friends that makes him feel like he belongs.
Photo: Courtesy of Katherine Tegen Books.
Unbecoming, Jenny Downham
This multi-generational story explores what it means to do what is expected of you, how relationships can form out of need as well as out of love, and the power of forgiveness.
Photo: Courtesy of David Fickling Books.
The Great American Whatever, Tim Federle
When Quinn’s sister was alive, the two were a filmmaking team. They had big dreams and works in progress. With summer winding down, Quinn has to decide if he’ll make the most of it, with minor adventures and crushes and maybe returning to screenwriting. Most importantly, he grapples to come to terms with how his sister died and who he’ll become without her.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Highly Illogical Behavior, John Corey Whaley
This novel by Printz Award-winning author John Corey Whaley follows Lisa, a teen so determined to get into a good college, she’s willing to drag a fellow teen, unaware, into the psych test study that will serve as her admission essay. The teen in question, Solomon, has stayed home for three years because of his debilitating panic attacks. At first, when a “new friend” shows up on his door, he’s suspicious. But as their friendship grows, so does his interest in the outside world.
Photo: Courtesy of Dial Books.
Anna and the Swallow Man, Gavriel Savit
This magical realism novel imagines Poland during World War II through the eyes of a young girl who barely has time to grasp the loss of her father when a new father figure appears — the Swallow Man. While he’s not someone she quite understands, she puts her trust in him. And so they set out on a years-long walk and attempt to avoid the constant violence and danger of war.
Photo: Courtesy of Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Exit, Pursued by a Bear, E.K. Johnston
This haunting book about a teenage girl, Hermione, learning to live her life after she’s drugged and sexually assaulted, is riveting. A departure from novels like Speak, which follows a young woman who deals with the aftermath of her rape in isolation, Hermione navigates with (almost) never-ending support from all those around her, but she still has to deal with the fear and self-doubt in the wake of her attack.
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Books.
Denton Little’s Death Date, Lance Rubin
Denton Little always knew he was going to die before his high school graduation — in his world, learning your death date is just a part of growing up. He doesn’t know how he’ll die, but he begins to get an idea when he starts turning purple the day before. However, that turns out to be one of the more normal things to happen to him on the day of his traditional pre-death funeral.
Photo: Courtesy of Knopf Books for Young Readers.
The Truth About Alice, Jennifer Mathieu
A book about a teenager named Alice told from multiple perspectives, this novel offers a truly fascinating look at projecting your issues on someone else and how a teenager’s reputation can be completely destroyed by a mob mentality.
Photo: Courtesy of Square Fish.
If I Lie, Corrine Jackson
Quinn has become an outcast in her town overnight for a perceived wrong she didn’t actually commit. But a deep friendship and love keeps her from clearing her name, so instead, she has to learn to adapt to living in a community that no longer wants her.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon Pulse.
If You Could Be Mine, Sara Farizan
This is a love story between two teen girls in Iran who always knew they couldn’t be together — but always thought, deep down, they could never be separated. As a wedding draws near for one of the teens, her lifelong best friend considers drastic measures to stop it in a country where being gay can get you thrown in jail — or worse.
Photo: Courtesy of Algonquin Young Readers.
Through The Woods, Emily Carroll
A collection of chilling horror stories that focus more on human monsters than creatures with fangs (though there are some fanged creatures — and they will haunt your dreams).
Photo: Courtesy of Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey
A 2012 Printz Award Honor book, Jasper Jones is a mystery told from the perspective of a loner teen that is suddenly pulled into the private life of the town outsider.
Photo: Courtesy of Ember.
Paper Valentine, Brenna Yovanoff
Part ghost story, part murder mystery, part love story, the core of Paper Valentine is a lifelong friendship that couldn’t end, even in death.
Photo: Courtesy of Razorbill.
Gone, Gone, Gone, Hannah Moskowitz
Moskowitz manages to incorporate the fear in the midst of the D.C. sniper into a story about the aftermath of 9/11 and multiple love stories.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon Pulse.
More Happy Than Not, Adam Silvera
In the future described in More Happy Than Not, you can chose to erase the memories that are too painful to live with. Silvera’s teen protagonist believes not even erasing the memory of his father’s suicide is worth the possible side effects of the procedure — until he’s faced with living with heartbreak.
Photo: Courtesy of Soho Press.
The Diviners, Libba Bray
There is a lot going on in 600-plus page novel by Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray. Set in New York City in the ’20s, it introduces you to a teen with supernatural abilities, a flapper with a troubled past, and a boy with a secret even he doesn’t fully understand.
Photo: Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon
A teen with a rare illness that compromises her immune system has spent her whole life in her house, with only her mother and her nurse for company. But when a boy moves in next door, she beings to question if her future has to have the same constraints as her past.
Photo: Courtesy of Delacorte Press.
Grasshopper Jungle, Andrew Smith
Read the book before you see the movie. The story of a teen struggling to figure out his sexuality in the midst of a giant-bug apocalypse is getting a film adaptation from Sony Pictures.
Photo: Courtesy of Speak.
The Cure For Dreaming, Cat Winters
Set in the early 1900s, when American women were still fighting for the right to vote and an independent woman could be seen as a dangerous thing, Olivia tries her best to hide her feminist efforts from her controlling father. A mix of historical fiction and magical realism, Winters creates a believably terrifying portrait of what it meant to be a woman at the turn of the 20th century.
Photo: Courtesy of Harry N. Abrams.
Only Ever Yours, Louise O’Neill
A haunting dystopian novel for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale. In a society where girls are raised to be wives, prostitutes, or celibate caregivers, beauty is everything and there’s no real romance or love. But there is friendship.
Photo: Courtesy of Quercus.
Looking for Alaska, John Green
John Green is a big name in YA; read any of his books and you’ll understand why. This one, his debut, is about a boy who falls hopelessly in love with the pretty, damaged girl across the hall at boarding school — you know, as you do. But what sets this book apart from many in the genre (and from many of Green’s other novels) is that the boy eventually realizes she’s a real person, not just an actor in his play, and everything gets more complicated from there.
Photo: Courtesy of Speak.
Dead to Me, Mary McCoy
A Hollywood noir in the same vein as a Raymond Chandler — except that it essentially takes the misogyny of those classic books as its subject. In McCoy’s twisty debut, an aspiring girl detective finds her once-disappeared sister in a coma and sets out to find the man who put her there.
Photo: Courtesy of Disney-Hyperion.
Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan
The high school in this book is like a dream land — everybody’s free to express themselves however they like, no one judges, the cheerleaders ride motorcycles. The quarterback is also the homecoming queen, and his name is Infinite Darlene. What does it say that a novel about a high school without intolerance feels like magical realism? Well, at the very least it says: Read it. Grown-up life is hard and this novel is the perfect idealized world to escape into when our real one is just too bleak.
Photo: Courtesy of Knopf.
Unteachable, Leah Raeder
The plot is delicious, if easily recognizable: a tough girl accidentally sleeps with her teacher the summer before she realizes he’s her teacher. They can’t control themselves, rumors begin to spread — you know the rest. But what really elevates this novel (and makes it worthwhile for any adult reader) is the prose. It’s so well written, so lyric, and so electrifying that every line will give you a thrill.
Photo: Courtesy of Atria.
We Were Liars, E. Lockhart
A bunch of privileged kids bring a less-privileged friend to their family’s private island — and something happens. Things begin to not add up. This book is about inheritance, death, amnesia, and its gripping plot will have you whipping through the pages. Pick up this plot-heavy book along with Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (which is all about eponymous Frankie, who tries to break into her boyfriend’s all-male secret society), and you’ve pretty much got a perfect weekend of reading.
Photo: Courtesy of Delacorte Press.
Monster, Walter Dean Myers
This affecting and all too relevant novel is written as a movie script playing out in an African-American teenager’s mind while he’s on trial and incarcerated. “Monster” is what the prosecution calls him, but Steven is about as human (flaws and all) as it gets.
Photo: Courtesy of Amistad.
Sabriel, Garth Nix
If you love Game of Thrones, read this. It has as many disturbing themes, and also, it’s better. The eponymous character is an 18-year-old necromancer on a quest to rescue her father from the other realm. Nix just finally came out with a new book in the series last year, so there’s no better time.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperTeen.
Playlist for the Dead, Michelle Falkoff
Want another The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Try this, a compelling contemporary novel that manages to incorporate online gaming and communication in a way that feels natural, real, and very, very relevant to anyone living in the modern world. Plus, Falkoff’s a lawyer, so you know she’s smart; and she went to the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop, so you know the prose is good, too.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperTeen.
American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
This powerful and funny graphic novel follows three stories: one of aching outsider Jin Wang; another of popular kid Danny, whose stereotypical Chinese cousin totally ruins his reputation; and er, one about the Monkey King. In the end, it’s all about feeling comfortable in your own skin — which is always a good reminder.
Photo: Courtesy of Square Fish.
All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven
When this book came out, Elle Fanning immediately bought the film rights, if that tells you anything. It features two narrators, one who has undiagnosed bipolar disorder, the other dealing with the death of her sister. The ending is a little too moral, but the writing is so good that you’ll want to visit Indiana, which is saying something.
Photo: Courtesy of Knopf.
Beauty Queens, Libba Bray
Okay: A plane containing the 50 Miss Teen Dream Pageant contestants crashes on a deserted island, which turns out to be not exactly deserted. Sound mega campy? Well, it is — in the best way. It’s also a crazy, funny, satirical, feminist, Wonderland-mirror version of Lord of the Flies that will entertain you and also (gasp!) leave you thinking.
Photo: Courtesy of Scholastic.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz
A book about being 15, queer, and of color in the ’80s. Not a barn burner like some of the others on this list, but a delicate, lyrical investigation of character, sexuality, and one very important relationship unfolding over one long summer that will stick with you for years.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
All the Rage, Courtney Summers
The protagonist of this novel is a little like Veronica Mars — an outsider whose truth-telling has cost her everything — except, er, sort of without all of V’s redeeming qualities. A searing novel about rape culture with an extremely complicated female character at its heart? Not just good for grown-ups, but necessary.
Photo: Courtesy of St. Martin’s Griffin.
The Walls Around Us, Nova Ren Suma
This powerful psychological thriller goes places few YA novels go — a juvenile detention facility, for one, where girls convicted of murder unravel the truth of their pasts. The writing in this one is on fire.
Photo: Courtesy of Algonquin Young Readers.
The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater
The story of a girl born to a family of psychics and destined to kill her true love with a kiss. Based on ancient legends, yet unique in its field, this novel is atmospheric, complex, and (for those of you who like to sink into a series) only the first book in The Raven Cycle. Side note: Stiefvater has about the most fun Twitter feed on the planet.
Photo: Courtesy of Scholastic.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
Alexie excels at just about everything: YA, fiction for adults, poetry, even screenplays. This novel, based in part on Alexie’s own experiences in an otherwise all-white school, is powerful and often hilarious. It’ll make you want to read everything Alexie’s ever written, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Photo: Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Weetzie Bat, Francesca Lia Block
A classic of the genre, but not in the boring sense — classic in that this wackadoo story is required reading for everyone. It’s a love letter to L.A., youth, and the bizarre, a postmodern fairy tale that will make all your dreams seem sparkly and spit-shined.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperTeen.
Legend, Marie Lu
This novel, the first in a trilogy, is at the top of the post-apocalyptic thriller heap. Great writing, compelling characters, gripping action —anyone with a pulse will find theirs quickened.
Photo: Courtesy of Speak.
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
Bacigalupi is quickly becoming a household name in adult sci-fi, and he should be a household name in YA sci-fi, too (not that the two are all that different). In this vivid novel, a scavenger searching for usable metals in shipwrecks on the future Gulf Coast finds a survivor in the wreckage who purports to be able to change his life — if he helps her.
Photo: Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
An impressively profound, deliciously lyric Holocaust novel about a young girl who comforts herself during wartime by stealing books. Oh, right, and it’s narrated by Death — but that’s not as twee as it sounds.
Photo: Courtesy of Knopf.
Silhouette of a Sparrow, Molly Beth Griffin
In this acclaimed novel set in the 1920s, a 16-year-old girl who aspires to be an ornithologist is sent to live with distant family at a resort in Minnesota. She meets a beautiful young flapper and they begin a secret affair. This book is gorgeous inside and out.
Photo: Courtesy of Milkweed Editions.
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle
To be fair, this novel was published before we used terms like “YA” and “adult” to refer to novels, but it’s pretty regularly classified as YA now. That said, it should definitely be read by everyone. Brilliant, flawed characters questing through time and space! A nerdy girl who wins the day! Puns! It’s great.
Photo: Courtesy of Time Quintet.
How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff
In this riveting novel, a teenage girl from present-day Manhattan goes to spend the summer with her cousins at their farmhouse in the English countryside. It’s strange and idyllic for a while, with no adults around. But then, an unnamed force attacks and occupies England — and suddenly, it’s not so great to be alone anymore.
Photo: Courtesy of Wendy Lamb Books.
Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor
This fantasy novel follows a young girl with albinism born in America, but now living in her parents’ homeland of Nigeria. After feeling like a constant outsider, finds she has secret powers — she is one of the Leopard People. The framework is familiar enough, but the treatment, writing, and West African myths at play elevate this story into something truly special.
Photo: Courtesy of Viking Books for Young Readers.
I’ll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson
The two halves of this novel are narrated by estranged fraternal twins Noah and Jude, artists and dreamers and seekers both, who must come to grips with the dissolution of their family — or find a way to mend it. Unique, charming, and lyric, it’s no wonder this book is a much-lauded best seller.
Photo: Courtesy of Dial Books.
Jellicoe Road, Melissa Marchetta
Three school factions battle it out every year in a small Australian town — the Cadets, the Townies, and the Jellicoe School kids, whose leader, Taylor Markham, is not only out to secure her territory, but to crack the mystery of the mother who abandoned her. And really, that’s the pleasure of this novel — the unraveling of a story complex enough to keep any adult interested.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperTeen.
Bone Gap, Laura Ruby
Original and revelatory, this novel uses multiple perspectives to tell the story of a girl’s abduction from the small town of Bone Gap, IL — where everyone knows to stay out of the otherworldly “gaps.” In this novel, reality lies down next to fantasy and something else gets up. You’ll want to see that something else.
Photo: Courtesy of Blazer + Bray.
Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake
Cas kills ghosts — but only the ones who are murderous themselves. That is, until he encounters a ghost who captivates him, despite her violence. Gory, scary, and totally unlike anything else out there, this is a must-read for any horror lover.
Photo: Courtesy of Tor Teen.
The Madman’s Daughter, Megan Shepherd
Like H. G. Wells? Pick up this novel, told from the perspective of the 16-year-old daughter of Dr. Moreau, who, six years after her father was banished to a remote island for his uncanny experiments, goes off to find him. Strange science, the boundaries of insanity, and yes, a love triangle, ensue.
Photo: Courtesy of Blazer + Bray.
Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future, A. S. King
Never has a book about accidentally drinking a petrified bat offered such a frightening, yet believable, account of what the future might bring if people in power continue to try to take rights away from women.
Photo: Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Reader.
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