Here at the library, adult patrons who tell us that they've recently enjoyed a Young Adult (YA) book do so almost with an air of secrecy.. they lower their voices to just above a whisper, eyes cast left and right before confiding this, as though there is something shameful in its admission. Let's overturn that commonly held belief by saying, loud and proud, YA books are *not* just for teens!
Things we want you to know about why we read YA :
YA books are well-written. Some of the most evocative, impactful writing sits on the shelves of our YA room.
YA books tackle some tough topics. They pay thoughtful attention to many of the serious issues we face today, as well as historically.
YA offers a great variety, not only in themes but in the overall written composition. YA authors play a lot with creative formats of prose, verse and graphic styling.
YA books offer us escape! There are so many titles, both stand-alone novels and series, that offer us to journey into our imagination for a while, forgetting about the realities of life and just enjoying a bit of magic and fantasy.
Our teen years are really heightened, in terms of emotions and just how we experience the world around us. Reading about those times offers a sense of nostalgia, and also shows us how far we've come.
If you have teens in your life, reading YA books allows you to shift back into that mindset and reminds you what it's like to be a kid. The experience also gives you things to talk about with your teen. Sharing and talking about books can be a much easier way to discuss tougher topics!
YA books tend to be a bit shorter in length than adult fiction. This is a nice feature when you're looking to either rekindle a reading habit or just looking for something you can finish over the weekend.
Interested in adding some YA books to your TBR list? Here are 21 (because we couldn't pick just 20..) of our favorite titles to get you started!
Shout, Laurie Halse Anderson
[book] [ebook] [audiobook] [e-audiobook]
Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she's never written about before. Described as "powerful," "captivating," and "essential" in the nine starred reviews it's received, this must-read memoir is being hailed as one of 2019's best books for teens and adults. - Provided by publisher.
Let's Go Swimming on Doomsday, Natalie C. Anderson
[book] [e-audiobook]
When Abdi's family is kidnapped, he's forced to do the unthinkable: become a child soldier with the ruthless jihadi group Al Shabaab. In order to save the lives of those he loves, and earn their freedom, Abdi agrees to be embedded as a spy within the militia's ranks and to send dispatches on their plans to the Americans. The jihadists trust Abdi immediately because his older brother, Dahir, is already one of them, protégé to General Idris, aka the Butcher. If Abdi's duplicity is discovered, he will be killed.
In this riveting, unflinching tale of sacrifice and hope, critically-acclaimed author Natalie C. Anderson delivers another tour-de-force that will leave readers at the edge of their seats. - Provided by publisher.
Graceling, Kristin Cashore
[book] [spanish] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
Kristin Cashore’s bestselling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable-yet-strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace… and how to put it to good use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world. - Provided by publisher.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.
Through Charlie, Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up. - Provided by publisher.
The Way You Make Me Feel, Maurene Goo
[book] [e-audiobook]
Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? With Maurene Goo's signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look. - Provided by publisher.
Dread Nation, Justina Ireland
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland's stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar - a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet. - Provided by publisher.
Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
From Maureen Johnson comes the start of a new series about a sharp and funny young detective named Stevie Bell who begins school at an elite, yet peculiar, boarding school and finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. - Provided by publisher.
The Giver, Lois Lowry
[book] [ebook] [audiobook] [e-audiobook]
The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. - Provided by publisher.
Warcross, Marie Lu
[book] [ebook] [audiobook] [e-audiobook]
When teenage coder Emika Chen hacks her way into the opening tournament of the Warcross Championships, she glitches herself into the game as well as a sinister plot with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire. - Provided by publisher.
Odette's Secrets, Maryann Macdonald
For Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris, every day brings new dangers. So when Odette's father is thrown into a work camp and the Nazis suspect her mother of helping the Resistance, Odette is sent to the French countryside until it is safe to return. On the surface, Odette leads the life of a regular girl, going to school, doing chores, even attending Catholic masses with other children. But inside, she is burning with secrets for the life she left behind, and the identity she must hide at all costs. Yet when the war ends, the cost of keeping secrets takes an unexpected toll: can Odette return to Paris as a Jew, or has she changed too much? Inspired by the life of the real Odette Meyer, this moving free-verse novel is a story of triumph over adversity. - Provided by publisher.
I'll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson
A story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal told from different points in time, and in separate voices, by artists Jude and her twin brother Noah. - Provided by publisher.
Long Way Down, Jason Reynolds
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know. - Provided by publisher.
Death Prefers Blondes, Caleb Roehrig
Teen celebrity socialite Margo leads a double life as a cat burglar with a crew of four kickboxing drag queens, but when a big job goes belly-up, each one of them must rely on their special skills to survive the night. - Provided by publisher.
The Fountains of Silence, Ruta Sepetys
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
At the Castellana Hilton in 1957 Madrid, eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson connects with Ana Moreno through photography and fate as Daniel discovers the incredibly dark side of the city under Generalissimo Franco's rule. - Provided by publisher.
They Both Die at the End, Adam Silvera
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
In a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on their End Day. - Provided by publisher.
The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater
Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent's only gift seems to be that she makes other people's talents stronger, and when she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own--and that together their talents are a dangerous mix. - Provided by publisher.
Dear Martin, Nic Stone
[book] [ebook] [audiobook] [e-audiobook]
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him. - Provided by publisher.
An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir
[book] [ebook] [audiobook] [e-audiobook]
Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire's greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution. - Provided by publisher.
Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein
In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can. - Provided by publisher.
The Sun is also a Star, Nicola Yoon
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
Natasha: I'm a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I'm definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is 12 hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won't be my story.
Daniel: I've always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents' high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store - for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true? - Provided by publisher.
Pride, Ibi Zoboi
[book] [ebook] [e-audiobook]
Pride and Prejudice gets remixed in this smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic, starring all characters of color, from Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award finalist and author of American Street. After the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri is forced to find common ground with Darius, while struggling with her four wild sisters, a handsome boy vying for her attention, and college applications. - Provided by publisher.
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