Looking for a Book for Your Teen? We Found the Best YA Picks of the Year

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The teenage years can be a confusing time. Not only for you, the parent, but especially for your teen. Sure, you'll get your fair share of eye rolls, you won't know what kind of gifts they will actually like, and forget about knowing how to throw them a birthday party anymore, but they will be navigating big ideas and even bigger feelings. And like so many of us who've managed to make it through to the other side of the teen years, we can look back on the books we read during this time as some of the most influential to forming how we see the world. They were the stories that reflecting our own—new love, navigating friendships, the pressures of school, hopes for the future, and often tackling tough topics like racism, gender identity, sexuality, and mental health.

We know it can be especially daunting to know what to recommend to your teen, so we've gathered up some of our favorite YA books that will be sure to capture their attention. Whether your teen goes nuts for fantasy, romance, sci-fi, or historical fiction, we've got something for every taste and many have won such prestigious awards as the National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, and esteemed Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. If you're on the hunt for more literary resources for your kids and teens, be sure to check out our list of important books to help you talk about Race and Racism.

Far from the Tree

If you or your teen is a fan of This is Us, you’ll love this novel about an adopted “only child” who comes to find out that she is actually a middle child. Robin Benway takes us on a journey as she goes to find her two other siblings, weaving in interconnected storylines of all three along the way.

Okay for Now

A heart-warming story about the power of labels to define us and what it looks like to break through them. A young boy acting out and deemed a “teen thug” moves to a new school where he continues his same old behavior. That is until he’s taken under a librarian’s wing and finds a new friend that sees deeper than the tough exterior.

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass

This series, which includes the acclaimed The Golden Compass, is a coming of age tale of two children from different dimensions who meet and take on the powers that seek to control them.

Miracle's Boys

Three brothers are challenged to come together after the death of their parents. Trying to make their way in New York City, the youngest brother Lafayette longs to feel connected and protected by his two other brothers and it will take just one emotional weekend for them to be forced to decide whether they will stick together.

Artemis Fowl-Artemis Fowl, Book 1

As a 12-year-old millionaire and criminal genius, Artemis Fowl must watch his back and defend his home after he takes something very important from the Fairies.

The Giver

A young boy in a seemingly idyllic town is given his life assignment which causes him to question everything about their existence and way of doing life.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

In this often hilarious book, we meet a young Mexican-American girl who’s trying to navigate the loss of her sister and the pressures put on her by her family.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

A companion story to A Wrinkle in Time, a teenage boy is caught up into an adventure to protect the world from evil. Traveling with a flying horse through space and time, his faith and resolve will be put to the test.

No Boy Summer

A young girl and her sister make a pact to avoid boys (and the drama that comes with them) for the summer while they stay with their aunt in Los Angeles. Things get complicated when one of them finds a loophole and falls for another young girl.

I Capture the Castle

Told from the point of view of an aspiring teen writer, Cassandra lives with her quirky family in a dilapidated castle in the countryside of England. As she hones her craft by documenting her family life, she comes to discover what it truly means to love.

The Karma Map

A youth group’s road trip tour of temples in India bring together two seemingly disparate students: the resident mean girl and an art student. The two find uncanny similarities and forge an undeniable connection that draws on their cultural backgrounds.

How to Win a Breakup

The school power couple breaks up and what ensues is a back and forth of revenge and deception, rivaling a sporting event. Who will win in the end?

The Book Thief

A unique and poignant tale of a girl during World War II as told by Death itself. This masterful telling of heartbreaking events is in line with The Diary of Anne Frank.

The Fault in Our Stars

A girl battling cancer falls in love with the it-boy from school. This uplifting tale shows the lengths we will go to live and love life to the fullest.

Brown Boy Nowhere

A Filipino-American teen is uprooted from his California hometown to a town in “Nowhere’s-ville.” Missing everything familiar to him, the ocean, girlfriend, and skateboarding crew, he manages to forge new connections with two other high school “misfits.”

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

On a seemingly normal day, a young man gets caught up in an adventure through space and time with a crew of unreliable aliens. But thankfully he’s got the guide to the universe…the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe!

The Hobbit

The teen years, some might say, are an adventure in and of themselves, so why not read one? Follow Bilbo Baggins and his crew of dwarves as they fight magical creatures and dragons in Middle Earth. Learn all about the origins of the Ring of Power and what lead to The Lord of the Rings.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Now a popular movie series on Netflix, the first installment of the series introduces us to Lara Jean as she writes letters to past crushes with no intention of them going anywhere. She soon finds out that her little sister has secretly mailed them all! Besides embarrassment, could there be true love at the end of this debacle?

American Royals IV: Reign

In this final installment of the American Royals series, Queen Beatrice is in a coma and the legacy of the family hangs in the balance as the scattered siblings decide who to love and ultimately who will reign.

To Kill a Mockingbird

In this classic coming-of-age tale, a young girl observes the prejudice and inequity in the rural South during the trial of an innocent Black man.

Firekeeper's Daughter

An 18-year-old Native girl who dreams of escaping away to college gets caught up in an investigation involving a lethal new drug. Drawing on her skills in chemistry and Native medicine, she helps the FBI crack the case that’s tearing apart her community.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

In a mix between Making a Murderer and the podcast Serial, this captivating read takes you along the journey as a high school girl investigates the murder and then subsequent suicide of two local teens. Even though it’s been five years since the tragic events, she is drawn deeper and deeper into evidence that the murderer may still be out there. If your teen likes the first one, good news: it's a trilogy.

We Are Not Free

This is the collective account of 14 Japanese American teenagers who experience incarceration during World War II just because they are Japanese. A harrowing and sober tale from a dark season in American history.

Begin Again

Andie has her life all planned out. What college she’s going to transfer to and her major and how she’ll get to do it all with her roller-coaster of a boyfriend Connor. But when things don’t go according to plan from the jump, Andie must pivot and finds herself hosting the same college radio station her mom did years before and connecting with people she wouldn’t have if she’d followed her original plan.

The Poet X

A talented teen girl with a tough exterior pours all her hopes and dreams and feelings about her current crush into the pages of her poetry journal. Even though her mother imposes strict rules she is drawn to join the school Poetry Slam and finally get the chance to let her true voice be heard. Acevedo's Clap When You Land is another YA must-read.

Dune

This is the epic tale of a boy who is forced to face who he truly is and what he’s destined to become when his family is betrayed and killed. Will he embrace his true identity and be the savior for his people.

Hollow Fires

A young girl with dreams of becoming a journalist one day is confronted with the tragic death of a local boy. As she investigates his death she become more and more aware of the labels that were placed on him which might be hiding the real story behind it all.

With the Fire on High

A teenage mom finds solace and magic in the kitchen as she pursues her dreams of one day becoming a renowned chef.

Murtagh: The World of Eragon

Catching up a year after the Inheritance Cycle ends, Christopher Paolini invites us back into the world of Eragon, dragons, and the epic adventures that await in this popular fantasy novel series. (Available November 7)

The Hate U Give

This powerful book about a girl's witness of her friends murder at the hands of a police officer is an important message about the struggle of living in two worlds, speaking truth to power, and grappling with the racial issues of our time.

The Inheritance Games

There's nothing better than finding a new series your teen loves. In this first of the series (book 4 comes out in August), Avery Grambs is a normal high schooler, until a billionaire dies and leaves her his fortune. Of course, there is a catch: Avery must move in to the billionaire's puzzle-filled house, where his family still lives.

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