Writer Chuck Wendig had a blog post up today looking for Young Adult (teen) book recommendations, which got me thinking about the kind of YA novels I would recommend for newcomers to genre. I’ve included my list below, mostly so I can update it on-the-go as other old favourites come to mind.
I’m curious about what books you guys and girls would recommend. What have I missed from the below? Any glaringly missing genres? Let me know, I’m interested to hear from everyone!
YA Fantasy
SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman
TEETH by Hannah Moskowitz (Super dark, super profane, and super awesome. This one will appeal to fans of Chuck Wendig.)
NORTHERN LIGHTS [US: THE GOLDEN COMPASS] by Phillip Pullman
SABRIEL by Garth Nix
ANGELFALL by Susan Ee
DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor
THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater
YA Dystopian
SHATTER ME by Tahereh Mafi
DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth
THE HUNGER GAMES by Susanne Collins
YA Sci-Fi
WHAT’S LEFT OF ME by Kat Zhang
(I haven’t read much in this category and would be interested in recs. I’ve heard good things about EVERY DAY, THE 5TH WAVE, PRODIGY, CINDER, and ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.)
YA Horror
ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD by Kendare Blake
(Another category I’d be interested in recommendations for. Some titles I’ve heard of but haven’t yet read: THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST, BLOOD MAGIC, THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, and THE REPLACEMENT.)
YA Historical
CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein
(Recs please!)
YA LGBT
WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green and David Levithan
BOY MEETS BOY by David Levithan (A slightly surreal ‘gay utopia’ contemporary romance)
PANTOMIME by Laura Lam (Fantasy with an intersex main character)
YA Contemporary
(I include ‘YA Romance’ as a genre in this category because there’s an overlap between the two genres).
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger (A classic for a reason!)
LOOKING FOR ALASKA or THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky
FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell
ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephenie Perkins
Hmm, well, for sci-fi I’d highly recommend Michael Grant’s GONE series. It’s amazing.
For historical with a dash of sci-fi you should check out Sally Gardner’s THE DOUBLE SHADOW. One of the most unique books I’ve ever read. Oooh, and the Young Bond series is toooootally historical AND AWESOME. Read it now :D
(Psssst – Northern Lights is The Golden Compass)
Yikes, thanks for catching my slip-up. That’s what I get for reading The Amber Spyglass first, it’ll forever by ‘the first one’ to me (as confusing as it was to join in half-way).
Thank you for the recs! *adds to ‘want to read’ list*
You could add Scott Westerfeld’s LEVIATHAN series as YA Steampunk. Also his UGLIES series, which I believe would be considered dystopian. CINDER and ACROSS THE UNIVERSE definitely for Sci-Fi. I would say CINDER is must-reading. Bold. Double-underline. :)
I consider LEVIATHAN as leaning more towards middle grade — not enough focus on coming of age/romance. It looks like I’m in the minority there, though, so I might add it in.
I enjoyed UGLIES, but not enough to put it as a rec. The story didn’t stick with me. I’m not really sure why, I guess it’s all subjective when it comes to reading.
*moves CINDER right up the to-read pile* :)