Books That Every Young Adult Must Read
Recommendations
The 10 greatest YA books e'er written
From first love to the loss of friends, these books bargain with big issues through the eyes of teenagers.
Mica Potato/Penguin
What makes a great young adult novel? Is information technology the relatable characters? The exploration of big issues? A sense of fun?
We'd fence it's all of those things, and many more besides. The best YA fiction discusses the things that teenagers are dealing with, from first honey to the breakdown of a friendship, from the rise tide of prejudice to the nature of mortality. And YA isn't just for teenagers; it can as well speak to adults every bit well, helping them reminisce about their own teen years or even be happy that they're non back there.
But YA fiction tin too be entertaining, making us laugh, love and cry.
Here are, in our stance, the 10 best YA books ever written. Permit the states know if you agree, or what you remember should be on this list, past emailing editor@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk.
Junk by Melvin Burgess (1996)
Melvin Burgess' Junk is a archetype of the genre, and perhaps one of the first books to fit the modern definition of YA fiction. It follows teenagers Tar and Gemma, and tells the story of their love for each other, and for heroin.
Told from multiple viewpoints, Junk is a powerful novel, and information technology proved controversial when it first came out for its unflinching portrayal of drug addiction. But it won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, evidence not only of Burgess' fantabulous writing and characterisation, simply also of the book's bravery in confronting hard issues.
Initially read past teenagers in secret, and passed around the school corridors clandestinely, Junk is now a firm part of the YA catechism.
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman (2001)
Noughts & Crosses is a bold reimagining of our earth, where society is divided into noughts – considered to be less than zippo – and Crosses, who brand up the ruling form. In this world exist childhood friends Sephy, a Cross, and Callum, a nought. Their friendship has somehow survived, just when they start falling in beloved with each other they know the world will disapprove.
Malorie Blackman was inspired to write Noughts & Crosses following the police'south inept treatment of the Stephen Lawrence murder case, and although it's been out for almost twenty years, the book's expect at prejudice and racism is however relevant today.
Since the first novel, which has been voted one of the UK'south best loved books, Blackman has written more in the Noughts & Crosses series, with the latest novel – Crossfire – released in 2019.
The Error in Our Stars by John Green (2012)
Make sure you lot take a box of tissues by your side when reading The Error in Our Stars, because yous are definitely going to cry. A lot.
John Green'southward novel follows Hazel, who anile 13 was diagnosed with thyroid cancer which has since spread into her lungs. Although she's been battling the disease for years, she knows her diagnosis is last. Hazel's decision to stay aristocratic and unconnected is shattered when she meets Augustus Waters at the Cancer Kid Support Group, and begins to fall in dearest. Augustus opens her eyes to a globe of adventures, big and modest, but besides to the potential for great loss and grief.
The Error in Our Stars is tender and heartbreaking, merely likewise a funny and thrilling look at first love and being alive.
The Hunger Games past Suzanne Collins (2009)
Suzanne Collins' dystopian smash hit – which spawned a hugely successful film franchise – paved the way for dozens of YA books ready in post-apocalyptic worlds.
The Hunger Games takes identify in a future America where society is divided into 13 districts. The further away a district is from The Capitol, where social club'south rich and powerful live, the worse the standard of living and the status of its people.
Katniss Everdeen lives in Commune 13 with her female parent and younger sis Prim. When Prim's name is called as the district'due south female champion for the Hunger Games, an annual fight to the death between the districts played out for The Capitol's amusement, Katniss volunteers in her place.
The Hunger Games – and its sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay – introduced one of YA's best modern 24-hour interval heroes, a teenage girl trying to be brave and honourable in the almost terrible of circumstances.
Forever by Judy Blume (1975)
Like Junk, YA legend Judy Blume's Forever was passed effectually in underground by many teenagers, mainly girls, in the decades after its release. It prompted both embarrassed laughter, only was also many young people's first honest introduction to sex and relationships. The fact that information technology was so often banned made information technology all the more enticing.
It follows Katherine and Michael, and the evolution of their love story, and in particular their sexual human relationship. The pair and their friends' discussions nigh sex every bit a physical and emotional human activity are nuanced, and offered generations of teenagers an insight that was missing in the teaching of sex education in schools.
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (1951)
Angsty teenager who thinks everyone else is the worst, hates everything in his life, and is lost? Check, check, check.
Although The Catcher in the Rye is often classed equally a literary archetype and was aimed at adults, it's besides very much a YA novel.
J. D. Salinger'southward book follows 17-year-old Holden Caulfield, and tells the story of his unhappiness at boarding schoolhouse, his fraught relationships with his fellow students (who he thinks are "phonies") and his tense family life.
Holden has become an icon for teenage rebellion, and The Catcher in the Rye is regularly voted one of the all-time English-language novels of all time.
Simon vs. the Human being Sapiens Agenda past Becky Albertalli (2015)
Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Human being Sapiens Calendar is a story of coming out and crushes.
The novel follows Simon Spier, a teenager trying – like many other teenagers – to work out who he is. Ane of the ways he'south doing that is by exchanging emails with a mystery boy called Blueish.
But when one of Simon's emails falls into the wrong hangs, things become complicated.
Funny, awkward and full of heart, Simon's story has resonated with teenagers and young adults around the world.
The Hate U Requite past Angie Thomas (2018)
Inspired by the Blackness Lives Thing move, Angie Thomas' The Detest U Give is a look at constabulary brutality and how to do what's right, fifty-fifty if that'southward hard.
16-year-sometime Starr straddles two worlds: the poor, largely blackness, neighbourhood where she lives, and the posh, largely white, school she attends. Although she's used to lawmaking-switching depending on where she is and who she's with, it's an uneasy existence.
Starr'south worlds are shattered, and the separation betwixt them destroyed, when she is the only witness to a fatal shooting by police force of her childhood friend Khalil. Khalil was unarmed, and what Starr chooses to say and practise could destroy her customs, bear on her relationships, and even get her killed. But Starr knows speaking up could exist the commencement step in the long road to justice.
Powerful and gripping, The Hate U Requite delves into what information technology ways to speak upward in a world that wants to bring yous down.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1976)
Mildred D. Taylor's Curl of Thunder, Hear My Weep is the story of a girl growing up in the Deep South in 1930s America.
It follows Cassie, who lives in Mississippi and who doesn't understand why farming his ain state means so much to her father. Just over the course of the volume, as the Ku Klux Klan spreads hatred, Cassie learns almost why society is so divided, and of simply what it takes to survive in such a globe.
Ringlet of Thunder, Hear My Weep is on the younger side of YA, but its compelling story makes it a must read. Information technology won Taylor the Newberry Medal, given annually to the "author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".
One of Us is Lying past Karen 1000. McManus
Call up Gossip Girl meets Pretty Piffling Liars meets The Breakfast Club, with a murder thrown in, and you accept an approximation of what to await with One of United states of america is Lying by Karen M. McManus.
The novel has a straightforward concept: five students go to detention, and only four come up out alive. The student who died, Simon, ran a notorious gossip app. And he knew dark secrets about the teens he was in detention with: Yale hopeful Bronwyn, sports star Cooper, bad boy Nate, and prom queen Addy.
As well as a whodunnit, I of U.s.a. is Lying is a look at the nature of gossip and the potentially subversive ability of social media. And it's a pure thrill from get-go to finish.
Source: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/ya-books-young-adult-fiction-best-books-ever.html
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