YA 'Must Reads' -- help needed!

be frank

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Hey, everyone. :hi: I need some help from AW's trusty YA brains-trust.

I'm going on holidays in about a month with nothing planned but to sit by the pool for eleven days and read. (Yes, I hate me, too. :)) For Mr. BF, this mean he might read a book, maybe two. For me, it means getting through 30+ books.

Anyway, I want to use the opportunity to fill the gaps in my YA reading. I'm looking to populate a new folder on my Kindle with the YA books any self-respecting YA writer/reader/enthusiast should really have read by now.

For example, I only just got around to reading WE WERE LIARS a couple of weeks ago, which is a book that gets bandied around a lot in YA conversations. I have a few Maggie Stiefvater books on my Kindle already, but haven't read any of them, and don't know where to start.

Some books I might already own, some I might need to buy, and some I might have already read ... but please give me your best YA touchstone recs!
 

Sage

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Do you have genre preferences?
 

Fruitbat

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It's kind of an oldie by now but I really liked The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It was so funny.
 

PickleHeartsBooks

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I would recommend Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. I'm also currently reading Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld which I'm really enjoying! All three of these books involve writers and artists and it focuses on that aspect really well. I think any writer and lover of YA would love these three books!
Also if you're looking for something cute and quick, I would recommend anything by Kasie West. She writes suuuper cute YA romances and they are just so warm and fuzzy and lovely. She also has a paranormal type duology that is excellent, that starts with Pivot Point.
Also if you have Maggie Stiefvater, do you have The Raven Boys? I LOVED the Raven Boys books, but the first one I found a little hard to get into. It's suuuper weird but it gets really good.
Also The Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson is creepy and fun! The first book (The Name of the Star), follows a girl who moves in an England boarding school and gets caught up in a Jack the Ripper copycat case, and gets pulled into the world of ghosts. SO GOOD
have you read anything by Holly Black? Her Curseworkers Trilogy is easy to read quickly and a lot of fun. It starts with White Cat. But I also loved her Standalone, The Darkest Part of the Forest.

Ok I should probably stop now. ha
 

KTC

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1. Adam Silvera - More Happy Than Not, History is All You Left Me, They Both Die at the End
2. Angie Thomas - The Hate U Give
3. Daniel Jose Older - Shadowshaper
4. Raziel Reid - When Everything Feels Like the Movies
5. Becky Albertalli - The Upside of Unrequited, Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
6. Jennifer Niven - Holding Up the Universe, All the Bright Places
7. Julie Murphy - Dumplin'
8. Stephanie Perkins - Anna and the French Kiss
9. Katherine Locke - The Girl With the Red Balloon
10. Matthew Quick - Forgive Me Leonard Peacock
 
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Sage

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I also vote for Raven boys from Maggie S.

SFF:
The Girl of Fire of Thorns by Rae Carson (series)
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (series)
Cinder by Melissa Meyer (series)
The False Prince by Jennifer A Nielsen (series, but I recommend stopping at 1)
And I Darken by Kiersten White (series-I'm partway through book 1)
Legend by Marie Lu (series, I've only read book 1)
The Selection by Kiera Cass (series -- I suggest trying the sample first. If the sample doesn't grab you, skip it)
The Program by Suzanne Young (series)

Contemporary:
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Boyfriend List (series) by E. Lockhart
To All the Boys I Loved Before (series) by Jenny Han
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
The Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (series)
On the Jellico Road by Melina Marchetta
Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Obvious YA staples:
The Hunger Games
Twilight
The Fault in Our Stars

Faves of mine that aren't necessarily YA staples:
Want by Cindy Pon
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (series; excellent as an audiobook)
History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz (if you want something a little weird)
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young (series)
The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Well, I may add more, but I have to run.
 

Brightdreamer

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Seconding Hunger Games and Sherman Alexie's stuff.

If you're looking for mass consensus, run a Google search of popular awards.

For personal recs, I'll throw out a few, regardless of accolades:

Bloody Jack (L. A. Meyer, historical fiction/adventure, first of a series): A bold protagonist, Mary Faber, escapes starvation on London's streets in the 18th century by posing as a ship's "boy," thus beginning a life of wild adventure and danger that will become the stuff of legend and song. Great MC, not infallible but always willing to learn from whatever situation she's in. As another plus, the series has wrapped; there is a finale to read toward, so it's not one of those zombie series that's pushed along long past its arc.

Most anything by Gary Paulsen, particularly his Brian Robeson books (starting with Hatchet.) May lean a little more MG, but classics for a reason.

Katherine (K. A.) Applegate - Perhaps most popular for her MG Animorphs series, she also wrote a pretty good 12-part YA fantasy series Everworld, and she's writing some standalone YA and MG books that are worth the read.

Ink and Bone (Rachel Caine, Book 1 of a series, fantasy): An alternate Earth's knowledge is controlled by the Great Library, but a black market of book thieves manages to defy them, feeding the sometimes-depraved interests of their wealthy clients. The son of a thief family apprentices himself to the Library, secretly hoping to escape the life of crime (though sent by his kin to act as an inside eye), but finds corruption even darker than that which he grew up with.

Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire, fantasy): A novella set at a boarding school for children and teens who have been to other worlds and returned, often unceremoniously and abruptly, to Earth. It's in a gray area between YA and adult; the characters are YA, but something about the style and themes feels a trifle older than most YA I've read. An award-winner, and worth it. There's one spinoff (so far), Down Among the Sticks and Bones), about the backstory of side characters.

Jonathan Stroud - His stuff skews toward MG, but I've yet to be disappointed in anything of his I've picked up. Try the Bartimaeus series (start with The Amulet of Samarkand.)

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson, fantasy/humor, first of a series): A hilarious tweaking of genre tropes, simultaneously saluting reading while casting librarians as the greatest force of evil in the world, it's an absolute kick from start to finish.

Vengeance Road (Erin Bowman, western): Coming home to find her pa hanging from a tree with the mark of the Rose Riders outlaw gang, a girl takes up her gun and hits the trail for revenge. Just a great, fast-paced story with imperfect characters, plenty of growth, and plenty of action.
 

be frank

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Thanks, for the suggestions, guys!

To pluck a few out, titles like Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Fangirl, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Bloody Jack, and Throne of Glass are exactly the type of books I'm looking for. They're all ones I see mentioned over and over again (but haven't yet read).

I'm going to have to do some Kindle-spelunking later on to see if I already have them, buried in the depths. :)
 

Putputt

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*cracks knuckles*

Fluffy, light-hearted, brings-smile-to-face reads:
When Dimple met Rishi
To all the boys I've loved before
Fangirl
Anna and the French kiss

Books you have to read as a human:
The hate u give
If you could be mine
The sun is also a star
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe

YA SFF I loved to pieces:
Uprooted (If you were to only read one book, this is that book)
A face like glass (This is actually MG but YOU MUST READ IT, IT IS SO AMAZING)
Ready player one
Half a king

Everyone who is into YA has probably read these but maybe not:
Hunger Games
Maze Runner (dis is surprisingly good until about halfway through the second book, and then it all kinda falls apart, but meh. Still worth reading, I think!)
Divergent (I enjoyed the first book. 2nd book was so bad I didn't bother buying the 3rd.)
Miss Peregrine's (Same thing here. Enjoyed the first book. 2nd book turned me off and I didn't bother with the 3rd.)

Random picks:
The secret place (This is actually adult, but the chapters alternate between an adult cop and 4 teen girls, and it's just so well-written. She really captured the whole boarding school vibe.)
I'll give you the sun (well I have mixed feelings about this, but damn, her writing)

Let me know what you think of WE WERE LIARS when you're done because I have Feelings about that book. :D
 
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be frank

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Thanks, hippo! *makes notes*

There are a few definite 'yeps' in there.

I feel like the only person on the planet who was all 'meh' about Ready Player One (also The Queen's Thief, but that's another story. Literally. Heh). And I finished We Were Liars a few weeks back (alien zebra quirk -- when I start a book, I'll generally finish it within a few hours. It's why I need so many for my travels!) so I'm ready to discuss. :D
 

Putputt

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Rant about WE WERE LIARS is in your inbox. :D
 

hester

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THE HATE U GIVE (amazing).
ALLEGEDLY (also amazing).
Anything by Elana K. Arnold (dark contemporary, and so good).
Ditto anything by Louise O'Neill (ASKING FOR IT will rip your heart out).
THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE (so much fun!)
YOU WILL KNOW ME (not really YA, but Megan Bostic writes both adult and YA, all twisty, all dark, all great).
HATE LIST (can you tell I like dark YA? LOL).

Have fun on your trip!!!!
 

KateSmash

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*pokes in from a lurk*

I agree with so many on this list. And, truly, only have one thing to add on the fantasy front:

Six of Crows
& Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. It's a fantasy heist/caper duology with some of my favorite YA characters. They're all lovable, despicable scamps. Also, a good example of how white sff writers can do diversity well (not perfect, but well). Not to mention some of the best representation of disability and trauma I've seen outside of contemporaries that are solely about disability and/or trauma.
 

be frank

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Ooh, more great suggestions!

I've searched the depths of my Kindle and discovered I already have about ten books listed here that I haven't read yet, so the folder's filling. :)
 

pinkbowvintage

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I'll try to list ones that haven't been listed already!

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (and/or WINTERGIRLS, both insanely amazing and imo her best YA works. SPEAK is a defining YA novel. Honestly all of her books are wonderful.)

GOSSIP GIRL by Cecily von Ziegesar (this series also changed the YA game at the time)

THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST by Emily M. Danforth

TWO BOYS KISSING by David Levithan (and/or BOY MEETS BOY and EVERY DAY)

WE ARE THE ANTS by Shaun David Hutchinson

ALL AMERICAN BOYS by Jason Reynolds

BONE GAP by Laura Ruby

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers

THE CHOCOLATE WAR by Robert Cormier

FEED by M.T. Anderson
 

be frank

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Couldn't really get into this one, but really liked Melina's Finikin of the Rock series.

Wait, did you read it to the end? DID YOU READ IT TO THE END????

Because if you read it to the end and it wasn't your cup of tea ... okay. I mean, you're weird :tongue but fair enough.

If you "couldn't get into it" and stopped before the end ... GO BACK AND READ IT TO THE END.


*ahem*

Sorry, I have all the feelings about Jellicoe Road. It's my favourite book of all time. BUT ONLY IF YOU READ TO THE END!
 

Mary Love

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Haha, okay, okay, calm down. Guess I'll (have to) give it another try this winter. :ROFL:
 

JetFueledCar

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Seconding Fangirl. Also if Skulduggery Pleasant counts as YA today you should read that. Seconding Alcatraz because everyone needs to read that, especially now that he got the green light and finished (he planned it as five books but was originally contracted for four). But maybe another time, since you're looking for staples right now.

I think Tamora Pierce is a staple of YA fantasy--there was a time when every female-led YA high fantasy I saw had Pierce's blurb on it--and recommend pretty much everything she wrote. (I did not like Beka Cooper, though. I don't like most diary-format books, and these are very long.) I recommend reading each universe in publication order rather than chronological, meaning Beka Cooper goes last in Tortall and Battle Magic goes last in Emelan. Although the writing in Alanna's quartet is... very sparse. It was a very trope-y series and I have trouble rereading it. She indicated in the afterword of a later book that at the time publishers wouldn't take her books if they were long, and that particular story suffered for it. They are quick reads, though (because, again, they're short). She's also finally got a release date for the first of the Numair Chronicles, which she's been saying she's working on pretty much since Battle Magic was announced.

I have somewhere misplaced the rest of my YA recs. Um... Artemis Fowl is a must if you haven't read it. The rest of my recs are more "Stuff I think is awesome but no one else knows," which doesn't seem like the point of your list.
 

EMaree

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*run in late* Fiercely seconding Hippo's awesome list, and particularly the early mentions of THRONE OF GLASS. I only picked those up this year (the audiobooks are amazing) and the first one and one-point-five prequel are just 'good' but from two onwards it gets SO GOOD.

Aristotle and Dante is another amazing audiobook. It's read by Lin-Manuel Miranda and oh god it makes me cry happy tears.
 
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