What are the best YA fiction books on the shelves right now?
July 27, 2021 11:59 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for the best Young Adult fiction titles which have been published in the last decade or so.
I'm interested in excellent, and perhaps popular, YA fiction from the last decade or so. What are your kids into? What are their/your favorite standalone books or series? All genres welcome - fiction, science fiction/fantasy, graphic novels, whatever you, your preteen or teen really like. Harry Potter, Fellowship of the Rings, and the Prydain series are all wonderful but I'm looking to branch out.
Thanks all.
I'm interested in excellent, and perhaps popular, YA fiction from the last decade or so. What are your kids into? What are their/your favorite standalone books or series? All genres welcome - fiction, science fiction/fantasy, graphic novels, whatever you, your preteen or teen really like. Harry Potter, Fellowship of the Rings, and the Prydain series are all wonderful but I'm looking to branch out.
Thanks all.
(I guess Stamped doesn't count as fiction, but the kids I gave it to LOVED it.)
posted by RedEmma at 12:08 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RedEmma at 12:08 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:34 PM on July 27, 2021 [13 favorites]
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:34 PM on July 27, 2021 [13 favorites]
Here's a few I've read in the last year or so and enjoyed:
Akata Witch and its sequel Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor (American-born Nigerian girl discovers magical abilities, joins with friends to fight evil)
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (Black American teen searching for her missing brother, discovers magical abilities, goes to magic school, fights evil)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (queer coming-of-age novel set in the 80s)
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (told in two voices, queer Black love story, deals with very heavy mortality issues)
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar (trans coming-of-age story)
The Mysterious Benedict Society (series) by Trenton Lee Stewart (more middle-grade than YA, I guess; also now a series on Disney+; unusual kids work with mysterious benefactor guy to go on a secret mission) (the first one in the series was released in 2008 but I've just seen there's a new one that came out in 2020)
Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond (series) by Sayantani Dasgupta (also possibly more middle-grade; Indian-American kid discovers she's actually the child of the moon and a serpent king, adventure ensues)
Seconding The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My tweens also adore absolutely anything by Raina Telgemeier, including her graphic novel versions of the Babysitters Club books.
posted by SeedStitch at 12:44 PM on July 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Akata Witch and its sequel Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor (American-born Nigerian girl discovers magical abilities, joins with friends to fight evil)
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (Black American teen searching for her missing brother, discovers magical abilities, goes to magic school, fights evil)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (queer coming-of-age novel set in the 80s)
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (told in two voices, queer Black love story, deals with very heavy mortality issues)
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar (trans coming-of-age story)
The Mysterious Benedict Society (series) by Trenton Lee Stewart (more middle-grade than YA, I guess; also now a series on Disney+; unusual kids work with mysterious benefactor guy to go on a secret mission) (the first one in the series was released in 2008 but I've just seen there's a new one that came out in 2020)
Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond (series) by Sayantani Dasgupta (also possibly more middle-grade; Indian-American kid discovers she's actually the child of the moon and a serpent king, adventure ensues)
Seconding The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My tweens also adore absolutely anything by Raina Telgemeier, including her graphic novel versions of the Babysitters Club books.
posted by SeedStitch at 12:44 PM on July 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Hello. If it helps, I asked a slightly similar question earlier this year, but regarding the last five years, rather than ten.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 12:59 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 12:59 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. You don't need to read the Shadow and Bone ones first, though they share a universe.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 1:12 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by I claim sanctuary at 1:12 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Dread Nation and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
posted by teleri025 at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2021
Dread Nation and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
posted by teleri025 at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2021
The Hate U Give: It's not only an incisive and heartbreakingly timely examination of police killing Black people, it's also a fantastic piece of literature, period. The narrator's voice is as distinctive as Holden Caulfield's (though of course nothing like him in any other respect), and there is never a moment where it rings false. This is the book I wish I had written, as a writer myself, but of course there was no possible way I could have written it. Only Angie Thomas could have nailed this voice the way she did.
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe: This is currently my kids' favorite book. Recommended by MeFis on one of my own Asks, and WOW did this pay off. A diverse cast of characters and a universe-hopping school story... there is not one false note in this one either. There is also a sequel!
In Other Lands: This book somehow took everything I have ever loved about books (feminism, slow burning character arcs, redemption plots, feminism, deconstructing a genre with love, feminism, unlikeable & un-motherly female characters, annoying bisexuals, shy baby gays, and DRAMA GEEKS) .... combined it with everything I have ever hated in books (love triangles, school stories, bildungsroman, mermaids and other fantasy creatures, child soldiers, adults who can't fucking fight their own fucking battles) ... and made it into one steaming pile of pure perfection. I am not cool enough to describe this book so I'll just paste the official back cover copy:
“What’s your name?”
“Serene.”
“Serena?” Elliot asked.
“Serene,” said Serene. “My full name is Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle.”
Elliot’s mouth fell open. “That is badass.”
The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border—unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and—best of all as far as Elliot is concerned—mermaids.
Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands.
It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world.
posted by MiraK at 1:42 PM on July 27, 2021 [6 favorites]
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe: This is currently my kids' favorite book. Recommended by MeFis on one of my own Asks, and WOW did this pay off. A diverse cast of characters and a universe-hopping school story... there is not one false note in this one either. There is also a sequel!
In Other Lands: This book somehow took everything I have ever loved about books (feminism, slow burning character arcs, redemption plots, feminism, deconstructing a genre with love, feminism, unlikeable & un-motherly female characters, annoying bisexuals, shy baby gays, and DRAMA GEEKS) .... combined it with everything I have ever hated in books (love triangles, school stories, bildungsroman, mermaids and other fantasy creatures, child soldiers, adults who can't fucking fight their own fucking battles) ... and made it into one steaming pile of pure perfection. I am not cool enough to describe this book so I'll just paste the official back cover copy:
“What’s your name?”
“Serene.”
“Serena?” Elliot asked.
“Serene,” said Serene. “My full name is Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle.”
Elliot’s mouth fell open. “That is badass.”
The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border—unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and—best of all as far as Elliot is concerned—mermaids.
Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands.
It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world.
posted by MiraK at 1:42 PM on July 27, 2021 [6 favorites]
This part of a booklist I have collected over about 15 years for a methods class I teach:
Rules—Cynthia Lord
I Kill Giants—Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura
Does My Head Look Big In This?—Randa Abdel-Fattah
Outbreak! Plagues That Changed History—Bryn Barnard
The Cold War—John Lewis Gaddis
Colin Fisher—Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party—M. T. Anderson
Stargirl—Jerry Spinelli
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West—Gregory Maguire
Milkweed—Jerry Spinelli
Samurai Shortstop—Alan Gratz
Butter—Erin Jade Lang
The Book Thief—Markus Zusak
Akata Witch—Nnedi Okorafor
Target—Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes—Chris Crutcher
George—Alex Gino
The Thing About Jellyfish—Ali Benjamin
Wintergirls—Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak-- Laurie Halse Anderson
This One Summer—Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir—Liz Prince
Smile—Raina Telgemeier
Feed—M. T. Anderson
Cinder—Marissa Meyer
Since You've Been Gone—Morgan Matson
Jackaby—William Ritter
Dime –D. R. Frank
It's Kind of a Funny Story—Ned Vizzini
I Will Give You the Sun—Jandy Nelson
Children of Blood and Bone—Tomi Adeyemi
All American Boys—Jason Reynolds
Long Way Down-- Jason Reynolds
Look Both WAys-- Jason Reynolds
American Street—Ibi Zoboi
Calling My Name—Liara Tamani
Dear Martin—Nic Stone
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter—Erika L Sánchez
Little & Lion—Brandy Colbert
Marcelo in the Real World—Francisco X. Stork
The Astonishing Color of After—Emily X.R. Pan
The Marrow Thieves-- Cherie Dimaline
If I Ever Get Out of here-- Eric Gansworth
Hearts Unbroken--Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Sun is Also a Star—Nicola Yoon
Piecing Me Together—Renée Watson
The Dangerous Art of Blending In—Angelo Surmelis
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before—Jenny Han
Will Grayson, Will Grayson—John Green and David Levithan
Wrong in All the Right Ways—Tiffany Brownlee
Amal Unbound—Aisha Saeed
Amina’s Voice—Hena Khan
Fish in a Tree—Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Front Desk—Kelly Yang
Harbor Me—Jacqueline Woodson
The Crossover—Kwame Alexander
The First Rule of Punk—Celia C. Pérez
The Gauntlet—Karuna Riazi
The Stars Beneath Our Feet—David Barclay Moore
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente—Wilfred Santiago
They Called Us Enemy—George Takei, Justin Eisinger, et al.
The Silence of Our Friends—Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, et al.
The Poet X-- Elizabeth Acevedo
Clap When You Land-- Elizabeth Acevedo
Brave-- Svetlana Chmakova
Crush-- Svetlana Chmakova
The New Kid-- Jerry Craft
Mexican Whiteboy-- Matt de la Peña
The Best At It-- Malik Pancholy
Nimona-- Noelle Stevenson
Lumberjanes--Various
posted by oflinkey at 1:45 PM on July 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Rules—Cynthia Lord
I Kill Giants—Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura
Does My Head Look Big In This?—Randa Abdel-Fattah
Outbreak! Plagues That Changed History—Bryn Barnard
The Cold War—John Lewis Gaddis
Colin Fisher—Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party—M. T. Anderson
Stargirl—Jerry Spinelli
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West—Gregory Maguire
Milkweed—Jerry Spinelli
Samurai Shortstop—Alan Gratz
Butter—Erin Jade Lang
The Book Thief—Markus Zusak
Akata Witch—Nnedi Okorafor
Target—Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes—Chris Crutcher
George—Alex Gino
The Thing About Jellyfish—Ali Benjamin
Wintergirls—Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak-- Laurie Halse Anderson
This One Summer—Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir—Liz Prince
Smile—Raina Telgemeier
Feed—M. T. Anderson
Cinder—Marissa Meyer
Since You've Been Gone—Morgan Matson
Jackaby—William Ritter
Dime –D. R. Frank
It's Kind of a Funny Story—Ned Vizzini
I Will Give You the Sun—Jandy Nelson
Children of Blood and Bone—Tomi Adeyemi
All American Boys—Jason Reynolds
Long Way Down-- Jason Reynolds
Look Both WAys-- Jason Reynolds
American Street—Ibi Zoboi
Calling My Name—Liara Tamani
Dear Martin—Nic Stone
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter—Erika L Sánchez
Little & Lion—Brandy Colbert
Marcelo in the Real World—Francisco X. Stork
The Astonishing Color of After—Emily X.R. Pan
The Marrow Thieves-- Cherie Dimaline
If I Ever Get Out of here-- Eric Gansworth
Hearts Unbroken--Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Sun is Also a Star—Nicola Yoon
Piecing Me Together—Renée Watson
The Dangerous Art of Blending In—Angelo Surmelis
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before—Jenny Han
Will Grayson, Will Grayson—John Green and David Levithan
Wrong in All the Right Ways—Tiffany Brownlee
Amal Unbound—Aisha Saeed
Amina’s Voice—Hena Khan
Fish in a Tree—Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Front Desk—Kelly Yang
Harbor Me—Jacqueline Woodson
The Crossover—Kwame Alexander
The First Rule of Punk—Celia C. Pérez
The Gauntlet—Karuna Riazi
The Stars Beneath Our Feet—David Barclay Moore
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente—Wilfred Santiago
They Called Us Enemy—George Takei, Justin Eisinger, et al.
The Silence of Our Friends—Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, et al.
The Poet X-- Elizabeth Acevedo
Clap When You Land-- Elizabeth Acevedo
Brave-- Svetlana Chmakova
Crush-- Svetlana Chmakova
The New Kid-- Jerry Craft
Mexican Whiteboy-- Matt de la Peña
The Best At It-- Malik Pancholy
Nimona-- Noelle Stevenson
Lumberjanes--Various
posted by oflinkey at 1:45 PM on July 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: This is already such an amazing list, thank you all.
Which of these titles - or of the titles you like and recommend - tend to skew darker and/or older? Meaning perhaps for 14 to 18 y/o?
posted by TryTheTilapia at 2:01 PM on July 27, 2021
Which of these titles - or of the titles you like and recommend - tend to skew darker and/or older? Meaning perhaps for 14 to 18 y/o?
posted by TryTheTilapia at 2:01 PM on July 27, 2021
Darker and older:
Seconding The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline—written by a Métis author, it’s set in a near future where global environmental degradation means that non-Indigenous people can’t dream any more, which is affecting their mental health. Governments are hunting and kidnapping Indigenous people to extract their bone marrow to try to find a cure. The book is centred on the experience of Frenchie, a Métis teen whose family has been taken. He narrowly escapes the authorities and joins a group of other Indigenous people on the run.
It functions as a metaphor for the genocidal residential school systems in Canada, Australia, NZ, and the US. It’s also a really good book, exciting, fast paced, and well written.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:28 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Seconding The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline—written by a Métis author, it’s set in a near future where global environmental degradation means that non-Indigenous people can’t dream any more, which is affecting their mental health. Governments are hunting and kidnapping Indigenous people to extract their bone marrow to try to find a cure. The book is centred on the experience of Frenchie, a Métis teen whose family has been taken. He narrowly escapes the authorities and joins a group of other Indigenous people on the run.
It functions as a metaphor for the genocidal residential school systems in Canada, Australia, NZ, and the US. It’s also a really good book, exciting, fast paced, and well written.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:28 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Kelly Loy Gilbert is a YA author that I recommend constantly to students and parents. Her books lean older (definitely your 14-18 range), and all three are incredible, but Picture Us in the Light is my favorite. All of her books are just gorgeous explorations of family and friendship and what it means to be a good person in the world, and I cannot get enough of them.
For fantasy, I love Laini Taylor, and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series in particular. One book in her more recent duology was a Printz honor, IIRC (the Printz list might be a good place to look generally).
Other high school favorites from the past five years: Wilder Girls, Patron Saints of Nothing, Parachutes, The Weight of the Stars, Optimists Die First, The Passion of Dolssa, Exit, Pursued by a Bear
posted by goodbyewaffles at 2:44 PM on July 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
For fantasy, I love Laini Taylor, and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series in particular. One book in her more recent duology was a Printz honor, IIRC (the Printz list might be a good place to look generally).
Other high school favorites from the past five years: Wilder Girls, Patron Saints of Nothing, Parachutes, The Weight of the Stars, Optimists Die First, The Passion of Dolssa, Exit, Pursued by a Bear
posted by goodbyewaffles at 2:44 PM on July 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
The Power takes place in a world where teenage girls realize they can shoot electrical sparks from their fingers. Much ensues. it's great, a little dark in spots, but very good
posted by wowenthusiast at 2:44 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by wowenthusiast at 2:44 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
Rainbor Rowell is an author I've enjoyed at lot. Start with Eleanor and Park.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 3:58 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 3:58 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
Over the past weekend I read and enjoyed The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu.
Seconding A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher!
Both books lean darker and older (and feature 14-year-old protagonists).
posted by bones to dark emeralds at 10:26 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Seconding A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher!
Both books lean darker and older (and feature 14-year-old protagonists).
posted by bones to dark emeralds at 10:26 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Little Brother series by Cory Doctorow. Three novels (there are some connected short stories too I think):
1. Little Brother
2. Homeland
3. Attack Surface
posted by TimHare at 10:26 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
1. Little Brother
2. Homeland
3. Attack Surface
posted by TimHare at 10:26 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
All of my recommendations are from the 'or so' rather than 'the last decade' but I think they are excellent.
First of all, I second the recommendations for Nnedi Okorafor's Akata series; anything by T. Kingfisher (especially A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking); Sarah Rees Brennan's In Other Lands; and Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education. In Other Lands is a standalone though there's a related short story, 'Wings in the Morning' which covers some of the events of the book from another character's perspective. A Deadly Education is the first in a series and finishes on a semi-cliffhanger. Novik's Spinning Silver is an adult fantasy standalone loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin that weaves together the stories of three protagonists in (I think) nineteenth century Russia.
Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen) is about a family of necromancers known as the Abhorsens who are appointed to protect the kingdom from 'free magic' necromancers. The first book is about Sabriel leaving school and having to take up the mantle of the Abhorsen because her father's gone missing. The next two books jump forward a couple of decades and focus on Lirael, who also has to take up the mantle to defend the kingdom.
Susan Price's Elfgift and Elfking might be hard to find. They're a duology about a bastard half-elf king's son who inherits the kingdom and has to contend with his legitimate half-brothers. He has help from a jötunn and from Odin. These books remind me a bit of the Lord of the Rings in that the protagonist wins, but suffers incurable wounds in the process.
Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard, is a bit lighter but has amazing worldbuilding with an extensive, highly technical magic system. The series also has a much more nuanced concept of evil than a lot of YA and even adult fiction.
As a teenager I loved all of Tamora Pierce's books and I still enjoy them. My favourites were the Circle of Magic and the Circle Opens series, but her Tortall books are also extremely popular. The Circle books are about four children who each has a type of craft-based magic, smithing, fibre, weather and gardening respectively. They grow up over the course of the two series. The Tortall books include a number of series, each about a different young woman. They start with the Alanna series about a young noblewoman who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight.
Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series might technically be adult sci-fi but it's about a young woman from a interstellar trading family whose chosen career in the military is derailed, and who subsequently has to restore her family's fortunes after they're attacked.
Megan Whalen Turner's Thief series is an fantasy series about Eugenides. It's hard to describe the series without spoilers, but the first book starts from Eugenides' perspective and each subsequent book is from a different character's perspective, slowly revealing each of the various characters' personalities.
N. K. Jemisin's Inheritance series, starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, is probably the most YA of her work. The first book is about a young woman brought to court who has to grapple with human and divine politics to save her life. The Dreamblood duology is also very good. It's a murder mystery set in fantasy ancient Egypt. It is very dark, though, and child sexual abuse is a significant element of the plot.
Like T. Kingifsher, Robin McKinley wrote a number of fairytale retellings as well as original stories. The Blue Sword is set in a colonised country and the protagonist joins the native Hillfolk and learns magic to help them fend off an invasion.
Diana Wynne Jones would probably be considered YA if she were writing today. She's probably most famous for Howl's Moving Castle because of the movie adaptation. Her Chrestomanci series is about a sorcerer with nine lives who travels between nine related worlds with divergent histories. The position of Chrestomanci can only be held by a nine-lived sorcerer and is a civil service position. (If you don't think that's funny, you might not like the books.) The Chrestomanci Christopher Chant is an adult in all of the books except the first, Charmed Life.
My favourite Diana Wynne Jones standalones are Dogsbody (the star Sirius is forced by an enemy into the body of a dog) and Eight Days of Luke (about a boy who meets Loki; this book partially inspired Neil Gaiman's American Gods). She also wrote The Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin, comedic fantasies that riff on epic fantasy tropes and academic politics.
posted by aussie_powerlifter at 11:51 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
First of all, I second the recommendations for Nnedi Okorafor's Akata series; anything by T. Kingfisher (especially A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking); Sarah Rees Brennan's In Other Lands; and Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education. In Other Lands is a standalone though there's a related short story, 'Wings in the Morning' which covers some of the events of the book from another character's perspective. A Deadly Education is the first in a series and finishes on a semi-cliffhanger. Novik's Spinning Silver is an adult fantasy standalone loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin that weaves together the stories of three protagonists in (I think) nineteenth century Russia.
Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen) is about a family of necromancers known as the Abhorsens who are appointed to protect the kingdom from 'free magic' necromancers. The first book is about Sabriel leaving school and having to take up the mantle of the Abhorsen because her father's gone missing. The next two books jump forward a couple of decades and focus on Lirael, who also has to take up the mantle to defend the kingdom.
Susan Price's Elfgift and Elfking might be hard to find. They're a duology about a bastard half-elf king's son who inherits the kingdom and has to contend with his legitimate half-brothers. He has help from a jötunn and from Odin. These books remind me a bit of the Lord of the Rings in that the protagonist wins, but suffers incurable wounds in the process.
Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard, is a bit lighter but has amazing worldbuilding with an extensive, highly technical magic system. The series also has a much more nuanced concept of evil than a lot of YA and even adult fiction.
As a teenager I loved all of Tamora Pierce's books and I still enjoy them. My favourites were the Circle of Magic and the Circle Opens series, but her Tortall books are also extremely popular. The Circle books are about four children who each has a type of craft-based magic, smithing, fibre, weather and gardening respectively. They grow up over the course of the two series. The Tortall books include a number of series, each about a different young woman. They start with the Alanna series about a young noblewoman who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight.
Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series might technically be adult sci-fi but it's about a young woman from a interstellar trading family whose chosen career in the military is derailed, and who subsequently has to restore her family's fortunes after they're attacked.
Megan Whalen Turner's Thief series is an fantasy series about Eugenides. It's hard to describe the series without spoilers, but the first book starts from Eugenides' perspective and each subsequent book is from a different character's perspective, slowly revealing each of the various characters' personalities.
N. K. Jemisin's Inheritance series, starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, is probably the most YA of her work. The first book is about a young woman brought to court who has to grapple with human and divine politics to save her life. The Dreamblood duology is also very good. It's a murder mystery set in fantasy ancient Egypt. It is very dark, though, and child sexual abuse is a significant element of the plot.
Like T. Kingifsher, Robin McKinley wrote a number of fairytale retellings as well as original stories. The Blue Sword is set in a colonised country and the protagonist joins the native Hillfolk and learns magic to help them fend off an invasion.
Diana Wynne Jones would probably be considered YA if she were writing today. She's probably most famous for Howl's Moving Castle because of the movie adaptation. Her Chrestomanci series is about a sorcerer with nine lives who travels between nine related worlds with divergent histories. The position of Chrestomanci can only be held by a nine-lived sorcerer and is a civil service position. (If you don't think that's funny, you might not like the books.) The Chrestomanci Christopher Chant is an adult in all of the books except the first, Charmed Life.
My favourite Diana Wynne Jones standalones are Dogsbody (the star Sirius is forced by an enemy into the body of a dog) and Eight Days of Luke (about a boy who meets Loki; this book partially inspired Neil Gaiman's American Gods). She also wrote The Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin, comedic fantasies that riff on epic fantasy tropes and academic politics.
posted by aussie_powerlifter at 11:51 PM on July 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
Check out Scythe and the two follow ups. The premise is that humanity has conquered death, and all the worlds information lives in an all knowing AI, but people need to be gleaned to control the population. I couldn’t put them down.
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:06 AM on July 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:06 AM on July 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Definitely check out the previous question linked above. I'll re-list some of the books I mentioned there that are a little on the darker/older side, but first...
Naomi Kritzer's Catfishing on Catnet and Chaos on Catnet are particularly excellent and I would recommend them to everyone! (they're considered YA, I think.)
Ok, older/darker stuff:
Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (both of whom have written other YA books, I believe some of them may be darker than Once & Future)
Thief's Covenant by Ari Marmell and the subsequent Widdershins books
The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore and basically everything else she's written.
Internment by Samira Ahmed
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
Hungry Hearts edited by Caroline Tung Richmond and Elsie Chapman (one of these stories veered too far toward horror for my taste - I think it was by Rebecca Roanhorse, but not certain; the rest were pretty light)
Some "adult" sf/f writing could probably suit an advanced YA reader just fine - Martha Wells (both the Murderbot Diaries and the Ile-Rien series) or maybe the Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks. I bet I would have enjoyed reading them back in high school!
posted by sibilatorix at 12:24 AM on July 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Naomi Kritzer's Catfishing on Catnet and Chaos on Catnet are particularly excellent and I would recommend them to everyone! (they're considered YA, I think.)
Ok, older/darker stuff:
Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (both of whom have written other YA books, I believe some of them may be darker than Once & Future)
Thief's Covenant by Ari Marmell and the subsequent Widdershins books
The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore and basically everything else she's written.
Internment by Samira Ahmed
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
Hungry Hearts edited by Caroline Tung Richmond and Elsie Chapman (one of these stories veered too far toward horror for my taste - I think it was by Rebecca Roanhorse, but not certain; the rest were pretty light)
Some "adult" sf/f writing could probably suit an advanced YA reader just fine - Martha Wells (both the Murderbot Diaries and the Ile-Rien series) or maybe the Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks. I bet I would have enjoyed reading them back in high school!
posted by sibilatorix at 12:24 AM on July 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Simon and the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali which is much better than the movie made of it ("Love Simon"). It's a gay teen coming out story with really believable, relatable characters. It's kind and funny, and sex positive. It's my favourite of Albertaili's books, but the others are pretty good too.
Fangirl and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell really go together. Fangirl is about a young woman who is struggling with social anxiety, and who has a secret identity as a really successful fanfiction writer. She's created a sort of alternative universe Harry Potter called Simon Snow which, honestly, seems much better than the original. Actually I know it is because "Carry On" is the fanfiction book this character wrote. Carry On is the first of three Simon Snow books, and they are amazing. You don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to enjoy them either. Just engrossing, entertaining and fun.
I write some YA myself.
My most recent book is We Broke the Moon, which is "hope punk" science fiction. It features a virtual reality game on a spaceship in deep space, teenage hackers, talking cats, and a rogue artificial intelligence. Sort of Becky Chambers crossed with Garth Nix.
Crooks & Straights and Wolf Logic are based on the question, what would apartheid South Africa have been like, if magic were real, and were-wolves, trolls, and other magical beings lived among us?
posted by Zumbador at 6:41 AM on July 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Fangirl and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell really go together. Fangirl is about a young woman who is struggling with social anxiety, and who has a secret identity as a really successful fanfiction writer. She's created a sort of alternative universe Harry Potter called Simon Snow which, honestly, seems much better than the original. Actually I know it is because "Carry On" is the fanfiction book this character wrote. Carry On is the first of three Simon Snow books, and they are amazing. You don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to enjoy them either. Just engrossing, entertaining and fun.
I write some YA myself.
My most recent book is We Broke the Moon, which is "hope punk" science fiction. It features a virtual reality game on a spaceship in deep space, teenage hackers, talking cats, and a rogue artificial intelligence. Sort of Becky Chambers crossed with Garth Nix.
Crooks & Straights and Wolf Logic are based on the question, what would apartheid South Africa have been like, if magic were real, and were-wolves, trolls, and other magical beings lived among us?
posted by Zumbador at 6:41 AM on July 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I cannot thank all of you enough. I'm particularly grateful for the links and the detailed descriptions. It's heartening too to see so many inclusive and varied stories. Those themes were hard to come by when I was young, and I want to offer my kid the choices I didn't have.
There are so many sci fi and fantasy titles, which is wonderful and my kid is going to be extremely delighted about that. I personally am also gratified by the more social/emotional types of straight fiction titles because those appeal to me a lot, too.
Grateful to all.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 9:04 AM on July 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
There are so many sci fi and fantasy titles, which is wonderful and my kid is going to be extremely delighted about that. I personally am also gratified by the more social/emotional types of straight fiction titles because those appeal to me a lot, too.
Grateful to all.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 9:04 AM on July 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
Stamped, by Kendi and Reynolds
posted by RedEmma at 12:07 PM on July 27, 2021 [1 favorite]