Reddit mentions: The best teen & young adult fiction books

I've read and loved almost all of the recommendations already here (TAMORA PIERCE). But to add some that haven't been mentioned (and trying really hard to not overload you with 20 books at once), I read and reread Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and its prequel so. many. TIMES. Maybe even more than I reread Tamora Pierce. Patricia McKillip, Maria Snyder, Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons quartet), Althea Kontis, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray and Susan Fletcher (Dragon Chronicles) are similar authors to check out for awesome female-driven fantasy, with varying degrees of lightheartedness. Wrede, Fletcher, Snyder and Kontis all wrote books that lean a little less epic/serious, Block writes a lot in prose that's also a very quick (but more intense) read, McKillip tends to be more wordy but beautifully so, and Bray can kind of go either way depending on the series.

For more contemporary fiction, RACHEL COHN (of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"). Her Gingerbread series has content a good deal more mature than Angus, Thongs, etc., but her style is similarly irreverent and witty and really fun. Seriously, check her out. Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons is like a much younger version of Cohn, still zingy and sweet. For a quieter modern-day read, Garret Freymann-Weyr writes realistic (more mature) young adult relationships, and introduced me to the idea of bisexuality in a sort of roundabout way.

Julia Alvarez relates stories about the Latina-American experience incredibly well, although I think the first book I read by her takes place solely in the Dominican Republic. According to my reading list, I guess young me got sick of reading about other white people, so I'll add Marjane Satrapi's hilarious graphic novel Persepolis and the more sedate Shabanu series by Suzanne Fisher Staples.

I'd also strongly second comments for Gail Carson Levine, E.L. Konigsberg, and did I mention Tamora Pierce?

(I tried to link a lot of authors to my faves from their work, but I won't be mad if you never look at any of them. Is your reading list long enough now? Also, I know you didn't ask for a ton of fantasy/historical fiction recs, but I think a lot of us defined our teenagerhood by and identified more strongly with one of those series or another.)

tl;dr my top three recs that haven't been mentioned yet are Rachel Cohn, Julia Alvarez, and that one duo by Robin McKinley.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!

I don't think you're happy enough

That's right, I'll teach you to be happy

I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs

Now, boys and girls, let's try it again

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OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG Please make a Snicker Doodle Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting!!!

IT'S THE BEES KNEES!

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Thanks for the contest, friend!

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Two urban books for my public high schoolers would be appreciated. My students were quick to point out how many "white girl" books I had in my classroom library, so I've been on a mission ever since to fix that so they have more relatable literature to read.

Drama High - Cold As Ice

Drama High - Courtin' Jade

These, USED, would be $8.00 even! =) ♥

I'm not sure how completely realistic this is (but its not fantasy of sci-fi) but Gordon Korman writes great books that appeal to boys (and girls like me) of that age - I still read them when I can get my hands on them. The two books by him that I've read and enjoyed recently were Born to Rock and The Juvie Three, but they're all great as far as I can tell.

Also Daniel Pinkwater's 5 Novels is a fantastic, funny read.

My experience with trans-related YA novels is rather limited (see below), but overall I would just like to see (eventual) acceptance. If it's a story about someone in (early) transition, I would like to see all the feels and doubts and hopes about everything, so that it can be cathartic for the trans reader and maybe invoke empathy from the cis reader. If it's a story about someone who is post-transition, then please make them successful at the end, because frankly we need more positive stories.

The only trans-related YA book I've read is "Being Emily" by Rachel Gold:

https://www.amazon.com/Being-Emily-Rachel-Gold/dp/1594932832

I loved this book, and not just because of the title. I've "known" that I was trans in one sense or another since just before puberty, but I didn't accept myself until I was 44 years old. However, even if I had accepted myself when I was in high school, there is no way I could have successfully transitioned in mid 1980s Memphis, TN. So reading this book allowed me to reclaim a small part of my adolescence, and provide some closure. And yes, I cried several times while reading it.

Wow! Great contest. Happy belated birthday!

This book is fantastic because I'm pretty sure I'm in love with Jason Myer's and his writing style. My name is Alicia! I'm sorry, am I telling you why I'd like the ebook or the kindle? It's a little unclear. :3

Currently reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. Definitely an amazing read, it's currently still in progress and can be found for free at hpmor.com

It's a fanfic, but definitely not your typical fanfic. If you've ever read Ender's Game and liked it you should definitely give Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality a shot! :)

This book

I just read On Writing by Stephen King, which was awesome. Half autobiography, half writing advice. If you're more interested in fiction, I just finished the Nadia Stafford trilogy by Kelley Armstrong and loved it.

A few of my WL books just price dropped to $1.99: Partials, The Whole Enchilada, Girl Parts, and Tantalize. Any one of them would be great! Thanks for the contest.

It's totally worth it. Like, the third book came out 6 years after the second, which was frustrating, but then when I got it I remembered that it was because it was filled to the brim with original artwork. Perfection.

I'm always down for those books, too! That's why I loved Realm of Possibilities. Also for the poetry.

Kinda in the same vein is Life is Funny. I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember liking it a lot!

Reading two books at the moment, one audio and one aloud.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr is the book my wife is reading to me. The main characters are odd and hard to like, and it alternates between them each chapter, but it makes for a compelling story.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater is what we are listening to together as an audiobook, and woooo boy. It's very gothic and creepy, and I'm loving it. All of the characters have been enjoyable so far, it's almost as if Poe or Shelley decided to write YA. I'm hooked, and my wife is enjoying the fact that she just finished The Raven King, so she knows what I have in store for me.

As /u/dandyissues pointed out Nevada was surprisingly good for the internal bits of experience. Also Being Emily by Rachel Gold was good in that it included sections from the POV of the trans character, whereas a lot of YA fiction centered around trans issues doesn't feature trans POV characters. The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff is also interesting as its a fictionalised account of the life of Lili Elbe.


(Additionally to that I really don't think Seasonal Velocities gets nearly enough love, its an amazing collection of short written pieces set against four seasons, well recommended, its not really fiction but an unusually awesome account of transness related through all sorts of means)

My name is Krystle and I'm an Ellen Hopkinsaholic. Fallout is a book in her long random serious of books that I'm dying to get my hands on soon. I've almost caught up in the books prior to it to be ready to read it. I honestly don't know why, but I adore this authors writings. They're really all young adult reading but I freaking love them anyway. I'm still a teenager at heart I guess.

Could it be Goodbye, Amanda the Good by Susan Shreve?

>Amanda Bates, older sister of Joshua T. Bates, has always been a "good girl," gotten good grades, and played by the rules. But now that she's in junior high, Amanda is discovering that those rules have changed. Her friends have all gone to other schools, her body's changing, her moods are up and down . . . she doesn't even recognize herself! Amanda decides that her only chance to fit in is to join "the Club," so she dyes her hair purple, changes her name to Cheetah, cuts school, and starts dating an older boy with a shady past. It's as if she's two different people: the one doing all these things she knows are wrong and the one watching them happen--and before long, she's going to have to choose between them.

​

Breath is a book I read where I actually learned about this! I read it when I was young, but it was still pretty dark and good.

What I've read thus far has been a mixed bag. There are good writers who seems to really get the characters and write them the way we have come to know them. But there are some who seem to have very little understanding of the characters. And of course, the canon thing is always a problem. When a lot of these books were being written/released, the series was still running. So they could set a story in "the future" using season three's characters, and it seemed fine at the time. Now, of course, we know Faith won't be there, Willow's a witch, et cetera, et cetera. If you can get past the fact that the books vary in accuracy (I like to think of them as quirky), they can be fun reads.

If you want a starting place for the Buffy novels, I highly suggest these three books. They each collect three complete Buffy novels, and they're quite affordable.

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

I am missing the Third and Last of the Thirst series! Omg you are so on an adventure, I'd like some butterbeer! And there are recipes!! I WISH I COULD READ THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME AGAIN! :D

Seems there are quite a few books that are just titled 'Smashed' that would have worked as a better clue:

http://www.amazon.com/Smashed-Las-Vegas-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B00G2HAT9C
http://www.amazon.com/Smashed-Lisa-Luedeke/dp/1442427809
http://www.amazon.com/Smashed-Story-Drunken-Girlhood-Paperback/dp/B002ZHNN8M

if it really is https://periscope.tv/smashed I'd be curious why they wouldn't have picked one of those...other than the gloriously batshit crazy synopsis for 'Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed'

>if you want to look for it

There's wisdom in everything if you try to look for it. A person could probably find just as much wisdom in The Raven Boys if they tried that hard.

Life is Funny by E.R. Frank?

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Funny-R-Frank/dp/0142300837

Would it be Gingerbread by Rachel Cohen?

Here's the original cover also.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.



The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown.

^This ^is ^kind ^of ^what ^I'm ^trying ^to ^do.

There's also The Door in the Wall (partial paralysis in the middle ages, MG historical fiction), Breath (cystic fibrosis and the Pied Piper, YA historical fiction), and Half a King (physicial deformity + YA fantasy viking quest).

I recently read the ARC for Half a King (3.5/5), but I haven't read the others yet.