What Are the Best Young Adult Books and Have I Read Them?

Time Magazine made a list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time, so I thought it would be fun to pick out some highlights and see how many I have read.

Further viewing 🎥:

Titles mentioned:
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
Ursula K. Le Guin
I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, John Donovan
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume
Forever… Judy Blume
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L’Engle
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
Homecoming, Cynthia Voight
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
The Giver, Lois Lowry
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Every Day., David Levithan
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jesse Andrews
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
March: Book One and Book Two, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Jacqueline Woodson
I’ll Give You the Sun, Handy Nelson
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Erika L. Sánchez
The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
We Are Okay, Nina LaCour
When Dimple Met Rishi, Sandhya Menon
Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo
Like a Love Story, Abdi Nezemian
Pet, Akwaeke Emezi
With the Fire on High, Elizabeth Acevedo
The Black Flamingo, Dean Atta
Felix Ever After, Kacen Callender
Stamped, Jason Reynold and Ibram X. Kendi
You Should See Me in a Crown, Leah Johnson

My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:

But wait, there's more!

[EpicReads]

We love the Simonverse, give it another go!

[karakask]

So many of these books were formational in not just my reading life, but my life in general! From The Mixed Up Files made me want to become an art historian (spoiler, I did). The Madeline L'Engle books are just amazing and opened my brain to philosophy and thinking about the world/universe in a different way. Also, you should definitely read Anne of Green Gables. This was a great list!!!

[KurtAnderson]

I recently tweeted that I was in a reading slump. You suggested a YA with an LGBTQIA+ element. I’m now on book 3 of the Magnus Chase series and really enjoying them. Lots of positive representations to gay and trans people.

[JentheLibrarianreads]

This was really interesting because I either hadn’t heard of or hadn’t read most of the ones you mention (or the ones on the full list either) 🤣 I think that’s just because I tend to read a lot of UK YA and this was I think predominantly US books.

[hillarylavendar]

I think you should do an episode on youtube about people with disabilities in writing. You include most other minority groups in the mix out of respect. October is people with disabilities and employment month. July is the month that the ADA law was signed in 1990 giving people with disabilities civil rights that many people of color have had, by law, since 1964. You can put together a piece featuring authors and or primary characters about people with disabilities.

[dqan]

Got out a sheet of paper to keep track of all the books I'd read. Now I have a sheet of paper with four titles on it. Found eight more to consider though. I'll probably start with Persepolis since I have a copy of that somewhere.

[KierTheScrivener]

Anne of Green Gables is the most formative book I've read. It deals really well with trauma and found family.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn it is very good, read it a few months ago and becsme a favourite. It starts when she is a 7 and goes until 17, definitely young. Though I related to the adults and talking about alcoholism and intergenerational trauma a lot.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry I would say are definitely middle grade. 10/11 protagonist. But brilliant.

Aristotle and Dante is so good. Jacqueline Woodson is such an extraordinary author. Brown Girl Dreaming and Before The Ever After are my two favourite by her.

Elizabeth Acevedo a favourite and Pet is extraordinary, though quite heavy and middle grade.

[Shellyish]

Greg, fantastic video and video idea! Love lists! I’m currently reading the 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up on my channel (I cringe at myself for plugging my channel).
A young adult novel is defined as any novel with a protagonist the age of a young adult (12-18). Super broad, I know.
Completely agree with To Kill a Mockingbird. I’ve never read Ursula K LeGuin either, but she’s on my list. Loved Tuck Everlasting and I’ll Give You The Sun.
I read 75% of Children of Blood of Bone and couldn’t bring myself to finish. Poet X is another excellent read.

[mradcaqbdb]

I have no memory of reading To Kill a Mockingbird in school. I don’t know how that book doesn’t make it on a school curriculum. 🤦‍♀️ I can’t remember many of the mandatory books from school. Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies definitely from middle school. I’m having trouble thinking of others.

I listened to the audiobook of Stamped. Jason Reynolds reads it and it’s fantastic. Me not being a fan of long books made me go with the shorter version, but I also love Jason Reynolds. If you haven’t listened to his Long Way Down, it is a must listen. Not sure if it’s on this list.

Going to pick up a copy of Persepolis! Have you gotten John Lewis’s latest Run Vol 1? I have it and will be picking it up soon.

[rss]

I have the diary of Anne Frank on my Ereader and can’t wait to read it. I actually never read the book in school. But, I did read Night by Elie Wiesel and loved it; even though I went through so many emotions

[rss]

To me, Simon was a better book then movie. I enjoyed the book so much more. I have the movie and book, but totally loved the book more. I believe the other book you were talking about “What if it’s us”. I thought I was a really good book. They have a sequel coming out in December.

[trudyjohns]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my favorite books!!! The Diary of Anne Frank is excellent. Two very good reads.

[rss]

I’ve never read how to kill a mockingbird, but it’s on my list. I heard though, if you read how to kill a mockingbird, you need to follow up with I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou.

[kdonaldson]

Great video- for lord of the flies I remember a English teacher using that to demonstrate bullying, mob mentality, othering and the savagery present in children. So slightly outside of traditional teaching themes but was really impactful I think and we were about 13-14.

[MizzInterpreted]

The Rick Riordan books have fantastic diversity with POC, LGBTQ+ and disability rep. More so as the Percy Jackson world developed and then into his other series. Great rep for kids (the kind that was missing when I was the target age).

[WilliamsReptiles]

Man I was really relieved when we got to Catcher and you totally got that it was a YA book that shows a young, angsty teen going through a philosophical malaise and didn't miss the point. Holden being this whiny, entitled, disillusioned person is THE POINT. He's a YOUNG ADULT. He's in that transitory period between loosing his innocence as a child but not quite finding his identity as an adult. Gotta say though, I disagree with you that his struggle is only applicable to straight white dudes. EVERYONE has this phase, it's a natural part of growing up. Maybe not in Holdens EXACT way, but that existential struggle where you're waking up to the world and finding who you really are applies to every gender of every race. Unless what you're saying is that Holden's way of coping is a typical white dude way to deal with the world, which I have to admit is spot on.

[lovelyflowergirl]

Here's a fun(?) Fact about John Green, his brother lives in your town. Hopefully that's not too weird to comment

[poshpenny]

If you liked March, have you seen they have FINALLY released Run:Book One? John & Co. start moving into politics. From the list you didn't mention: I enjoyed Long Way Down, Firekeeper's Daughter, and yes, middle grade Percy Jackson. The 57 Bus, The Marrow Thieves, Dear Martin and Pet are on my shelves waiting for me.

[krzysamm]

I read Anne of Green Gables Manga book. It was great

[maddieoggero]

In Anne of Green Gables you grow to love Anne despite that she’s annoying