Best Young Adult Books

Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin is humanity's most gifted military mind, trained from childhood in the zero-gravity Battle Room of a space station to fight the alien Formics. But the game and the war may not be as separate as Ender believes.

Percy leads the defense of Olympus against Kronos's army as the Great Prophecy — the one that has shadowed his life since birth — finally comes true in a battle for the fate of the gods.

Le Guin's first Earthsea novel follows Ged, a boy of extraordinary power who attends a school for wizards on the island of Roke and, in his pride, releases a shadow upon the world that only he can face.

A convicted murderer has escaped Azkaban prison and is believed to be hunting Harry Potter, forcing Harry to confront the true story of his parents' betrayal and death. The mystery that unravels is more complicated, more painful, and more morally instructive than any straightforward threat.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione abandon Hogwarts to hunt Voldemort's Horcruxes, confronting betrayal, sacrifice, and the revelation that Harry himself is the final Horcrux. The series concludes with the Battle of Hogwarts and a resurrection that draws on the oldest mythological traditions.

Harry is mysteriously entered into the dangerous Triwizard Tournament while Voldemort's followers grow bolder, culminating in the Dark Lord's terrifying return to full power. The death of a fellow student in the graveyard permanently changes what the Harry Potter series is.

As Voldemort's war spreads beyond Hogwarts, Dumbledore guides Harry through Tom Riddle's past to find the key to destroying him, while a mysterious annotated textbook raises questions about the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. The year ends with Dumbledore's death and the series' darkest turning point yet.

An orphaned boy discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard, and begins his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

A criminal mastermind assembles a crew of six dangerous outcasts to pull off an impossible heist from the world's most secure prison.

Following the events Under the Mountain, Feyre adjusts to life as a High Fae and discovers that the Spring Court is not the safe haven she believed.

Kaz Brekker and the Dregs execute an increasingly complex series of heists and cons across Ketterdam to reclaim what was stolen from them and destroy those who betrayed them.

Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume, covering her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, her rape at eight years old, her years of traumatized silence, and her eventual recovery through literature and language.

Set in Nazi Germany, a young girl's love of words and storytelling sustains her through air raids, poverty, and death — narrated by Death itself.

Clary and Jace travel to Idris, the Shadowhunters' hidden homeland, where Valentine seeks the power to destroy all Downworlders — and a revelation about Clary's true identity changes everything she thought she knew.

As the King's Champion, Celaena Sardothien is supposed to eliminate his enemies — but she has been secretly protecting her targets while uncovering shocking truths about her own identity and the darkness at the heart of Adarlan's power.

Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts is shadowed by a mysterious voice in the walls and a series of petrifications tied to the legend of a Chamber of Secrets. When the Heir of Slytherin opens the Chamber again, Harry must confront a darkness rooted in the wizarding world's oldest prejudices.

Celaena travels to the fae kingdom of Wendlyn to master her powers, while a new threat — the Valg, demonic beings from another world — descends on Adarlan with the King's devastating backing.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter witnesses the police shooting of her childhood friend Khalil — and must navigate the collision between her Black neighborhood and her predominantly white private school as she decides whether to speak up.

In the dystopian future of Panem, sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister's place in a televised death match between children.

Nesta Archeron and Cassian are trapped in a brutal training regimen together, slowly discovering that their mutual antagonism masks something much harder to fight.

Feyre returns to the Spring Court as a spy, and the war against Hybern that has been building since the first book finally arrives in a climax that reshapes Prythian.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi reopens the supposedly closed case of Andie Bell's murder as her senior capstone project — and discovers the truth is far more dangerous than anyone expected.

After her defiant act in the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen finds herself the symbol of a brewing rebellion — and is forced back into the arena for an unprecedented Quarter Quell.

Harry's fifth year is defined by institutional persecution, Voldemort's growing power, and the devastating loss of the person who most represented his connection to his parents. The Ministry of Magic has declared war on the truth, and Dolores Umbridge has come to Hogwarts to enforce it.