This is a list of my favorite YA books from this school year and last, and a few of my all-time favorites.
Favorite Authors - Read everything by these authors. Everything!
Becky Albertalli - Stories are just so dang likable. She is also best friends with Adam Silvera, and they're releasing a book soon that they co-wrote!
Gayle Forman - Amazing story teller, mostly sad
John Green - Hilarious and heavy
Emma Mills - Her books are what I call "No-Stress Reads", cute stories
Jandy Nelson - Most beautifully written books I've ever read
Rainbow Rowell - Characters are the best, addicting
Adam Silvera - You're going to love his characters, and you're gonna cry.
Kasie West - Adorable teenage love stories
Contemporary/Realistic Fiction (Many of these could be considered romances as well)
Dear Martin - Nic Stone
Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon
Far From the Tree - Andrew Solomon
Foolish Hearts - Emma Mills
Forbidden - Tabitha Suzuma (Heads up, this one is about incest and it is not actually appropriate for middle school kids)
Goodbye Days - Jeff Zentner
Holding Up the Universe - Jennifer Niven
I'll Give You the Sun - Nicola Yoon
Kids of Appetite - David Arnold
Maybe One Day - Melissa Kantor
Nice Try, Jane Sinner - Lianna Oelke
Orbiting Jupiter - Gary Schmidt
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
The Names They Gave Us - Emery Lord
The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson
The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon
The Upside of Unrequited - Becky Albertalli
They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera
Turtles All the Way Down - John Green
What Girls are Made of - Elana K. Arnold
Love Stories
Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
First and Then - Emma Mills
Just One Day - Gayle Forman
Love and Gelato - Jenna Evans Welch (Sequel coming soon!)
Midnight Sun - Trish Cook
P.S. I Like You - Kasie West
Tell Me 3 Things - Julie Buxbaum
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith
What Light - Jay Asher
LGBT
Been Here All Along - Sandy Hall
History is All You Left Me - Adam Silvera
Lily and Dunkin - Donna Gephart
More Happy Than Not - Adam Silvera
Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
The Great American Whatever - Tim Federle
Mental Health
Girl in Pieces - Kathleen Glasgow
I was Here - Gayle Forman
It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini
Mosquitoland - David Arnold
Sisters in Sanity - Gayle Forman
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Under Rose-Tainted Skies - Louise Gornall
When We Collided - Emery Lord
Historical Fiction
A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee
Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys
My Lady Jane - Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows
Fantasy
Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
Shiver Series - Maggie Stiefvater
Three Dark Crowns Series - Kendare Blake
Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Sci-Fi
Everland Series - Wendy Spinale
Delirium Series - Lauren Oliver
Denton Little's Deathdate & Sequel - Lance Rubin
Hunger Games Series - Suzanne Collins
Matched Series - Ally Condie
Thriller
72 Hours on the Moon - Johan Harstad
Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
Genuine Fraud - E. Lockhart
People Like Us - Dana Mele
The Merciless Series - Danielle Rollins
The Women in the Walls - Amy Lukavics
We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
Nonfiction
In Conclusion, Don't Worry About it - Lauren Graham
Mistaken Identity - Don Van Ryn
Talking as Fast as I can - Lauren Graham
We Should Hang Out Sometime - Josh Sundquist