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31 Best Books Your Teen Won't Want to Put Down in 2023
Your book-loving teen (and even you!) will love these YA novels.
The teenage years can be a confusing time. Not only for you, the parent, but especially for your teen. Sure, you'll get your fair share of eye rolls, you won't know what kind of gifts they will actually like, and forget about knowing how to throw them a birthday party anymore, but they will be navigating big ideas and even bigger feelings. And like so many of us who've managed to make it through to the other side of the teen years, we can look back on the books we read during this time as some of the most influential to forming how we see the world. They were the stories that reflecting our own—new love, navigating friendships, the pressures of school, hopes for the future, and often tackling tough topics like racism, gender identity, sexuality, and mental health.
We know it can be especially daunting to know what to recommend to your teen, so we've gathered up some of our favorite YA books that will be sure to capture their attention. Whether your teen goes nuts for fantasy, romance, sci-fi, or historical fiction, we've got something for every taste and many have won such prestigious awards as the National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, and esteemed Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. If you're on the hunt for more literary resources for your kids and teens, be sure to check out our list of important books to help you talk about Race and Racism.
If you or your teen is a fan of This is Us, you’ll love this novel about an adopted “only child” who comes to find out that she is actually a middle child. Robin Benway takes us on a journey as she goes to find her two other siblings, weaving in interconnected storylines of all three along the way.
A heart-warming story about the power of labels to define us and what it looks like to break through them. A young boy acting out and deemed a “teen thug” moves to a new school where he continues his same old behavior. That is until he’s taken under a librarian’s wing and finds a new friend that sees deeper than the tough exterior.
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass
This series, which includes the acclaimed The Golden Compass, is a coming of age tale of two children from different dimensions who meet and take on the powers that seek to control them.
Three brothers are challenged to come together after the death of their parents. Trying to make their way in New York City, the youngest brother Lafayette longs to feel connected and protected by his two other brothers and it will take just one emotional weekend for them to be forced to decide whether they will stick together.
Artemis Fowl-Artemis Fowl, Book 1
As a 12-year-old millionaire and criminal genius, Artemis Fowl must watch his back and defend his home after he takes something very important from the Fairies.
A young boy in a seemingly idyllic town is given his life assignment which causes him to question everything about their existence and way of doing life.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
In this often hilarious book, we meet a young Mexican-American girl who’s trying to navigate the loss of her sister and the pressures put on her by her family.
A companion story to A Wrinkle in Time, a teenage boy is caught up into an adventure to protect the world from evil. Traveling with a flying horse through space and time, his faith and resolve will be put to the test.
A young girl and her sister make a pact to avoid boys (and the drama that comes with them) for the summer while they stay with their aunt in Los Angeles. Things get complicated when one of them finds a loophole and falls for another young girl.
Told from the point of view of an aspiring teen writer, Cassandra lives with her quirky family in a dilapidated castle in the countryside of England. As she hones her craft by documenting her family life, she comes to discover what it truly means to love.
A youth group’s road trip tour of temples in India bring together two seemingly disparate students: the resident mean girl and an art student. The two find uncanny similarities and forge an undeniable connection that draws on their cultural backgrounds.
The school power couple breaks up and what ensues is a back and forth of revenge and deception, rivaling a sporting event. Who will win in the end?
A unique and poignant tale of a girl during World War II as told by Death itself. This masterful telling of heartbreaking events is in line with The Diary of Anne Frank.
A girl battling cancer falls in love with the it-boy from school. This uplifting tale shows the lengths we will go to live and love life to the fullest.
A Filipino-American teen is uprooted from his California hometown to a town in “Nowhere’s-ville.” Missing everything familiar to him, the ocean, girlfriend, and skateboarding crew, he manages to forge new connections with two other high school “misfits.”
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
On a seemingly normal day, a young man gets caught up in an adventure through space and time with a crew of unreliable aliens. But thankfully he’s got the guide to the universe…the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe!
The teen years, some might say, are an adventure in and of themselves, so why not read one? Follow Bilbo Baggins and his crew of dwarves as they fight magical creatures and dragons in Middle Earth. Learn all about the origins of the Ring of Power and what lead to The Lord of the Rings.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Now a popular movie series on Netflix, the first installment of the series introduces us to Lara Jean as she writes letters to past crushes with no intention of them going anywhere. She soon finds out that her little sister has secretly mailed them all! Besides embarrassment, could there be true love at the end of this debacle?
In this final installment of the American Royals series, Queen Beatrice is in a coma and the legacy of the family hangs in the balance as the scattered siblings decide who to love and ultimately who will reign.
In this classic coming-of-age tale, a young girl observes the prejudice and inequity in the rural South during the trial of an innocent Black man.
Leah Hall is currently a digital producer and writer for Country Living. She is based in Huntsville, Alabama.
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