“What are the Best Young Adult Books of 2018?” We aggregated 23 year-end lists and ranked the 223 unique titles by how many times they appeared in an attempt to answer that very question!
There are thousands of year-end lists released every year and like we do in our weekly Best Book articles, we wanted to see which books appear the most. The top 37 books, all of which appeared on 3 or more “Best Young Adult” Book lists, are ranked below with images, summaries, and links for more information or to purchase. The remaining 175+ books, as well as the top book lists are at the bottom of the page.
Make sure to take a look at our other Best of 2018 book lists:
You can also take a look at our Best 2017 articles!
Happy Scrolling!
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The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew. Life in real-world Atlanta isn’t always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice’s handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she’ll need to use everything she’s learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.
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The highly anticipated third book in Sabaa Tahir’s New York Times bestselling EMBER QUARTET. Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger. The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister’s life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance. Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she’d have to fight. And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias’s devotion–even at the cost of his humanity.
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Bina has never forgotten the time she and her mother ran away from home. Her mother promised they would hitchhike to the city to escape Bina’s cruel father and start over. But before they could even leave town, Bina had a new stepfather and two new stepsisters, and a humming sense of betrayal pulling apart the bond with her mother—a bond Bina thought was unbreakable. Eight years later, after too many lies and with trouble on her heels, Bina finds herself on the side of the road again, the city of her dreams calling for her. She has an old suitcase, a fresh black eye, and a room waiting for her at Catherine House, a young women’s residence in Greenwich Village with a tragic history, a vow of confidentiality, and dark, magical secrets. There, Bina is drawn to her enigmatic downstairs neighbor Monet, a girl who is equal parts intriguing and dangerous. As Bina’s lease begins to run out, and nightmare and memory get tangled, she will be forced to face the terrible truth of why she’s come to Catherine House and what it will take for her to leave…
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A story of resilience and loss, love and family, Mark Oshiro’s Anger is a Gift testifies to the vulnerability and strength of a community living within a system of oppression. Six years ago, Moss Jefferies’ father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media’s vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks. Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration. When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.
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A debut novel based on the true story of the iconic painter, Artemisia Gentileschi. Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father’s paint. She chose paint. By the time she was seventeen, Artemisia did more than grind pigment. She was one of Rome’s most talented painters, even if no one knew her name. But Rome in 1610 was a city where men took what they wanted from women, and in the aftermath of rape Artemisia faced another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost. He will not consume my every thought. I am a painter. I will paint. I will show you what a woman can do.
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For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind. Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him. When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.
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Jacqueline Woodson’s first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories. It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat—by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for “A Room to Talk”), they discover it’s safe to talk about what’s bothering them—everything from Esteban’s father’s deportation and Haley’s father’s incarceration to Amari’s fears of racial profiling and Ashton’s adjustment to his changing family fortunes. When the six are together, they can express the feelings and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world. And together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.
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American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City—and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school, a boy who’s finally falling into her orbit at school.
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In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place. As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection…because one wrong move could lead to her death.
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Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there’s much more to his family’s past than he ever imagined. Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family’s blessing to pursue the career he’s always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny’s lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can’t stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan. When Danny digs deeper into his parents’ past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him.
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Pride and Prejudice gets remixed in this smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic, starring all characters of color, from Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award finalist and author of American Street. Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding. But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all. In a timely update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, critically acclaimed author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.
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It is a companion novel to Dumplin’, which follows supporting characters from the first book in the months after Willowdean’s star turn in the Clover City pageant. Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream—and to kiss her crush. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they will surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
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After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet. But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all . . . or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?
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Part Wonder Woman, part Vikings—and all heart. Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago. Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family. She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.
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Subverting convention, award-winning creators M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin pair up for an anarchic, outlandish, and deeply political saga of warring elf and goblin kingdoms. Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom — from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them — and war for their nations. Witty mixed media illustrations show Brangwain’s furtive missives back to the elf kingdom, while Werfel’s determinedly unbiased narrative tells an entirely different story. A hilarious and biting social commentary that could only come from the likes of National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson and Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin, this tale is rife with thrilling action and visual humor . . . and a comic disparity that suggests the ultimate victor in a war is perhaps not who won the battles, but who gets to write the history.
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Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death wants to tear them apart. Autumn always knew exactly who she was—a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan always turned to writing love songs when his love life was a little less than perfect. But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered. Despite the odds, one band’s music will reunite them and prove that after grief, beauty thrives in the people left behind.
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Newbery Medalist Christopher Paul Curtis brings his trademark humor and heart to the story of a boy struggling to do right in the face of history’s cruelest evils. Twelve-year-old Charlie is down on his luck: His dad just died, the share crops are dry, and the most fearsome man in Possum Moan, Cap’n Buck, says Charlie’s dad owed him a lot of money. Fearing for his life, Charlie strikes a deal to repay his father’s debt by accompanying Cap’n Buck to Detroit in pursuit of some folks who have stolen from him. It’s not too bad of a bargain for Charlie . . . until he comes face-to-face with the fugitives and discovers that they escaped slavery years ago and have been living free. Torn between his guilty conscience and his survival instinct, Charlie needs to figure out his next move—and soon. It’s only a matter of time before Cap’n Buck catches on . . .
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Five years ago, Evelyn and Philippa Hapwell cowered from air strikes in a London bomb shelter. But that night took a turn when the sisters were transported to another realm called the Woodlands. In a forest kingdom populated by creatures out of myth and legend, they found temporary refuge. When they finally returned to London, nothing had changed at all—nothing, except themselves. Now, Ev spends her days sneaking into the woods outside her boarding school, wishing for the Woodlands. Overcome with longing, she is desperate to return no matter what it takes. Philippa, on the other hand, is determined to find a place in this world. She shields herself behind a flawless exterior and countless friends, and moves to America to escape the memory of what was. But when Evelyn goes missing, Philippa must confront the depth of her sister’s despair and the painful truths they’ve been running from. As the weeks unfold, Philippa wonders if Ev truly did find a way home, or if the weight of their worlds pulled her under. Content warnings are available via the author’s website
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Paris, at the dawn of the modern age: Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion! Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.
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From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck. Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? With Maurene Goo’s signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.
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When Marvin Johnson’s twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid. The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it’s up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels and mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.
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Uniquely told through letters from death row and third-person narrative, Bryan Bliss’s hard-hitting third novel expertly unravels the string of events that landed a teenager in jail. Luke feels like he’s been looking after Toby his entire life. He patches Toby up when Toby’s father, a drunk and a petty criminal, beats on him, he gives him a place to stay, and he diffuses the situation at school when wise-cracking Toby inevitably gets into fights. Someday, Luke and Toby will leave this small town, riding the tails of Luke’s wrestling scholarship, and never look back. But during their senior year, they begin to drift apart. Luke is dealing with his unreliable mother and her new boyfriend. And Toby unwittingly begins to get drawn into his father’s world, and falls for an older woman. All their long-held dreams seem to be unraveling. Tense and emotional, this heartbreaking novel explores family, abuse, sex, love, friendship, and the lengths a person will go to protect the people they love. For fans of NPR’s Serial podcast, Jason Reynolds, and Matt de la Peña.
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At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies. With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth–that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese. But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?
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The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father’s disappearance. At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge—for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle. The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome?
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Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations. But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.
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Hey, Kiddo is the graphic memoir of author-illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Raised by his colorful grandparents, who adopted him because his mother was an incarcerated heroin addict, Krosoczka didn’t know his father’s name until he saw his birth certificate when registering for a school ski trip. Hey, Kiddo traces Krosoczka’s search for his father, his difficult interactions with his mother, his day-to-day life with his grandparents, and his path to becoming an artist. To date, nearly one million people have viewed Krosoczka’s TED Talk about his experience. Artwork from his childhood and teen years will be incorporated into the original illustrations for the book.
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Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful. But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision. With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.
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Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima and, what’s more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations. Her idyllic life is disrupted, however, when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a distant clan. Ophelia must leave all she knows behind and follow her fiancé to Citaceleste, the capital of a cold, icy ark known as the Pole, where danger lurks around every corner and nobody can be trusted. There, in the presence of her inscrutable future husband, Ophelia slowly realizes that she is a pawn in a political game that will have far-reaching ramifications not only for her but for her entire world.
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Darius doesn’t think he’ll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA. Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it’s pretty overwhelming–especially when he’s also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom’s family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything. Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what’s going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don’t have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he’s spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush–the original Persian version of his name–and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he’s Darioush to Sohrab. When it’s time to go home to America, he’ll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.
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Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
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Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life. Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.
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It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother. But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.
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Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things. But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them? Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited. But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third? What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough? What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play? But what if it is?
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Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.” Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.
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A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo. Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.
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A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about. Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him. When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late. Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.
Lists It Appears On:
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
| # | Books | Authors | Lists |
| 38 | A Conspiracy of Stars | Olivia A. Cole | Paste |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 39 | A History of Pictures for Children: From Cave Paintings to Computer Drawings | David Hockney and Martin Gayford, illus. by Rose Blake | TIME |
| – | – | – | Publishers Weekly |
| 40 | Amal Unbound | Aisha Saeed | Publishers Weekly |
| – | – | – | Brightly |
| 41 | An Assassin’s Guide to Love and Treason | Virginia Boecker | Book Page |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 42 | Ash Princess | Laura Sebastian | Bustle |
| – | – | – | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 43 | Bob | Wendy Mass, Rebecca Stead & Nicholas Gannon | Readings |
| – | – | – | Brightly |
| 44 | Contagion | Erin Bowman | Paste |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 45 | Damsel | Elana K. Arnold | Booklist |
| – | – | – | Bustle |
| 46 | Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel | Val Emmich | Phoenix Public Library |
| – | – | – | Amazon |
| 47 | Front Desk | Kelly Yang | Readings |
| – | – | – | Publishers Weekly |
| 48 | Girl Made of Stars | Barnes & Noble | |
| – | – | – | Book Page |
| 49 | Heart of Iron | Ashley Poston | Paste |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 50 | Here to Stay | Sara Farizan | Phoenix Public Library |
| – | – | – | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 51 | Home And Away | Candice Montgomery | Paste |
| – | – | – | Bustle |
| 52 | Hullmetal Girls | Emily Skrutski | Paste |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 53 | Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass) | Amazon | |
| – | – | – | Indigo |
| 54 | Legendary (Caraval Series #2) | Stephanie Garber | BuzzFeed |
| – | – | – | Barnes & Noble |
| 55 | My So-Called Bollywood Life | Nisha Sharma | Barnes & Noble |
| – | – | – | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 56 | Odd One Out | Nic Stone | Paste |
| – | – | – | Bustle |
| 57 | Rule | Ellen Goodlett | Indigo |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 58 | Summer Bird Blue | Akemi Dawn Bowman | Paste |
| – | – | – | Booklist |
| 59 | Tess of the Road | Rachel Hartman | Booklist |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 60 | The Boneless Mercies | April Genevieve Tucholke | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| – | – | – | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 61 | The Book of Boy | Catherine Gilbert Murdock | Publishers Weekly |
| – | – | – | Common Sense Media |
| 62 | The Dangerous Art of Blending In | Angelo Surmelis | BuzzFeed |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 63 | The NIght Diary | Veera Hiranandani | Phoenix Public Library |
| – | – | – | Brightly |
| 64 | The Parker Inheritance | Varian Johnson | Publishers Weekly |
| – | – | – | Phoenix Public Library |
| 65 | The Spy with the Red Balloon | Katherine Locke | Paste |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 66 | The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles) | Amy Spalding | Bustle |
| – | – | – | Paste |
| 67 | These Rebel Waves | Sara Raasch | What She Reads |
| – | – | – | Epic Reads |
| 68 | Undead Girl Gang | Lily Anderson | Bustle |
| – | – | – | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 69 | Wildcard | Marie Lu | BuzzFeed |
| – | – | – | Bustle |
| 70 | #Prettyboy Must Die | Kimberly Reid | Epic Reads |
| 71 | A Girl Like That | Tanaz Bhathena | Epic Reads |
| 72 | A Heart in a Body in the World | Book Page | |
| 73 | A Land of Permanent Goodbyes | Atia Abawi | BuzzFeed |
| 74 | A Lite Too Bright | Samuel Miller | Epic Reads |
| 75 | A Map of Days (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children) | Amazon | |
| 76 | A Thousand Beginnings and Endings | Edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| 77 | All of This Is True | Lygia Day Peñaflor | Epic Reads |
| 78 | Always Forever Maybe | Anica Mrose Rissi | Epic Reads |
| 79 | Always Never Yours | Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka | Epic Reads |
| 80 | An Anthology of Intriguing Animals | Brightly | |
| 81 | As She Ascends | Jodi Meadows | Epic Reads |
| 82 | Be Prepared | Vera Brosgol | Readings |
| 83 | Beneath the Citadel | Destiny Soria | What She Reads |
| 84 | Betty Before X | Brightly | |
| 85 | Between Worlds: Folktales of Britain and Ireland | Financial Times | |
| 86 | Beyond a Darkened Shore | Jessica Leake | Epic Reads |
| 87 | Black Cockatoo | Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler | Readings |
| 88 | Black Wings Beating | Alex London | Paste |
| 89 | Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam | Elizabeth Partridge | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| 90 | Buried Beneath The Baoba Tree | Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani | BuzzFeed |
| 91 | Calling All Minds | Brightly | |
| 92 | Check, Please! #Hockey | Booklist | |
| 93 | Cloud and Wallfish | Anne Nesbet | Readings |
| 94 | Court of Shadows | Madeleine Roux | Epic Reads |
| 95 | Crown of Thunder | Tochi Onyebuchi | Epic Reads |
| 96 | Dactyl Hill Squad | Daniel José Older | Publishers Weekly |
| 97 | Dark Sacred Night | Financial Times 2 | |
| 98 | Daughter of the Siren Queen | Tricia Levenseller | Epic Reads |
| 99 | Devils Unto Dust | Emma Berquist | Epic Reads |
| 100 | Dream Country | Shannon Gibney | What She Reads |
| 101 | Dry | Neal and Jarrod Shusterman | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| 102 | Everless | Sara Holland | Bustle |
| 103 | Everything I’ve Never Said | Samantha Wheeler | Readings |
| 104 | Fawkes | Nadine Brandes | Epic Reads |
| 105 | Finding Yvonne | Brandy Colbert | Paste |
| 106 | For a Muse of Fire | Heidi Heilig | Paste |
| 107 | Force of Nature | Financial Times 2 | |
| 108 | Four Three Two One | Courtney Stevens | Epic Reads |
| 109 | Frozen Reign | Kathryn Purdie | Epic Reads |
| 110 | Ghost Boys | Jewell Parker Rhodes | Phoenix Public Library |
| 111 | Heart of Thorns | Bree Barton | Epic Reads |
| 112 | Heretics Anonymous | Katie Henry | Epic Reads |
| 113 | Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World | Katherine Halligan, illus. by Sarah Walsh | Publishers Weekly |
| 114 | Hidden Pieces | Paula Stokes | Epic Reads |
| 115 | I, Claudia | Booklist | |
| 116 | Ignite the Stars | Maura Milan | Epic Reads |
| 117 | In a House of Lies | Financial Times 2 | |
| 118 | Ink, Iron, and Glass | Gwendolyn Clare | Epic Reads |
| 119 | Inkmistress | Audrey Coulthurst | Epic Reads |
| 120 | Invisible Ghosts | Robyn Schneider | Epic Reads |
| 121 | It Wasn’t Me | Dana Alison Levy | Publishers Weekly |
| 122 | It’s Kind Of An Epic Love Story | Kheryn Callender | Bustle |
| 123 | Julián Is a Mermaid | Jessica Love | TIME |
| 124 | Kat Wolfe Investigates | Lauren St John | Readings |
| 125 | Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix | Julie C. Dao | Epic Reads |
| 126 | Leah On The Offbeat | Indigo | |
| 127 | Lenny’s Book of Everything | Karen Foxlee | Readings |
| 128 | Let’s Talk About Love | Claire Kann | Epic Reads |
| 129 | LIFEL1K3 | Jay Kristoff | What She Reads |
| 130 | Light Years | Kass Morgan | Epic Reads |
| 131 | Little White Lies | Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Epic Reads |
| 132 | Louisiana’s Way Home | Common Sense Media | |
| 133 | Love | Matt de la Peña (Author) | TIME |
| 134 | Love and Other Train Wrecks | Leah Konen | Epic Reads |
| 135 | Mary’s Monster | Financial Times | |
| 136 | Mayfly | Jeff Sweat | What She Reads |
| 137 | Merci Suárez Changes Gears | Meg Medina | Publishers Weekly |
| 138 | Monday’s Not Coming | Tiffany D. Jackson | BuzzFeed |
| 139 | Munmun | Common Sense Media | |
| 140 | Neverwake | Amy Plum | Epic Reads |
| 141 | Neverworld Wake | Financial Times | |
| 142 | Nightblood | Elly Blake | Epic Reads |
| 143 | Not Even Bones | Rebecca Schaeffer | What She Reads |
| 144 | Nyxia Unleashed | Scott Reintgen | Epic Reads |
| 145 | Obsidio | Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | BuzzFeed |
| 146 | On a Sunbeam | Tillie Walden | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| 147 | Onyx and Ivory | Mindee Arnett | Epic Reads |
| 148 | Payback on Poplar Lane | Brightly | |
| 149 | Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide | Isabel Quintero | Phoenix Public Library |
| 150 | Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein | Brightly | |
| 151 | Pulp | Robin Talley | Paste |
| 152 | Rad Girls Can: Stories of Bold, Brave, and Brilliant Young Women | Common Sense Media | |
| 153 | Rebound | Alexander Kwame | Phoenix Public Library |
| 154 | Reign of the Fallen | Sarah Glenn Marsh | Epic Reads |
| 155 | Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans | Brightly | |
| 156 | Sanity and Tallulah | Molly Brooks | Publishers Weekly |
| 157 | Save the Date | Indigo | |
| 158 | Sawkill Girls | Claire Legrand | Bustle |
| 159 | Sea Prayer | Booklist | |
| 160 | Shadowsong | S. Jae-Jones | Epic Reads |
| 161 | She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) | Brightly | |
| 162 | Sleight | Jennifer Sommersby | What She Reads |
| 163 | Small Spaces | Katherine Arden | Publishers Weekly |
| 164 | Strange Grace | Tessa Gratton | Epic Reads |
| 165 | Summer of Salt | Barnes & Noble | |
| 166 | Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster | Jonathan Auxier | Publishers Weekly |
| 167 | Sweet Black Waves | Kristina Pérez | Epic Reads |
| 168 | Tales from the Inner City | Shaun Tan | Readings |
| 169 | That Night | Amy Giles | Epic Reads |
| 170 | The Benefits of Being An Octopus | Ann Braden | Roachie’s Reviews |
| 171 | The Bird and the Blade | Megan Bannen | Epic Reads |
| 172 | The Brightsiders | Jen Wilde | Epic Reads |
| 173 | The Caged Queen | Kristen Ciccarelli | Epic Reads |
| 174 | The Cardboard Kingdom | Brightly | |
| 175 | The Case for Jamie | Brittany Cavallaro | BuzzFeed |
| 176 | The Cheerleaders | Kara Thomas | Epic Reads |
| 177 | The Clockwork Crow | Catherine Fisher | Roachie’s Reviews |
| 178 | The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler | Common Sense Media | |
| 179 | The Final Six | Alexandra Monir | Epic Reads |
| 180 | The Girl and the Grove | Eric Smith | Epic Reads |
| 181 | The Key to Everything | Brightly | |
| 182 | The Lies They Tell | Gillian French | Epic Reads |
| 183 | The Lifters | Brightly | |
| 184 | The Loneliest Girl in the Universe | Lauren James | Epic Reads |
| 185 | The Mad Wolf’s Daughter | Brightly | |
| 186 | The Orchard Underground | Mat Larkin | Readings |
| 187 | The Other Side of Lost | Jessi Kirby | Epic Reads |
| 188 | The Rabbit Listened | Cori Doerrfeld | TIME |
| 189 | The Resolutions | Mia Garcia | Epic Reads |
| 190 | The Science of Breakable Things | Brightly | |
| 191 | The Season of Styx Malone | Brightly | |
| 192 | The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle | Financial Times 2 | |
| 193 | The Smoke Thieves | Financial Times | |
| 194 | The Spinner Prince | Brightly | |
| 195 | The Storyteller | Traci Chee | Bustle |
| 196 | The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik | Book Page | |
| 197 | The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution: A Handbook for Time Travelers | Brightly | |
| 198 | The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle | Leslie Connor | Publishers Weekly |
| 199 | The Truth Lies Here | Lindsey Klingele | Epic Reads |
| 200 | The War Outside | Monica Hesse | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| 201 | This Brilliant Death | Amy Rose Capetta | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 202 | This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story | Kheryn Callender | Epic Reads |
| 203 | This Is What It Feels Like | Rebecca Barrow | Epic Reads |
| 204 | This Tiny Perfect World | Lauren Gibaldi | Paste |
| 205 | Thunderhead | Neal Shusterman | BuzzFeed |
| 206 | To Be Honest | Maggie Ann Martin | Epic Reads |
| 207 | To Kill A Kingdom | Alexandra Christo | What She Reads |
| 208 | Tombland | Financial Times 2 | |
| 209 | Trail of Lightning | Rebecca Roanhorse | Epic Reads |
| 210 | Truly Devious | Maureen Johnson | Publishers Weekly 2 |
| 211 | Twelve Steps to Normal | Farrah Penn | Barnes & Noble 2 |
| 212 | Unclaimed Baggage | Jen Doll | BuzzFeed |
| 213 | War Storm | Victoria Aveyard | BuzzFeed |
| 214 | We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices: Words and Images of Hope | Edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson | Publishers Weekly |
| 215 | What Can a Citizen Do? Dave Eggers (Author) | Shawn Harris (Illustrator) | TIME |
| 216 | When Elephants Fly | Nancy Richardson Fischer | What She Reads |
| 217 | When My Heart Joins the Thousand | A.J. Steiger | Epic Reads |
| 218 | When We Caught Fire | Anna Godbersen | Epic Reads |
| 219 | White as Silence, Red as Song | Alessandro D’Avenia | Epic Reads |
| 220 | White Rabbit | Caleb Roehrig | Epic Reads |
| 221 | Wilderness Wars | Barbara Henderson | Roachie’s Reviews |
| 222 | Winter Glass | Lexa Hillyer | Epic Reads |
| 223 | Words We Don’t Say | K.J. Reilly | What She Reads |
| Source | Article |
| Amazon | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Barnes & Noble | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Barnes & Noble 2 | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Book Page | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Booklist | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Brightly | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Bustle | The 25 Best Young Adult Books Of 2018 |
| Bustle | 14 Young Adult Authors Recommend Their Favorite YA Books Of 2018 |
| BuzzFeed | The 24 Best YA Books Of 2018 |
| Common Sense Media | Best Tween and Teen Books of 2018 |
| Entertainment Weekly | The 10 best YA books of 2018 |
| Epic Reads | 75 Books You Might’ve Missed This Year (But Definitely Shouldn’t Have) |
| Financial Times | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Financial Times 2 | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Indigo | Top 10 Best Teen Books of 2018 |
| Paste | The 30 Best Young Adult Novels of 2018 |
| Phoenix Public Library | Best Teen Books of 2018 |
| Publishers Weekly | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Publishers Weekly 2 | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Readings | Best YA Books 2018 |
| Roachie’s Reviews | Favourite Middle-Grade Books of 2018 |
| TIME | The 10 Best YA and Children’s Books of 2018 |
| What She Reads | The best YA books of 2018 |
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