50 Books for Young Adults That Belong in Your Classroom Library
The more we integrated independent reading into our curriculum, devoting full class periods to silent reading and making First Chapter Friday Nearpods a permanent part of our bellringer menu, the more we made it our mission to add at least a few new books for young adults to our classroom library each year.
When we first started teaching, our classroom libraries primarily consisted of books we had read and “donated,” books we’d found on sale at the library, books we inherited from other teachers, and books we found in dusty corners on campus. Unfortunately, very few of these books actually appealed to our students (in part because some of them weren’t even books for young adults).
The more we engaged with our students about the books they enjoyed reading and saw the books for young adults that they picked up after our First Chapter Friday recommendations, the more we started to get a feel for which books they would actually like, and we strove to add a few copies to our shelves when we had the opportunity.
We recommend books for young adults regularly here at Three Heads, but over time, any database of books can get overwhelming (we have 48 posts in the category, after all!). Sometimes, you need a TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) of the best of the best, the books we and our students have especially enjoyed.
If you’re looking to add a couple books for young adults to your classroom library this year, consider this a solid starting point for your shopping list—we’ve got a wide variety, and you can find more information about each title using the provided links.
5 Dystopian Novels with Staying Power
The first entry in the Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder tells the story of Linh Cinder, a cyborg trying to survive a deadly pandemic in New Beijing when a chance encounter with Prince Kai draws her into a series of life-changing events. Read more here.
An oldie but a goodie, the first novel in the trilogy introduces us to Tris, who is about to begin her life as a member of the Dauntless faction but soon finds herself caught up in a dangerous political game. Read more here.
We know we’re hardly offering groundbreaking recommendations here, but Collins’s dystopian trilogy about Katniss Everdeen’s resistance to the oppression of the Capitol in Panem continues to stand out as a young adult classic. Read more here.
This dual point of view story is the first in a series that we enjoyed from beginning to end, tracing the intersecting paths of Day, the Republic’s most wanted criminal, and June, the Republic’s star student and future military commander, as they discover horrifying truths about their home. Read more here.
Citra and Rowan are both selected to serve as interns to Scythe Faraday, though only one of them will be accepted to serve their society as a scythe. Society has conquered death and disease, but appointed scythes must continue to carry out the killing of selected individuals in order to keep the population under control. While this power is meant to be treated with the utmost respect, Citra and Rowan soon learn that not all scythes view it this way. Read more here.
5 Fantasy Novels To Keep Students on the Edge of Their Seats
We’re big Beauty and the Beast fans here at Three Heads, so a modern retelling was right up our alley. When Harper finds herself pulled from her difficult life in Washington, D.C. directly into an enchanted world, she meets Prince Rhen, who is losing hope of ever breaking the curse that traps him in a monstrous state that endangers the kingdom of Emberfall. Read more here.
China’s heroes are the young men who pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that battle invading aliens. But to make the robots work, the young men must pair up with young women, who die from the mental strain of powering the Chrysalises. That is, until Zetian. She becomes a concubine-pilot to get revenge on the pilot who was responsible for her sister’s death, but when it becomes clear that she has the power to survive the role, she’s named the Iron Widow and paired with the dangerous Li Shimin. Read more here.
When 16-year-old Bree Matthews witnesses a magical attack on her first night at a residential program at UNC-Chapel Hill, she finds herself drawn into a mysterious society made up of the descendants of King Arthur and his Round Table with ties to her own mother’s death. Read more here.
Saiorse is a siren, which means both that she is able to lure men in with her beautiful song before killing them and that she’ll be executed if her country discovers the truth about her. But when she takes a job as a bodyguard to the handsome Prince Hayes, she finds herself caught in a web of competing loyalties and deceptions. Read more here.
Alizeh appears to be a snoda, a member of the servant class unworthy of attention or respect, but she’s actually the long-lost heir to a Jinn kingdom, the one her people have longed for during decades of subjugation. An encounter with Kamran, the unbelievably handsome crown prince of Ardunia, brings the two of them together in surprising ways that threaten Alizeh’s safety and the future of Kamran’s kingdom. Read more here.
5 Historical Fiction Choices That Bring the Past to Life
Hanneke is helping a local undertaker smuggle goods in and out of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam when a woman enlists her help in tracking down Mirjam, a Jewish teenager the woman had been hiding in her pantry. The more Hanneke learns, the more drawn she is to participate in a resistance group that places Jewish children with Dutch families. Read more here.
When Hephaestus catches Aphrodite and Ares having an affair in a Manhattan hotel during World War II, they begin telling a series of intersecting stories from World War I that illustrate the age-old connection between love and war. The layered story of four teenagers navigating wartime is captivating and beautiful, and the surrounding mythological frame adds thematic interest. Read more here.
“The Lady Janies,” as the authors call themselves, rewrite history in this retelling of Lady Jane Grey, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London and beheaded during the conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants that plagued the British monarchy in the 1500s. In their version, the conflict is not between Catholics and Protestants but between those who can transform into animals and those who cannot, adding a fantastical element to what was already a highly dramatic story. Read more here.
Septys is a standout author when it comes to YA historical fiction, and her novel about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner transporting civilians during World War II, is our favorite. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel is suspenseful and tragic but also sheds light on World War II from the Eastern European perspective. Read more here.
Chee narrates the story of 14 Japanese American teenagers forced to move from Japantown in San Francisco to internment camps in Topaz, Utah, and Tule Lake, California, as a result of Executive Order 9066 following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Our hearts broke for these teenagers, and the novel offers important insights into a shameful moment in American history. Read more here.
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5 Novels Perfect for Middle School Students
We absolutely loved the story of brothers Donte and Trey. Donte resembles his Black mother while Trey resembles the boys’ white father, and the difference in their appearance is compounded by their differing experiences at a private middle school. When Donte turns to fencing in an effort to challenge the school bully, Alan, he finds a community and confidence that he never expected. Read more here.
Alexander’s novel in verse tells the story of 12-year-old twins Josh and Jordan Bell, basketball stars in their community. There is plenty of sports talk, but there are also real life challenges the boys must navigate as Jordan starts dating his first girlfriend and the twins worry about their father’s health. Read more here.
The first entry in Reynolds’s Track series about the kids who make up a middle school track team, Ghost introduces us to Castle Crenshaw who learned how to run when his drunk father chased after and shot at Ghost and his mother as they fled their home. Frequently in trouble at school, Castle finds healing and strength through his experiences running track with Lu, Sunny, and Patina. Read more here.
Martin’s graphic memoir about a summer trip to Mexico with his family (he is the seventh of nine children) is an utter delight. Crammed in an RV together, the siblings endure adventures both mundane and completely unexpected, and Pedro grows up a little on the way. Read more here.
Walker’s experience as a comic book author has clearly informed his story of Darius Logan, a young man thrown into the foster system when he is orphaned during an alien attack. When the novel opens, Darius is in trouble with the law, but Captain Freedom, the head of the Super Justice Force intervenes, offering Darius a spot in the Second Chance program, aimed at rehabilitating convicted felons (including supervillains, of course). We loved learning about the Super Justice Force world as Darius comes into his own and discovers unexpected powers that his world needs. Read more here.
5 Must-Have Mystery Novels for Teens
The first novel in Jackson’s trilogy is pretty much the reigning classic when it comes to YA mystery novels: it’s tough to find a mystery that isn’t marketed for fans of the trilogy, but we have yet to find one we like more. Pippa Fitz-Amobi decides to investigate the murder of classmate Andie Bell for her senior project. She’s sure that Sal Singh, assumed to have committed the murder, is innocent, and her investigation draws her into danger that has ripple effects through two more novels. Read more here.
Another reigning classic in the YA mystery genre, McManus’s Breakfast-Club-esque first novel remains her best. Bronwyn (the brain), Addy (the beauty), Nate (the criminal), and Cooper (the athlete) are thrown into detention together with Simon (the outcast). By the end of detention, Simon is dead, and his four classmates are the top suspects . . . especially when it starts to come out that Simon had secrets on all four of them. We definitely didn’t see the end of this one coming. Read more here.
Six teenagers are arrested on terrorism charges when an oil rig explodes off the Southern California coast on Fourth of July. They’re from wildly different backgrounds, and some of them have never met, but what they all have in common is that they’re members of the Muslim community. Told in alternating chapters, we follow the six teens through the events of the day and the terrifying investigation that follows, reevaluating our suspicions along the way. We love that this is a compelling novel that also raises important questions about justice and racism in America. Read more here.
Stevie Bell is about to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, a private boarding school in Vermont for highly gifted students. The focus of her self-selected studies? Solving the decades-old murder of school founder Albert Ellingham’s wife and daughter. But this cold case is anything but cold, Stevie soon finds out, and she and her new friends face real danger. Read more here.
In her homage to Steven King’s Carrie, Jackson tells the story leading up to a small-town prom night massacre, supposedly caused by Maddie, a biracial teenager who had been passing as white in her Southern town until a rainy day revealed the truth behind her carefully straightened hair. The events that followed reveal a dark history of racism within the town, and it all builds toward the prom night massacre we first hear about in the novel’s opening pages. Read more here.
5 Essential Nonfiction Staples to Get Students Thinking
Sheinken relates the history of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the Soviet spies determined to steal the secrets of the atomic bomb’s development, but he does so in a narrative that reads like a high-stakes spy novel. We learned a lot about this period of history, but we also couldn’t stop turning pages until we got to the end. Read more here.
Noah’s memoir about growing up under apartheid in South Africa is one of the most-recommended titles we see in online teacher groups. And for good reason. The memoir is full of hilarious childhood misadventures, but it also provides thought-provoking insights about racism, the power of language, and South African history. When our students read the memoir, they were particularly drawn to the moving relationship between Trevor and his mother. Read more here.
This excellent memoir about Stevenson’s work with the Equal Justice Initiative largely focuses on Stevenson’s efforts to free Walter McMillian, a young Black man sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit, but Stevenson weaves in other stories of the men and women he has worked with in his efforts to ensure that America’s justice system works the way it is supposed to, especially for groups that frequently face injustice at its hands. One of Steph’s AP Seminar students was inspired to research PTSD in veterans because of one of the cases Stevenson describes. Read more here.
Reynolds masterfully adapts Kendi’s history of racism in America for young adult audiences, bringing history to life in a style that they actually want to read. Kendi’s book offers an important perspective on American history that had a dramatic impact on us when we read it, and Reynolds makes the history relatable and easy to understand for even the most reluctant of readers. Read more here.
In an era when our students are struggling with mental health challenges like never before, this is a valuable resources for us to have on the shelves of our classroom libraries. It provides accurate and helpful information about a variety of mental health disorders as well as resources for students to seek out help. Not all of our students have access to mental health resources, and if they learn they are not alone and find the help they need while in our classrooms, we have done them a great service. Read more here.
12 Realistic Fiction Novels with a Powerful Emotional Impact
Matt’s life feels like more than he can handle: his mother has just died, and his father is drinking and unable to pay the family’s bills, so Matt has to work at the local funeral home while trying to process his emotions. When he meets Lovey, he’s drawn to his toughness, and their relationship becomes a lifeline. Read more here.
It’s hard enough to be a teenager without having the power to see people’s futures at a single touch. But what happens when you see that your younger brother has only days to live? As Alex fights to change the future for his brother Isaiah, the boys come even closer, allowing Morris to explore themes of generational trauma while dealing powerfully with grief. Read more here.
Steph’s not sure she will ever stop raving about this beautiful novel. Darius is smart, funny, and super nerdy, and we pretty quickly fall in love with him as he narrates his summer trip to Iran, where he meets Sohrab, the first best friend he’s ever had. It’s a powerful novel about friendship, depression, family conflict, navigating different cultures, and the ordinary challenges of the awkward teenage years. Read more here.
Stone’s novel about Justyce McAllister was a hit with our sophomores during the COVID-19 pandemic. Justyce is a young Black man attending a private school on scholarship, and throughout the novel, he’s grappling with the impact of racism in his world in big and small ways after an unjust encounter with police. Stone explores a wide variety of important topics relating to race in America throughout the novel, but it’s also a compelling story about one young man’s efforts to understand his world. Read more here.
Camila Hassan appears to be the perfect daughter, living up to the narrow expectations of her family in the shadow of her brother, an Argentinian soccer superstar. But in reality, she is La Furia, a soccer superstar in her own right, and when her two roles come into conflict, she’s forced to make a decision about her future that will have life-changing consequences. Read more here.
Cash and Delaney are best friends, and their friendship has helped Cash through the grief of losing his mother to opioid addiction and watching his Papaw’s battle with emphysema. When Delaney secures an opportunity for both of them to attend an elite boarding school, Cash is pushed far beyond his comfort zone, leaving behind his small town and his beloved grandparents to pursue a future he couldn’t have imagined. Read more here.
Reynolds’ novel-in-verse tells the story of a 60-second elevator ride in which Will, gun tucked into his waistband, must decide whether or not to avenge his brother Shawn’s death. It’s an engaging story, a thought-provoking look at issues of gun violence, and a gorgeous work of poetry worthy of discussion and analysis. Read more here.
Running is everything to Jessica. But when a car accident requires her right leg to be amputated, she’s not sure she’ll ever run again. As she begins what feels like the insurmountable process of recovery, she becomes friends with Rosa, a girl at her school with cerebral palsy, and their friendship, paired with the support of Jessica’s community, gives her a purpose that she desperately needs. Read more here.
Sky Baker is planning the perfect promposal for his crush, Ali, a boy with eyebrows to die for. But when someone posts a photo of his brainstorm accompanied by racist and homophobic tweets about him and Ali, he is humiliated. He soon discovers, however, that he has far more people rooting for him than he ever dared to imagine. Read more here.
Half-Chinese sisters Annalie and Margaret are the subjects of racial violence when someone spray paints a racial slur across their garage door. Margaret rushes home from college, determined to bring the perpetrator to violence, while Annalie just wishes her sister would allow things to get back to normal so she can get back to her fun summer job at the local ice cream store. As the sisters work through their differences, the novel is rich with thematic content about race, parental expectations, and sibling conflict. Read more here.
When Pequena, Pulga, and Chico all find their lives in danger because of run-ins with Rey, a local gang member, they are forced to flee Guatemala in hopes of reaching the United States. The journey is exhausting and perilous, especially since they must jump on and off trains as the infamous La Bestia barrels down the tracks, and yet these courageous teenagers do everything they can to make it to safety. Read more here.
Emoni Santiago is trying to juggle motherhood, senior year, college applications, and family conflict, but when she enrolls in her school’s cooking class, her life becomes even more complicated. She’s doing what she loves, but she has to figure out how to afford the class trip to Spain and what to do about Malachi, who insists upon being friends. Read more here.
8 Sweet Romance Novels Appropriate for High School Students
Celine and Bradley were childhood friends until the pressures of high school turned them into bitter rivals. When they find themselves competing in a wilderness challenge to win a scholarship, they’re forced to navigate not only their own baggage—Bradley’s OCD and Celine’s issues with her father—but also their frustrating relationship. Read more here.
Dani has isolated herself from family and friends after a traumatizing incident, and now she’s stuck with writer’s block, unable to write the college application essay she needs to finish. Prince Jones juggles his job as a “high school love doctor” on the local radio station with his responsibilities taking care of a sick mother and younger brother. When they meet and sparks fly, they’re both pushed far outside their comfort zones. Read more here.
When Meredith and her family return to Martha’s Vineyard for the first time since Meredith’s sister died, Meredith is determined to win the family’s game of Assassin in honor of her sister. Complications arise, however, when she finds herself in an alliance with her cousin-in-law’s brother, and the summer turns out to be far different than she expected. Read more here.
When Brandy Bailey finds out she has been accepted to nursing school, it’s the worst day of her life. She’d rather be an artist. Shopping for a dress to wear to a celebratory dinner with her mom, she runs into Ben Nolan, who’s been stealing her tater tots for years, and the magical night proves to be life-changing for both of them. Read more here.
Sam could not be less interested in the high school traditions that are so important to her mother, Priscilla. But when a strange rideshare drops her off in the 1990s, she’s left with no alternative: she has to help her mother win the Homecoming Queen crown and repair her relationship with her own mother (Sam’s grandmother) if she has any chance at returning home. Read more here.
Lara Jean Covey has the perfect strategy for getting over her crushes: she writes them a mushy letter, stores it in a box in her closet, and moves on with her life. But when all the letters get mailed out to her crushes, things get complicated, especially when one of the boys (Peter Kavinsky) needs help getting out of a romantic pickle of his own. The best solution? Fake dating, of course! Read more here.
In desperate need of scholarship money, Natalie Hart signs up for a wilderness survival reality show. Sure, she’s been grappling with a new anxiety diagnosis, but with her trusty bag of skin care products, she’ll be fine, right? When she’s paired with the very grumpy and far more experienced hiker Finn Markum, it’s hard to tell if her optimism will be enough to get her through the challenge. Read more here.
13 Going on 30 comes to life for a new generation when Charlotte Wu, determined to wrap up senior year with a magical prom, falls off a ladder and wakes up from a concussion on the verge of her wedding to (horror!) J.T. Renner. As the pair try to figure out how to get back to high school, they realize that, perhaps, they don’t hate each other quite so much after all. Read more here.
Just imagining a classroom library filled with these books for young adults makes us happy—not only have we loved each of these titles, but we think our students will, too (if they haven’t already been thrilled to read them). What’s on your “must-have” list of classroom library books for young adults? Please share with us at [email protected] or on Instagram @threeheads.works.
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our monthly First Chapter Friday Nearpods: we send out FIVE free quick and easy First Chapter Friday activities each month that we think you and your students will love. Looking for more YA book recommendations to suggest to your students or use for your own FCF activity? Check out the YA book section of our website for all our recommendations.