My life has changed a lot since the last time I wrote about (Young Adult) books. One of those big changes recently is me moving out of my adorable student flat, and into a studio space with my significant other. It’s a tiny, beautiful space that has already taken over my heart in the short time I’ve lived here. Moving in with my partner into this small place doesn’t just mean boxing up everything I own, but also presents a great opportunity to sift through my belongings and see what doesn’t fit anymore. For me, these belongings are mostly books.
You see, when I was a teenager, I was an avid book reader and collector. I read about seventy to eighty books a year and bought many, many books. My collection consisted of mostly Young Adult books, ranging from dystopian sci-fi to fluffy romcoms. Now I’ve grown, read a lot more, went to college, and changed a lot as a person. My reading tastes have changed as much as my life has. So with us moving in together, this presents me a unique opportunity to sort through the stories and memories made with these books that shaped my teenage years.
All this to say, I’m getting rid of a lot of books for a myriad of reasons. Some I’ve read, but didn’t like as much, some I haven’t read, but lost interest in. Books that piqued the attention of seventeen year old me, but twenty-five year old me would rather read something else. While I’ve adored the Young Adult genre (and still do!), I feel I’ve quite outgrown it. It’s become harder and harder to connect to these stories of a part of life I’ve moved past.
But through the piles of books that are leaving, there are a few notable books that are staying. And I’d love to explain to you why. So below you’ll find a list of Young Adult books that are staying on my shelves. Whether they contain meaningful stories or interesting concepts, they have meant – and still mean – a lot to me.
These Young Adult books are staying on my shelves:
1. Long Way Down
I read this book only once, a very long time ago. Yet it has stayed with me ever since. Long Way Down is one of those books you read and carry with you for the rest of your life. Jason Reynolds is a brilliant poet, a skill he cleverly combines in this unique concept poetry book.
This book follows a young black boy in the hood, who’s planning to take revenge on the person who killed his brother. The neighbourhood he grew up in has certain rules and expectations. The most important one for him, right now: if your family member is killed, you always get revenge. He steps in the elevator, gun in hand, contemplating what to do, and how.
Long Way Down probably takes place over the shortest timespan in any book, namely 112 seconds, or a seven-story elevator ride. While the young boy moves down every story of his apartment building, he is visited by ghosts – both loved ones and enemies. In this short timespan he ponders whether to uphold these rules in the community and this cycle of violence he’s been placed in.
It addresses complicated themes in a balanced, earnest way that feels almost impossible in this short timespan, but Jason Reynolds seems to not even blink with a poetry book as beautiful as this. In these 112 seconds you ride with the main character as he ponders: what will he do once he gets off the elevator? What does it say about his bond with his brother? What does it say about his community? What does it mean for him and for his family, if he does what he’s supposed to? And what if he doesn’t?
2. Illuminae
Two mega-corporations at war, fighting over a planet. Two teenagers, thrust in the center of it. Oh yeah, and they used to date, but just broke up the day their planet was invaded. Not to mention the potentially evil AI looming over them and the deadly virus spreading through the refugee ships. What already sounds like a tense YA sci-fi novel, sets itself apart by it’s format.
Illuminae, written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is a culmination of files packed together, presented as evidence of the crimes committed in a war zone, handed over to a government agency. It’s as scrappy as you’d expect a file compiled by two inexperienced teens to be and plays perfectly into the storyline of the book.
This book had me on the edge of my seat for all of it’s six-hundred plus pages, which is a big deal for a reader like me, who much prefers reading short books. This book, as well as book two and three in the series, is one of those I’ll recommend to any sci-fi fan looking for a change in their reading. These (occasionally stupid) teens, the maybe-evil AI, and the crazy world-building and format, will have you falling in love with it in seconds.
3. Every Heart a Doorway
If you’re a fantasy lover who’s read every fantasy book under the sun, I can guarantee you haven’t read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. This book – and this series – is in my opinion one of the most overlooked fantasy stories out there. I’m here to tell you how much of a shame that is.
Every Heart a Doorway follows a group of teens sent to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a school for children who once entered a fantasy world. Just like Alice in Wonderland or the four siblings in Narnia, a door opened for these kids into some of the most bizarre fantasy realms. Whether they were forced to or they chose to leave, these teens step back into the real world – their real lives – and are left reeling.
Feeling like they no longer belong, oftentimes dreaming of finding another open door back to their fantasy world, these teens struggle to adjust back to real life. In this Young Adult fantasy series you follow a group of friends at this school, after the doors to their fantasy worlds have closed. They adjust to living normal lives after experiencing extraordinary worlds.
This is one of the best story concepts I’ve ever read and Seanan McGuire executes it perfectly. She manages to create incredibly rich worlds in very few pages, with every book introducing you to a new realm and what happened to the teens after they left it.
4. The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
I got into Young Adult right around the time the push for more diversity in the genre reached it’s peak. This brought a lot of (well-earned) attention to different kinds of stories, about teens who are not white, not straight, not cis, not able-bodied, or a combination of those. Reading more diversely introduced me to some incredible stories that I most likely wouldn’t have found otherwise. One of those stories that always comes to mind is The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee.
Genie Lo is a young overachiever high school student, getting straight As, acing every extracurricular, and working on college applications for Harvard. She’s smart, tough and determined. A wrench is thrown into her plans however, when a ‘hellspawn straight out of Chinese folklore’ (quoted directly from the synopsis) comes to her hometown and wants to end the world.
F.C. Yee masterfully combines action, witty humor, teenage romance, and Chinese-inspired fantasy elements in one edge-of-your-seat epic urban fantasy series. I adored the characters, the innovative fantasy world-building with Chinese folklore, but mostly how incredibly funny it is. All this combines into one action-packed and hilariously written book that was an absolute joy to read.
5. Sadie
When you ask me about my favourite audiobooks of all time, Sadie is bound to make an appearance. This Young Adult thriller was way out of my comfort zone at the time – I read almost exclusively contemporary and fantasy YA novels – but it had glowing reviews and I was eager to try something new. And boy, was I rewarded for taking that step out of my comfort zone.
This thriller, penned by Courtney Summers, is one of the most compelling books I’ve ever read. Or listened to, I should say, as I listened to it as an audiobook. It follows two plotlines: Sadie, a young girl who sets out to solve her sister’s murder, and a radio personality following her footsteps months later, while recording a true crime podcast.
The stories add to each other as one big mystery, that left me reeling. Who killed Sadie’s sister, Mattie? Why has Sadie still not returned home, months later? I still remember staying up late every night to listen to just one more chapter. I am not exaggerating when I say I still think about these characters on a regular basis. Sadie is still on my mind, even though I read it years ago now.
Every second of this book had me hooked and every second not reading this book, was spent thinking about it. It’s a kind of bone-chilling, gripping, thrilling novel that makes me see the thriller genre in a different light.
The audiobook includes a full cast, making for a hyper-realistic true crime podcast experience, that had me on the edge of my seat. So if you’re eager to start listening to audiobooks, Sadie is a great place to start. If not, I promise the physical book will have you just as captivated. Whether you read crime novels all the time, or you’ve never read a single one, Sadie is a story worth reading.
Addition: The Witch Boy
Though technically this book isn’t Young Adult, but Middle Grade (ages 8-12), it was such a charming graphic novel that it just had to make the list. I first encountered this book through a bookish Secret Santa that me and a few other Dutch bookbloggers and bookstagrammers organized every year. I was tasked with being a Santa for the lovely Elias (puttingwingsonwords) who had The Witch Boy on their list.
I’d never heard of it, but when it arrived, I couldn’t help but flick through the pages. I was mesmerized. The warm and comforting art style and the sweet characters charmed me instantly. So much so, that I instantly purchased a copy for myself.
The Witch Boy, by Molly Knox Ostertag, follows a young boy born into a magical family, where girls grow up to be witches and boys grow up to be shapeshifters. Anyone who deviates from that is deemed dangerous and is exiled. But main character Aster is thirteen now and still hasn’t shifted. When his friends get into trouble, he knows the only way he can help: as a witch.
Through the series, you follow this sweet boy learn about witchcraft and the rules established with his family’s magic, which might be a lot more flexible than he was taught. It’s such a wholesome story that centers a loving family, supportive friends, incredible magic, and lots of beautiful art. If you loved Nimona, the Prince & the Dressmaker or Heartstopper, you will love this too.
To conclude
I hope with this I’ve introduced you to new reads or reminded you of Young Adult books that you loved as a teen. It’s been an interesting process for me, to sort through all these books and these memories of my teenage years. Thank you for joining me on this small trip down memory lane.
I’m curious: are there any books you read as a teen, that have stayed with you? What were they and what made it stick with you?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Lots of love,
Marjo
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