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Best YA Novels (According to New Jersey Librarians)

New Jersey Librarians on the NJYAC listserv were polled for their top ten young adults novels. Titles receiving more than one vote are starred. With seven votes, the top title is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, M. T. Anderson's Feed, S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher received five votes apiece.  

Adams, Douglas. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Pan Books, 1979. (Adult)

The book begins as the Earth explodes, and Arthur Dent is taken off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, who unbeknownst to Arthur works as a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Together they begin a journey through the galaxy aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Alexander, Lloyd. The Iron Ring. Dutton Children's Books, 1997. (Gr. 5-9)

Driven by his sense of "dharma," or honor, young King Tamar sets off on a perilous journey, with a significance greater than he can imagine, during which he meets talking animals, villainous and noble kings, demons, and the love of his life.

Alexander, Lloyd. Westmark. Dutton, 1981. (Gr. 5+)

A boy fleeing from criminal charges falls in with a charlatan, his dwarf attendant, and an urchin girl, travels with them about the kingdom of Westmark , and ultimately arrives at the palace where the king is grieving over the loss of his daughter.

Alvarez, Julia. Before We Were Free. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2002. (Gr. 7+)

In the early 1960s in the Dominican Republic , twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator, General Trujillo.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Catalyst. Viking Children's Books, 2002. (Gr. 8+)

Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999. (Gr. 8+)

A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Anderson, M. T. Burger Wuss. Candlewick Press, 1999. (Gr. 8-10)

Hoping to lose his loser image, Anthony plans revenge on a bully which results in a war between two competing fast food restaurants, Burger Queen and O'Dermott's.

Anderson, M. T. Feed. Candlewick Press, 2002. (Gr. 9+)

In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.

Anonymous. Go Ask Alice. (ed. by Beatrice Sparks) Prentice-Hall, 1971. (Gr. 8+)

A novel based on the diary of a fictional fifteen-year-old drug user chronicling her struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.

Avi and Rachel Vail. Never Mind! A Twin Novel. HarperCollins, 2004. (Gr. 5-7)

Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg's hopes for popularity and Edward's mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.

Avi. Nothing But the Truth. Orchard Books, 1991. (Gr. 6-9)

A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.

Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Orchard Books, 1990. (Gr. 5-8)

As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious.

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1975. (Gr. 4-8)

The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

Bauer, Joan. Hope Was Here. Putnam, 2000. (Gr. 8+)

When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road. Putman's, 1998. (Gr. 7+)

Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.

Bauer, Joan. Squashed. Delacorte Press, 1992. (Gr. 7-10)

As a sixteen-year-old pursues her two goals--growing the biggest pumpkin in Iowa and losing twenty pounds herself--she strengthens her relationship with her father and meets a young man with interests similar to her own.

Bell, Hilari. The Goblin Wood. HarperCollins, 2003. (Gr. 6-10)

A young Hedgewitch, an idealistic knight, and an army of clever goblins fight against the ruling hierarchy that is trying to rid the land of all magical creatures.

Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat. Harper & Row, 1989. (Gr. 10+)

Follows the wild adventures of Weetzie Bat and her Los Angeles friends, Dirk, Duck, and My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man.

Bloor, Edward. Tangerine. Harcourt Brace, 1997. (Gr. 7-10)

Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.

Blume, Judy. Forever. Pocket Books, 1975. (Gr. 9+)

Two high school seniors believe their love to be so strong that it will last forever.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballantine Books, 1953. (Adult)

In this dystopia, firemen don't put out the flames; they set them to piles of books. That is, until Fireman Guy Montag meets a girl who tells him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who tells him of a future where people can think.

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2001. (Gr. 9+)

Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants.

Brooks, Bruce. Dolores: Seven Stories About Her. HarperCollins, 2002. (Gr. 8+)

A series of events captures the life of a free-spirited girl as she grows from a savvy seven-year-old to a self-assured sixteen-year-old.

Brooks, Martha. Being with Henry. Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 2000. (Gr. 7+)

A teenage outcast, a grieving old man, and an untold story come together in unexpected ways in this moving novel about losing family--and finding it.

Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003. (Gr. 9+)

A confused seventeen-year-old girl, a single mother and her young son, two elderly women, and a sad and lonely man, with their own individual tragedies to bear, come together in a small Manitoba town and find a way to a better future.

Burgess, Melvin. Lady, My Life As a Bitch. HarperTempest, 2003. (Gr. 9+)

In Manchester , England , when a seventeen-year-old girl who hasn't been acting like herself lately is turned into the very creature she has personified, she isn't sure that the change is all bad.

Burgess, Melvin. Smack. Holt, 1998. (Gr. 10+)

After running away from their troubled homes, two English teenagers move in with a group of squatters in the port city of Bristol and try to find ways to support their growing addiction to heroin.

Cabot, Meg. All-American Girl. HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. (Gr. 9+)

A sophomore girl stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed Teen Ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son.

Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries. Harper Avon, 2000. (Gr. 7-9)

Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City , is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.

Cabot, Meg. Princess in Love. HarperCollins, 2002. (Gr. 6-9)

In a series of humorous diary entries, a New York City ninth grader agonizes over her love life, final exams, and future role as the princess of Genovia.

Cabot, Meg. Princess in Pink. HarperCollins, 2004. (Gr. 7-10)

In a series of humorous diary entries, high school freshman (and Genovian Princess) Mia tries to get her reluctant boyfriend to take her to the prom.

Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. T. Doherty Associates, 1985. (A/YA)

This award winning novel follows the story of Ender, after he is sent to Battle School , who becomes Earth's best hope to defeat the alien invaders who nearly destroyed the planet. Ender must withstand the pressures of training in order to become the world's hero.

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. MTV Books, 1999. (Gr. 9+)

Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores the emotional consequences of growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an anonymous classmate.

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. Putnam Juvenile, 2004. (Gr. 6-8)

A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo. Knopf, 2002. (A/YA)

A multigenerational story of a Mexican-American family.

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street . Vintage Books, 1989. (Adult)

A young girl living in a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago ponders the advantages and disadvantages of her environment and evaluates her relationships with family and friends.

Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen. Philomel Books, 2002. (Gr. 6+)

When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it.

Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl (and its sequels) Hyperion Books For Children, 2001. (Gr. 5-8)

When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Cooney, Caroline B. The Face on the Milk Carton. (and sequels) Bantam Books, 1990. (Gr. 6-10)

A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. Pantheon, 1974. (Gr. 8+)

A young man arouses the wrath of school bullies and discovers othe devastating consequences of defying a long, mindless tradition centered around the school's annual fund raising drive.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. (and others by him) Greenwillow Books, 2001. (Gr. 8+)

Intellectually and athletically gifted, TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students.

Cushman, Karen. Catherine Called Birdy. Clarion Books, 1994. (Gr. 6-9)

The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Danziger, Paula. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit. Delacorte Press, 1974. (Gr. 5-9)

When the unconventional English teacher who helped her conquer many of her feelings of insecurity is fired, a junior high student uses her new found courage to campaign for the teacher's reinstatement.

Dean, Pamela. Tam Lin. Tor Books, 1991. (Adult)

This fantasy tells the story of a heroine living at a small Midwestern college in Vietnam-era America .

Dessen, Sarah. Dreamland. Viking, 2000. (Gr. 9+)

After her older sister runs away, sixteen-year-old Caitlin decides that she needs to make a major change in her own life and begins an abusive relationship with a boy who is mysterious, brilliant, and dangerous.

Dessen, Sarah. Someone Like You. Viking, 1998. (Gr. 8+)

Halley's junior year of high school includes the death of her best friend Scarlett's boyfriend, the discovery that Scarlett is pregnant, and Halley's own first serious relationship.

Dickenson, Peter. Eva. Delacorte Press, 1988. SF (Gr. 8+)

After a terrible accident, a young girl wakes up to discover that she has been given the body of a chimpanzee.

Dokey, Cameron. How Not to Spend Your Senior Year. FIC (Gr. 9+)

Jo's father is a witness in a murder investigation so they become part of the witness protection program. When the trial gets close, Jo and her father have to appear to die in a car crash to protect themselves from being found. Jo refuses to leave before saying goodbye to her boyfriend, and so he thinks she is a ghost.

Duncan, Lois. Killing Mr. Griffin. Little, Brown, 1978. (Gr. 7+)

A teenager casually suggests playing a cruel trick on the English teacher, but did he intend it to end with murder?

Edgerton, Clyde . Walking Across Egypt . Algonquin Books, 1987. (Adult)

The story of an independent 78 year old woman, a teenage delinquent, and a stray dog.

Ellis, Deborah. Parvana's Journey. Groundwood Books/Douglas & McIntyre, 2002. (Gr. 7-10)

The Taliban still control Afghanistan , but Kabul is in ruins. Pavana's father is dead, but her mother, sister and brother are not to be found. She sets out alone, disguised as a boy, and meets up with other children who travel together.

Engdahl, Sylvia Louise. Enchantress from the Stars. Atheneum, 1970. (Gr. 7+)

Three civilizations from different planets in widely varying stages of development clash in what could be either a mutually disastrous or beneficial encounter.