The Wide World of YA

The Wide World

of YA

Welcome to the Wide World of YA!

On this site, you will find tons of book recommendations, socials to follow, and places to go for more recommendations and information.

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Genres

and Recs

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Book Talks, Reviews, and More

Audiobooks

Social Media

Where to Find Great YA

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Genres & Recommendations

Realistic/Romance

Historical

SciFi/Fantasy

Nonfiction

HUda F Cares?

by Huda Fahmy

In The sequel to Huda F are you?, This summer's exercise in Fahmy family sisterly bonding involves a trip to Disney World--which seems like it is headed for disaster when Huda gets into a fight with a boy making fun of her hijab.

Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, 2024. National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist, 2023..

CLimate champions

by rachel Sarah

Presents the stories of 15 contemporary climate champions, including climate scientists, journalists, professors, academics, researchers and policy makers from around the world, who are on the frontlines of science to create a sustainable future on Earth.

I Must Betray You

by Ruta sepetys

In a country governed by isolation, fear, and a tyrannical dictator, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer, but he decides to use his position to try to outwit his handler, undermine the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country.

Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers, 2023. Soaring Eagle Book Award (Wyoming), 2023. Josette Frank Award, 2023. Kentucky Bluegrass Award for Grades 9-12, 2023. Thumbs Up! Award (Michigan), 2023. Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards, Young Adult, 2024.

Divine Rivals

by rebecca ross

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

Locus Award Nominee for Young Adult (2024), Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee (2025), CYBILS Award Nominee for Young Adult Speculative Fiction (2023), Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2023), Green Mountain Book Award Nominee (2025), She Reads Best of Award for Young Adult (2023), Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Award Nominee (2023), Libby Award for Best Young Adult Fiction (2023)

Killing the wittigo

by Suzanne Methot

Killing the Wittigo explains the traumatic effects of colonization on Indigenous people and communities and how trauma alters an individual's brain, body, and behavior. It explores how learned patterns of behavior - the ways people adapt to trauma to survive - are passed down within family systems, thereby affecting the functioning of entire communities. The book foregrounds Indigenous resilience through song lyrics and as-told-to stories by young people who have started their own journeys of decolonization, healing, and change.

OLA Best Bets, 2023.

Rise to the Sun

by Leah johnson

Rainbow List, 2022.

Last night at the telegraph club

by malinda LO

"That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other. Have you ever heard of such a thing?" Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father--despite his hard-won citizenship--Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 2021.Asian Pacific American Asian Pacific American Award for Literature: Young Adult Literature, 2022.Stonewall Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, 2022.Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, 2022.Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2022.Walter Honor Book, Teen, 2022.

THE luminaries

by susan dennard

An encounter at a music festival brings together two strangers--Toni, who is grieving the loss of her roadie father, and Olivia, a hopeless romantic--changing both of their lives forever. ATLAS.

"To reclaim her family's standing within the Luminaries, an ancient order standing between humanity and nightmares, Winnie must pass the hunter trials, entering a world of danger, lies and betrayal where she must protect her town, her family and her heart."

The Voting Booth

by Brandy Colbert

The first year they are eligible to vote, Marva and Duke meet at their polling place and, over the course of one crazy day, fall in love.

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2021.

YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2021

Rainbow List, 2024,

British Book Award Nominee for Children's Fiction (2023), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2022)

The first to die at the end

by adam silvera

With society divided by a new technology claiming to alert people on the day of their death, thousands sign up, and on day one, dozens receive their calls, including two boys destined for love until one receives the first End Day call.

Just another story

by ernesto saade

"When Carlos was nineteen, his mother decided to leave her life in El Salvador. Refusing to let her go without him, Carlos joined the journey north. Together they experienced the risks countless people faces as they migrate"--

Check and Mate

by Ali Hazelwood

Inadvertently wiping the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer, which opens the door to sorely needed cash prizes to keep her family afloat, Mallory’s love for the game of chess rekindles, as do her feelings for her competitor, against her own best intentions.

Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction (2023), Green Mountain Book Award Nominee (2025), She Reads Best of Award Nominee for Young Adult (2023)

White Smoke

by Tiffany D. Jackson

Believing her new home to actually be alive, especially when her brother almost dies, Marigold and her new blended family won't be safe until she brings the truth to light once and for all.

Ladies of Horror Fiction Award Nominee for Best Young Adult (2021), Ignyte Award Nominee for Best YA Novel (2022)

The brightwood code

by monica hesse

Desperate to forget the circumstances that cut her time overseas short, former WWI switchboard operator Edda receives a panicked call from someone who utters the fateful code word "Brightwood" and must uncover what secrets may have followed her across the ocean.

A first time for everything

by dan santat

In this feel-good coming-of-age memoir, the best-selling author and Caldecott Medalist shares his life-changing middle school trip to Europe during which he experiences a series of firsts, including first love.

National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 2023. Golden Kite Honor Book for Middle Grade Fiction, 2024.

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Book Talks, Reviews, and More

Kate-in-Waiting

by Becky Albertalli

Warrior Girl Unearthed

by Angeline boulley

Almost American Girl

by Robin Ha

Fountains of silence

by ruta sepetys

I enjoyed reading Fountains of Silence and learned an incredible amount about Spain during Franco’s dictatorship. Sepetys creates a compelling story with relatable teen characters and immerses them in real history without weighing down her plot.

Teen and adult readers alike are drawn into the world of Ana and her family, much the same way that aspiring photographer Daniel Matheson is. He starts the novel seeing Madrid as a wealthy American tourist. Meeting Ana and experiencing the city through his camera lens opens his eyes to the brutal reality of life under Franco.

Sepetys weaves romance, mystery, tragedy, and family throughout her story. She brings history to life through her characters.

american born chinese

(in haiku)

by Gene luen yang