Looking back on 2024, YA readers saw many smart, thrilling, fantastical, dystopian, and romantic books emerge. In this list, I collected the best of the best in the young adult category. So, if you\u2019re ready to meet the most exciting books for teens (and YA readers of all ages) from the year, then keep scrolling. You\u2019ll find 19 fast-paced, heartfelt, and thrilling reads to add to your \u201cto be read\u201d pile.<\/p>\n
no no 9780593711927 Blood at the Root <\/i> by LaDarrion Williams <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Harry Potter went to an HBCU?\u201d That question sits at the heart of Williams\u2019s debut novel \u2014 the first in a trilogy. In it, 17-year-old Malik Baron attends New Orleans Caiman University, a historically Black college hidden in the backwoods of Louisiana, meant for those who practice hoodoo and vodun. Malik is there to learn magic and unravel the mystery of his mother\u2019s disappearance. Williams \u2014 an accomplished playwright and screenwriter \u2014 told CBS, \u201cWriting this book for me is healing my inner teenager.\u201d He added, \u201cWe always talk about the inner child, but we never talk about our inner teenager too.\u201d <\/p>\n
9780593524251 These Deadly Prophecies <\/i> by Andrea Tang <\/p>\n
Fans of Knives Out<\/i> and The Inheritance Games<\/i> will love this fantastical murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the final page. Tabatha Zeng gets more than she bargained for as an apprentice to the famed Sorcerer Solomon. He predicts his own death, which tragically comes true. When Tabatha and Sorcerer Solomon\u2019s son Callum become the prime murder suspects, they team up in a race against the clock to clear their names and find the true killer. <\/p>\n
9780593374207 The Reappearance of Rachel Price <\/i> by Holly Jackson <\/p>\n
Rachel Price vanished when her daughter Bel (Annabel) was two years old. Now, 16 years later, Bel and her father \u2014 who was acquitted for his wife\u2019s disappearance \u2014 are part of a true crime documentary about what happened when suddenly, Rachel reappears. Bel doesn\u2019t believe a word Rachel says \u2014 and, along with the youngest member of the documentary crew, Bel sets off to figure out what really happened.<\/p>\n
9780593484975 Snowglobe <\/i> by Soyoung Park <\/p>\n
In Soyoung Park\u2019s award-winning dystopian young adult novel, all is not what it seems in Snowglobe, the sunny, green, celebrity-filled city \u2014 and the last place on earth that isn\u2019t frozen. Residents of the frozen world (the result of the climate crisis) toil to keep Snowglobe warm. In return, Snowglobe residents allow their lives to be broadcast to the frozen world 24\/7. When 16-year-old Jeon Chobahm, a lowly inhabitant of the frozen world, gets to replace a Snowglobe megastar who mysteriously died, she realizes that the reality television she watched her whole life isn\u2019t real. This book was translated from the original Korean. <\/p>\n
RELATED: 13 Outstanding Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books Teen Boys Will Love<\/a><\/p>\n no no 9781682635766 Sky’s End <\/i> by Marc J Gregson <\/p>\n In volume 1 of the Above the Black YA fantasy series, we meet 16-year-old Conrad. He was once a High. But now, after his uncle betrayed his father, Conrad is a Low. To rescue his sister from the clutches of his murderous uncle, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades and rise through the ranks of this socially stratified, dystopian world as a Hunter meant to kill steel-scaled monsters. Volume 2, Among Serpents<\/a><\/i>, is slated for January 2025. The series has already been picked up for film and will be directed by Antoine Fuqua.<\/p>\n 9780593855720 Everything We Never Said <\/i> by Sloan Harlow <\/p>\n \u201cA dark and romantic thriller for those who love sexy suspense,\u201d says Kirkus<\/i><\/a>. In Sloan Harlow\u2019s Colleen Hoover-esque debut novel, Ella, a senior at North Davis High, finds herself in a support group after the death of her best friend, Hayley. But she was the one driving the car \u2014 drunk \u2014 when Haley died. What\u2019s more, Haley\u2019s boyfriend, Sawyer, is also in the support group, and Ella is developing feelings for him. As Ella navigates her grief and complicated feelings for Sawyer, she discovers Hayley\u2019s diary, and things grow even more complex.<\/p>\n 9780525708087 The Glass Girl<\/i> by Kathleen Glasgow <\/p>\n How do you face down addiction and find yourself again? Kathleen Glasgow\u2019s latest novel, The Glass Girl<\/i>, tackles that weighty question. Amidst her parents splitting up, her grandmother dying, and the end of her first relationship, 15-year-old Bella escapes into alcohol. When a bout of blackout drinking lands her in the hospital, it\u2019s time for rehab. Publishers Weekly<\/i> writes<\/a>, \u201cCombining The Bell Jar<\/i> with Euphoria<\/i>, this heart-wrenching read offers a resonant and compassionate look at teenage substance reliance.\u201d <\/p>\n 9780593482582 The Thirteenth Child <\/i> by Erin A. Craig <\/p>\n Hazel is the Lafitte family\u2019s ill-fated 13th child. They promise her to the god of death \u2014 Merrick, the Dreaded End \u2014 who gives Hazel the gift of being a healer. But Hazel can also see when death has claimed someone, and she is haunted by the ghosts of those she had to kill. When Hazel is summoned to heal the king, she and her powers are put to the test.<\/p>\n 9780593814741 Old Wounds <\/i> by Logan-Ashley Kisner <\/p>\n Kirkus<\/i> calls<\/a> Logan-Ashley Kisner\u2019s debut YA horror novel, \u201can ode to the strength of trans kids in the face of all kinds of terror.\u201d In it, Max and Erin are two trans teens escaping Columbus, Ohio, for a new life in Berkeley, California. En route, they get stranded in small-town Kentucky, where, as luck would have it, the locals are searching for a girl to sacrifice to a deadly monster that lives in the woods. But Max and Erin aren\u2019t exactly who the locals think they are.<\/p>\n RELATED: 9 Heart-Pounding YA Thrillers To Read Right Now<\/a><\/p>\n no no 9780593616949 Heir <\/i> by Sabaa Tahir <\/p>\n Heir<\/i> takes place in the same YA fantasy world as Sabaa Tahir\u2019s debut, An Ember in the Ashes<\/i> \u2014 20 years later. The story follows three young people \u2014 Aiz, an orphan; Sirsha, a tracker; and Quil, prince of the Martial Empire \u2014 as their lives intersect. Kirkus<\/i> says<\/a> this first installment of the duology is \u201ca fantasy with complex characterization that will build anticipation for the next entry.\u201d <\/p>\n 9780593531242 Fledgling <\/i> by S. K. Ali <\/p>\n In this sci-fi debut, Raisa Freelund, daughter of the chief guardian of Upper Earth, and Lein Verg, crown prince of Lower Earth, are set to wed in a bid to bring the two worlds together and forge peace between humans. But Lein\u2019s cousin Nada wants to upend the wedding and bring forth a revolution. \u201cReferences to the Islamic lunar calendar and scripture and Arabic naming conventions, as well as clear allusions to present-day geopolitics, conflicts, inequities, and imperialism, lend verisimilitude to a dystopian future of technological and environmental destruction,\u201d says Kirkus<\/a><\/i>. This book is the first in a duology known as The Keeper’s Records of Revolution.<\/p>\n 9780593530931 Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry <\/i> by Ransom Riggs <\/p>\n Kirkus<\/i> calls Sunderworld, Vol. 1<\/i> \u2014 the first in Ransom Riggs\u2019s new Sunderworld series \u2014 \u201ca fully imagined fantastical world with compelling characters and a nail-biting cliffhanger.\u201d When 17-year-old Leopold Berry starts noticing strange things happening in Los Angeles, they remind him of his favorite show on TV, Max\u2019s Adventures in Sunderworld<\/i>. Soon, he realizes that Sunderworld is a real place \u2014 and Leopold could have a role in saving it.<\/p>\n 9780525429098 When the World Tips Over<\/i> by Jandy Nelson <\/p>\n When Theo Fall, a winemaker, drove away from Paradise Springs, California, 12 years ago, he left behind a pregnant wife and two young boys. The three Fall children \u2014 Dizzy, Miles, and Wynton \u2014 have been trying to piece their lives together ever since. But it takes a curious rainbow-haired stranger named Cassidy to upend their lives and change them all forever.<\/p>\n 9780593623398 Every Time You Hear That Song <\/i> by Jenna Voris <\/p>\n Inspired by Dolly Parton\u2019s real-life time capsule, which sits in Dollywood, waiting to be opened on Dolly\u2019s 100th birthday, Every Time You Hear That Song<\/i> is told from two points of view. The first is that of 17-year-old Darren Purchase, an aspiring journalist from the small town of Mayberry, Arkansas, who wants to unearth the story behind country music legend Decklee Cassel\u2019s empty time capsule. The second is that of Decklee Cassel in the 1960s, coming up in the music world, and what she had to give up to succeed. Says Kirkus<\/a><\/i>, \u201cDiscoveries of love, legacy, and self take center stage in this musical tapestry of a novel.\u201d <\/p>\n 9780593698327 Hearts Still Beating <\/i> by Brooke Archer <\/p>\n In this \u201crichly realized and distinctive queer zombie romance\u201d (Kirkus<\/a><\/i>), 17-year-old Mara finds herself on an island after being cured of the Tick, an ancient virus that turns its victims into zombies. She\u2019s resettled with her godparents and their family, including their daughter Rory, with whom Mara shared one fateful kiss before Tick changed everything. Tentatively, they find a new way forward. <\/p>\n RELATED: Queer YA Romance Reads Teens Will Love<\/a><\/p>\n no no 9780593461419 Everything We Never Had <\/i> by Randy Ribay <\/p>\n