The 34 Best Young Adult Novels of the 2010s

A decade of teen reading that swung between dystopian rebellions, quiet first loves and verse novels about growing up fast. Some of these sold millions; a few mostly won over librarians.

1. 1
   An Ember in the Ashes

   Sabaa Tahir's 2015 fantasy inspired by ancient Rome, told by a slave turned spy and an elite soldier.
   1000pts
2. 2
   The Fault in Our Stars

   John Green's 2012 love story about two teenagers who meet in a cancer support group.
   848pts
3. 3
   The Raven Boys

   Maggie Stiefvater's 2012 novel about a psychic's daughter and four prep-school boys hunting a sleeping Welsh king.
   814pts
4. 4
   The Poet X

   Elizabeth Acevedo's 2018 novel in verse about a Harlem teen finding her voice through slam poetry.
   705pts
5. 5
   Legend

   Marie Lu's 2011 dystopian thriller about a prodigy soldier hunting the Republic's most wanted criminal.
   610pts
6. 6
   Scythe

   Neal Shusterman's 2016 novel set in a deathless future where licensed scythes keep the population in check.
   610pts
7. 7
   Illuminae

   Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's 2015 space thriller told through hacked files, chat logs and schematics.
   610pts
8. 8
   Code Name Verity

   Elizabeth Wein's 2012 World War II novel about two young women, a spy and a pilot, captured in occupied France.
   553pts
9. 9
   Daughter of Smoke & Bone

   Laini Taylor's 2011 fantasy about an art student in Prague raised by monsters, caught in an angel war.
   553pts
10. 10
    Aristotle and Dante

    Benjamin Alire Sáenz's 2012 coming-of-age story of two Mexican-American boys in 1987 El Paso.
    553pts
11. 11
    Mockingjay

    Suzanne Collins's 2010 finale to The Hunger Games trilogy, set during the rebellion against the Capitol.
    553pts
12. 12
    Everything, Everything

    Nicola Yoon's 2015 debut about a girl who is allergic to the outside world and falls for the boy next door.
    553pts
13. 13
    A Monster Calls

    Patrick Ness's 2011 novel about a boy visited by a tree monster while his mother is dying of cancer.
    488pts
14. 14
    Throne of Glass

    Sarah J. Maas's 2012 debut about a teenage assassin competing to become the king's champion.
    488pts
15. 15
    I'll Give You the Sun

    Jandy Nelson's 2014 Printz Award winner about artistic twins whose lives split apart after a tragedy.
    488pts
16. 16
    To All the Boys I've Loved Before

    Jenny Han's 2014 romance about a girl whose secret love letters are mailed to every boy she ever loved.
    488pts
17. 17
    The Cruel Prince

    Holly Black's 2018 dark faerie fantasy about a mortal girl scheming for power in the High Court of Faerie.
    488pts
18. 18
    Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

    Becky Albertalli's 2015 romantic comedy about a closeted teen and an anonymous email pen pal.
    413pts
19. 19
    All the Bright Places

    Jennifer Niven's 2015 novel about two teens who meet on the ledge of their school's bell tower.
    413pts
20. 20
    Cinder

    Marissa Meyer's 2012 science-fiction retelling of Cinderella with a cyborg mechanic in New Beijing.
    413pts
21. 21
    The Hate U Give

    Angie Thomas's 2017 debut about a girl who witnesses a police shooting of her childhood friend.
    413pts
22. 22
    Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

    Jesse Andrews's 2012 darkly funny novel about an amateur filmmaker befriending a classmate with leukemia.
    413pts
23. 23
    Children of Blood and Bone

    Tomi Adeyemi's 2018 West African-inspired fantasy about bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha.
    413pts
24. 24
    Eleanor & Park

    Rainbow Rowell's 2012 romance between two misfit teens in 1986 Omaha, bonded by comics and mixtapes.
    325pts
25. 25
    Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

    Ransom Riggs's 2011 novel built around vintage photographs of children with strange abilities.
    325pts
26. 26
    We Were Liars

    E. Lockhart's 2014 suspense novel about a wealthy family's summers on a private island and a lost memory.
    325pts
27. 27
    Six of Crows

    Leigh Bardugo's 2015 fantasy heist novel following a crew of criminals in the city of Ketterdam.
    222pts
28. 28
    Red Queen

    Victoria Aveyard's 2015 fantasy about a commoner girl in a world ruled by people with silver blood and powers.
    222pts
29. 29
    One of Us Is Lying

    Karen M. McManus's 2017 mystery about four students suspected when a classmate dies in detention.
    222pts
30. 30
    Dear Martin

    Nic Stone's 2017 novel about a Black prep-school student writing letters to Martin Luther King Jr. after a racist encounter with police.
    222pts
31. 31
    A Court of Thorns and Roses

    Sarah J. Maas's 2015 faerie romance loosely retelling Beauty and the Beast.
    222pts
32. 32
    Divergent

    Veronica Roth's 2011 dystopian novel about a girl who fits none of her society's five factions.
    0pts
33. 33
    The Sun Is Also a Star

    Nicola Yoon's 2016 romance unfolding over a single day in New York, the day before a girl's family is deported.
    0pts
34. 34
    Long Way Down

    Jason Reynolds's 2017 verse novel set during a sixty-second elevator ride after a boy's brother is shot.
    0pts

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