One of my favorite genres is young adult books because you don’t know what you will get. Seeing authors combine different situations and seeing how their protagonists react makes for a good read. That made us think about the ten best young adult books of all time .
Choosing only ten was hard and some tough decisions had to be made. Our best young adult books of all time list includes many classics that are synonomous with YA but we had to leave many of them out on this list. Some books had to be included (you can guess which ones) while others I felt deserved the honor. With that said, you can see the list below.
The Ten Best Young Adult Books of All Time
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling
- Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Timeless Young Adult Books
Books like the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Lightning Thief (and series) by Rick Riordan, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins were easy choices. They are iconic novels that have inspired many children and teenagers to read. Books like these get us interested in reading for one at a young age.
The other books that I felt needed to be here were YA classics that tackle various issues such as coming to age. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger are important works that have shaped this genre.
Two books that made the list because I just loved them are The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. These are two books that are amazing reads and are written beautifully. Both of these authors are amazing and I recommend checking them out.
Honorable Mentions
Only being able to choose ten has never been harder. Some of the books that just missed the cut were Holes by Louis Sachar, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. All of these are books that are amazing reads and I’m sure many readers would include in their own personal YA lists.
Conclusion
That concludes out ten best young adult books of all time list. What books are in your top ten that didn’t make the list? Let us know in the comments below! Until next time, happy reading!
I didn’t know The Book Thief was YA. It seemed pretty adult to me, both the narration and the setting. There are a couple books that I’ve missed, and I should probably check them out, even though I don’t fall into the typical YA audience. Thanks for sharing!
The book thief has a bunch of YA themes as well as the protagonist being YA age. I don’t think a book taking place in any war means it’s automatically an adult themed book. I think it belongs but I’m sure there are many who would disagree and that’s what debates are for.
I wonder why Jack London was not mentioned
I enjoyed Call of the Wild and White Fang
Almost any Ruta Sepetys book, especially Salt to the Sea.
They were good books. I would say they were more aimed towards adults with the themes of the books.
The Divergent Series is superior to Hunger Games. The Hate You Give should be on here before either one, though.
But, when most of your list is from the last 40 years, it’s not really “of all time.”
Have not read or heard about so I can’t say much about them.
I believe To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye are universal classics and non gendre specific. They do not belong on the YA best 10 list given all the YA books to choose from. Of course that is my opinion as this list is yours.
I see your point but they still fall under a gender, even if they are as big as they are. To Kill a Mockingbird I may give you but Catcher in the Rye is YA for sure as that is practically a big part of the book and plot.
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