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Great Books for Teens: 2017-2023 |
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With the Fire on High
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Navigating the challenges of finishing high school while caring for a daughter, talented cook Emoni Santiago struggles with a lack of time and money that complicate her dream of working in a professional kitchen. By the National Book Award-winning author of The Poet X.
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What If It's Us
by Becky Albertalli
The award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and the best-selling author of They Both Die in the End present the story of two very different boys who cannot decide if the universe is pushing them together or pulling them apart.
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Speak: The Graphic Novel
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Adapted by the author and featuring artwork by an Eisner Award winner, a graphic novel edition of the award-winning novel follows the experiences of a girl who is rendered an outcast for her role in breaking up an end-of-summer party during which she was raped by a popular boy.
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The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
by Leigh Bardugo
A collection of folklore-inspired stories set in the world of her best-selling Grishaverse novels includes three new tales of dark bargains, talking beasts and lovelorn quests, in a volume complemented by spot art and six richly detailed, full-spread illustrations.
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The Cruel Prince
by Holly Black
A decade after her parents are murdered by the fey who have kidnapped her and her sisters, Jude harbors a seething hatred for a wicked faerie prince and becomes embroiled in court politics as part of her plan to exact revenge. By the best-selling author of the Spiderwick Chronicles. 75,000 first printing.
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The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
by Isaac Blum
Moving to the quiet, mostly non-Jewish town of Tregaron, Hoodie Rosen falls for the daughter of the mayor who is trying to keep Hoodie's Orthodox Jewish community out of town, and when antisemitic crimes turn deadly, he must choose between his first love and the only world he's ever known.
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Firekeeper's Daughter
by Angeline Boulley
Treated like an outsider in both her hometown and on the Ojibwe reservation, a half-Native American science geek and star hockey player places her dreams on hold in the wake of a family tragedy. A first novel. 250,000 first printing.
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Blackout
by Dhonielle Clayton
Six critically acclaimed, best-selling and award-winning authors celebrate Black teen love in this interlinked novel of heartwarming and hilarious stories that shine a bright light through the dark.
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Legendborn
by Tracy Deonn
Wanting to escape her previous life after the accidental death of her mother, 16-year-old Bree enrolls in a program for high school students at the local university before her witness to a magical attack reveals her undiscovered powers as well as sinister truths about her mother's death. 50,000 first printing.
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Pet
by Akwaeke Emezi
A girl and her best friend confront difficult choices in the face of a home city in denial when they meet a being who exposes the community's willful disbelief about the existence of monsters. A first young adult novel by the award-winning authors of Freshwater.
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The Summer of Bitter and Sweet
by Jenny Ferguson
Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She'll be working in her family's ice-cream shack with...her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago...But when she gets a letter from her biological father...Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him...While King's friendship makes Lou feel safer...when her family's business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can't ignore her father forever.
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The Getaway
by Lamar Giles
When Karloff Country, one of the world's most famous resorts, suddenly offers the richest and most powerful families a safe haven from the nightmare outside its walls, Jay and his crew learn just how far they'll go to find out the truth and save themselves.
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Dread Nation
by Justina Ireland
When families go missing in Baltimore County, Jane McKeene, who is studying to become an Attendant, finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that has her fighting for her life against powerful enemies.
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Monday's Not Coming: A ovel
by Tiffany D. Jackson
Knowing when her best friend stops showing up at school that something is terribly wrong, Claudia, who depends heavily on her friend to defend her from bullies and help her navigate the toughest time in her life, is baffled when nobody around her seems to remember the last time they saw her friend.
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You Should See Me in a Crown
by Leah Johnson
A Black, underprivileged misfit from a wealthy, prom-obsessed midwestern community carefully plans to attend a prestigious medical college before the unexpected loss of her financial aid forces her to compete for her school's prom-queen scholarship. A first novel.
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Darius the Great Is Not Okay
by Adib Khorram
A Persian-American youth who prefers pop culture to the traditions of his mixed family struggles with clinical depression and the misunderstandings of older relatives while bonding with a boy who helps him embrace his Iranian heritage. A first novel.
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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
by Mackenzi Lee
Two friends on a Grand Tour of 18th-century Europe stumble across a magical artifact that leads them from Paris to Venice in a dangerous manhunt shaped by pirates, highwaymen and their growing attraction to one another.
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Elatsoe
by Darcie Little Badger
Imagine an America very similar to our own. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry.
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Last Night at the Telegraph Club
by Malinda Lo
When Lily realizes she has feelings for a girl in her math class, it threatens Lily's oldest friendships and even her father's citizenship status and eventually, Lily must decide if owning her truth is worth everything she has ever known.
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Me (Moth)
by Amber McBride
Moth, who lost her family in an accident, and Sani, who is battling ongoing depression, take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors, which helps them move forward in surprising, powerful and unforgettable ways.
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Heroine
by Mindy McGinnis
Determined to see her softball team through a historic tournament run despite severe injuries, a socially awkward teen is prescribed opioid painkillers that initially help, before high pressure leads to an out-of-control addiction.
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One of Us Is Lying
by Karen M. McManus
When one of five students in detention is found dead, his high-profile classmates—including a brainy intellectual, a popular beauty, a drug dealer on probation and an all-star athlete—are investigated and revealed to be the subjects of the victim's latest gossip postings.
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Heartstopper. Volume 1
by Alice Oseman
A heartwarming celebration of friendship, first love and coming out follows the unlikely relationship between a shy teen and a popular rugby player who become more than friends while navigating the ups and downs of high school. By the author of Radio Silence.
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Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel
by Jason Reynolds
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.
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Man Made Monsters
by Andrea L. Rogers
Haunting illustrations are woven throughout these horror stories that follow one extended Cherokee family across the centuries and well into the future as they encounter predators of all kinds in each time period. Illustrations.
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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. Includes author's note.
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All My Rage
by Sabaa Tahir
When his attempts to save his family's motel spiral out of control, Salahudin and his best friend Noor, two outcasts in their town, must decide what their friendship is worth and how they can defeat the monsters of their past and in their midst.
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Strange the dreamer
by Laini Taylor
The best-selling author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy presents the story of a guilt-ridden hero, a dreamer librarian and a girl with dangerous powers who all combat monsters and treachery in the aftermath of a war between gods and men.
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The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. Itcould also endanger her life.
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We Are Not from Here
by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Pulga has his dreams. Chico has his grief. Pequeña has her pride. And these three teens have one another. But, none of them have illusions about the town they've grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Even with the love of family, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the trio knows they have no choice but to run: from their country, from their families, from their beloved home. Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico, they follow the route of La Bestia, the perilous train system that might deliver them to a better life -- if they are lucky enough to survive the journey.
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How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe
by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
When she takes a job as a“merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers, Moon Fuentez, the twin sister of a social media star, questions her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.
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Piecing Me Together
by Renee Watson
Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls
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Eliza and Her Monsters
by Francesca Zappia
When the anonymous teen creator of a wildly popular webcomic is tempted by a school newcomer to pursue real-world relationships, everything she has worked so hard to build crumbles in the wake of their highly publicized romance. By the author of Made You Up.
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