YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee presents fiction titles published for young adults in the past 16 months that are recommended reading for ages 12 to 18. Click on the title of each book to be taken to the blog post featuring a review, or browse all blog posts here. You can see previous lists on the YALSA website and on the Teen Book Finder app.
If you’d like to suggest a title, please fill out this form. Publishers: contact info for the coordinator of this list can be found at the bottom of this page.
New #BFYA2021 nominees are generally published to the Hub.
The Teen Feedback form is available here.
#BFYA2021 Nomination Posts:
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
- The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves
- Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
- Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed
- Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
- The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
- Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
- The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
- Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown
- A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
- A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
- Girl, Unframed by Deb Caletti
- Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin
- Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
- Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari
- We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
- The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
- All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney
- Three Things I Know Are True by Betty Culley
- Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew
- Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
- Golden Arm by Carl Deuker
- Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario
- Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly
- The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
- All Eyes on Her by L. E. Flynn
- You Know I’m No Good by Jessie Ann Foley
- Lobizona by Romina Garber
- Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
- These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
- The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand
- My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
- Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
- The Feminist Agenda of Jemima Kincaid by Kate Hattemer
- The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
- Save Steve by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan
- What Goes Up by Christine Heppermann
- They Went Left by Monica Hesse
- Refraction by Naomi Hughes
- Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli
- Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
- Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh
- Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
- Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
- The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
- This Is My America by Kim Johnson
- You Should See Me In a Crown by Leah Johnson
- Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram
- Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus
- Unscripted by Nicole Krozner
- Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
- Nowhere On Earth by Nick Lake
- I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
- Horrid by Katrina Leno
- The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
- Again Again by E. Lockhart
- Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Rovina Cai
- What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
- Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
- The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund
- Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry
- Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins (translated by Larissa Helena)
- Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
- Lucky Caller by Emma Mills
- Light It Up by Kekla Magoon
- More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood
- Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis
- What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin
- One of Us is Next: The Sequel to One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
- The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
- Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams
- We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia
- Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore
- Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher
- Hood by Jenny Elder Moke
- A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
- Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika and Maritza Moulite
- The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
- The Loop by Ben Oliver
- The Faithless Hawk by Margaret Owen
- The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton
- Girls Save the World in This One by Ash Parsons
- Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe
- Blood Countess by Lana Popović
- Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power
- The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
- Aftershocks by Marisa Reichardt
- Ashlords by Scott Reintgen
- Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds
- The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski
- This Is All Your Fault by Aminah Mae Safi
- We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
- The Toll by Neal Shusterman
- Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith
- The Falling In Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
- Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
- Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
- Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz
- Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
- The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre by Robin Talley
- All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
- All These Monsters by Amy Tintera
- The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
- Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
- The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
- The Insomniacs by Marit Weisenberg
- The Assignment by Liza Wiemer
- Kent State by Deborah Wiles
- This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Williams
- The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party by Allan Wolf
- When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk
- Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
- Parachutes by Kelly Yang
- Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon
- Fable by Adrienne Young
- He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman
- Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
The 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults Blogging Team is:
- Allie Stevens, coordinator
- Heather Christensen
- Michael Fleming
- Laura Giunta
- Stephanie Johnson
- Amanda Kordeliski
- Lisa Krok
- Jodi Kruse
- Shelbie Marks
- Kali Olson
- Karen Stevens
- Andrea Vernola
- Emily Walker
Previous Years’ Blog Posts: