- A Door in the Dark
- by Scott Reintgen
- March 28, 2023
- Length: 361 p.
- Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, $19.99
- ISBN: 9781665918688
- Reading Level: Gr. 10 – 12
Working class wizard Ren Monroe does her best at Balmerick University to prove her magic prowess so she can be recruited by a major house. When a portal spell malfunctions, she is transported with five other students to dangerous wilderness days from home.
- Aces Wild: A Heist
- by Amanda DeWitt
- September 13, 2022
- Length: 345 p.
- Publisher: Peachtree Teen, $17.99
- ISBN: 9781682634660
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
When Jack Shannon’s mother, an infamous casino owner, is arrested, Jack’s four friends from an online asexual support group travel to Vegas to help him infiltrate the secret gambling den of his mother’s rival, organized crime boss Peter Carlevaro, in order to find evidence to take Carlevaro down.
- Always the Almost
- by Edward Underhill
- February 14, 2023
- Length: 307 p.
- Publisher: Wednesday Books, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr.9-12
- ISBN: 9781250835208
Miles makes a New Year’s resolution to win back his ex-boyfriend and defeat his piano rival. When he meets Eric, a kind and thoughtful new kid, and starts practicing with a new piano teacher, Miles begins to learn more about himself and what he really wants.
- As You Walk On By
- by Julian Winters
- January 17, 2023
- Length: 328 p.
- Publisher: Viking, $18.99
- ISBN: 9780593206508
Seventeen year-old Theo finds himself hiding in a bedroom during a party following his promposal that goes horribly wrong. As, one by one, Theo’s fellow classmates pop into that bedroom seeking refuge of their own, an unlikely group forms that changes the status quo.
- Becoming a Queen
- by Dan Clay
- April 25, 2023
- Length: 407 p.
- Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 8-12
- ISBN: 9781250843098
Mark Davis wore a pretty dress and his boyfriend broke up with him. Now Mark is on his road to a new romance and self-acceptance when tragedy strikes, and he must figure out who he wants to be in order to move on.
- Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything
- by Justine Pucella Winans
- April 11, 2023
- Length: 362 p.
- Publisher: Clarion Books, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780358721642 Gr. 9 – 12
Bianca Torre enjoys bird and people from their bedroom window. When they witness the murder of their neighbor, they start a bizarre journey to solve the murder, despite having a long list of fears. Through the process, they also find themselves and valuable relationships. Click here to check out our review of this title.
- Chaos Theory
- By Nic Stone
- February 28, 2023
- Length: 278 p.
- Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 8-12
- ISBN: 9780593307700
Genius high school senior, Shelbi, meets politician’s son, Andy, on one of his worst days, and reaches out to help. Their unlikely friendship becomes more, but they both have complicated pasts that might end up keeping them apart.
- City of Nightmares
- By Rebecca Schaeffer
- January 10, 2023
- Length: 374 p.
- Publisher: Clarion, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780358647300
No one dreams in Newham, where pills and treated water keep sleeping people safe from transforming into literal Nightmares. After surviving a ferry bombing, self-described coward Ness works with the other survivor, Cy, a Nightmare, to investigate why they are still being targeted, leading them to uncover a dark conspiracy.
- Dear Medusa
- By Olivia Cole
- March 14, 2023
- Length: 377 p.
- Publisher: Labyrinth Road, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780593485736
After being sexually abused by a popular teacher at her school Alicia feels cut off from the world around her, until one day, she gets a note from another survivor. Click here to read our review of this title.
- Enter the Body
- By Joy McCullough
- March 14, 2023
- Length: 320 p.
- Publisher: Dutton Books, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780593406755
Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia–victims of violence and misogyny in Shakespeare’s tragedies–share their versions of the events in their lives and have the opportunity to rewrite their tragedies.
- Heartbreak Boys
- By Simon James Green
- December 20, 2022
- Length: 376 p.
- Publisher: Clarion Books, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 8-12
- ISBN: 9780358617259
Jack and Nate used to be best friends, but have not spoken in years. When they find out on prom night that their boyfriends have secretly been seeing each other, they take off on a summer road trip to prove that they are living their best lives and start to remember along the way why they were friends and why now maybe they could be more.
- Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
- By Talia Hibbert
- January 3, 2023
- Length: 319 p.
- Publisher: Joy Revolution, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780593482339
Celine and Brad used to be best friends, until Brad ditched Celine for the in-crowd. Now, they’re academic rivals. When they both sign up for a survival course in the woods, with a scholarship as the grand prize, their competition brings up long-buried resentments, but also the possibility of reconciliation. Click here to read our review of this title.
- How To Succeed in Witchcraft
- By Aislinn Brophy
- September 27, 2022
- Length: 406 p.
- Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780593354520
Shay Johnson is one of the top witches at her school To win the coveted Brockton Scholarship, ensuring her admittance to the college of her dreams, Shay must step outside her comfort zone to do the school musical with a teacher who has questionable motives. Click here to read our review of this title.
- Promise Boys
- By Nick Brooks
- January 31, 2023
- Length: 294 p.
- Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781250866974
J.B., Ramón, and Trey are students at the prestigious and strict Urban Promise Prep School when their principal is murdered and the three become the prime suspects. Click here to read our review of this title.
- Rain Rising
- by Courtne Comrie
- September 27, 2022
- Length: 327 p.
- Publisher: Harper Collins, $16.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 5.12
- ISBN: 9780063159730
Rain is struggling to find out who she is and where she fits in during her eighth grade year of school when her beloved older brother is attacked during a college visit in what appears to be a racially motivated beating. Click here to read our review.
- Remind Me to Hate You Later
- by Lizzy Mason
- February 28, 2023
- Length: 308 p.
- Publisher: Bloomsbury YA, $18.99
- Reading Level: G. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781547609185
Reeling from the death of her best friend, Jules, by suicide. Natalie must learn how to move on with her life as she grapples with blaming herself and Jules’s mom, a lifestyle blogger. Told in dual narration between Jules and Natalie.
- Saints of the Household
- by Ari Tison
- March 28, 2023
- Length: 312 p.
- Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780374389499
Max and Jay are brothers who have relied on each for everything including protecting their mother from an abusive father. After a violent altercation with a classmate, they begin a journey of healing through an exploration of their Bribri American identity as well as looking outward to others for help.
- Self-Made Boys
- by Anna-Marie McLemore
- September 6, 2022
- Length: 304 p.
- Publisher: Feiwel and Friends, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781250774934
It’s the 1920’s, and seventeen year old Latinx Nicolás Caraveo, a transgender boy from Wisconsin, has come to New York seeking professional success, but finds himself caught up in much more when he is introduced to his cousin Daisy’s glamorous world.
- She Is a Haunting
- by Trang Thanh Tran
- February 28, 2023
- Length: 341 p.
- Publisher: Bloomsbury, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781547610815
When Jade Nguyen visits her estranged father in Vietnam, she plans to help him restore his French colonial home, in exchange for the college money he promised. Instead, she finds the house haunted by its past, hungry for visitors, and willing to keep her entire family within its walls forever.
- Star Splitter
- by Matthew Kirby
- April 25, 2023
- Length: 305 p.
- Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 7-12
- ISBN: 9780735231665
In 2199, space exploration and teleportation are routine and considered safe. However, when 17-year-old Jessica is made to travel via teleportation to be reunited with her parents and assist them with a science expedition, she wakes up confused and alone on a crashed lander.
- Spell Bound
- by F.T. Lukens
- April 4, 2023
- Length: 323 p.
- Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, $19.99
- Reading Level: 7-12
- ISBN: 9781665916226
Rook is a genius who grew up around magic, but isn’t magical. He gets a job working in the office of the famous sorceress Antonia Hex who handles magical emergencies. Rook soon realizes he must break the rules in order to become who he was always meant to be. Click here to read our review.
- Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell
- by Tobias Madden
- January 3, 2023
- Length: 373 p.
- Publisher: Page Street, $18.99
- ISBN: 9781645677062
Noah Mitchell never wants to leave the safe haven of his computer gaming world, until he discovers his crush is participating in a local musical theater production. Determined to develop a real relationship, Noah joins the cast and discovers he might have gotten himself in a bit too deep.
- The Buried and the Bound
- by Rochelle Hassan
- January 24, 2023
- Length: 375 p.
- Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781250822208
When the barrier between her hometown and the adjacent fairyland in the woods starts thinning, Aziza must team up with a cursed high school student and a mysterious necromancer to save the city they call home.
- The Do-Over
- by Lynn Painter
- November 15, 2022
- Length: 291 p.
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781534478862
Emilie Hornby gets stuck in a time loop where she is forced to relive the most dreadful Valentine’s Day over and over again, but she soon discovers that running into her grumpy and cute Chemistry partner may not be the worst thing to ever happen.
- The Q
- by Amy Tintera
- November 8, 2022
- Length: 343 p.
- Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780593486177
Lennon Pierce, son of a U.S. presidential candidate, is kidnapped and dropped into the Q, a walled off quarantine zone for those previously infected by a mysterious virus. Maisie Rojas, trusted lieutenant to the leader of the southern Q zone, must get him to safety before time runs out.
- The Secrets We Keep
- by Cassie Gustafson
- November 8, 2022
- Length: 340 p.
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR, $19.99
- ISBN: 9781665906944
Fifteen-year-old Emma’s life is turned upside down when her father is accused of molesting Hannah, her best–and only–friend in this hopeful story of two sexual abuse survivors. Click here to read our review.
- The Sharp Edge of Silence
- by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum
- April 11, 2023
- Length: 473 p.
- Publisher: Quill Tree Books, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9780062932105
Quinn, Max, and Charlotte must decide how far they are willing to go to end the tacitly accepted rape culture at their prestigious boarding Lycroft Phelps School.
- This Is Not a Personal Statement
- by Tracy Badua
- January 17, 2023
- Length: 341 p.
- Publisher: Quill Tree Books, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 10-12
- ISBN: 9780063217751
When sixteen-year-old Filipina American Perla, reluctantly dubbed “Perfect Perlie Perez,” receives a rejection letter from Delmont University, the school her ambitious perfectionist parents want her to attend, she panics, makes a convincing fake acceptance letter, and then plans to secretly live on campus until she can apply again.
- Warrior Girl Unearthed
- by Angeline Boulley
- May 2, 2023
- Length: 396 p.
- Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781250766588
Perry Firekeeper-Birch finds herself embroiled in a plot to steal the remains of her tribal ancestors before they are turned over to a university museum or sold to private collectors.
- We Are All So Good at Smiling
- by Amber McBride
- January 10, 2023
- Length: 283 p.
- Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781250780386
Whimsy is back in the hospital to treat her ongoing clinical depression. This time proves different and life changing when she meets a boy there named Faerry. Over time she realizes they both share magic, a fear of the forest, and a dark forgotten secret.
- We Deserve Monuments
- by Jas Hammonds
- November 29, 2022
- Length: 375 p.
- Publisher: Roaring Brook Publishers, $18.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781250816559
Avery is nursing a broken heart when her parents drag her from her Washington, D. C. home to Georgia to care for her crabby grandmother, Mama Letty. New friends, new loves, and the painful mystery of her grandfather’s death at the hands of the sheriff make for an emotional visit.
- When the Angels Left the Old Country
- by Sacha Lamb
- October 18, 2022
- Length: 400 p.
- Publisher: Levine Querido, $19.99
- Reading Level: Gr. 9-12
- ISBN: 9781646141760
A patient angel and a mischievous demon who have been studying Talmud together for centuries in their little Russian shtetl travel to America to perform a mitzvah, locating a young woman who left for the “golden land” to find her fortune but hasn’t been heard from since.
The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.
Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB
It’s time for 
Reviewer: Piper
Reviewer: Izzy
Want to get real teen input on some of the best recent titles in YA fiction? The 
Last week at ALA Midwinter, the