Tag: #BFYA2025

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold

Rieke Teitler and her sister Astra live in Czernowitz, a city once safe for Jews but now increasingly dangerous due to rising antisemitism. Their father abandoned them, leaving their mother devastated and their grandfather as their primary caretaker. As war breaks out in Europe, Czernowitz is invaded first by the Russians, then the Germans, drastically changing their lives and forcing them to fight for survival. Rieke struggles with the harsh realities of power and loss, questioning what she can hold onto amid the turmoil. Based on her grandmother’s experiences in Holocaust-era Romania, Elana K. Arnold tells a poignant story of resilience and survival.

The protagonist, Rieke, is a relatable and engaging character whose growth and resilience in the face of adversity provide a strong emotional connection for readers. The immersive setting of Czernowitz during World War II and the depiction of real historical events add authenticity and depth, while themes of survival, family, and the impact of war resonate powerfully.

The teen reader who would most appreciate this title has a strong interest in historical fiction, particularly stories set during World War II and the Holocaust. They are drawn to narratives that combine emotional depth with historical authenticity, offering both an engaging story and a learning experience. This reader values well-developed characters and is intrigued by themes of survival, resilience, and the complexities of family relationships. They appreciate poignant and serious tones but also seek moments of hope and inspiration amidst challenging circumstances.  Comparable titles include Artifice by Sharon Cameron, Girl In the Blue Coat by Karen Hesse, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys.

–Julianne Novetsky

Other Nominated Titles

November 27, 2024
January 4, 2023
November 13, 2024
November 9, 2024
October 24, 2024

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr

Sixteen-year-old, Amina Conteh clashes with her religious father in many ways, and is forced to spend more time at their church because of her rebellious ways. When she is assaulted by a church leader, Amina uses poetry to find her voice and seek justice for what happened to her and to what has happened to other girls in the congregation.

This book is an incredibly powerful novel in verse that captures the ripped-from-the-headlines pain of a young sexual assault survivor working to seek justice in a world where it is so often denied. The growth of the relationship with her father is well done and different than what is normally depicted with young adult/parent relationships. The ending is cathartic and pays off well for all the readers who find themselves getting hooked and living through every poem and page.

Teen readers that enjoy novels in verse, introspective poetry, fast-paced, and authentic realistic fiction will find this book appealing. Fans of Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson, Muted by Tami Charles, and Red by Ani Cardi will appreciate the similar story lines, but with another offering of unique storytelling and an ending that still sets it apart from the rest.

–Molly Dettmann

Other Nominated Titles

September 19, 2023
January 30, 2024

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: The Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow

Bella shared a secret with her beloved grandma, Laurel: every so often they share a glass of something “sweet” over a game of Scrabble. Now that Laurel has passed, Bella is finding herself taking the edge off the anxiety of warring parents, a needy younger sister, a job, her broken heart after an unwanted break up, and academic demands with her bottle of Sprodka–a mixture of Sprite and vodka in the unassuming Sprite bottle.  The problem is, her reliance on her Sprodka is increasing and her memory of its aftermath is decreasing. When she loses control at a party and mixes recreational drugs with her alcohol, her “friends” leave her on her mother’s doorstep where Bella falls and nearly dies. After a stint at a rehab facility, Bella must try to pick up the pieces of her life.

Kathleen Glasgow established herself as a credible voice in realistic fiction with Girl in Pieces, so this is a title with a built in readership, and Bella’s story does not disappoint. Glasgow writes from a place of personal experience using a plot inhabited by realistically flawed characters.  The inclusion of Bella’s internal monologue ratchets up the reader’s sense of her anxiety while Glasgow’s portrayal of a loving, but dysfunctional, family and the social dynamics of high school are immediately recognizable. Despite the bleakness of the subject matter, this is ultimately a story of hope and healing that ends on the precipice of Bella’s success.

Teens who are on their own journeys to sobriety will find a lot to love about this plot. Not quite as gritty as Jas Hammond’s Thirsty, it will scratch the same itch. Bella’s recovery via nature is similar to Wren’s in Wendelin Van Draanen’s Wild Bird, and shares some similarity to Mia’s path in Jessie Ann Foley’s You Know I’m No Good.

– Jodi Kruse

Other Nominated Titles

Released: March 12, 2024
Release: March 19, 2024
Release: July 30, 2024

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: Twenty-Four Seconds From Now by Jason Reynolds

Aria Wright appeared in Neon Benton’s life for the first time twenty-four months ago, with a dog (which made him nervous) during his grandfather’s funeral. And now Neon is twenty-four seconds away from having sex with Aria, for the first time, if only he can manage to get out of his head and over his nerves. Told in reverse, the story slowly reveals the tender moments that lead Neon to the bathroom he’s currently freaking out in, and the relationship advice he receives along the way from important people in his life. 

While this is a book about Neon’s first time, it is more a story about the pivotal moments leading up to that, the important people in Neon’s life, and the solid foundation they have helped to lay through advice and example. Reynolds, has again, crafted a beautifully lyrical, sex-positive, and vulnerable book that reads like poetry. Neon is likeable and so relatable that every teen will see a little of themselves in his experiences.  

For teens looking for an authentic portrayal of a relationship full of anticipation, awkwardness, nerves, and honesty this will be a hit.  It will appeal to teens who enjoy a quiet poetic love story like those written by David Levithan or male protagonists who challenge toxic stereotypes like Brandon Hoàng’s Gloria Buenrostro is Not My Girlfriend or Isaac Blum’s The Judgment of Yoyo Gold. 

– Alicia Kalan

Other Nominated Titles

Released: March 24, 2024
Release: October 15, 2024
Release: July 23, 2024

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldivar

Seventeen year old Libertad Morazán loves her country of Honduras, but as a closeted lesbian and author of political poetry, she knows that the government will never accept her.  Set amidst the backdrop of the highly politically charged 2017 Honduran election, Libi embarks on a fledgling relationship with college student Dani, while dealing with homophobia at home and school and an uncertain political climate.  When tragedy strikes her family, she is faced with the tough decision of leaving the country for America, where she hopes she can be accepted as she is, or staying in Honduras to fight for change.

Zaldivar paints a vivid picture of Tegucigalpa’s sights, sounds and smells, immersing the reader in a world that may otherwise be unfamiliar to them.  The multiple perspectives and flashbacks help to expand the Morazán family history and enhance character development.

Any teen who feels uncertainty in today’s political climate, whether it be due to race, sexual orientation or gender, will relate to Libertad (and her brother, Maynor’s) struggles and anxiety about their future. Readers who enjoyed the lyrical poetry of Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo and coming of age story of Just Another Epic Love Poem by Parisa Akhbari will appreciate Libertad.

-Candace Fox

Other Nominated Titles

March 12, 2024
May 14, 2024
May 14, 2024
April 23, 2024

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: Where He Can’t Find You by Darcy Coates

The residents of Doubtful live by certain rules to avoid The Stitcher, a serial killer known for dismembering and reassembling his victims. No one truly knows who or what The Stitcher is, but Abby and her friends have made it their mission to gather as much information as possible to defend themselves against him. However, all their preparation couldn’t prepare Abby for the night her sister goes missing. Suddenly, it’s a race against the clock to uncover the mystery of The Stitcher and find her sister before there is nothing left of her to save.

Coates creates a palpable sense of tension early in the book that does not lessen throughout the story. The ever-present terror weighs heavily on the teen characters as they constantly try to keep themselves and their loved ones alive. The novel deftly uses traditional elements of horror – a bleak and claustrophobic setting, a malevolent antagonist, and fear of the unknown.

Teens who enjoy suspenseful stories, body horror, and slasher films will flock to this book. Hand it to readers of It by Stephen King and Wilder Girls by Rory Power.

– Cathy DeCampli

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat

Libby is feeling fragile after her recent bipolar III diagnosis and suicide attempt when she moves with her mom and sister to a large Victorian mansion with macabre stained glass windows and odd bug-shaped masks. The house has been the source of several disappearances over decades, and before long, Libby begins to uncover its sinister intentions.

This horror novel tackles mental illness in a nuanced way as it explores the aftermath of Libby’s suicide attempt. It takes a unique approach to a haunted house with the bug-themed spirits, crafting a narrative that keeps the reader in suspense as the masks gain power.

This is a great pick for teens looking for their next horror read, especially if they love ghosts. Teens who enjoyed the nature-focused horrors in Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin and She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran will love the bugs in this book. 

– Kameron Morton

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: Dead Things are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley

Sid Spencer has never worried much about living on a fault line, one of the sites where the world’s magic was sealed away because of its dangerous potential. But everything falls apart when someone opens the fault line, bringing magic back to the town along with zombie-like creatures and apocalyptic circumstances. Sid has to rely on a new group of friends and her own newfound courage to survive.

This is a fast-paced thriller featuring diverse characters. Sid was adopted from Korea as a child, and in the midst of this magical-apocalypse she deals with issues of identity and belonging. Her ornery cat, Chad, is the icing on this end-of-the-world cake.

This is a great fit for teens who enjoy apocalyptic settings or zombie stories. Teens who enjoyed the magic and monsters in Tracey Deonn’s Legendborn will find a similar world in this story, and readers who enjoyed The Fever King by Victoria Lee will find a similar protagonist in Sid Spencer.

– Kameron Morton

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert

In a single night, four people vanish, including Nora’s best friend Becca. Though the two had not spoken before the disappearance, Nora believes Becca has left cryptic messages hinting at her whereabouts. Determined to solve the mystery, Nora teams up with James, a reclusive amateur photographer. Together, they uncover a decades-old secret with ties to a childhood game popular with the local youth.

The Bad Ones is a vividly dark and unique tale, featuring imaginary goddesses exacting retribution for slighted teenage girls. The book captures the intense emotions of adolescent friendship with striking accuracy. As the tale unfolds, the reader is drawn further into a folklore-esque tale and the narrator becomes increasingly unreliable. Nora is a genuine character, driven by guilt and love to mend a broken friendship.

Hand this to readers of dark fantasy and folk horror. Similar books are Holly Horror by Michelle Jabes Corpora and Here There are Monsters by Amelinda Berube.

– Cathy DeCampli

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/BFYA25TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2025) Featured Review: A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

Arthie Casimir is a tea room proprietor–and she’s also a criminal. Her tearoom, Spindrift, turns into an illegal speakeasy catering to the underground vampire society every night. When her tearoom is shut down by the mysterious king, Arthie and her ragtag group of friends conspire to break into the Ram’s lair and hopefully overthrow the secretive and corrupt monarchy. But when someone in their inner circle betrays them, Arthie and her friends find more than Spindrift at stake.  This engrossing fantasy is a world completely of its own, but with very familiar issues including colonialism, corruption and trafficking. 

Some books are meant to be devoured and others savored. A Tempest of Tea starts out as a book to savor slowly in the beginning–Faizal’s immersive writing style crafts rich and beautiful world-building. Halfway through the plot really comes together and the pages start to fly as readers start to devour this book. The characters are dynamic and each of the three main characters have distinct voices and backstories. This is also a rare YA fantasy in that it is fewer than 400 pages,  and while the world is uniquely it’s own, it bears enough of a resemblance to our world that it’s accessible for non-fantasy readers. Teens who enjoy political themes, vintage horror, or historical fiction will also find much to enjoy. This is one of those rare books that librarians can pitch four different ways to four different readers and each would enjoy it for different reasons. Tempest is the first in a duology and it really feels like the first arc of the story. Readers are left on a cliff-hanger ending with many theories to discuss while they wait for book two.  

Teens who enjoy vintage horror (vampires and zombies), historical fiction, magical realism, or political intrigue stories will all enjoy this.  Fans of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Only a Monster by Vanessa Len will enjoy this one.

– Megan Nigh

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/BFYA25TeenFB