New to High School? (YA)

In Year 9 and stuck for something to read? Here are 31 of our favourite books or series to get you started. Don’t forget to talk to your school librarian as well — they’re experts on all things bookishly good!

Updated June 19, 2024
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Wellington City Libraries Youth team at Wellington City Libraries
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New to High School? (YA)

In Year 9 and stuck for something to read? Here are 31 of our favourite books or series to get you started. Don’t forget to talk to your school librarian as well — they’re experts on all things bookishly good!

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Pride and prejudice
Austen, Jane
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Jane Austen x Puffin in Bloom with a gorgeous illustrated cover by Anna Bond, the artist behind the renowned lifestyle brand Rifle Paper Co. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live with their five daughters. Jane, the eldest daughter, falls in love with Charles Bingley, a...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! A Printz Medal AND Morris Award Winner! Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
The hunger games
Collins, Suzanne.
Paper Book
The maze runner
Dashner, James
Paper Book
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING MAZE RUNNER SERIES * A teenager with no memory must navigate a deadly maze to survive in book one of this post-apocalyptic phenomenon. "[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of...
Legendborn
Deonn, Tracy
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn's YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of...
To all the boys I've loved before
Han, Jenny
Paper Book
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is now a major motion picture on Netflix and the inspiration for the spin-off series XO, Kitty--now streaming on Netflix! A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Lara Jean's love life gets complicated in this New York...
The henna wars
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
"Impossible to put down." - Kirkus, starred review Nishat doesn't want to lose her family, but she also doesn't want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for...
Howl's moving castle
Jones, Diana Wynne
Paper Book
"A true original." --Katherine Rundell, bestselling author of Impossible Creatures This entrancing classic fantasy novel is filled with surprises at every turn. An international bestseller, this much-loved book is the source for the Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature. ...
Skulduggery Pleasant
Landy, Derek
Paper Book
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yeah. And dead. Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. ...
Anne of green gables
Montgomery, L. M.
Paper Book
Read the timeless classic about the beloved Anne Shirley, a red-haired orphan with a fiery spirit, behind the hit Netflix series Anne with an E--now celebrating a hundred years of this children's favorite. "[Anne is] the dearest and most lovable child in fiction since...
The recruit
Muchamore, Robert
Paper Book
The first title in the number one bestselling CHERUB series! James hits rock bottom before he's offered a new start in an intriguing organisation ... A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children...
Heartstopper. Volume 1
Oseman, Alice
Paper Book
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This edition features beautiful two-color artwork. Now streaming on Netflix! Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to...
Eragon
Paolini, Christopher
Paper Book
Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon with Murtagh. Murtagh, a stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle, will publish in 2023. The first book in The Inheritance...
Northern lights
Pullman, Philip
Paper Book
Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond...
The lightning thief
Riordan, Rick
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller | Now a series on Disney+ 12-year-old Percy Jackson discovers he is the son of Poseidon in the opener to the hilarious, fast-paced adventure fantasy series for young readers ages 10 and up The paperback edition of the...
Holes
Sachar, Louis
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NEWBERY MEDAL AND NATIONAL BOOK AWARD ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME The iconic, multi-million bestselling novel. An unmissable modern classic. 'Joyous... Everyone should be reading it, including...
Steelheart
Sanderson, Brandon.
Paper Book
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills. Nobody...
Witch hat atelier. Volume 1
Shirahama, Kamome
Paper Book
Best of the Year - AV Club, New York Public Library, Nerdist, SYFY Wire, Chicago Public Library "Harry Potter meets Kiki's Delivery Service!" -AV Club A beautifully-illustrated story about a girl who longs for magic in her life and learns that,...
Nimona
Stevenson, ND
Paper Book
Nimona is an impulsive young shape-shifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius...
The Sunbearer Trials
Thomas, Aiden
Paper Book
Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where ten semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this breathtaking, Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the author of the bestselling Cemetery Boys. Only the most powerful and honorable will be...
The hobbit, or, There and back again
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paper Book
This popular paperback edition of the classic work of fantasy, with a striking new black cover based on JRR Tolkien's own design and featuring brand new reproductions of all his drawings and maps. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely...
Tim Te Maro and the subterranean heartsick blues
Valley, H. S.
Paper Book
What happens when your enemy becomes your friend ... with benefits? Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school. 
The prince and the dressmaker
Wang, Jen
Paper Book
A fairy tale for any age, Jen Wang's The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart. Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens Winner of the Harvey Award for Best Children or Young Adult Book Paris, at the...
The book thief
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
The extraordinary international bestseller from the author of new novel Bridge of Clay.NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE "Brilliant and hugely ambitious ... the kind of book that can be life changing" The New York TimesIt is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath.Death has never been busier,...
Find this list online: https://librarian.syndetics.com/syndeticsunbound/lp/1918.2384/list/3474

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