NPR's Best YA of 2023

Updated November 25, 2024
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Imogen, obviously
Albertalli, Becky
Ebook
A Stonewall Honor Book · A New York Times and Indie bestseller! "A bighearted, deeply vulnerable, love-bubbly tumble through self-discovery." --Casey McQuiston, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling I Kissed Shara Wheeler With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller...
The scarlet alchemist
Baker, Kylie Lee
Ebook
"A dark and glittering jewel of a book." --Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of A Magic Steeped in Poison "Visceral to the core." --Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights New...
The talk
Bell, Darrin
Ebook
Dear Medusa
Cole, Olivia A.
Ebook
This searing and intimate novel in verse follows a sixteen-year-old girl coping with sexual abuse as she grapples with how to reclaim her story, her anger, and her body in a world that seems determined to punish her for the sin of surviving. "This is more than a story about sexual...
Tilly in technicolor
Eddings, Mazey
Ebook
Tilly in Technicolor is Mazey Eddings's sparkling YA debut about two neurodivergent teens who form a connection over the course of a summer. Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. White-knuckling her way through high school with flawed executive functioning has left her burnt...
Godly heathens : a novel
Edgmon, H. E.
Ebook
Godly Heathens is the first book in H.E. Edgmon's YA contemporary fantasy duology The Ouroboros, in which a teen, Gem, finds out they're a reincarnated god from another world. Maybe I have always just been bad at being human because I'm not one.
Huda F cares?
Fahmy, Huda
Ebook
A National Book Award for Young People's Literature Finalist In this laugh-out-loud funny sequel to the graphic novel Huda F Are You?, the Fahmys are off to Disney World, but self-conscious Huda worries her family will stand out too much. Huda and her sisters...
Threads that bind
Hatzopoulou, Kika
Ebook
"Dripping with atmosphere and edged with danger, Threads That Bind weaves together a gorgeous dark tapestry of mystery, fated romance, and modern myth. You won't be able to put this one down." --Alexandra Bracken, New York Times bestselling author of Lore In...
What the river knows : a novel
Ibañez, Isabel, (Novelist)
Ebook
The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in What the River Knows, Isabel Ibañez's lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race. Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera...
Invisible son
Johnson, Kim
Ebook
From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to recclaim both his innocence and his first love. Life can change in an instant.  When you're wrongfully accused of a...
We are all so good at smiling
McBride, Amber
Paper Book
They Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful young adult novel-in-verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride. Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of...
Enter the body
McCullough, Joy
Audiobook
"At once tender, poetic and ferocious, Enter The Body breathes new life into the Bard's most tragic heroines. More than a tribute to Shakespeare, this kaleidoscopic, ambitious novel-in-verse gives Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia the chance to tell their own stories full of passion,...
The wicked bargain
Novoa, Gabe Cole
Audiobook
El Diablo is in the details in this Latinx pirate fantasy starring a transmasculine nonbinary teen with a mission of revenge, redemption, and revolution. From the New York Times bestselling author of Most Ardently. On Mar León de la Rosa's sixteenth birthday, el...
Imposter syndrome and other confessions of Alejandra Kim
Park, Patricia
Audiobook
A multicultural teen struggles to fit into her elite prep school, her diverse Queens neighborhood, and even her own home. A hilarious, poignant, and powerful YA novel from the award-winning author of Re Jane. "Simply brilliant!" --David Yoon, New York Times...
Family style : memories of an American from Vietnam
Pham, Thien
Ebook
A study in drowning
Reid, Ava
Ebook
An instant Indie and #1 New York Times bestseller! "Achingly atmospheric and beautifully sharp, A Study in Drowning will draw you in from the first page." --Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls Bestselling author Ava Reid makes her YA debut in this dark...
Their vicious games
Wellington, Joelle
Ebook
"A brutally honest and haunting cautionary tale...exposing the lie that is meritocracy and the unrelenting toll that being a final girl takes. A bloody tale spun masterfully...a dark delight." --Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, New York Times bestselling author of Ace of Spades
The spirit bares its teeth
White, Andrew Joseph
Ebook
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature! A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare. New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White...

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