Top 10 Young Adult Biographies in 2024

The top 10 books checked out in 2024 from our young adult biography collection

Updated January 24, 2025
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.

1

Family style : memories of an American from Vietnam
Pham, Thien
Paper Book
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist Eisner Award Winner for Best Graphic MemoirAn NPR Best Books of 2023 A moving young adult graphic memoir about a Vietnamese immigrant boy's search for belonging in America, perfect for fans of American...

2

All boys aren't blue : a memoir-manifesto
Johnson, George M.
Paper Book
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. A New York Times Bestseller! Good Morning America,...

3

The boy on the wooden box : how the impossible became possible... on Schindler's list
Leyson, Leon
Paper Book
In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his...

4

Code name Badass : the true story of Virginia Hall
Demetrios, Heather
Paper Book
"Bringing together rigorous research and a vibrant writing style" (School Library Journal), Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds in this riotous, spirited biography of the most dangerous of all Allied spies, courageous and kickass Virginia Hall. When...

5

Dissenter on the bench : Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life & work
Ortiz, Victoria
Paper Book
A 2020 Sydney Taylor Honor Book The life and career of the fiercely principled Supreme Court Justice, now a popular icon, with dramatic accounts of her landmark cases that moved the needle on legal protection of human rights, illustrated with b/w archival photographs. ...

6

England's Jane : the story of Jane Austen
Locke, Juliane
Paper Book
A young adult biography of English writer Jane Austen

7

Flying couch : a graphic memoir
Kurzweil, Amy
Paper Book
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 * A Junior Library Guild Fall 2016 Selection Flying Couch, Amy Kurzweil's debut, tells the stories of three unforgettable women. Amy weaves her own coming-of-age as a...

8

LAYERS: A MEMOIR
Bagieu, Pe?ne?lope
Paper Book
Following the Eisner-award winning Brazen, Pénélope Bagieu pens her first autobiographical work in this hilarious and bitter sweet graphic memoir. Pénélope Bagieu never thought she'd publish a graphic memoir. But when she dusted off her old diaries (no, really--this...

9

Let it shine : stories of Black women freedom fighters
Pinkney, Andrea Davis
Paper Book
2001 Coretta Scott King Honor Book Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked a boycott that changed America. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves escape the South on the Underground Railroad. Shirley Chisholm became the...

10

Lighter than my shadow
Green, Katie, (Illustrator)
Paper Book
"A gripping graphic novel about a woman's battle with eating disorders." -- The Guardian Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She'd sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she'd have to eat it for breakfast. But...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.