Book Award Winners (YA)

You might find yourself having to read an award winning book for school at some time, so we thought we'd help out a bit and produce a list of recent award-winning books (with one or two critically acclaimed almost-award-winning books) from our Young Adult Fiction collection.

For space reasons we haven't included all past winners of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults -- but you can find them all in this list if you're looking for them.

Updated June 19, 2024
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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The impossible story of Hannah Kemp : a novel
Agnew, Leonie
Paper Book
The unpublished manuscript was the winner of the 2022 Tessa Duder Award: a powerful exploration of guilt, forgiveness, choice and personal responsibility. Hannah Kemp is dealing with a traumatic accident for which she was responsible. Struggling to come to terms with her guilt...

Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ) -- 2022 winner

Displaced
Sanders, Cristina
Paper Book
An enthralling historical novel of immigration, courage and first love from an award-winning New Zealand author. Eloise and her family must leave Cornwall on a treacherous sea journey to start a new life in 1870s colonial New Zealand. On the ship across, Eloise meets...

Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ) -- 2020 winner

All my rage
Tahir, Sabaa
Paper Book
National Book Award WINNER Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature WINNER An INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An INSTANT INDIE BESTSELLER! "All My Rage is a love story, a tragedy and an infectious teenage fever dream about what home...

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Book Awards (USA) -- 2023 Printz Award winner

Ursa
Shaw, Tina
Paper Book
This alternate history coming-of-age YA is the Winner of the 2018 Storylines Tessa Duder Award. "An inferior people, that's what the Director called us at the beginning of his reign, but still useful." There are two peoples living in the city...

Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ) -- 2018 winner

Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Book Awards (USA) -- 2022 Printz and Morris Award winner

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2021 YA Fiction winner

The traitor and the thief
Ward, Gareth
Paper Book

Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ) -- 2015 winner

A necklace of souls
Stedman, R. L.
Paper Book
In the Kingdom of the Rose only the power of the Guardian's necklace can keep the people safe from the forces threatening to destroy it. In a hidden kingdom a mysterious Guardian protects her people with the help of a magical necklace. But evil forces are also seeking the power of the necklace, and...

Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ) -- 2012 winner

Reach
Brown, Hugh
Paper Book
Shy Will is finally forced to come out of seclusion, and reach past the myths of his past and the fantasies of his future, to grab hold of life. This witty first novel will wrap you up in its delightful word play as you join Will on his journey. Raised by octogenarian grandparents after...

Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ) -- 2011 winner

I must betray you
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
Trapped by an evil dictatorship, will Cristian be forced to betray his family or will he risk everything he loves to resist? A powerful, heart-breaking thriller based on real events. *Winner of the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers' Choice Medal for Writing 2023*

The Carnegie Medal (UK) -- 2023 Shadowers' Choice

Iris and me
Werry, Philippa
Paper Book
So begins the story of Iris Wilkinson, who wrote poetry, novels and journalism under the pen name Robin Hyde. In January 1938, she left New Zealand for England. On the way, intrigued by glimpses of China, she ventured inland despite the war raging there, becoming one of the first women war...

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award (NZ) -- 2023 winner

Learning to love blue
Koirala, Saradha
Paper Book
Learning to love Blue is the long-awaited sequel to 2017 Storylines Notable Book Award winner Lonesome when you go.With Vox Pop and high school behind her, 18-year-old Paige arrives in Melbourne with her suitcase and bass guitar; a copy of Bob Dylan's Chronicles and Joni Mitchell's Blue - a gift...

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award (NZ) -- 2022 winner

The po?rangi boy
Kino, Shilo
Paper Book
"Twelve-year-old Niko lives in Pohe Bay, a small, rural town with a sacred hot spring and a taniwha named Taukere. The government plan to build a prison here and destroy the home of the taniwha has divided the community. Some are against it, but others see it as an opportunity. Niko is worried about...

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award (NZ) -- 2021 winner

Aspiring
Wilkins, Damien
Paper Book
Sixteen-year-old Ricky has a part time job in a cafe in a South Island town being transformed by tourism. Over several months, as Ricky bicycles through the town and his daily round, we bear witness to his friendships, the trial and hilarity of school, his stirrings for prickly Keri, the mystery of...

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award (NZ) -- 2020 winner

Legacy
Hereaka, Whiti
Paper Book
Seventeen-year-old Riki is worried about school and the future, but mostly about his girlfriend, who has suddenly stopped texting him. But on his way to see her, he's hit by a bus and his life radically changes. Riki wakes up one hundred years earlier in Egypt, in 1915, and finds he's living through...

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award (NZ) -- 2019 winner

The tomo
Scott, Mary-Anne
Paper Book
I'm too busy to babysit, so I hope you and that mongrel are up for the job. Phil, and his father's beloved heading dog, Blue, have to spend the Christmas break working on a sheep station while Phil's dad undergoes out-of-town, cancer treatment. The station manager, Chopper, isn't happy having a...

Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)

Black spiral
Merriman, Eileen (Haematologist)
Paper Book
THE SUSPENSE-FILLED CONCLUSION TO THE BLACK SPIRAL TRILOGY Violet and Johnno have escaped the Foundation's compounds. Reunited, they need somewhere safe for the three of them to hide- Violet, Johnno and their unborn child. Beat. Heartbeat. One, two, three. I only just...

Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)

Coastwatcher
Hill, David
Paper Book
David Hill's tense, exciting war adventure inspired by the coastwatchers of Operation Pacific - winner of the 2022 NZSA Heritage Children's Book Award. 'It's not going to be a cushy job, young Benson. You're on your own. Japs will be looking for you. Far as they're concerned,...

Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)

Black wolf
Merriman, Eileen (Haematologist)
Paper Book
THE SECOND RIVETING BOOK IN THE FAST-PACED BLACK SPIRAL TRILOGY. Back from Germany and the assignment that went horribly wrong, Violet doesn't know who to trust- It's fortunate for me that the Foundation staff can't read my thoughts. . . If they could read...

Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)

Tama Sa?moa
Malaeulu, Dahlia
Paper Book
"Sione, Lima, Tavita and Filipo are high school friends, uso or brothers. They are part of a special letter-writing project that helps to start a brave new conversation, an open and honest talanoa with themselves starting with the words, Dear Uso ... Here they share the cultural challenges they face...

Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)

Indigo moon
Merriman, Eileen (Haematologist)
Paper Book
Book 1 of the gritty, fast-paced, thought-provoking Eternity Loop Series. Promise you will never, ever mess with time . . . Both Rigel and Indigo are Offspring, born to virally optimised parents. With dire warnings about the possible consequences of time...

Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)

Tiger daughter
Lim, Rebecca
Paper Book
Wen Zhou is determined to create a future for herself that is more satisfying than the life her parents expect her to lead. Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, the CBCA shortlisted Tiger Daughter is a wonderfully compelling and authentic Own Voices novel about growing up Asian in Australia...

Children's Book Council of Australia: Book of the Year for Older Readers (AU) -- 2022 winner

This is how we change the ending
Wakefield, Vikki
Paper Book
Sixteen-year-old Nate McKee is doing his best to be invisible. He's worried about a lot of things-how his dad treats Nance and his twin half-brothers; the hydro crop growing in his bedroom; the way his friend Merrick always drags him into fights. And he has never forgiven his mother for leaving.

Children's Book Council of Australia: Book of the Year for Older Readers (AU) -- 2020 winner

Between us
Atkins, Claire
Paper Book
Winner, CBCA's 2019 Book of the Year for Older Readers Is it possible for two very different teenagers to fall in love despite high barbed-wire fences and a political wilderness between them? Anahita is passionate, curious and determined. She is also an...

Children's Book Council of Australia: Book of the Year for Older Readers (AU) -- 2019 winner

Take three girls
Crowley, Cath
Paper Book
Three authors. Three appealing and relatable characters. One smart YA novel about a trio of unlikely friends who team up to take down the school cyberbully.    "Mean stuff spreads so fast. One click. Post. Send. Share. Online bullying = sometimes...

Children's Book Council of Australia: Book of the Year for Older Readers (AU) -- 2018 winner

One would think the deep
Zorn, Claire
Paper Book
Sam stared at the picture of the boy about to be tipped off the edge of the world- the crushing weight of water about to pummel him. Sam knew that moment exactly, the disbelief that what was about to happen could even be possible. The intake of breath before the flood. Sam...

Children's Book Council of Australia: Book of the Year for Older Readers (AU) -- 2017 winner

The blood traitor
Noni, Lynette
Paper Book
She'd failed them. All of them. And now she was paying the price. Kiva thought she knew what she wanted - revenge. But feelings change, people change . . . everything has changed. After what happened at the palace, Kiva is desperate to know if her...

Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year for Older Children (AU) -- 2023 winner

The prison healer
Noni, Lynette
Paper Book
From bestselling Australian author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir. Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself. Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years...

Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year for Older Children (AU) -- 2022 winner

Everything sad is untrue : (a true story)
Nayeri, Daniel
Paper Book
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award Christopher Award Winner Middle East Book Award Winner National Indie Bestseller NPR Best Book of the Year New York Times Best of the Year Amazon Best of the Year Booklist Editors' Choice ...

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Book Awards (USA) -- 2021 Printz Award winner

The left-handed booksellers of London
Nix, Garth
Paper Book
This ABIA award-winning fantasy set in 1980s London follows one girl's quest to find her father, leading her to a secret society of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World when it disastrously intrudes into the modern world. For anyone who likes light-hearted adventure and...

Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year for Older Children (AU) -- 2021 winner

Welcome to your period!
Stynes, Yumi
Paper Book
The #1 best-selling, award-winning guide to getting your period for the first time, from 'Dolly Doctor' Dr Melissa Kang and journalist Yumi Stynes (Ladies, We Need to Talk). Getting your period for the first time can be mortifying, weird and messy - and asking...

Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year for Older Children (AU) -- 2020 winner

Jane Doe and the cradle of all worlds
Lachlan, Jeremy
Paper Book
Step inside. Don't look back. Forward is the only way. His Dark Materials meets Mad Max in this unforgettable blockbuster adventure series about the world between the worlds, and one girl who is destined to save them all. ⭐ WINNER: ABIA Book of...

Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year for Older Children (AU) -- 2019 winner

The blue book of Nebo
Steffan Ros, Manon
Paper Book

The Carnegie Medal (UK) -- 2023 winner

October, October
Balen, Katya
Paper Book
_______________ WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022 WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE SHADOWERS' CHOICE AWARD 2022 _______________ 'A very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status' - The Times Children's Book of...

The Carnegie Medal (UK) -- 2022 winner

Look both ways : a tale told in ten blocks
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book

The Carnegie Medal (UK) -- 2021 winner

Lark
McGowan, Anthony
Paper Book
Nature's fury tests a brother's courage and a dog's loyalty in this Carnegie Medal winning ending to the story of the beloved brothers of the Truth of Things series. WINNER OF THE 2020 CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL. Things are tense at home for Nicky and Kenny. Their...

The Carnegie Medal (UK) -- 2020 winner

The poet X
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE 2019 THE WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD THE WINNER OF THE MICHAEL L.PRINTZ AWARD THE...
Run, rebel
Mann, Manjeet
Paper Book
I am restless, my feet need to fly. Amber is trapped - by her father's rules, by his expectations, by her own fears. Now she's ready to fight - for her mother, for her sister, for herself. Freedom always comes at a price.

The Carnegie Medal (UK) -- 2021 Shadowers' Choice

When our worlds collided
Jawando, Danielle
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE YA BOOK PRIZE AND THE JHALAK CHILDREN'S AND YA PRIZE 2023. A powerful coming-of-age story about chance encounters, injustice and how the choices that we make can completely change our future. The second YA novel from multi-award-winning Danielle Jawando, ...

YA Book Prize (UK and Ireland) -- 2023 winner

Hani and Ishu's guide to fake dating
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2022! Hani and Ishu couldn't be less alike - and they definitely don't like each other. But when fates collide and they pretend to date each other, things start to get messy... A heart-warming queer YA love story for fans of Becky Albertalli. ...

YA Book Prize (UK and Ireland) -- 2022 winner

Loveless
Oseman, Alice
Paper Book
For fans of Love, Simon and I Wish You All the Best, a funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of a girl who realizes that love can be found in many ways that don't involve sex or romance. From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about...

YA Book Prize (UK and Ireland) -- 2021 winner

Meat market
Dawson, Juno
Paper Book
Fall into the lives of the city's filthy rich with Juno Dawson's deliciously dark and intoxicating London Collection. WINNER OF THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2020 Jana Novak's history sounds like a classic model cliché: tall and gangly, she's uncomfortable with her...

YA Book Prize (UK and Ireland) -- 2020 winner

Goodbye, perfect
Barnard, Sara
Paper Book
Winner of The Bookseller's 2019 YA Book PrizeHow far would you go to protect a friend? An incredible novel from the bestselling author of Beautiful Broken Things and A Quiet Kind of Thunder. Now reissued with a fresh cover look.When I was wild, you were steady. Now you are wild...

YA Book Prize (UK and Ireland) -- 2019 winner

The life and crimes of Hoodie Rosen
Blum, Isaac
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD! A WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD WINNER! The Chosen meets Adam Silvera in this irreverent and timely story of worlds colliding in friendship, betrayal, and the hatred that divides us. Hoodie Rosen's life isn't that bad....

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Book Awards (USA) -- 2023 Morris Award winner

We are okay : a novel
LaCour, Nina
Paper Book
Winner of the 2018 Michael L. Printz Award -- An achingly beautiful novel about grief and the enduring power of friendship. "Short, poetic and gorgeously written." --The New York Times Book Review "A beautiful, devastating...

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Book Awards (USA) -- 2020 Printz Award winner

Man made monsters
Rogers, Andrea L.
Paper Book
Uncover the Terrifying Intersection of History and Horror Imagine a chilling horror collection that weaves classic monsters like werewolves and vampires with the true horrors of colonialism, domestic violence, and displacement. Man Made Monsters, by...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2023 winner

We deserve monuments
Hammonds, Jas
Paper Book
"An absolute must read." --Buzzfeed "A gripping portrayal of the South's inherent racism and a love story for queer Black girls." --Teen Vogue Family secrets, a swoon-worthy romance, and a slow-burn mystery...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2023 Honour Award

The magic fish
Trung, Le Nguyen
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by New York Public Library . Kirkus Reviews . Booklist . Publishers Weekly In this gorgeous debut graphic novel, fairy tales are the only way one boy can communicate with his Vietnamese immigrant parents. But how will he find the...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2021 winner

The lucky ones
Lawson, Liz
Paper Book
For fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, This Is How It Ends, and All the Bright Places, comes a new novel about life after. How do you put yourself back together when it seems like you've lost it all? May is a survivor. But she doesn't feel like one. She feels...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2021 Honour Award

How to make friends with the dark
Glasgow, Kathleen
Paper Book
'A BOOK AS FIERCE, TENDER, AND RARE AS ITS APTLY NAMED HEROINE, TIGER.' -- Meg Leder, author of Letting Go of Gravity It's the brightest day of summer and it's dark outside. It's dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2020 Honour Award

Dear Rachel Maddow : a novel
Kisner, Adrienne
Paper Book
In Adrienne Kisner's Dear Rachel Maddow, a high school girl deals with school politics and life after her brother's death by drafting emails to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in this funny and heartfelt YA debut. Brynn Haper's life has one steadying force--Rachel Maddow. ...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2019 winner

Clap when you land
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
The second poignant, powerful and passionate novel in verse from the 2019 Carnegie Medal winning author of The Poet X.

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2020 YA Fiction winner

The beauty that remains
Woodfolk, Ashley
Paper Book
Told from three diverse points of view, this story of life and love after loss is one Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, believes "will stay with you long after you put it down." We've lost everything...and found ourselves. Loss pulled Autumn, Shay, and...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2019 Honour Award

The final gambit
Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
Paper Book
Avery's fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about. To inherit billions, all Avery has to do is survive a few more weeks in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact...

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2022 YA Fiction winner

Gallant
Schwab, Victoria
Paper Book
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A KIRKUS BEST BOOK A USA TODAY BESTSELLER A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER "A bone-chilling standalone . . . which fuses Shirley Jackson's gothic horror sensibilities with the warmth and dark whimsy of Neil Gaiman."--Publishers Weekly...

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2022 YA Fantasy winner

Rule of wolves
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times-bestselling King of Scars Duology. The Grishaverse will be coming to Netflix soon with Shadow and Bone, an original series! The Demon King....

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2021 YA Fantasy winner

Five feet apart
Lippincott, Rachael
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture starring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson! Goodreads Choice Winner, Best Young Adult Fiction of 2019 A YALSA 2020 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers In this #1 New York Times bestselling novel...

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2019 YA Fiction winner


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