Color Our World: Teens

Our 2025 Bookworm Summer Reading Theme is Color Your World. We invite you to explore the world around you through art and books. Here are some to get you started!

Updated January 3, 2025
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When it all syncs up
Ameyaw, Maya
Paper Book
A Black teen dancer with dreams of landing a spot in a prestigious ballet company must learn to dance on her own terms in this explosive debut about the healing power of art and friendship, perfect for fans of Euphoria and Tiny Pretty Things. Ballet is Aisha's life. So when she's...
Red Queen
Aveyard, Victoria
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times BestsellerRed Queen (Book 1)Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn...
Wolfwood
Baer, Marianna
Paper Book
Indigo is the daughter of famous reclusive artist Zoe Serra, who made a splash in the '90s art world. But since her mom's breakdown, the two have been barely scraping by. When a gallery owner offers Zoe a revival show for her blockbuster Wolfwood series--which Zoe never finished--Indigo sees it as a...
Cinderella is dead
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of...
Silver in the bone
Bracken, Alexandra
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the critically acclaimed author of Lore comes a stunning contemporary fantasy inspired by Celtic lore--the tale of a teenage girl who seeks her destiny in the cursed ruins of Avalon, driven by love, revenge, and pure adrenaline!...
Rule of threes
Campbell, Marcy
Paper Book
Part family drama, part contemporary thriller, Rule of Threes is a middle grade story about what happens when "perfect" is out of your control. An interior design enthusiast, twelve-year-old Maggie Owens is accustomed to living her life according to her own precise plans....
Spin
Caprara, Rebecca
Paper Book
A Chicago Public Library Teen-Approved Best Book of 2023 "A powerful feminist retelling of an ancient tale about empathy and defiance, written in beautiful verse from a truly unique viewpoint." --Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Surrender Tree...
Of jade and dragons
Chen, Amber
Paper Book
Mulan meets Iron Widow in this thrilling silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer's Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father's murder. Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of...
Ariel crashes a train
Cole, Olivia A.
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD . A COSMOPOLITAN BEST YA BOOK OF THE YEAR . A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, BOOKLIST AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Exploring the harsh reality of OCD and violent intrusive thoughts in stunning,...
When the vibe is right
Dass, Sarah
Paper Book
From the author of Where the Rhythm Takes You comes a delightful enemies-to-lovers, contemporary romance set during Trinidad's Carnival celebration.  There are two things Tess Crawford knows for sure:  She's destined to be a great Trinidadian Carnival...
Wings in the wild
Engle, Margarita
Paper Book
This gorgeously romantic contemporary novel-in-verse from award-winning author Margarita Engle tells the "inspiring and hopeful" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) love story of two teens fighting for climate action and human rights. Winged beings are meant to be free. And...
Once upon a broken heart
Garber, Stephanie
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART marks the launch of a new series from Stephanie Garber about love, curses, and the lengths that people will go to for happily ever after For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has...
Under rose-tainted skies
Gornall, Louise
Paper Book
Norah has agoraphobia and OCD. When groceries are left on the porch, she can't step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He's sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did.       Norah...
All the stars and teeth
Grace, Adalyn
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BELLADONNA SERIES! "Fierce and unrelenting...Do yourself a favor and get lost in this beautiful book!" --Tomi Adeyemi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Children of Blood and Bone<...
Girl in the blue coat
Hesse, Monica
Paper Book
This bestselling and award-winning novel about a teenage girl in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam speaks powerfully to the realities of grief, heartbreak, and bravery, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah and Ruta Sepetys. Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days procuring and...
The color of sound
Isler, Emily Barth
Paper Book
"[A] salient celebration of family, music, and neurodiversity." --starred, Publishers Weekly "A top pick for any middle school collection; a perfect book club pick and a reminder to all that patience and understanding can change lives." --starred, School Library Journal Twelve-year...
The breakup lists
Khorram, Adib
Paper Book
Love is more complicated than "boy meets boy" in bestselling author Adib Khorram's sharply funny new romantic comedy, set in the sordid world of high school theater Jackson Ghasnavi is a lot of things-a techie, a smoothie afficionado, a totally not obsessive list-maker-but one...
The house in the cerulean sea
Klune, TJ
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, INDIE and WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER! An Alex Award winner! An Indie Next Pick! A RUSA Reading List: Fantasy Winner! DELUXE EDITION--A beautiful new hardcover edition of one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels...
The roof over our heads
Kronzer, Nicole
Paper Book
Nicole Kronzer's The Roof Over Our Heads is a charming YA novel about a family who puts on an immersive, interactive play to save their historical home. Finn lives in a family of theater lovers. His older brothers are both actors, and one of his moms is an...
The giver
Lowry, Lois
Paper Book
A Newbery Medal WinnerAn ALA Notable Children's BookAn ALA Best Book for Young AdultsIt was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. Thus opens this haunting novel in which a boy inhabits a seemingly ideal world: a world without conflict, poverty, unemployment, divorce, injustice,...
No filter and other lies
Maldonado, Crystal
Paper Book
You should know, right now, that I'm a liar. They're usually little lies. Tiny lies. Baby lies. Not so much lies as lie adjacent. But they're still lies... Golden-haired Max Monroe has it all: beauty, friends, and tons of followers. Her picture...
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
Paper Book
"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,...
ASAP
Oh, Axie
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Axie Oh's ASAP is the much anticipated companion novel to beloved romance XOXO, following fan favorites Sori, the wealthy daughter of a K-pop company owner, and Nathaniel, her K-pop star ex-boyfriend, in a swoon-worthy second chance love...
The 9:09 project
Parsons, Mark H.
Paper Book
A thoughtful exploration about finding oneself, learning to hope after loss, and recognizing the role that family, friends, and even strangers can play in the healing process if you are open and willing to share your experience with others. It has been two years since his mom's...
A fragile enchantment
Saft, Allison
Paper Book
In this romantic fantasy of manners from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft, a magical dressmaker commissioned for a royal wedding finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom. Niamh Ó...
The edge of in between
Savaryn, Lorelei
Paper Book
A spellbinding, twisty, magical retelling of The Secret Garden that takes readers on a journey through what separates the living and the dead. Lottie lives in Vivelle, a vibrant city where life exists in brilliant technicolor and nearly everyone is born with magic,...
Between shades of gray
Sepetys, Ruta.
Paper Book
An international bestseller, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and now a major motion picture! Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray is now the film Ashes in the Snow! "Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this...
If I promise you wings
Small, A. K.
Paper Book
Hold Still meets You've Reached Sam in this lyrical novel about one young woman's journey through the Paris fashion scene as she chases promises, overcomes grief, and falls in love. Alix Leclaire has a plan: graduate high school and...
Arden Grey
Stoeve, Ray
Paper Book
Sixteen-year-old Arden Grey is struggling. Her mother has left their family, her father and her younger brother won't talk about it, and a classmate, Tanner, keeps harassing her about her sexuality-which isn't even public. (She knows she likes girls romantically, but she thinks she might be asexual....
The art of insanity
Webb, Christine
Paper Book
High schooler Natalie Cordova has just been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. Her mom insists she keep it secret. Putting up a front and hiding her mental illness from her classmates is going to be the hardest thing high schooler Natalie Cordova has ever done. It's her senior year...
Fourth Wing
Yarros, Rebecca
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times bestseller * TV series in development at MGM Amazon Studios with Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society * Amazon Best Books of the Year, #4 * Apple Best Books of the Year 2023 * Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023 * NPR "Books We Love" 2023 * Audible Best Books of...

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