2025 Global Reads for TeensUnpublished

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A Finalist for the 2023 YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. Rex Ogle's companion to Free Lunch and Punching Bag weaves humor, heartbreak, and hope into life-affirming poems that honor his grandmother's legacy. In his award-winning memoir...

After his parents are brutally murdered, Ahiahia is raised by his grandmother in a camp surrounded by enemies. His grandmother knows that eventually the camp will turn on Ahiahia, just as it did his parents, so she chants a protection chant over the clothing that she lovingly sews for him, over the...

National Book Award WINNER Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature WINNER An INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An INSTANT INDIE BESTSELLER! A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Century "All My Rage is a love story,...

Part dark gothic fantasy, part journey into the bizarre, this delicious blending of tall tales and Latin American surrealism will haunt you as you devour it! "Highly imaginative and powerfully affecting."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review 1836,...

How many female Viking warriors does it take to make a fact? When archaeologist Dr. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson discovers that the bones contained in the most significant Viking warrior grave ever opened are, in fact, female, she and her team upend centuries of...

Seventeen-year-old Ginny Park is about to get expelled from high school - again. Stephanie, the picture book author who took Ginny into her Oregon home after she was kicked out of school in Hawaii, isn't upset: she only wants to know why. But Ginny has always been in-between; she can't bring herself...

For fans of Talia Hibbert and Lynn Painter comes a funny and unflinchingly honest story about a teen who must come to terms with her disability and what it means for her identity, her love life, and her future. Brynn Kwan is desperate for her high school persona to be real....

In this propulsive memoir from Achut Deng and Keely Hutton, inspired by a harrowing New York Times article, Don't Look Back tells a powerful story showing both the ugliness and the beauty of humanity, and the power of not giving up. I want life.

From the author of I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Youth Literature, comes a sharply observed YA novel about friendship, family, and self-discovery, amid a backdrop of a Filipino debut. Lucia Cruz may be turning eighteen this...

A swoony rivals-to-lovers romance . . . Family secrets that can't stay buried . . . A globe-spanning treasure hunt with puzzles to solve . . . This latest YA novel by acclaimed writer Gloria Chao takes readers on a soaring adventure through love, loss, and the lively...

For fans of Frankly in Love and Tokyo Ever After comes a romantic dramedy about finding love and reconnecting with your culture in the most surprising ways. Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and...

In her coming-of-age memoir, refugee advocate Luma Mufleh writes of her tumultuous journey to reconcile her identity as a gay Muslim woman and a proud Arab-turned-American refugee. With no word for "gay" in Arabic, Luma may not have known what to call the feelings she had...

"Academic rivals portrayed to perfection... An all-time top favorite." --Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends  "Utterly unique, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written." --Gloria...

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...

LITTLE MOUNTAIN, BIG TROUBLE is an inspirational story about a young boy with a big dream and the courage to chase that dream no matter the obstacles.Twelve-year-old EJ is a short, unpopular, shy, self-described loser. He lives with his mother and younger brother on the wrong side of town and spends...

Most Anticipated Middle Grade Reads of 2024: Teen Librarian Toolbox, School Library Journal For fans of Donna Barba Higuera''s Lupe Wong Won''t Dance and Aida Salazar''s The Moon Within comes Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice - a contemporary...

A Syrian American and Syrian refugee who are at odds must chase a haunting secret that leads them all the way to Jordan in this sharp-witted novel perfect for fans of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.  Khadija Shami is a Syrian American high school...

Stonewall Book Award Winner * A Best Book of the Year from the Guardian, ALA Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and BookPage From the award-winning author of Like a Love Story comes a sweeping story of three generations of boys in the same Iranian family. Perfect for fans of Last Night at the...

A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick! An instant New York Times bestseller! The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel Magnifique returns with this stunning dark academic fantasy full of deadly magic and dangerous secrets, perfect for fans of...

"A breath of fresh air and punch to the gut all rolled into one." --Adib Khorram, award-winning author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay This "lyrical" (Kirkus Reviews) coming-of-age novel for fans of Darius the Great Is Not Okay and On the Come Up,...

"An incredibly fun thrill-ride by a masterful storyteller." -Marie Lu, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Stars And Smoke A teenage sorcerer's apprentice must solve her boss's murder in order to prove her innocence in this twisty, magic-infused murder mystery...

Get ready to fall in love in this hilarious romcom about a girl who begins a fake relationship with the famous actor in her class, perfect for fans of Meg Cabot and Jenny Han, by New York Times bestselling author Ann Liang. When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin's essay about meeting the...

In her remarkable second novel following her Governor General's Award-winning debut, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Jen Ferguson writes about the hurt of a life stuck in past tense, the hum of connections that cannot be severed, and one week in a small, snowy town that changes...

Eighteen-year-old Filipino American Ruby Santos has been unmoored since her mother's death. She can't apply to art school like she's always dreamed, and she and her father have had to move into the basement of their home and rent out the top floor while they work to pay back her mother's hospital...

An unflinching look at ten young lives suspended outside of time--and bravely proceeding anyway--inside the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece. Every war, famine, and flood spits out survivors. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cites an...

From the bestselling creator of HEARTSTOPPER and LOVELESS, a deeply funny and deeply moving exploration of identity, friendship, and fame. For Angel Rahimi life is about one thing: The Ark -- a boy band that's taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark's fandom has given her everything she...

The romance of Becky Albertalli meets the nuanced family dynamics of Darius the Great is Not Okay in this YA novel from acclaimed author Sabina Khan. Mehar hasn't been back to India since she and her mother moved away when she was only four. Hasn't visited her father,...

From the New York Times bestselling author Dustin Thao, We Are Okay meets Wandavision in this novel about loss, and learning to let go. After the death of his best friend, Eric Ly creates imaginary scenarios in his head to deal with his grief...

In this debut contemporary YA romance by bestselling author Alisha Rai, a girl with undocumented family members goes viral after saving her crush's life in disguise. A must read for fans of Sandhya Menon and Nicola Yoon.  A Phenomenal Book Club Pick! It's a...

Even though Mila is no longer a child, she is overcome by memories - memories of a childhood halfway between reality and dreaming, and not knowing which is which. In her dreams, Mila and her family leave their bombed village to stand in line for weeks on end, suitcases in hand, hoping to move on to...

A girl moves from Nigeria to America and navigates her senior year with the help of teen movies and a new crush, in this story described as "the next coming-of-age hit, perfect for fans of Jenny Han" by Booklist in a starred review! Enore Adesuwa doesn't dive into things...

A debut young adult novel that's Pride & Prejudice with a dash of magic, about a booksmart teen who spends the summer in Mexico City, meets two very cute boys, attempts to learn Spanish, and uncovers a family secret that changes her life forever. Lola Espinoza is...