New to High School? (YA)

In Year 9 and stuck for something to read? Here are 31 of our favourite books or series to get you started. Don’t forget to talk to your school librarian as well — they’re experts on all things bookishly good!

Updated June 19, 2024
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Wellington City Libraries Youth team at Wellington City Libraries
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New to High School? (YA)

In Year 9 and stuck for something to read? Here are 31 of our favourite books or series to get you started. Don’t forget to talk to your school librarian as well — they’re experts on all things bookishly good!

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Pride and prejudice
Austen, Jane
Paper Book
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. When Elizabeth Bennet first meets...
The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times Bestseller.Katniss Everdeen is a 16-yearold girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what was once the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. Now the Capitol demands one boy and one...
Correr o morir
Dashner, James
Paper Book
When Thomas wakes up in the elevator, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade--a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers...
I, Coriander
Gardner, Sally.
CD
It is night, and I have lit the first of seven candles to write my story by. My name is Coriander Hobie, and I have a great many things to tell–of silver shoes that tempted me and an alligator most rare; of London, the home of my childhood, and another, stranger land, one that I thought only...
To all the boys I've loved before
Han, Jenny
Paper Book
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is now a major motion picture on Netflix and the inspiration for the spin-off series XO, Kitty--now streaming on Netflix! A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Lara Jean's love life gets complicated in this...
Skulduggery Pleasant
Landy, Derek.
Paper Book
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant Ace Detective Snappy Dresser Razor-tongued Wit Crackerjack Sorcerer and Walking, Talking, Fire-throwing Skeleton --as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year...
Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, L. M.
Paper Book
""It's a million times nicer to be Anne of Green Gables than Anne of nowhere in particular, isn't it?""Orphaned Anne has always dreamed of having a real home and family. When she is accidently sent to Green Gables Farm to live with Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbert, she immediately knows that this will be home....
The recruit
Muchamore, Robert.
Paper Book
A young foster child gets inducted into an elite group of underage spies in this gripping first book in the young adult CHERUB series perfect for graduates of City Spies and Spy School. Following the death of his mother, eleven-year-old James Choke gets separated from his half...
Eragon
Paolini, Christopher.
CD
Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy - until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices...
The lightning thief
Riordan, Rick.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller Percy Jackson and the Olympians series now streaming on Disney+! The hardcover edition of the first book in Rick Riordan's thrilling middle grade series, filled with magic, Greek mythology, and plenty of monsters...
Hoyos
Sachar, Louis
Paper Book
When Stanley Yelnats is falsely convicted of stealing a famous basketball player's sneakers, he opts to do his time at Camp Green Lake rather than go to jail. In fact, no lake exists, and Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center, is anything but green. This amusing, adventurous, and highly...
Steelheart
Sanderson, Brandon.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller from Brandon Sanderson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Oathbringer, coauthor of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, and creator of the internationally bestselling Mistborn trilogy. And don't miss the rest of the Reckoners...
The hobbit : or, There and back again
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paper Book
"In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." So begins one of the most beloved and delightful tales in the English language. Set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth, at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is one of literature's most enduring and...
The book thief
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME * A NEW YORK TIMES READER TOP 100 PICK FOR BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY The extraordinary, beloved novel about the...
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