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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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

Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A ground-breaking, heart-racing thriller perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange An instant no. 1 New York Times Bestseller, April 4 2021 Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for YA Fiction, 2021 Winner of CrimeFest Best YA Crime Fiction Prize, 2022 ...

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

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2021 YA Fiction winner

The left-handed booksellers of London
Nix, Garth
Paper Book
A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of fantasy, Garth Nix. In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan...

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

Welcome to your period!
Stynes, Yumi
Paper Book
Getting your period for the first time can be mortifying, weird and messy - and asking questions about it can be even worse. But it doesn't have to be like that! Packed with honest advice on managing Aunt Flo like a boss, WELCOME TO YOUR PERIODinducts pre-teens into the...

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
Stranger Things meets Pullman's Northern Lights in this dark and magical fantasy adventure. ONE OF GOODREADING'S TOP 5 REVIEWED BOOKS OF 2018! Fourteen years ago, Jane Doe and her father arrived on the steps of the Manor - the entrance to a dangerous labyrinth connecting the island...

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 Week'A modern classic .....

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
An uncompromising and heartbreaking end to the story of Nicky and Kenny, the beloved brothers of the Truth of Things series, beautifully told in McGowan's gritty realism. WINNER OF THE 2020 CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL. Things are tense at home for Nicky and Kenny....

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
WINNER OF THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2021 LONGLISTED FOR THE POLARI CHILDREN'S & YA BOOK PRIZE 2022 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman, author of Solitaire and the graphic...

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
How 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.Eden McKinley knows she can't count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So...

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

How to make friends with the dark
Glasgow, Kathleen
Paper Book
The story of one girl's quest for clarity and forgiveness after an awful, universe-gone-mad-mistake. From the internationally bestselling author of Girl in Pieces 'Breathtaking and heartbreaking, and I loved it with all my heart.' Jennifer Niven I thought I was done with...

The International Literacy Association Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards -- 2020 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
From the Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and A Darker Shade of Magic comes a standalone novel where The Secret Garden meets Stardust.

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2022 YA Fantasy winner

Rule of wolves
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone - Season 2 streaming now! Discover what comes next for the daring rogue Nikolai in the riveting sequel to King of Scars. The wolves are circling and a young king will face his...

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2021 YA Fantasy 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

Five feet apart
Lippincott, Rachael
Paper Book
In this moving story that's perfect for fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, two teens fall in love with just one minor complication--they can't get within a few feet of each other without risking their lives. Can you love someone you can never touch? ...

Goodreads Choice Awards -- 2019 YA Fiction winner


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