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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Pride and prejudice
Austen, Jane
Paper Book
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister...
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 ...
The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne.
Paper Book
First in the ground-breaking HUNGER GAMES trilogy, this new foiled edition of THE HUNGER GAMES is available for a limited period of time. Set in a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called...
The maze runner
Dashner, James
Paper Book
  The first book in the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series - now a series of major movies starring Dylan O'Brien! SEE THE FILMS. READ THE BOOKS. ENTER THE MAZE ... When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name....
Legendborn
Deonn, Tracy
Paper Book
SOME LEGACIES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN. "I love the feeling of a magical world existing just beneath the surface of our own and this story gave me everything I wanted: incredible characters, ancient lore and secret societies - all grounded in our very real, very flawed world...
To all the boys I've loved before
Han, Jenny
Paper Book
  The book that started it all! All three books in the To All The Boys I've Loved Beforeseries have been made into feature length films for NETFLIX. A Times Best YA Book of All Time(2021) Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. One for...
The henna wars
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
Nishat and Flávia are rivals at school, but Nishat can't help the secret crush burning in her heart - even though her parents disapprove of the fact she likes girls. Can she possibly find her happy ever after? A gorgeous, heart-warming, queer YA love story for fans of Becky Albertalli.<...
Skulduggery Pleasant
Landy, Derek.
Ebook
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yeah. And dead. Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil...
Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, L. M.
Paper Book
Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are in for a big surprise. They're waiting for an orphan boy to help with the work at Green Gables, but a skinny red-haired girl turns up instead. Feisty and full of spirit, Anne Shirley charms her way into the Cuthbert's affection with her vivid imagination and constant...
Heartstopper. Volume 1
Oseman, Alice
Paper Book
*Now an acclaimed live-action Netflix series!* *Winner of Best Book I Wish I Could Read Again For The First Time - TikTok Book Awards* Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and...
Eragon
Paolini, Christopher.
Paper Book
Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon with Murtagh. Murtagh, a stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle, will publish in 2023. The first book in The Inheritance...
Northern lights
Pullman, Philip
Paper Book
Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond...
The lightning thief
Riordan, Rick
Ebook
Coming soon to Disney+! Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the first bestselling book in Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series. Half boy. Half God. ALL Hero. Look, I didn't want to be a...
Holes
Sachar, Louis
Paper Book
'You want to run away?' Mr Sir asked him. Stanley looked back at him, unsure what he meant. 'If you want to run away, go ahead, start running. I'm not going to stop you.' Stanley didn't know what kind of game Mr Sir was playing. 'We don't need a fence. Know why? Because we've got the...
Nimona
Stevenson, ND
Paper Book
Now a Netflix animated film! Nimona is the New York Times bestselling graphic novel sensation from ND Stevenson, based on his beloved and critically acclaimed web comic. Kirkus says, "If you're going to read one graphic novel this year, make it this...
The Hobbit : or There and back again
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paper Book
A brand new revised edition of the best-selling graphic novel based on the enchanting prelude to The Lord of the Rings. First published in 1990, David Wenzel's comic book adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was an immediate success and has become one of the best-loved graphic...
The book thief
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books...

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