Crossover Books (YA)

“Crossover” is what the publishing industry calls books that appeal to both adults and teenagers. Books can cross over in both directions: they’re especially popular if they win awards, or reviewers rave about them. Here are thirty great reads that both adults and young adults might enjoy.

Updated June 19, 2024
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The handmaid's tale /
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939-
Paper Book
First published in 1985, The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader is unable to forget its images and its forecast. With more than two million copies in print, it is Margaret Atwood's most popular and compelling novel. Set in the near future, it describes life in what once was...
Northanger Abbey. [large print]
Austen, Jane, 1775-1817
Paper Book
Jane Austen's first novel, "Northanger Abbey"--published posthumously in 1818--tells the story of Catherine Morland and her dangerously sweet nature, innocence, and sometime self-delusion. Though Austen's fallible heroine is repeatedly drawn into scrapes while vacationing at Bath and during her...
Jane Eyre.
Bronte, Charlotte, 1816-1855.
Paper Book
'The masterwork of a great genius' William Makepeace Thackeray A novel of intense emotional power, heightened atmosphere and fierce intelligence, Jane Eyre dazzled and shocked readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom on her own...
Wuthering heights.
Bronte, Emily 1818-1848.
Paper Book
Emily Bronte's dark romance, with an introduction from best-selling author Alice Hoffman Heathcliff comes to the brooding mansion of Wuthering Heighths as an orphan child. Cathy is the daughter of the wealthy family that takes him in. They are drawn together from the moment they...
A short history of nearly everything /
Bryson, Bill
Paper Book
One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer. InA Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. InIn A Sunburned Country, he confronted...
The city of brass.
Chakraborty, S. A.
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Library Journal | Vulture | The Verge | SYFYWire *Finalist for the World Fantasy Award: Best Novel *Nominated for the Locus Award: Best First Novel *Finalist for the British Fantasy Award: Best Newcomer<...
A winter's promise.
Dabos, Christelle, 1980-
Paper Book
Amazon Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book of 2018 One of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best YA Books of 2018 One of Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of the Year A National Indie Bestseller Longlisted for Irish YA prize Great Reads Award<...
Great expectations.
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870
Paper Book
.0000000000One of Dickens's most renowned and enjoyable novels, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy who wishes to transcend his humble origins and finds himself unexpectedly given the opportunity to live a life of wealth and respectability. Over the course of the tale, in which...
Washington Black.
Edugyan, Esi
Paper Book
Winner of the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize A dazzling, original novel of slavery and freedom, from the author of the international bestseller Half-Blood Blues When two English brothers arrive at a Barbados sugar plantation, they bring with them a darkness beyond what the slaves have...
Anne Frank's diary : the graphic adaptation
Folman, Ari
Paper Book
A timeless story rediscovered by each new generation, The Diary of a Young Girl stands without peer. This graphic edition remains faithful to the original, while the stunning illustrations interpret and add layers of visual meaning and immediacy to this classic work of Holocaust...
Lord of the flies.
Golding, William, 1911-1993.
Paper Book
A plane crashes on an uninhabited island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. In...
The whale rider.
Ihimaera, Witi.
Paper Book
Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny. Her people claim descent from Kahutia Te Rangi, the legendary "whale rider." In every generation since Kahutia, a male heir has inherited the title of chief. But...
Klara and the sun.
Ishiguro, Kazuo, 1954-
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, THE GUARDIAN, ESQUIRE, VOGUE, TIME, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE TIMES (UK),...
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Lo, Malinda
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller "The queer romance we've been waiting for."--Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root--that desire to look, to move closer, to touch....
A court of thorns and roses.
Maas, Sarah J.
Paper Book
THE INSTANTNEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R.R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down! When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like...
Animal farm.
Orwell, George, 1903-1950
Paper Book
A stunning hardback edition of the classic novel. Animal Farm is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Orwell's immortal satire -- 'against Stalin' as he wrote to his French translator -- can be read on many levels. With its piercing clarity and deceptively simple style...
Bloom. [graphic novel]
Panetta, Kevin.
Paper Book
For fans of Heartstopper! Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band--if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a...
The book of Dust. Volume one, La belle sauvage
Pullman, Philip
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Philip Pullman returns to the parallel world of His Dark Materials to expand on the story of Lyra, "one of fantasy's most indelible heroines" (The New York Times Magazine). Don't miss Volume II of The Book of Dust: The...
The priory of the orange tree
Shannon, Samantha
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling "epic feminist fantasy perfect for fans of Game of Thrones" (Bustle). NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: AMAZON (Top 100 Editors Picks and Science Fiction and Fantasy) * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY * BOOKPAGE...
This one summer. [graphic novel]
Tamaki, Mariko
Paper Book
Winner of the Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration Rose and Windy are summer friends whose families have visited Awago Beach for as long as they can remember. But this year is different, and they soon find themselves tangled in teen love and family crisis. From the creators...
The hate u give
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best  ·  William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" --Jason Reynolds "Stunning." -...
Blankets. [graphic novel]
Thompson, Craig
Paper Book
Named one of Time's top 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time! "...A rarity: a first-love story so well remembered and honest that it reminds you what falling in love feels like. ...achingly beautiful." - Time magazine Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin...
Night
Wiesel, Elie
Paper Book
A memorial edition of Elie Wiesel's seminal memoir of surviving the Nazi death camps, with tributes by President Obama and Samantha Power When Elie Wiesel died in July 2016, the White House issued a memorial statement in which President Barack Obama called him "the conscience...

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