10 Young Adult Books To Read Now

In this month’s magazine we’re all about the literary genre everyone can’t stop raving about. Here are some novels to add to your reading list, STAT.

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

A swooning will they/won’t they set in an American boarding school in Paris. Can quirky outsider Anna Oliphant and English boy in
France Étienne St. Clair make it work?

2. Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan

Aspiring tattoo artist Ces is an abuse survivor coming to terms with her future. If you want redemptive heartache, check out this Irish writer.

3. Dare Me by Megan Abbott

Toxic teenage friendships, cheerleading, an ambiguous death – Dare’s dark and twisted thriller is more foreboding than an episode of Stronger Things.

4. Vendetta by Catherine Doyle

Another rising Irish star, Doyle’s first book kicks off a dreamy dramatic series set in modern-day Chicago. Sophie’s life changes with five brothers, especially bad boy Nicoli, move into her neighbourhood.

5. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath’s an awkward college freshman whose twin sister is ignoring her at school, but she’s also a secret and celebrated fan fiction writer of Harry Potter-esque novels.

6. One by Sarah Crossan

Crossan’s novel about conjoined twins Grace and Tippi has raked in all of this year’s most-wanted awards. It’s a difficult read, but oh-so-excellent.

7. Asking For It by Louise O’Neill

A book so important it spawned an acclaimed documentary about Irish attitudes to consent, and there is a television adaptation in the works.

8. Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin

Dubliner Sarah Maria Griffin imagines future Dublin as a devastated landscape where survivors of an epidemic are held together with biomechanical parts. Heroine Nell Crane and robotic heart set out to build a boy from salvaged parts.

9. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

If you’re going to commit to the genre, you have got to read the Queen. Blume’s books are all about the feelings. This one covers the awkward age so well. Bras are bought, periods arrive, boys are noticed.

10. If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

Two best friends in love debate drastic measures to be together when one becomes engaged to someone else. The catch? They’re both young women living in Iran, where being gay can get you thrown in jail.

• deirdress sullivan
• In The Mag
• inthemag
• louise o neill
• sarah crossan
• sarah maria griffin
• ya
• ya books
• ya irish writers
• young adult