This is for those of you who used to love to read. You’d scream at your parents for making you come down to dinner when you were about to finish a book. You’d scream at any interruption because, let’s face it, at that point your Young Adult lit had way more going for it than your Young Adult life.
But then you “grew up” and went to college, where you spend half your time being the most degenerate clean-underwear-less human that ever existed and the other half listening to NPR on your internship commute and telling your grandpa what you learned in Gender Studies class. Your reading has fallen in the second category of your life. You are a Smart Adult and you should read Smart Adult books.
Yes, Gone Girl was awesome, but you have to admit that scrolling through your Instagram feed is just way more tempting of a before-bed activity than reading any of the other Adult books you’ve attempted. You decide you just don’t like reading anymore. Books are too long and depressing and are putting a damper on your awesome life. Plus, it’s embarrassing to admit that you don’t really understand or care that much about the breakdowns of middle-aged cheating wives or how five CEOs changed the face of the stock market.
As someone who fell into that trap myself, I am here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be like this. We’re still young adults! And while to me, there seem to be hardly any books about college, there are still TONS of great books being published every day about high-schoolers, who, while we may hate to admit it, are actually much closer in age and experience with us than the characters in our Smart Adult Books.
It’s time to stop trying to outsmart ourselves and start reading again. I’ve compiled a list of awesome YA books that came out in the last five years and, to help you out, I’ve put some of our preteen favorites next to them. Just find the book twelve-year-old you couldn’t put down and next to it you’ll have your next YA read. Tell your roommate/parent/boss/kid you nanny to leave you alone for the next seven hours.
If you liked Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988), you'll love I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (2014).
If the BFG was your first BFF or you tried to make your teacher’s glass of water fall over with your eyes, you’ll love Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You The Sun. It is about super-artsy twins Noah and Jude, from Noah’s perspective when they’re 13 and Jude’s when they’re 16. A lot happens in between and the whole story sits just on the brink of magical. There are made-up words, unexpected love interests, and SO many feelings.
If you liked The Clique by Lisi Harrison (2004), you'll love The List by Siobhan Vivian (2012).
The Clique was the ultimate girl drama series of the 2000s, but we can’t forget that under all those brand name-drops and outfit ratings we were let into the girls’ insecurities that they kept hidden from all of OCD. In The List, we get the stories of not four but eight girls who have been named either prettiest or ugliest in their grade by a mysterious list that is posted at their high school each year. The “pretty” girls have just as hard a time dealing with it as the “ugly” ones.
If you liked The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton (1967), you'll love More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (2015).
Yes, you had to read this for English class, but it was pretty damn good. The Outsiders dealt with brotherhood, fights, and death in a way that made you think, not feel sorry for the boys like you would expected. More Happy Than Not does this too. It is about Aaron Soto, a teenager from the Bronx who wants to get a memory altering procedure to forget that he’s gay. Highlights are his hilarious group of neighborhood friends and a plot twist that will leave your head spinning.
If you liked Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen (2001), you'll love Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (2013).
The cute boy next door falls for the quirky girl who has no friends. Who can resist that love story? Julianna from Flipped talks to a tree; Cath from Fangirl spends all her time in her room writing fan fiction, but this doesn’t stop them from scoring the sweetest, most loyal boys at their respective schools. And bonus – this one takes place in college!
If you likedJust Listen by Sarah Dessen (2006), you'll love Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen (2015).
Yes, our favorite chick-lit author Sarah Dessen is still writing books! And they are still just as relatable. Her most recent book, “Saint Anything,” is about Sydney, a shy girl whose brother is in jail and takes up all her parents’ attention. She goes to a new school and makes friends with the Chathams, wild Layla, and her compassionate brother Mac. With the help of pizza and a whole lot of french fries, they make her life a million times more exciting.
If you likedStargirl by Jerry Spinelli (2000), you'll love Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (2015).
I never fully understood Stargirl, but I still loved it – a whimsical story about an out-of-this-world girl who everyone is simultaneously fascinated by and threatened by her inability to fit the norm. Bone Gap’s Roza has Stargirl’s magical quality, and she doesn’t keep it to herself. She brings brothers Finn and Sean into her alternate world with her.
If you liked Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977), you'll love See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles (2012).
In both of these books, there is no way around it: You will cry. Just like Katherine Paterson, Jo Knowles paints the perfect picture of childhood in Fern, a shy 12-year-old in a family of six whose father owns a restaurant. Each family member deals with issues of their own, but they come together after a terrible tragedy. The kids in this book are young, but the emotions definitely aren’t.
Read on, my friends!
