NPR’s “100 Best-Ever Teen Novels” Plus News!
1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
7. The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry*
12. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams
13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
16. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
17. The Princess Bride, by William Golding
18. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
19. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth
20. Paper Towns, by John Green
21. The Mortal Instruments (series), by Cassandra Clare
22. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
23. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
24. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
25. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
26. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
27. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
28. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfeld
29. The Infernal Devices (series), by Cassandra Clare
30. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
31. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series), by Anne Brashares
33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green, David Levithan
35. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
36. Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones
37. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
38. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
39. Vampire Academy (series), by Richelle Mead
40. Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom Trilogy (series), by Garth Nix
41. Dune, by Frank Herbert
42. Discworld / Tiffany Aching (series), by Terry Pratchett
43. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
44. The Dark is Rising (series), by Susan Cooper
45. Graceling (series), Kristin Cashore*
46. Forever…, by Judy Blume
47. Earthsea (series), by Ursula K. Le Guin
48. Inheritance Cycle (series), by Christopher Paolini
49. The Princess Diaries (series), by Meg Cabot
50. The Song of the Lioness (series), by Tamora Pierce*
51. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
52. Delirium (series), by Lauren Oliver
53. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
54. Hush, Hush Saga (series), by Stephanie Perkins
55. 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson
56. It’s Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini
57. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (series), by Libba Bray
58. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
59. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
60. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
61. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
62. Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen
63. A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L’Engle
64. The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
65. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (series), by Jonathan Stroud
66. Bloodlines (series), by Richelle Mead
67. Fallen (series), by Lauren Kate
68. House of Night (series), by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
69. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
70. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
71. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver
72. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
73. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
74. The Maze Runner Trilogy (series), by James Dashner
75. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
76. The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
77. Crank (series), by Ellen Hopkins
78. Matched (series), by Allie Condie
79. Gallagher Girls (series), by Ally Carter
80. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
81. Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters (series), by Tamora Pierce
82. I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak
83. The Immortals (series), by Tamora Pierce
84. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series), by Patricia C. Wrede
85. Chaos Walking (series), by Patrick Ness
86. Circle of Magic (series), by Tamora Pierce
87. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor
88. Feed, by M.T. Anderson
89. Weetzie Bat (series), by Francesca Lia Block
90. Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
91. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series), by Louise Rennison
92. Leviathan (series), by Scott Westerfeld
93. The House of the Scorpion, by Scott Westerfeld
94. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (series), by Diana Wynne Jones
95. The Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen
96. Gone (series), by Michael Grant
97. The Shiver Trilogy (series), by Maggie Stiefvater
98. The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
99. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson
100. Betsy-Tacy Books (series), by Maud Hart Lovelace
*I have read The Giver, but not the entire series yet. Same goes with Anne of Green Gables, the Graceling series, and the Song of the Lioness series.
So, wow, I’ve only read 25 out of 100. Granted, I only started really reading Young Adult novels about a year or two ago… Anyway, I hope to read many more of these (I own lots of them!) and I’ll update this list as I go.
A YA Book Blogger Top 100?
I feel like we YA book bloggers should make our own list. Sure, many book bloggers voted for this list, but a lot are really upset that certain books weren’t even available to vote for. So I’d like to ask you all–what would you think if I asked all YA book bloggers (or any book bloggers who read YA books, even if their blog isn’t devoted completely to YA) to nominate 10 books, and then we’d go from there? Would you participate? Would you help me spread the word so that we’d get as many book bloggers to vote as possible? You don’t need to spread the word yet, just let me know if you’d be willing to nominate, vote, and spread the word. If people aren’t interested, I won’t do it, because it probably will be a lot of work! But I’d really like to do it!
I know there have been polls in the past where we can vote on the best books of the previous year, or our book boyfriends, etc. But I haven’t seen one where just book bloggers nominate and vote for their favorite YA books of all time. If there is one, please let me know!
Other News…
I have been nominated for a Bloggy Award! I’m so excited and honored! I have no idea who nominated me, but I was nominated for my review of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which was actually my very first review on this blog! So thank you to the mystery person who nominated me–you’re awesome! And apparently I have to have several nominations if I want to be an official nominee, so if you guys think I deserve the award, please nominate me again!
Also, I just came up with a new feature for my blog, which I’m super excited about! I’ve been trying to come up with a feature for a while now–I really wanted to do something other than just reviews and memes. I really wanted to come up with my own kind of individual posts for my blog. So coming soon, I’m going to have a feature called Blind Reads. I’m not going to tell you guys what it’s all about yet, but look for it soon! And if anyone wants to design me a little button/header thing for the posts, that would be super awesome! (I’m looking at you Jessie!) ;)
I’m going to Austin Teen Book Festival in September! There are so many authors that will be there, but I’m most excited for Marissa Meyer! I’ll be reading a lot of books by the authors that will be there over the next two months. Let me know if you’re going to be there too, and hopefully we can meet up!
And one more thing: coming soon Jessie from The Daily Bookmark and I will be hosting another readalong. This time, we’ll be reading the His Dark Materials series! We’ll be reading all 3 books and the readalong will be throughout September and October. We hope to have some more informational posts up soon, and we’d love for anyone and everyone to join us!
Have a great day and DFTBA!
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fakesteph
August 10, 2012 at 11:28 amooooooooomgggggggg I LOVE His Dark Materials. SO so so so so much. And I can't wait to see your new feature.
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 12, 2012 at 6:19 pmYou should definitely join us and reread the series! Jessie and I haven't read the series yet but we're excited to!
Jessie Marie
August 10, 2012 at 12:02 pmNPR's list is an interesting one. Books I would never have guessed were on there made the list while some were predictably there. : )
I would LOVE to make you a banner for Blind Reads. Problem #1: I updated the software on my laptop to OS X Mountain Lion. And you know what stinks? My graphics program totally tanked and will not open for anything! So I'm probably going to have to fork over $150 for something different but the same capabilities. Frustrating. So, I will TRY to make something. But I can't promise anything in the very near future…
Yay for HDM! *goes back to slogan generating*
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 12, 2012 at 6:20 pmNo worries! If you don't have the software or whatever, don't worry about it! That sucks that the program messed up. I'll see what the hubs can do. :)
Kate@Midnight Book Girl
August 10, 2012 at 12:54 pmI'm actually surprised by how many of these I've read! Congratulations on the nom for a Bloggy Award! I always have a hard time believing that you haven't been book blogging for years, you're a natural!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 12, 2012 at 6:21 pmThanks Kate! I guess my Creative Writing degree actually has been put to use! ;)
pagesunbound
August 10, 2012 at 4:37 pmThere's a lot to reply to in this post!
I always find these lists interesting because "best" is so open to interpretation. For instance, I LOVE Divergent, but I wouldn't vote for it for a "best" list because I think that it's fun, not necessarily that it has a ton of literary merit. I would totally participate in your own poll, though!
Congratulations on the nomination!
It's been awhile since I read His Dark Materials! Sounds fun!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 12, 2012 at 6:22 pmYeah, it's kind of a catch-all post! You should totally join us in the HDM readalong! We'd love to have you! :D
Jen Ryland/YA Romantics
August 10, 2012 at 5:21 pmOoh – I've read quite a few of these. But I'd argue that some of them aren't technically YA. Congrats on the award, which is well-deserved. Im computer less for a week but if I can get myself to the website I'd love to vote!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 12, 2012 at 6:23 pmYeah, they said that they had to debate whether to include some that might not necessarily be considered YA… Have fun on your time away from the computer! :)
Kimberly @ On the Wings of Books
August 12, 2012 at 1:01 amCongrats on the nomination! That's awesome :)
I am not surprised that I've only read 20 of these, some of them I plan to get to but some of them I know I'll never read.
I'm very interested in your new feature, I can't wait to see what it is (and props for coming up with one, I just can't think of anything).
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 12, 2012 at 6:24 pmYeah, I'd really like to read a lot of these, but there are a few I'll probably not read…
I've been trying to come up with a feature basically the whole time I've had this blog, and finally I came up with one! You'll think of one too, I'm sure! :D
Bengal Reads
August 13, 2012 at 2:06 pmI would definitely love to participate in voting and spreading the word Andrea! The books on that list look awesome and I think I have read a few :) I would also love to participate in the read-along because I didn't get to participate when you did the Wither read a long :D
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
August 15, 2012 at 9:27 pmThanks! I think I might hold off on doing the poll, because I only got a couple of yeses. But you should totally participate in the readalong!
LHughes
September 16, 2012 at 2:44 pmI thought the NPR list was really interesting. But I was a little frustrated because there were a bunch of books on the list that I wouldn't really categorize as teen novels (just classics that teens happen to read and enjoy). I wish they'd stuck to books that were written specifically FOR TEENS and not included crossover titles. But oh well.