Young Adult Autumn Reads

 I’m an adult and I still enjoy reading young adult (YA) books. Young adult books target readers ages 12-18. I'm sure many of us have heard of some of the most popular YA titles like the Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. These books are rarely found sitting on the shelf at the Robbinsville Branch where I work as a children’s librarian.

When reading a YA novel, I like the raw emotions, young protagonists, tough topics, and quick pace - I find them a bit nostalgic, too. Some of the world building in the fantasy and dystopian books, like The Cruel Prince and Caraval, is excellent. The stakes can feel high in YA, but it also may offer a hopeful outlook on life. 

Some authors that I grew up with are now writing YA for the younger generation and I've seen their writing evolve. Melissa de La Cruz once had a vampire series - they were very trendy for a moment - and now writes a variety of thrillers and adapts the popular Disney “Descendants” films into books. Stephanie Perkins wrote YA romance and now has a few horror books out. There’s Someone Inside Your House was adapted into a TV series on Netflix.

I read If You Come Softly, by award-winning and renowned author Jacqueline Woodson, when I was a teen. Heartless Hunter captivated me with a strong female protagonist and witchery, perfect for the season. The Sawkill Girls has an eerie and atmospheric feeling, taking place on an island where girls are missing. Reading a YA Lynn Painter book feels like stepping into a rom-com movie. Megan Lally's books cannot be put down but be warned they are quite dark. 

Heartstopper, Looking for Alaska, One of Us is Lying, There’s Someone Inside Your House, and Twilight have all been adapted to movies and television shows, so you may watch them after you read the books. Netflix has announced that the book Better than the Movies (prequel to Nothing Like the Movies) will be adapted into a Netflix film. 

Autumn is coming and below is a list of the YA books I mentioned and more. You will find cozy fall vibes, moody dark academia, whodunit thrillers, and scary horror. Curl up with a hot beverage of choice and a blanket near a window with a view of the coming autumn leaves and get reading.

Contemporary

• Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds 

• If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson 

• Looking for Alaska by John Green   

• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell 

Dark Academia

• The Headmasters List by Melissa De la Cruz 

• The Ivies by Alexa Donne 

• The Legacies by Jessica Goodman 

• When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven 

• Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 

Fantasy

• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 

• Caraval by Stephanie Garber 

• Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli 

• House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig 

• Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco 

Horror 

• The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones 

• How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine 

• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand 

• There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins 

• The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson 

Paranormal

• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas 

• Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma 

• Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker 

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 

• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer 

Romance

• Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood 

• The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado 

• Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson 

• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

• Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter  

Thrillers

• The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas 

• Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez 

• The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

• That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally 

• One of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus 

Miss Grace, Robbinsville Branch