How We Chose the 100 Best YA Books of All Time

July 2024 · 3 minute read

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

Alabama Moon, Watt Key

The Alchemyst, Michael Scott

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

Anne of Green Gables (series), L.M. Montgomery

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

Beezus & Ramona, Beverly Cleary

Blankets, Craig Thompson

The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak

Boxers & Saints, Gene Luen Yang

Boy Proof, Cecil Castellucci

Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson

The Call of the Wild, Jack London

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier

The Chronicles of Narnia (series), C.S. Lewis

The Chronicles of Prydain (series), Lloyd Alexander

City of the Beasts, Isabel Allende

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon

Dangerous Angels, Francesca Lia Block

Danny the Champion of the World, Roald Dahl

Dogsbody, Diana Wynne Jones

Esperanza Rising, Pam Muñoz Ryan

Every Day, David Levithan

Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Myers

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

Feed, M.T. Anderson

For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Frindle, Andrew Clements

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg

The Giver, Lois Lowry

The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

The Grey King, Susan Cooper

Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh

Harry Potter (series), J.K. Rowling

Hatchet, Gary Paulsen

A High Wind in Jamaica, Richard Hughes

The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

Holes, Louis Sachar

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick

Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson

Johnny Tremain, Esther Hoskins Forbes

The Knife Of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness

Little House on the Prairie (series) Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Looking for Alaska, John Green

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lost Conspiracy, Frances Hardinge

Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers

Matilda, Roald Dahl

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo

A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness

Monster, Walter Dean Myers

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O’Brien

The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart

A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly

Number the Stars, Lois Lowry

The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

Percy Jackson & the Olympians (series), Rick Riordan

The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

The Pigman, Paul Zindel

The Princess Bride, William Goldman

Private Peaceful, Michael Morpurgo

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor

Sabriel, Garth Nix

Saffy’s Angel, Hilary McKay

Secret (series), Pseudonymous Bosch

A Separate Peace, John Knowles

A Series of Unfortunate Events (series), Lemony Snicket

Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson

The Sword in the Stone (The Once and Future King series), T.H. White

Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Edgar Allen Poe

Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke

Tiger Lily, Jodi Lynn Anderson

The Tiger Rising, Kate DiCamillo

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Twilight (series), Stephenie Meyer

The Wall, Peter Sis

The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin

Whale Talk, Chris Crutcher

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead

Where Things Come Back, John Corey Whaley

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

Wonder, R.J. Palacio

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Frank. L. Baum

A Wreath for Emmett Till, Marilyn Nelson

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle

The Yearling, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

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