The Hunger Games (all 5 books) is always a safe option

48

Six of crows and song of Achilles

37

I just finished reading An Ember in the Ashes and I loved it. Also my bf swears by The Name of the Wind

21

the ya books from neal shusterman and leigh bardugo!! my angels of books!

19

I loved the bone witch, the political landscape and magic system was pretty cool, heartless by marissa meyers, first life, everland, most of these are geared towards younger girls, the maze runner was a good one for anyone, the false prince was great too

17

- We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson - Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo - Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan - Crier’s War by Nina Varela - Arc of a Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman

16

The Inheritance Games is what got me back into reading as a high school junior! The Selection, Caraval, A Good Girl's Guide To Murder, and Shadow and Bone are all great places to start in their respective genres as well

14

rick riordan is an amazing author (percy jackson author!!) he also has series called the heroes of olympus and the magnis chase series all amazing

13

Six of Crows, Eragon, and Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children were all favorites of mine. Also for a little younger audience but I still loved them in high school were the False Prince and the Naturals

10

Okay so these are not young adult but I read them as a high schooler/college student and think students would like them: the priory of the orange tree, babel, the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Circe (this is YA I think), throne of glass, a court of thorns and roses (I’m sure you know these last two and they’re def not everyone’s cup of tea but super entertaining and good for getting high schooler students into reading)

9

I loved the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas in high school! It’s a really good starter fantasy for kids that age. there is some spice after book 5 so just be aware of that when recommending (if you do read it).

8

I remember getting really into City of Ember sometime in high school

8

LOCKWOOD & CO!!!!! Genuinely one of my favorite series and I just read it last year at 22 like cannot recommend enough. Also stoneheart by Charlie fletcher & anything by Cornelia Funke.

7

Divergent would be super fun to teach in class as well! I think my 8th grade English teacher did it for us, we got a movie day and also had some fun activities like taking a faction test in class

7

Everything everything, my life next door, the detour, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter are some good ones

6

the inheritance games series

6

Not technically YA and probably best for upper hs but I use In Cold Blood by Truman Capote with my 11th graders for study of unreliable narrators and ethical journalism/narrative construction!

4

the raven cycle series, blood over bright haven (my personal fave), babel (and second fave), the pjo and hoo series (my 13yo cousin who NEVER reads finished the first book in a day), the vicious trilogy, the shadow and bone and six of crows series (grishaverse), the hunger games series, the book thief, the all of us villains duology (so underrated), don’t let the forest in, circe and song of achilles

4

Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan. It’s a collection of 3 stories taking place around the time period of WWII, and they’re all connected by a single harmonica. First story is especially good as it gives a glimpse into what it may have been like as a neurodivergent kid during the rise of the N@zi party (censored cause I don’t know Yik Yak policy). I read it for summer reading ages ago and it was so good

3

This isn’t young adult technically, more of a children’s series, but the warrior cats series is always a classic. Could be a good stepping stone for students who don’t read much! Easy read but still has some drama, suspense, and even death.

3

The false prince series, the maze runner, anything Holly Jackson or Jennifer Lynn Barnes, You’ve reached Sam, and We were liars

1

On the longer side but Mistborn and the Stormlight Archive for your fantasy readers! Helped me through high school a ton

1

Allegiant series is good, some of the assigned books I enjoyed were the great gatsby, and kafka on the shore was kinda wack

1

Make them shorter reads whatever you choose because you will be dealing with some reluctant readers who haven’t picked up a book since 5th grade AR reading challenges.

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