2019 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Full list can be found here.


Acevedo, ElizabethThe Poet X. HarperTEEN/ HarperCollins. 2018. $17.99. ISBN: 9780062662804. Xiomara secretly creates poetry to explore her shifting relationship with her Dominican immigrant parents, religion, her body, and chemistry lab partner/crush Aman.

Anderson, Laurie Halse and Emily Carroll (Illustrator)Speak: The Graphic Novel. Macmillan/ Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. Illus. 2018. $19.99. ISBN: 978-0374300289. An incident at an end-of-summer party leaves Melinda speechless, an outcast, struggling to confront her torment while navigating the pressures of high school. A haunting and invigorating retelling of this award-winning novel that preserves Speak's powerful message.

Greenwald, Tommy. Game Changer. ABRAMS/ Amulet Books. 2018. $16.99. ISBN: 978-1419731433. Teddy Youngblood is one of the most talented incoming freshman football players on the team. After an incident at practice that lands Teddy in a coma, his family must fight to figure out what really happened.

Krosoczka, Jarrett. Hey Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction. Scholastic Press/ Graphix. 2018. $24.99. ISBN: 978-0545902472. Beloved graphic novel creator Jarrett Krosoczka tells the story of his childhood growing up with a mother addicted to heroin and how his grandparents’ support of his passion for art helped him survive.

McNeil, Gretchen#MurderTrending. Disney Book Group/ Freeform Books. 2018. $17.99. ISBN: 978-1368010023. In the near future, the prison system has been replaced with a reality TV show--Alcatraz 2.0--that features staged executions of convicted murderers. Dee Guerrera becomes a sensation by accidentally killing one of the executioners--but how long can she survive?

Reynolds, Jason. Track series (Sunny [vol. 3] and Lu [vol. 4]). Simon and Schuster/ Atheneum/ Caitlin Dlouhy Books. 2018. $16.99. ISBN: 978-1481450218 (Sunny) and 978-1481450249 (Lu). Sunny considers himself a murderer, because his mother died giving birth to him. He has been running track to please his dad, but what he really wants is to dance. Coach has the perfect solution. "Lightning" Lu is heading into the track championships as co-captain of his team. When unexpected hurdles come up, he wonders if lightning can really strike twice.

Saeed, AishaAmal Unbound. Penguin Random House/ Nancy Paulsen Books. 2018. $17.99. ISBN: 978-0399544682. Amal's dream of becoming a teacher in her small Pakistani village vanishes when she is forced to become an indentured servant to the powerful Khan family to pay off her own family's debt.

Stiefel, Chana. Animal Zombies!: And Other Blood-Sucking Beasts, Creepy Creatures, and Real-Life Monsters. National Geographic/ NatGeo Kids. 2018. $14.99. ISBN: 978-1426331497. Eye-popping photographs amp up the creepy factor in this fact book of strange and dangerous animals. 

Summers, CourtneySadie. Macmillan/ St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books. 2018. $17.99. ISBN: 978-1250105714. After the brutal murder of her little sister Mattie, Sadie will stop at nothing to track down the man responsible and bring him to justice.

Wang, JenThe Prince and the Dressmaker. Macmillan/ Roaring Brook Press/ First Second. 2018. $24.99. ISBN: 978-1626723634. Frances, a talented young dressmaker, is given the chance to be the Prince's personal seamstress. What she doesn't expect is what type of clothing Prince Sebastian will request.