2020 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Full list can be found here.


10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston. Disney: Hyperion. 2019. $17.99. ISBN:9781368027496. After Sophie’s boyfriend breaks up with her, she goes to spend the holidays with her loving grandparents and huge extended family. They set her up on 10 blind dates. Some of these dates are hilarious failures, some promising, while her ideal future boyfriend may be nearby the whole time.

 

Belly Up by Eva Darrows. HarperCollins Inkyard Press. 2019. $18.99. ISBN:9781335012357. Serendipity spends one night with a boy and gets pregnant. At 17, deciding what to do is difficult, and changes this will bring to her life are overwhelming. With the support of her family and best friend, as well as a new boyfriend, she makes her way through.

 

The Haunted by Danielle Vega. Razorbill. 2019. $17.99. ISBN: 978-0451481467. Hendricks and her family have relocated to a small town looking for a clean slate from a previous traumatic experience, but their newly purchased home has a long, dark history.

 

Heroine by Mindy McGinnis. Katherine Tegen Books. 2019. $17.99. ISBN: 9780062847195. When softball standout Mickey suffers a devastating injury, she turns to oxycodone to relieve her pain, and eventually her social anxiety. As her addiction spirals out of control, her family and her teammates struggle to keep Mickey from losing herself, and all she’s worked for, to the drug.

 

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable; illustrated by Ellen T. Crenshaw. Macmillan Roaring Brook Press/First Second. 2019. $17.99 ISBN:9781596437098. Amanda “Mads” does not understand kissing. Kisses 1-7 were nothing exciting at best, and hardly tolerable at worst. Kiss number 8, with a girl, threw her for a loop. As her own experience runs parallel to a family history she knew nothing about, Mads discovers much about kissing, and herself.

 

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell. Art by Faith Erin Hicks. First Second. 2019. $21.99. ISBN: 9781250312853. Deja and Josiah (Josi) have worked at the seasonal pumpkin patch all through high school. On their last day, Deja helps Josi finally talk to "Fudge Girl". After adventuring throughout the who park, and tasting all the snacks on their way, Josi finally finds the girl of his dreams.

 

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus. Delacorte Press. 2019. $19.99. ISBN: 978-1524714727. When Ellery and Ezra are forced to travel to their mother’s remote Vermont hometown, they don’t expect that their classmates will start going missing. When Ellery tries to solve the mystery, she’s drawn into the secrets of the town.

 

The Unfortunates by Kim Liggett. Tor Teen. 2018. $17.99 ISBN: 9780765381002. Grant Franklin Tavish IV, son of a wealthy senator, caused an accident that killed four teenagers. Racked with guilt, he is sent on the family traditional solo caving trip with the plan to kill himself. Instead, he and a group of stranded cavers, need to work together to escape the cave alive.

 

UNpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan. Harper Collins. 2019. $17.99. ISBN: 978-0062876249. Veronica discovers she’s pregnant after her boyfriend poked holes in a condom. She decides to have an abortion but must travel 1000 miles for the procedure. With her besties away, and her boyfriend now an unreliable option, Veronica asks former friend Bailey to drive her and nothing goes as planned.

 

We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories From Refugee Girls Around the World by Malala Yousafzai. Hachette Book Group. 2018. $18.99. ISBN: 978-0316523646. This title features Malala’s and others’ experiences as young people displaced by war and violence. Their tales remind readers that many people around the world have been uprooted from the lives they knew and are struggling to be heard.