YA is short for “young adult” but increasingly the genre is widely read by adults too. You’re almost as likely to spot an adult commuter racing through the pages of a YA novel as a teenager.

The term YA was originally created in the 1960s as the official way to describe books aimed at young people aged 12 to 18.

In the years since then YA has been used to define a vast range of books – everything from The Outsiders by SE Hinton and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Today’s YA literature titles comprise a host of beautifully written novels by authors who aren’t afraid to tackle hard-hitting subjects.

We’ve chosen some of the best YA novels that have been published over the past 12 months or so, judging them on their subject matter, originality and sheer readability.

The themes they cover are impressively wide-ranging. Storylines include a pair of teenage brothers who trek across the Yorkshire moors in freezing conditions, a young albino boy striving to win a place in Zimbabwe’s national swimming team and a homeless girl who strikes up a friendship with an old woman who’s suffering from dementia.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

‘The Great Godden’ by Meg Rosoff, published by Bloomsbury When Meg Rosoff won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s biggest prize for children’s and young adult literature, back in 2016 the jury members were glowing in their praise. “Meg Rosoff’s young adult novels speak to the emotions as well as the intellect,” they said. “She leaves no reader unmoved.” They were absolutely right. Now the author of the classic How I Live Now is back with a new YA novel – a coming-of-age story of two families whose lives collide in a holiday house by the sea. When the two Godden brothers, charismatic, golden boy Kit and surly, watchful Hugo, arrive in their midst there are bound to be devastating consequences – and sure enough by the end of the summer everyone’s lives have been turned upside down. Rosoff’s dazzling, timeless novel is a delight. Buy now £ 10.99 , Waterstones {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘The Colours That Blind’ by Rutendo Tavengerwei, published by Hot Key Books Tumi is a 14-year-old albino boy who lives with his elder brother. Desperate to win a place in Zimbabwe’s national swimming team, he sees the pool as a place to escape the hatred and exclusion he encounters on a daily basis. But when he and his feisty young niece Noku are sent to stay with Ambuya, Tumi’s grandmother, a traumatic incident from his childhood returns to haunt him. However, Ambuya has a harrowing past of her own and as she tells Tumi her horrifying experiences of racial hatred in war-torn Rhodesia, he starts to understand his family history. Tavengerwei lived and studied in Zimbabwe till she was 18 and her second novel is a compassionate, eye-opening read. Buy now £ 7.99 , Waterstones {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark, published by Barrington Stoke Publisher Barrington Stoke prides itself on its inclusivity and specialises in producing books in a dyslexia-friendly format. Today’s teens will enjoy Muriel Spark’s story of an outspoken teacher whose unconventional ideas put her at odds with staff at an Edinburgh school. This new edition is printed in two colours, using black text and pale yellow pages “to help relieve the effects of visual stress” and the typeface has been specifically designed to be easier to read. That apart, the book is a classic that still resonates today – and grown-ups will enjoy it too. Buy now £ 7.99 , Barrington Stoke {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘Lark’ by Anthony McGowan, published by Barrington Stoke When Anthony McGowan started writing Brock, his gritty account of two teenage brothers whose father turns to drink when their mother walks out, he never envisaged he’d produce three more books about the siblings. “But each time I typed ‘The End’ I had a feeling that somehow Nicky and Kenny’s story was unfinished,” he says. Lark is the fourth in the series and sees the duo setting off on a trek across the Yorkshire moors in freezing conditions. As with McGowan’s earlier books, Brock, Pike and Rook, this is a powerful and heartrending tale and the much deserved winner of the 2020 Carnegie Medal. The Truth of Things, a collected edition of all four novellas in one volume, is available too. ‘Toffee’ by Sarah Crossan, published by Bloomsbury Written in free verse, Toffee tells the story of Allison, who’s run away from her abusive father. Homeless and broke, she hides in the shed of what she assumes is an abandoned house. But it actually belongs to Marla, a lonely old woman with dementia. Marla mistakes Allison for Toffee, a friend from the past, and invites her in – so Allison reinvents herself as Toffee and stays on. This insightful novel was published in paperback in February and is an outstanding YA read. Buy now £ 6.19 , Amazon {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ by that Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, published by Penguin Dear Evan Hansen started life as an award-winning Broadway musical and later transferred to London. The show was so successful that Val Emmich and the show’s creators, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, decided to turn it into a novel. Teenager Evan Hansen feels lonely and invisible so his therapist encourages him to write positive notes to himself. When a troubled classmate commits suicide Evan pretends the boy was his secret best friend – a lie that becomes ever more complicated. This is a perceptive story that tackles grief, authenticity and the struggle to be yourself and belong. Buy now £ 7.35 , Hive {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods’ by Emily Barr, published by Penguin Emily Barr’s third thriller for teenagers is a gripping novel that will keep teens turning the pages till the early hours. Arty loves her idyllic, back-to-nature life in the depths of an Indian forest. But when her community is struck by a terrible illness she’s thrust into the outside world, where people follow her every move, strangers post pictures of her on Instagram and she discovers a family thousands of miles away that she didn’t know she had. Look out for Barr’s new YA book, Things to Do Before the End of the World, which will be out next year (2021). Buy now £ 7.99 , Waterstones {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘Furious Thing’ by Jenny Downham, published by David Fickling Books Jenny Downham’s tearjerker first YA novel, Before I Die, was turned into a successful film starring Dakota Fanning. In her latest book 15-year-old Lexi is wilful and difficult at home and at school. She adores her mother and little sister but is at loggerheads with her manipulative about-to-be-stepfather. This compelling tale was shortlisted for the 2019 Costa children’s book award and for the 2020 YA Book Prize, with one critic describing it as “The Catcher in the Rye for 2020, a searing look at teen anger, frustration and apathy”. Buy now £ 9.09 , Amazon {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘Hawk’ by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet, published by Young Arrow Fans of dystopian fiction will enjoy this pulsating new YA novel from bestselling author James Patterson. Co-written with Gabrielle Charbonnet, Hawk is the tenth story in the Maximum Ride series and follows the adventures of Max and Fang’s 15-year-old daughter Hawk as she battles to survive in post-apocalyptic New York City. Hawk doesn’t know her real name or who her parents were but every day at 5pm she waits on the same street corner for them to return – just as they instructed her to do when she was a little girl. Patterson is second to none when it comes to writing pacy thrillers and this one has got the lot – an intriguing plot, exciting action and a captivating lead character. You don’t need to have read the earlier tales to enjoy this but if you’re enthralled you can go back to the beginning and read all 10. Buy now £ 6.15 , Blackwells {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}} ‘Wonderland’ by Juno Dawson, published by Quercus Juno Dawson won this year’s YA Book Prize for Meat Market, an exposé of the darker side of the fashion industry. Wonderland, her latest, is a no-holds-barred 21st century retelling of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Teenager Alice Dodgson (Dodgson was Lewis Carroll’s real name) lives a life of luxury in London but when her troubled friend Bunny goes missing she becomes obsessed with finding her. But instead of ending up at the Mad Hatter’s tea party Alice discovers a mysterious invitation to Wonderland – a three day party of hedonistic excess where only the elite are welcome. A stylish, clever and explicit story about mental health, gender, privilege and finding yourself in a toxic age. Buy now £ 7.99 , Foyles {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{/hasItems}} {{#items}} {{ merchant }} £{{ price }} Buy now {{/items}} {{#hasItems}} {{/hasItems}}

The verdict: Young adult books For a book that will stand the test of time and we’ll return to again and again, Meg Rosoff’s The Great Godden gets our vote. But Anthony McGowan’s Lark is a close runner-up and not to be missed.

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