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The Best YA Books of 2018!

The ultimate roundup of the most awarded must-read books of the year from Underlined!

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card

By Sara Saedi

The hilarious, poignant, and true story of one teen’s experience growing up in America as an undocumented immigrant from the Middle East, perfect for fans of Mindy Kaling and Trevor Noah’s books. Now in development as a television series from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company and ABC Studios!

 

A Chicago Public Library Best Book 

A New York Public Library Best Book 

A School Library Journal Best Book

Ash Princess

Ash Princess

By Laura Sebastian

“Made for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sabaa Tahir” (Bustle), Ash Princess is an epic new fantasy about a throne cruelly stolen and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people.

 

A Bustle Best YA Book

Bridge of Clay

Bridge of Clay

By Markus Zusak

An unforgettable family saga from Markus Zusak, the storyteller who gave us the extraordinary bestseller The Book Thief, lauded by the New York Times as “the kind of book that can be life-changing.”

 

Amazon Best Book, Teen

A Buzzfeed Best YA Book

An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book 

A Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book

The Beauty That Remains

The Beauty That Remains

By Ashley Woodfolk

Told from three diverse points of view, this story of life and love after loss is one Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, believes “will stay with you long after you put it down.”

 

A Bustle Best YA Book

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

By Kiersten White

“Exquisitely disturbing,” raves internationally bestselling author Stephanie Garber of this stunning and dark reimagining of Frankenstein. Behind Elizabeth Frankenstein’s blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost… as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.

 

A Chicago Public Library Best Book 

An NPR Best Book 

Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All

Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All

By M.T. Anderson, Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Lisa Ann Sandell, Jennifer Donnelly, Linda Sue Park, Deborah Hopkinson

Perfect for anyone fascinated by the Royal Wedding, Netflix’s The Crown, or Wolf Hall, this is a pitch-perfect reimagining of the romance and tragedy of Henry VIII and his six wives, told from multiple points of view by some of your favorite authors.

 

A New York Public Library Best Book (Top Ten)

Hullmetal Girls

Hullmetal Girls

By Emily Skrutskie

Don’t miss the novel that New York Timesbestselling author Beth Revis says “you will devour in one sitting,” perfect for fans of Pierce Brown and the Illuminae series.

 

A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book

Just Mercy (Movie Tie-In Edition, Adapted for Young Adults)

Just Mercy (Movie Tie-In Edition, Adapted for Young Adults)

By Bryan Stevenson

In this young adult adaptation of the acclaimed bestseller Just Mercy, which the New York Timescalls “as compelling as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so,” Bryan Stevenson delves deep into the broken U.S. justice system, detailing from his personal experience his many challenges and efforts as a lawyer and social advocate, especially on behalf of America’s most rejected and marginalized people.

 

A New York Public Library Best Book

Booklist Youth Editors’ Choice

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book 

My So-Called Bollywood Life

My So-Called Bollywood Life

By Nisha Sharma

The romance of Stephanie Perkins meets the quirk of Maureen Johnson, then gets a Bollywood twist in this fate-filled debut that takes the future into its own hands.

 

An NPR Best Book

Neverworld Wake

Neverworld Wake

By Marisha Pessl

Five friends. Only one can survive the Neverworld Wake. Who would you choose?

From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Special Topics in Calamity Physics and Night Film comes an absorbing psychological suspense thriller in which fears are physical and memories come alive.

 

A Chicago Public Library Best Book

Obsidio

Obsidio

By Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

From bestselling author duo Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff comes the exciting finale in the trilogy that broke the mold and has been called “stylistically mesmerizing” and “out-of-this-world-awesome.”

 

A Buzzfeed Best YA Book

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book 

Odd One Out

Odd One Out

By Nic Stone

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin comes an honest and touching depiction of friendship, first love, and everything in between. Perfect for fans of Love, Simon and What If It’s Us.

 

An NPR Best Book 

A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book of 2018

Skyward

Skyward

By Brandon Sanderson

From Brandon Sanderson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and the internationally bestselling Mistborn series, comes the first book in an epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world at war for humanity’s future.

 

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful

By Arwen Elys Dayton

This “powerful, poignant, and action-packed” (Bustle) novel is a twisted look into the future, exploring the lengths we’ll go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimen and what it means to be human at all.

 

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book 

A Wall Street Journal Best Science Fiction Book 

Tess of the Road

Tess of the Road

By Rachel Hartman

Returning to the spellbinding world of the Southlands she created in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling novel Seraphina, Rachel Hartman explores self-reliance and redemption in this wholly original fantasy about a young woman on a journey toward a life where she might belong.

 

A Chicago Public Library Best Book 

An NPR Best Book 

A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book 

Booklist Youth Editors’ Choice

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book

Very, Very, Very Dreadful

Very, Very, Very Dreadful

By Albert Marrin

From National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin comes a fascinating look at the history and science of the deadly 1918 flu pandemic—and the chances for another worldwide pandemic.

 

A Chicago Public Library Best Book

What the Night Sings

What the Night Sings

By Vesper Stamper

A Morris Award Finalist

Longlisted for the National Book Award

For fans of The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas comes a lushly illustrated novel about a teen Holocaust survivor who must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life.

 

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book 

A Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book

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