Speak, published in 1999, is a young adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson that tells the story of high school freshman Melinda Sordino. After Melinda is raped at an end of summer party, she calls the police, who break up the party. Melinda is then ostracized by her peers because she will not say why she called the police. Unable to verbalize what happened, Melinda nearly stops speaking altogether, expressing her voice through the art she produces for Mr. Freeman's class. This expression slowly helps Melinda acknowledge what happened, face her problems, and recreate her identity.
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.
Holly Black is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales. Black has won a Lodestar Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery Honor.
Beastly is a 2007 novel by Alex Flinn. It is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast set in modern-day New York City from the view of the beast. Flinn researched many versions of the Beauty and the Beast story to write her book. Many of these are playfully alluded to in portions of the book, particularly the chat room transcripts in which the character of Kyle talks to other teens who have been transformed into creatures.
Cut is a 2000 novel by Patricia McCormick, targeted at young adults. In 2002 it was named one of the ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for that year.
Sharon Mills Draper is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a two-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience. She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun,Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.
Suzanne Weyn is an American author. She primarily writes children's and young adult science fiction and fantasy novels and has written over fifty novels and short stories. She is best known for The Bar Code Tattoo, The Bar Code Rebellion and The Bar Code Prophecy. The Bar Code Tattoo has been translated into German, and in 2007 was nominated for the Jugendliteraturpreis for youth literature given by the German government. It was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Young Adult literature and American Library Association 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.
Lisa McMann is an American author and the creator of The Unwanteds and The Unwanteds Quests series for young readers and the WAKE trilogy for young adults.
Breaking Point is a 2002 young adult novel by Alex Flinn. It was a 'Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers' in 2003.
Dangerous Girls is the first novel in the Dangerous Girls duology by R. L. Stine. First published in 2003, the novel was followed by a sequel, The Taste of Night, in 2004. Dangerous Girls has won awards, including the ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and the New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age.
Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult novel written by Jay Asher in 2007, which follows the story of Hannah Baker, a high school freshman, and the thirteen reasons why she has died by suicide. Following her death, Hannah leaves behind a series of seven double-sided cassette tapes detailing the thirteen specific people and events that she blames for her demise. Two weeks after her death, these cassette tapes are mailed out with directions to pass the tapes on to the next person on the tape. Hannah's life story is conveyed through these tapes, which are narrated by Hannah herself, and through the point of view of Clay, her classmate and the ninth person to receive the tapes. The inspiration behind the main character, Hannah Baker, comes from author Jay Asher's close relative who attempted suicide.
Elizabeth J. Braswell, often known as Liz Braswell, is an English-born American writer of young adult fiction. She is best known for her NYTimes bestselling books in Disney's Twisted Tale series, along with The Nine Lives of Chloe King, a series that was adapted as a 2011 television show of the same name. She is also known to publish work under the names Tracy Lynn, Rob Kidd, J. B. Stephens and Celia Thompson.
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (2004) is a novel in verse by Sonya Sones. It is a young adult novel that tells the story of Ruby Milliken who is forced to go live with her famous movie star father, Whip Logan, in Los Angeles when her mother dies. Ruby is taken away from her friends and family, all of which she loves, and is forced to cope in the fake and artificial world of Hollywood. The novel is told mostly in blank verse with periodic interruptions of emails and letters Ruby exchanges with her friends. She soon finds herself torn between her old life and her new life.
The Bluford Series is a widely read collection of contemporary American young adult novels set in the fictional inner-city high school of Bluford High in Southern California. Bluford is named for Guion "Guy" Bluford, the first African-American astronaut. The series was created and published by Townsend Press and was co-distributed by Scholastic. As part of an effort to promote reading in underfunded school districts, Townsend Press originally made the Bluford Series available to schools for a dollar each. As of 2018, over 11 million Bluford Series novels were in print.
Sarah Beth Durst is an American author of fantasy. Her 2016 novel The Queen of Blood won a 2017 Alex Award from the American Library Association. Durst writes for adults, young adults, and middle grade level readers.
Julie C. Dao is a Vietnamese-American fantasy author. She is best known for her debut novel, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, an East Asian-inspired retelling of the Evil Queen legend from Snow White, and its sequel Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix.
Dear Martin, published in 2018 by Crown Publishing Group, is an adult novel by Nic Stone. It is Stone's debut novel, written as a reaction to the murder of Jordan Davis. The book appeared as #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Mindy McGinnis is an American writer of young adult fiction. Her most notable works include Be Not Far from Me (2020), Heroine (2019), The Female of the Species (2016), and A Madness So Discreet (2015).
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers is a book list created annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association. The list identifies fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels that may encourage teenagers who dislike reading to read.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes is an American writer of young adult novels.
