Hoot is a 2002 mystery/suspense novel, recommended for ages 9–12, by Carl Hiaasen. The setting takes place in Florida, where new arrival Roy makes two oddball friends and a bad enemy, and joins an effort to stop construction of a pancake house which would destroy a colony of burrowing owls who live on the site. The book won a Newbery Honor award in 2003.
The Face on the Milk Carton is a young adult mystery novel written by author Caroline B. Cooney that was first published in 1990. The first in the five-book Janie Johnson series, it was later adapted into a film for television. The book is about a 15-year-old girl named Janie Johnson, who starts to suspect that her parents may have kidnapped her and that her biological parents are somewhere in New Jersey. These suspicions come after Janie recognizes a picture of herself on a milk carton under the heading "Missing Child." Janie's life gets more stressful as she tries to find the truth while hiding the secret from her parents.
Sonya Louise Hartnett is an Australian author of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. She has been called "the finest Australian writer of her generation". For her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" Hartnett won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2008, the biggest prize in children's literature.
A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voices, dialogue, narration, description, and action in a novelistic manner.
Nora Raleigh Baskin is an American author of books for children and young adults.
Sonya Sones is an American poet and author. She has written seven young adult novels in verse and one novel in verse for adults. The American Library Association (ALA) has named her one of the most frequently challenged authors of the 21st century.
Jacqueline Woodson is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for Miracle's Boys, and her Newbery Honor-winning titles Brown Girl Dreaming, After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers, and Show Way. After serving as the Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, she was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, by the Library of Congress, for 2018–19. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020.
Crank is a novel by Ellen Hopkins published in 2004. It is based loosely on the real life addictions of the author's daughter to crystal meth. The book is required reading in "many high schools, as well as many drug and drug court programs." However, the book has been banned in many locations due to complaints that the book's depictions of drug use, adult language, and sexual themes are inappropriate for some readers.
What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know (2007) is a novel in verse by Sonya Sones. The free verse novel follows ninth-grader Robin as he struggles with being an outsider at his high school and dealing with the joys of having a girlfriend, Sophie, and seeing his artistic talent recognized by his teacher and parents. It is a companion novel to Sones' What My Mother Doesn't Know(2001).
Hard Love is a young adult novel written by author Ellen Wittlinger. It was published in 1999.
Impulse is a 2007 American young adult novel in verse written by Ellen Hopkins. The novel digs into the lives of three troubled teenagers as they try to work their way out of the hospital by getting through what put them there.
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things is a 2003 young adult novel by Carolyn Mackler. It follows the life of Virginia Shreves, who lives in New York City.
Tricks is a young adult verse novel by Ellen Hopkins, released in August 2009. It tells the converging narratives of five troubled teenage protagonists. It is noted for its gritty realism in addressing issues of sexual activity and drug use for a young adult readership. It has been banned in some places due to its references to drug use, sexual themes and language.
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.
Perfect Chemistry is the first novel in the trilogy written by author Simone Elkeles and published by Walker Books for Young Readers in 2009 and also made it on The New York Times Best Seller list. Perfect Chemistry is a part of the Young Adult genre because of the steamy high school romance Elkeles portrays in the novel. The main characters of the story Brittany Ellis, a white uptown teenager, and Alejandro "Alex" Fuentes, a lower class teenager of Mexican heritage must overcome Brittany's troubled home life and Alex's gang ties to have their own happily ever after. The book was read and reviewed worldwide.
We Were Liars is a 2014 psychological horror young-adult novel by E. Lockhart. The novel has received critical acclaim and won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction. It was also listed as an ALA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults for 2015.
Drama is a graphic novel written by American cartoonist Raina Telgemeier which centers on the story of Callie, a middle school student and theater-lover who works in her school's drama production crew. While navigating seventh grade, Callie deals with tween hardship, including confusing crushes, budding friendships, and middle school drama. It is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of friendship, teamwork, inclusion, and determination through Callie and her relationship with the people around her.
Leah on the Offbeat is a 2018 young adult novel by American author Becky Albertalli. It is the direct sequel to her 2015 debut novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and the third novel in the "Simonverse", the shared universe in which Albertalli's books take place and which also includes 2017's The Upside of Unrequited. The audiobook was read by actress Shannon Purser.
Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People’s Poet Laureate.
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World is a New York Times best selling young adult novel by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, published October 12, 2021 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. It is the sequel to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
