Young Adult Recommendations from Our Staff

Gloss introduces her characters, Tim, Blue, Lydia Sanderson, and others with their rough-hewn hands and weathered lines on their faces in the same way she describes the hard scrabble of rock debris that etches the landscape: stark, miserable and harsh and tender all at once. But the tale of Jump-Off Creek is more than hardship and struggle. With equal parts adventure and poetry, Gloss invites her readers to imagine a search for identity, independence, and the yearning for human connection in the late 1800s Oregon outback. Though historically anchored, it’s easy to translate this storyline and the characters’ interwoven lives into a contemporary context. —Karen

When an asteroid collides with the moon, pushing it closer to Earth, life as sixteen year old Miranda knows it, will never be the same. As “natural” disasters abound, she and her family must figure out how to survive. While they have the supplies to hold out for a while, hope is a priceless commodity, and one they are in desperate need of. I found this one VERY scary. —Clytia

Anderson, who broke barriers with the phenomenal Speak, is an author who refuses to shy away from a taboo subjects—this time cutting straight to the horrifying heart of teen eating disorders. She delves into the shocking world of anorexic Lia, reeling from the death of her best friend (and fellow wintergirl), with insight and keen understanding. Her writing brings her subject to startlingly sharp life, making this an incredibly haunting, powerful book. —Flannery

Jem Marsh has always been able to look into a person’s eyes and see the day they will die. By fifteen Jem has isolated herself from others, burdened by a knowledge she keeps secret. This changes when she befriends Spider, an energetic troubled youth with not much time left. When Jem’s gift makes them suspects of a terrorist attack, they flee the city. On the run their relationship grows as the two friends learn about each other and themselves. —Nate

There’s nothing like being an outcast as a teenager—whether it be for a bad-girl past, being too clean-cut, too nerdy, being dead... Charles de Lint is the master of urban fantasy, where the existence of another world in the shadows of this one is both commonplace and a mechanism to better understanding ourselves. There’s nothing more reassuring than finding out why you are actually different when you’re growing up. —Jocelyn

To be born with a Grace is a gift—but for who? Katsa’s Grace means she can protect her family, serve her country, and honor her king—by killing. A teenaged girl is the most powerful warrior in seven kingdoms, only dreaming of protecting the innocent, without anyone dying. But a fateful meeting starts her questioning everything she’s known to be true. Who are you: who others tell you you are? Or who you want to be? —Jocelyn

This young-adult novel won the coveted Michael Printz award in 2009 and it proves to be deserving. A mystery that is part love story, part family drama, and part coming-of-age story, Marchetta weaves a tale that is as heart-felt as it is intriguing. Abandoned by her mother at age 11, Taylor has scattered memories about her early childhood and past. At night she dreams of a boy in a tree who keeps trying to tell her something, in the day she is managing the complexities of the boarding school that has taken her in. Set in the Australian outback, nothing in this novel is what it seems, except for the scope of its friendships, the reach of its imagination, and the depth of its character—those are all true. This is a beautiful novel for all ages, one you don’t want to miss. —S.M.C.