28 of 2020s YA Fiction Books to Read Before the Year Ends

YOU ARE READING: 28 of 2020s YA Fiction Books to Read Before the Year Ends AT PhebinhvanhocEN

Each year, we like to take stock of the books hitting the shelves to make sure we (and of course you) didn’t miss out on any that might otherwise end up on our favorites list. And what better time to relive the twists, smashes, and highlights than the arrival of the *book shimmy* awards?!

You are reading: Best ya books 2020

We rounded up some of the year’s biggest books from one of three iconic categories: mysteries, romances, and coming-of-age novels. Are you looking for science fiction or fantasy? don’t worry, we’ve got you covered right here. Whether you’re trying to figure out what to nominate for the best awards show of the year or just trying to get to everything you said to yourself in January that you’ve already read, scroll through the 2020 greatest hits archive and find all the books. down! happy reading, book nerds.

already fiction books of 2020

that you couldn’t miss

mystery novels

1. all your twisted secrets by diana urban

What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill… or else everyone dies.

Amber Prescott is determined to get herself and her classmates out of the room alive, but that’s easier said than done. no one knows how they are all connected or who would want them dead.

As they review the events of the past year that could have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. And with the clock ticking, confusion turns to fear, and fear turns to panic as they race to answer the most important question: who will they choose to die?

buy all your twisted secrets now!

2. the hand on the wall by maureen johnson

📚 This is the conclusion to: the Truly Devious trilogy

bellingham academy must be cursed. three people are now dead. one, the victim of a prank gone wrong or murder. another, unfortunately dead. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. all three in the wrong place at the wrong time. all at the exact moment of stevie’s greatest triumph…

she knows who is really devious. she solved it. the biggest case of the century.

at least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to focus on the past. not only has someone died in town, but david disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow, somehow, all of these things connect. the three deaths in the present. deaths in the past. the missing alice ellingham and the missing david eastman. somewhere in this place of puzzles and riddles there must be answers.

then another accident happens when a big storm heads towards vermont. this is too much for parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. obviously it’s time for stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm and a killer.

buy the hand on the wall now!

3. one of us is next by karen m. mcmanus

📚 This is the sequel to: One of Us Is Lying

There have been plenty of copycat gossip apps since Simon’s death, but in the year since the Bayview Four was cleared of his shocking death, no one has been able to fill the gossip void like him. the problem is that no one has the facts.

until now.

This time it’s not an app, it’s a game.

phoebe is the first target. if you choose not to play, it is a truth. and hers is dark.

then comes maeve and she should know better: always choose the challenge.

but when knox is about to be tagged, things have turned dangerous. The challenges have turned deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it’s that they can’t count on the help of the police. or protection.

simon is gone, but someone is determined to keep his legacy alive at bayview high. and this time, there’s a new set of rules.

buy one from us now!

4. redemption preparation by samuel miller

Everyone knows Emma. Neesha’s her best friend, Aiden’s her basketball star boyfriend, and Evan’s her shadow, following Emma’s every move.

Emma stands out, which is hard to do at Redemption Prep, a school where every student has been carefully selected to attend its remote campus in the Utah woods. so when she disappears into plain sight during mass, everyone notices.

and everyone becomes a suspect, especially in a school with so many rules: no skipping mass. don’t break curfew. don’t go to the forest.

Emma’s disappearance sparks an investigation, and Neesha, Aiden and Evan want to find her, for different reasons. But they each have their own secrets to hide, and not everyone wants Emma to be found.

As the search continues, the students begin to realize they’re not the only ones trying to hide something. redemption prep also has secrets, secrets bigger than any of the students could have imagined, and emma could be the key to uncovering the truth…if anyone can find it.

Buy the redemption prep now!

romantic novel

1. cute tweet by emma lord

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming—mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

enter jack, class clown and constant thorn in pepper’s side. when he’s not trying to escape the obscenely popular shadow of his twin, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that supports his future may be love/hate, but when the big league burger steals his grandmother’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to bring them down, one tweet at a time. /p>

All is fair in love and cheese, that is, until the fight between Pepper and Jack turns into a viral war on Twitter. little do they know, as they clash publicly with sarcastic memes and retweet battles, they also fall in love in real life, in a built anonymous chat app.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans increase (are people online sending them?), their battle becomes increasingly personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore that they were meant to be. the most unexpected, awkward, romance of all feelings that neither of them expected.

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2. just breathe for cammie mcgovern

David Scheinman is the popular president of his senior class, battling cystic fibrosis.

jamie turner is a quiet sophomore struggling with depression.

The pair soon realize that they can be more of themselves with each other than with anyone else, and their unlikely friendship begins to turn into something much more.

but neither jamie nor david dare reveal the secrets that weigh dearest on their hearts, and their time for honesty may be running out.

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3. yes no maybe yes by becky albertalli & aisha saeed

Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone) Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya.

maya rehman is having the worst ramadan of her life. His best friend is too busy to hang out, their summer trip is cancelled, and now his parents are splitting up. why her mom thinks the solution to her problems is political prospecting, with some weird guy she barely knows, is beyond her.

Going door-to-door isn’t exactly glamorous, but it might not be the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer, just like Maya and Jamie. dominating local activism is one thing. navigating the cross-cultural avalanche of the century is something else entirely.

buy yes, no, maybe now!

4. the gravity of us by phil stamper

As a successful social media journalist with half a million followers, seventeen-year-old Cal is used to sharing his life online. But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus.

Amidst the chaos, Cal meets the sensitive and mysterious lion, another “astroboy”, and finds himself head over heels in love, fast. as the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection. But when the show’s secrets are uncovered, Cal must find a way to reveal the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.

buy our gravity now!

5. the good thing about falling by alex light

It’s been years since seventeen-year-old Becca Hart believed in true love. But when her former best friend teases her for not having had a boyfriend, Becca impulsively pretends she’s been secretly seeing someone.

brett wells has it all. As the captain of the football team and one of the most popular guys in his school, he shouldn’t have a problem finding someone to date, but he’s always been more focused on his future than who to take to prom.

When he overhears becca’s lie, brett decides to step in and be the mystery guy. is the perfect solution: he gets rid of people for not having a meaningful relationship and she can continue with the delusion that she has a boyfriend.

However, acting like the perfect match isn’t easy, especially when you barely know the other person. But with Becca still picking up the pieces from when her world fell apart years ago and Brett barely holding on to his now, they begin to realize they have more in common than they ever could have imagined. Could a fake romance be the most real thing in their lives?

buy drop advantage now!

6. verona comics by jennifer dugan

Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life.

ridley barely holds together. Her parents own the largest comic book store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t help but disappoint them, that is, even when they’re paying attention.

They meet one fateful night at a comic book convention prom, and the two can’t help but fall in love with each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them almost impossible…unless they manage to keep it a secret.

On the other hand, the enmity between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety mounts, Jubilee tries to help, but she finds herself torn between hearing her rapidly approaching and her relationship becoming more intense. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give?

buy verona comics now!

7. love, creekwood by becky albertalli

📚 This is the epilogue to: the Simonverse novels

It’s been over a year since Simon and Blue turned their anonymous online flirtation into a relationship, and only a few months since Abby and Leah’s unforgettable night at the prom.

Now, the creekwood high team is in their freshman year at different colleges, navigating friendship and romance the way their story began: in email.

shop love creekwood now!

8. I’ll be Lyla Lee’s

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

will challenge thousands of other artists in an internationally televised competition for the next K-pop star, and will do it better than anyone.

When Skye lands her audition, she is immediately thrown into a whirlwind of countless practices, stunning performances, and the drama that comes with reality television. What she doesn’t count on is the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden fame and media scrutiny, or the soon-to-be-flying sparks with her fellow competitor, henry cho.

But Skye has her sights set on becoming the world’s first plus-size K-pop star, and that means winning the competition, without losing herself.

buy it will be me now!

9. montage of falling in love with ciara smyth

Seventeen-year-old cynic Saoirse Clarke isn’t looking for a relationship. But when she meets mischievous Ruby, that rule goes right out the window. Sort of.

because ruby has an escape in mind: a summer of the best cliché movie cut dates, with a definitive end in the fall, no broken hearts, no messy breakups. It would be the perfect plan, if they didn’t forget one thing about the falling in love montage: by the time it ends, the characters have fallen in love…for real.

buy the crush montage now!

10. you say it first by katie cotugno

Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: she and her best friend, Emily, plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she works at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio.

Colby is stuck in a rut, reeling from a family tragedy and working a dead end. the last thing he has time for is a privileged rich girl preaching the sanctity of the political process. so she says the worst thing she can think of and hangs up.

but things don’t end there.…

That night on the phone ends up being the first in a series of heartfelt, sometimes heated, always surprising conversations that lead to a long-distance friendship and then, slowly, to something more. Across state and phone lines, Meg and Colby form a once-in-a-lifetime connection. but in the end, are they too different for it to work?

buy you say it first now!

11. all the things we never knew by liara tamani

A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn’t come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools’ respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.

From the moment Carli and Rex first laid eyes on each other on a Texas high school basketball court, they both knew it was destiny. but can you really love another person if you don’t love yourself?

buy all the things we never knew now!

12. more than maybe by erin hahn

Growing up under his punk rocker dad’s spotlight, eighteen-year-old Luke Greenly knows fame and wants nothing to do with it. His real love isn’t in front of a crowd, it’s on the page. Hiding his gift and secretly hoarding songs in his bedroom at night, he prefers the anonymous comfort of the locally popular podcast he co-hosts with his outgoing and meddling, far-too-jealousy-inspiringly-happy-with-his-long-term-boyfriend twin brother, Cullen. But that’s not Luke’s only secret. He also has a major un-requited crush on music blogger, Vada Carsewell.

vada has a five year plan: get a job at the noisy lizard to learn from local legend (and his mom’s boyfriend) phil josephs (check), take over phil’s music blog (double check ), get accepted into the prestigious Berkeley Music Journalism Program (check, check, check), manage the Ann Arbor Summer Concert Series, and get an internship at Rolling Stone. luke greenly is definitely not on the list. So what if his self-deprecating charm and his out-of-this-world musical knowledge make her dizzy? Or did her brother just release a bootleg recording of luke singing about a mystery girl on her podcast and she really wishes it was her?

buy more than maybe now!

13. bookish and the beast by ashley poston

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.

On the other hand, Vance Reina has been Hollywood royalty for as long as she can remember, with all the privilege and scrutiny that comes with it. When a tabloid scandal catches up with him, he’s forced to hide out in a place the paparazzi would never expect to find him: a small American town. uu. at least there is a library in the house. pity that he does not read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to pay off debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work closely with Vance Reine, Rosie has learned something about Vance: he’s an asshole and she can’t stand it. the feeling is mutual.

But as Vance and Rosie reluctantly get to know each other, their careful masks come off and they may find there’s more risk in closing each other than opening their hearts.

buy bookish and the beast now!

14. stay gold by tobly mcsmith

Pony just wants to fly under the radar during senior year. Tired from all the attention he got at his old school after coming out as transgender, he’s looking for a fresh start at Hillcrest High. But it’s hard to live your best life when the threat of exposure lurks down every hallway and in every bathroom.

georgia is starting to think there’s more to life than being a cheerleader. She plans to keep a low profile until graduation… which is why she promised herself that officially dating wouldn’t be possible this year.

Then, on the first day of school, the new kid and the cheerleader lock eyes. How is pony supposed to stay stealthy when he wants to get close to a girl like georgia? How is Georgia supposed to keep her promise when the sparks start to fly with a guy as a pony?

buy stay gold now!

coming-of-age novels

1. loveboat, taipei by abigail hing wen

“Our cousins have done this program,” Sophie whispers. “Best kept secret. Zero supervision.”

And so, ever wong’s summer takes an unexpected turn. gone chien tan, the strict educational program in taiwan you were once waiting for. instead, find loveboat: a free-for-all all summer long where hookups abound, adults turn a blind eye, snake blood sake flows in abundance, and the nightlife doesn’t stop.

but not all students are what they seem:

ever is working to become a doctor, but has a secret passion for dance. Rick Woo is the boy prodigy destined for Yale, the bane of everyone’s existence, whose perfection hides a secret. Boy-crazy and fashion-obsessed Sophie Ha turns out to have more than meets the eye. and under the shell of sexy xavier yeh she is buried a shameful truth that she will never admit.

When these students’ lives collide, it’s guaranteed to be a summer they’ll never forget.

buy loveboat, taipei now!

2. don’t read eric smith’s comments

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

games are basically aaron jericho’s entire life. Much to her mother’s frustration, Aaron has no interest in becoming a doctor like her and spends her spare time writing games for a local developer. she at least she can escape to reclaim the sun, and with a billion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. but to her surprise, she somehow ends up on the same remote planet as the famous player d1v.

At home, Divya and Aaron deal with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to take on endless new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls that populate them. Soon, the virtual bullying seeps into reality when a group called Vox Populi begins launching doxing campaigns in the real world, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s real life. Online trolls think they can put her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is at stake…and she’s not going down without a fight.

buy don’t read reviews now!

3. almost american girl by robin ha

For as long as she can remember, it’s been Robin and her mom against the world. Growing up as the only child of a single mother in Seoul, Korea, wasn’t always easy, but it has bonded them fiercely together.

then, when a vacation to visit friends in huntsville, alabama unexpectedly turns into a permanent move, following her mother’s announcement that she’s getting married, robin is devastated.

Overnight, his life changes. she is taken to a new school where she doesn’t understand the language and struggles to keep up. she is completely isolated from her friends in seoul and has no access to her beloved comics. At home, she doesn’t fit in with her new stepfamily and, worst of all, she’s furious with the person closest to her: her mother.

Then one day, Robin’s mom enrolls her in a local comic drawing class, opening the window to a future Robin could never have imagined.

shop almost american girl now!

4. not so pure and simple by lamar giles

Del has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. And now, during their junior year, she’s finally available. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del’s right behind her. Though he quickly realizes he’s inadvertently signed up for a Purity Pledge.

His father thinks his wires are crossed, and his best friend, qwan, doesn’t think any girl is worth the long game. But he’s not going to lose the girl of his dreams, and that’s where his fellow fiancé Jameer comes into play. he can give the good word. in return, del only has to get answers to the donors’ questions… about sex education.

With other guys circling Kiera like sharks, Del needs to make his move fast. But while he plots and schemes, she forgets to ask the most important question: what does Kiera want? however, he can’t think too much about it, because once he has the girl, everything will take care of itself. right?

buy now not so pure and simple!

5. rules for being a girl by candace bushnell & katie cotugno

Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin’s future seems bright—and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her.

but when “bex” takes things too far and approaches marin, he is shocked and horrified. Had she somehow induced him? Was it his fault?

When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. she is forced to confront bex in class every day. except that now she has an ax to grind.

but marin is not going to back down. she uses the school newspaper to fight back and starts a feminist book club at school. She finds allies, and even romance, in the most unexpected people, like Gray Kendall, whom she had always dismissed as just another lacrosse partner.

As things heat up at school and in her personal life, Marin must figure out how to take back the power and write her own rules.

buy rules to be a girl now!

6. clap your hands when you land by elizabeth acevedo

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

in new york city, yahaira rios is called to the director’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance and secrets from daddy, the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything from their father, they learn from each other.

buy claps when you land now!

7. felix forever by kacen callender

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.

When an anonymous student starts sending him transphobic messages (after publicly posting felix’s dead name along with pictures of him before he transitioned), felix comes up with a plan for revenge. what he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario led him to a quasi-love triangle…

But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps him redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

buy felix ever after now!

8. parachute by kelly yang

They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California.

Suddenly, you find yourself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell you what to do for the first time in your life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the most popular and coveted parachute, Jay, beckons her out of it.

dani de la cruz, claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less excited that her mom rented claire a room. Dani, an academic and debate team star, is determined to earn her way to Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying her way to the top. But Dani’s game plan unexpectedly deviates when her debate coach starts working with her in private.

As they go their own separate paths, dani and claire keep bumping into each other, charting a course that will change their lives forever.

buy parachutes now!

9. dean atta’s black flamingo

Michael is a mixed-race gay teen growing up in London. All his life, he’s navigated what it means to be Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican—but never quite feeling Greek or Black enough.

As he grows older, Michael’s coming out is just the beginning of learning who he is and where he fits. when he discovers the transvestite society, he finally finds where he belongs, and black flamenco is born.

Told with sheer honesty, insight and lyricism, this debut explores the layers of identity that make us who we are and allow us to shine.

buy the black flamingo now!

10. darius the great deserves better by adib khorran

Darius Kellner is having a bit of a year. Since his trip to Iran this past spring, a lot has changed. He’s getting along with his dad, and his best friend Sohrab is only a Skype call away. Between his first boyfriend, Landon, his varsity soccer practices, and his internship at his favorite tea shop, Darius is feeling pretty okay. Like he finally knows what it means to be Darius Kellner.

then, of course, everything changes. Darius’s grandmothers are in town for a long visit while his dad is away on business, and Darius isn’t sure if they like him. The internship isn’t what Darius thought it would be, and now he doesn’t know how to turn tea into his career. He was sure he liked Landon, but when he starts dating his soccer buddy and best friend Trent Bolger, the epic bully, well, he’s not so sure about Landon either.

darius thought he knew exactly who he was and what he wanted, but maybe he was wrong. maybe it deserves better.

buying darius the great deserves better now!

What other books have you loved this year? nominate them now for the *book shimmy* awards and let us know below!

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