There is nothing more difficult for a true book lover than choosing the “best” books of the year. No matter what you do, there will be a real, heartbreaking “kill your loved ones” moment, to quote Allen Ginsberg. In the course of making this list of the best, I had about 2,763 of them. but what that means is so exciting for its fans – the young adult books of 2015 were so memorable, creative, gripping, romantic, exciting, scary, powerful, etc – that creating a top 25 list is almost a chore. impossible. so I bow to its literary authors this year for bringing us this bounty of riches.
Still, there were some books that were absolutely undeniable. there were the books that everyone was talking about, from tweens to grandmothers. there were the books you recommended to everyone who was listening (and sometimes when you think they weren’t really listening because you’ve been saying it over and over again). and there were the books we’re going to keep on our shelves or on our nightstands for years to come.
You are reading: List of 2015 young adult fiction books
These 25 year old books are those books. The following list is numbered so you can find the titles more easily, but they are not in any particular order. (because if I had to rank them, my heart would ache). except the last book on this list is my pick for the best book of 2015. here we go!
1. red queen by victoria aveyard (harperteen)
how can you talk about 2015 and not talk about red queen? positively dominated the cultural conversation for all the young lovers of adult literature, who wanted to talk ravenously about mare barrow, reds vs. silvers, cal and maven, farley and kilorn and all the rest. Fortunately, we all have the sequel, Crystal Sword, to discuss throughout 2016.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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2. everything, everything by nicola yoon (delacorte books for young readers)
there was a lot of buzz around nicola yoon’s debut novel, everything, everything, and it certainly worked. (Dare I say it was everything?) the love story between “bubble baby” maddie whittier and her new next door neighbor olly worked its way into a love story about living life and break free from what society says you can do, risking everything to feel the bright sun on your face and breathe the wild air.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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3. crash season by moïra fowley-doyle (books by kathy dawson)
for me, accident season is all about atmosphere: fowley-doyle creates this spooky, muddy setting that made me imagine his entire world clouded by an inescapable fog. Towards the end of October, the “accident season” of the cara family begins. for some reason, this time they all seem particularly vulnerable to falling down stairs, cutting themselves with kitchen knives, or other accidents. but is it in their heads, or what exactly is haunting this seemingly cursed family?
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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4. i was here by gayle forma (Viking books for young readers)
Look, I certainly don’t have to sell you gayle forma. She has already done it herself writing the incredible if I stay , only one day and the rest, and I am sure she has done it again with I was here . Her latest novel takes place after the suicide of Meg, Cody’s best friend, which Cody did not anticipate in the slightest. Forman speaks carefully and beautifully about the pain of suicide.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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5. bone gap by laura ruby (balzer + bray)
You don’t get much more prestige than being nominated for the National Book Award for Young Adult Literature, and it’s just a hint of what Laura Ruby’s totally unique bone gap deserves. Each character is someone you’re excited to bring into your life, and you’ll feel like you could hear the stories of Bone Gap Town for years. plus there are the added elements of magic and mystery, which are really just cherries on top of this killer story about a town where people fall through those holes.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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6. what we saw by aaron hartzler (harperteen)
I get it: a fiction of the steubenville rape crimes and their aftermath is totally brutal reading. But when it’s done as thoughtfully, carefully, and powerfully as Aaron Hartzer does in What We Saw, then you also know it’s an absolute must-read. hartzler’s story holds everyone, all of us, responsible for building the kind of rape culture that allows this to happen, as we are all complicit in our silence in learning of these horrific crimes.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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7. shadow caster by daniel josé old (arthur a. levine)
daniel josé old’s
shadowshaper is a game changer: a “chosen one” style narrative that isn’t about superhuman strength or bravery (although sierra is certainly brave), but more well an artistic passion and cultural tradition. and stars a Puerto Rican heroine in a story based on Caribbean legend at a time when we still need a campaign like we need diverse books to state what should be the obvious. the story feels not only innovative but vibrant and alive, and will put old at the top of your must-read author list.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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8. dumplin’ by julie murphy (balzer + bray)
a self-proclaimed body-positive “fat girl” who’s obsessed with dolly parton and has shoddy high school jobs like the rest of us? oh, and the book is not about losing weight? um, yeah, sign us all up for this novel. Julie Murphy’s dumplin’ captured our hearts and made us all want to cheer out loud for Willowdean Dickinson, who feels as real and three-dimensional as any lead this year.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. maas (bloomsbury children)
how is sarah j. maas do it, amiright? after blowing us away with his thrones of glass series, he comes back and hits us with the double whammy of his new series that begins with a court of thorns and roses, which has not only the epic fantasy adventure we know and love it for, but it’s based on the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast. we are not worthy. (but please keep them coming back).
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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10. deep challenging by neal shusterman (harpercollins)
hooray for the national book award for getting it right and choosing challenger deep to honor this year’s literature for young adults. Neal Shusterman’s story is intensely personal, based on his own son’s struggles with schizophrenia (it even has some of Brendan’s artwork in its pages), and it’s a deeply moving dive into what it’s like to live in the mind. of a mental illness. you can feel her heart beating through the lid.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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11. meet you there by heather demetrios (henry holt and co.)
I’ll meet you there gets incredibly real about poverty, PTSD, and war, but because of heather demetrios’ incredible storytelling, it never feels preachy or like a book. “problems”. You’ll feel trapped by Skylar and Josh, and how they experience living in their poor little town, when Skylar’s mom can’t hold down a job and everyone treats Josh differently since she returned from serving in Afghanistan without a leg.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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12. saint any by sarah dessen (viking books for young readers)
sarah dessen, how do you do the things you do? any year with a new sarah dessen book is a good year, and holy thing just made it an great one. The story of Sydney, who is looking for a soft place to land amid her disruptive family life, and the Chatham family she bonds with is packed with memorable characters, a jaw-dropping romance, and a friendship that shows how sometimes we have to make our own family.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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13. illuminae by amie kaufman and jay kristoff (knopf books for young readers)
I’d give illuminae a spot on this best list just for its raw, savage innovation, but the story arc is more compelling than it needs to be for me to want to capture it. The story, told in a dossier-style of classified documents, centers on an intergalactic battle but, more importantly, the tug-of-war of a relationship between two exes who are caught in the middle of the battle.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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14. happier than not by adam silvera (soho teen)
any book that earns comparisons to the eternal sunshine of a spotless mind will capture my attention, but happier than not by adam silvera takes a unique angle and brings a story memory wipe to another level entirely. Aaron struggles with painful memories (of his father’s suicide, of his own attempt, and of his newfound attraction to a boy named Thomas that puts him in a difficult position with his friends trying to “make it right”), and Silvera ponders ethical issues. of the scientific procedure to eliminate memories, however painful they may be. Also, watch out for the big twist.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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15. the wrath and the dawn by renee ahdieh (g.p. sons of putnam books for young readers)
renee ahdieh kicked off what would become a year dedicated to the Arabian Nights collection of tales, and in my opinion she did so with such creativity and innovation, without sacrificing the spirit of those old stories. . our narrating heroine becomes shahrzad, and we get a lot more of her backstory and what happens in those in-between moments when she’s not telling tales for her murderous spouse.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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16. six of crows by leigh bardugo (henry holt and co.)
Many thanks to Leigh Bardugo for taking us readers back to her epic Grisha universe, and this time, for providing us with even more fascinating “heroes.” and I say “heroes” in quotes because these six misfits definitely lean towards the criminal, anti-hero side. all i’m going to say is: fantastic, sandy ocean’s 11 (with ladies too!) doesn’t disappoint. now tell me you’re not 100% or more.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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17. written in the stars by aisha saeed (nancy paulsen books)
for me, written in the stars is so fascinating because the setting comes to life in the capable hands of aisha saeed. Centering on Naila, an American teenager, Saeed’s story follows when Naila is forced into an arranged marriage at her parents’ home in Pakistan. It’s an all-too-common story, as Saeed notes in her book, and one that’s not about Pakistani culture, but a perversion of it. As saeed lives happily in an arranged marriage, it’s such a compelling story about a place and the people who inhabit it written by someone she knows.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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18. out of the dark by ashley hope perez (carolrhoda lab)
Out of the Dark is what I dream all historical fiction can be: it takes you to a particular place in time that feels visceral and necessary, when juxtaposed with the present. Set in segregated East Texas, 1937, just before the New School London explosion, Ashley Hope Perez weaves the story of two teenagers, Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller, trapped on opposite sides of the city’s invisible lines and how his love breaks through .
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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19. mosquitoland by david arnold (viking books for young readers)
When you get past the amazing cover of the book (which I desperately need to frame on my wall), you can read a modern odyssey of the adventure of a girl who travels from mississippi to ohio to see her sick mother again. along the way he meets a menagerie of oddballs and misfits (as we all should know from riding a greyhound), and the end result is this nostalgic story of an old-school American road trip that makes you waste some time you you never had (unless jack kerouac-ed before, and i’m jealous.)
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20. winter by marissa meyer (feiwel and friends)
There’s a bittersweet feeling to reading Winter: it’s absolutely glorious to return to your favorite fairytale-inspired characters, but you know it’s the end of your favorite series, the Lunar Chronicles. marissa meyer does it again; winter is just as epic, heartfelt and girly as you knew it would be. and even though it’s 824 pages total, you’ll end up wishing there were another 800 pages.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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21. all the bright places by jennifer niven (knopf books for young readers)
After Jennifer Niven released her debut (yes, debut) and novel All the Bright Places, her young characters, Violence Markey and Theodore Finch, were quickly joined by Augustus and Hazel Grace, Eleanor and park, and other iconic contemporary couples. and it’s not all romance (although you’ll swoon). Niven’s debut is also one of those rare stories where mental illness is so right, which is so important today when depression is still stigmatized.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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22. simon against the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli (balzer + bray)
Things get complicated for Simon when he is blackmailed into helping the class clown win over his friend Abby, or else he and his blue crush will be outed as gay. He just tries not to fall for Simon and he staggers through the trials and tribulations of coming of age, with the added pressure of dating (or not dating). he’s both heartfelt and hilarious, and feels so authentic to the high school experience. he just wishes my high school was populated with some of the electric personalities on display here.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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23. all the rage of courtney summers (st. martin’s griffin)
It’s rare to come across a book that feels so utterly vital and yet not preachy at all. all the rage by courtney summers is a harrowing and difficult story about how rape and reporting your rape can isolate you and put you in the spotlight you never asked for, which can lead to despair. It’s something we know all too well from real life, not to mention the news headlines, and yet Summers approaches it with care, thoughtfulness, and painfully heartbreaking all at once. I hate with all my heart that we need books that deal with this very common topic, but I’m equally glad that if we do, summers wrote this one.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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24. only yours by louise o’neill (quercus)
Irish writer Louise O’Neill’s book caused quite a stir on her trip to the United States, and with good reason. The story reminds me of a cross between Margaret Atwood’s iconic The Handmaid’s Tale and Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian Never Let Me Go>. women exist in only ever yours only for the service of men, whether they are chosen as a wife, a concubine, or as a teacher so that the next generation of girls learns to live a life dedicated to pleasing men. It’s clearly essential modern feminist literature, and an exciting read to start with.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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and now, *drum roll*, the best book of 2015 is:
25. an ember in the ashes of sabaa tahir (alca)
sabaa tahir’s first novel an ember in the ashes shot out the door on fire. I remember exactly how I felt reading the first few chapters and thinking, “Well, I’m not going to sleep tonight.” and i meant that because there was no way to leave it and because tahir’s description of the masks surrounding his family’s home positively haunted me and i would not sleep without nightmares. no one warned me that i was going to be reading a fantasy book, espionage story, romance, military training story, traditional arabic tale, and and super scary horror book. Needless to say, my eyes were droopy as I progressed to the end, and I can’t wait for more Elias and Laia in the sequel A Torch Against the Night. not be needy, but gimme gimme.
See Also: Catherine Cookson – Book Series In Order
See Also: 10 Best JavaScript Books for Beginners to Advanced [2022] – InterviewBit
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image: bykst/pixabay
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