Put Down Their iPhones—Here are the 15 Books Your Teen Will Love to Read

This number one best seller by author Kacen Callender is about main character Felix Love and his journey of self-discovery as a transgender teen. After taking things into his own hands after being bullied, he finds himself falling in love, and finding himself. This a beautifully told story about accepting the love that one deserves — and recognizing it when it’s on your doorstep.

You Should See Me in a Crown follows Liz Lighty, an awkward Black girl from Campbell, Indiana, on her journey to get out of her small town, attend college, and become a doctor.  But of course there are huge road blocks that get in the way of her plan. This is a story about overcoming fears and finding who you truly are.

Furia is a #1 Best Seller and was featured as Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club YA pick (Yes, Elle!) The story follows Camila, a rising soccer star in Argentina who does everything she can to make it pro…even pushing love to the side. It’s a brilliant story about following your dreams and romance.

How about a love-story-turned-psychological-mystery to keep your teens on the edge of their seats? This modern suspense novel (grade level 7-9) from E. Lockhart has it all. A clever plot, brilliant writing, and shocking twist ending (it’s a doozy!) won’t fail to lure your teen in. The storyline revolves around a girl harboring a dark secret and a friendship that turns destructive. You’ll have to pick up the book to learn more.

This novel has the perfect title: there’s a warmth that emanates from Jude and Noah, a set of artistically gifted twins who find themselves disconnected from one another while they navigate a precarious family situation. The novel is split into two parts, with Noah narrating the younger years and Jude narrating their teens.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is a black teenager who attends a posh private school, where her classmates are predominately white and wealthy. She is thrust into the spotlight when her childhood friend, a black teenage boy, is shot and killed by a white police officer. The book debuted to critical acclaim, has won several literary awards and spent dozens of week atop bestseller lists. Despite a smattering of controversy (there is profanity and drug use) it is a bonafide modern classic.

This fish-out-of-water meets coming-of-age-story centers around a wry French Canadian teenager who moves to Austin, Texas with his mother. While navigating classmates straight out of central casting and the shockingly humid weather, protagonist Norris records his experience and creates his very own high school field guide to jocks, cheerleaders and manic pixie dream girl love interests.

From the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska by John Green is the friendship/love/all of the above story of Miles Halter and Alaska Young. It’s even a limited series on Hulu!

This heart-squeezing story about first love, and all its complications, unfolds as Eleanor and Park work through their daily challenges, from school bullying to abuse at home. It’s an incredibly charming book with an ending that will leaves readers wanting more.

The Selection, 1 is apart of a five-part series by Kiera Cass. It’s take the reader into an entirely different world filled with “fairy-tale romance, swoon-worthy characters, [and] glittery gowns.” Basically — think Netflix’s Bridgerton combined with The Bachelor and Divergent. A group of women are vying for the heart of Prince Maxon and for the Princess crown. That is until, he meets America. If you love a whirlwind teenage romance story within a dystopian world, you’ll love this novel for sure.

Any Twilight fans in the house?! Bestselling author Stephenie Meyer is back with Midnight Sun, the highly anticipated companion to the rest of her series (recommended for grade level 7+). This go-around, the tables are turned as the iconic love story of Bella and Edward is told from the vampire’s point of view. A captivating tale with a dark twist is characterized by Edward’s struggle/battle with falling in love with an immortal.

Don’t let the messy movies turn you away from this book series, particularly this first installment. In post-apocolyptic Chicago, 16-year-olds are given a test and sorted into a faction based on their dominant trait. Tris’s test reveals she is “divergent” – someone who doesn’t fit easily into any quadrant, which makes her a target of nefarious enemies who want to stamp out dissent.

Let’s face it, social media  (especially Twitter) is apart of our teenager’s life. Tweet Cute: A Novel by Emma Lord is a hilarious, smart, rom-com of a book following Pepper and Jack. Two teens who go to the same school but have very different crowds. After a very public Twitter war, they may have unknowingly found love too.

If your teens loved The Hate U Give, then The Black Kids will be right up their alley. Recommended for grade levels 9-12, this coming-of-age novel takes place during the 1992 Rodney King Riots. Issues of race, equity, class, and violence come into play as the main character—a wealthy black teenager—makes the transition from a black girl to a black woman.

Willowdean (nicknamed Dumplin’) is fed up with her town’s obsession with the local beauty pageant, preferring to mock the pomp and circumstance with her best friend Ellen and her imaginary best friend, Dolly Parton. It doesn’t help that her mother is a former winner whose life revolves around being a coach to Dumplin’s crown-chasing classmates. In order to upend the system, Dumplin’ decides to do the unthinkable and take her place in the spotlight.

Teens might already be familiar with the Netflix version of TALBILB (and breakout stars Lana Condor Noah Centino), making this an easy sell. Like most adaptions, the book is deeper than the movie, particularly as it pertains to protagonist Laura Jean’s inner life, her love letters, her grief over her mother and her connection to her Korean heritage. There’s a sequel, too.

This book takes place in the same fictional city of Garden Heights as The Hate U Give (though the characters do not overlap). Teenage Bri dreams of becoming a rap superstar, a life far from her current circumstance (maligned at school and facing economic uncertainty at home). After her song goes viral, Bri has to contend with systemic biases against young black kids and hip hop music, all while navigating the exploitive music industry. Throughout the story, Brie’s brilliant lyrical voice shines through.

For teens with an interest in mysteries or true crime, this novel is about two teen siblings – one famous and seeking emancipation from her parents, the other resentfully living in the shadows – who are thrust together to solve their parents’ disappearance. The investigation unearths family secrets and… well, it’s a mystery. No spoilers here.

A book about social complacency and hopeful rebellion set against the backdrop of a Muslim interment camp in a fictional, future version of the USA, this is a challenging and necessary book for 2020.

Teenage Maddie has a severe immunodeficiency disorder that makes her unable to leave the house; her only face-to-face interaction is with her mother and her nurse. After watching her new neighbours from the window, Maddie develops an online relationship with Ollie and soon devises a plan to explore the outside world, no matter the risk.

Teens may be familiar with this the film The Sun is Also a Star starring Yara Shahidi of Freeform’s Grown-ish, but like many of our favorite movies — it started out as a book! This #1 New York Times bestseller is a love story that follows Natasha, who’s spending her last day in New York City before her family is deported to Jamaica, and Daniel, the boy who’s trying to convince her that love is real.

This book was once standard in English classes all over North America, though teens today might be a little confused about the “old timey” language (it was written in 1967). It is told from the perspective of 14-year-old Ponyboy, an orphan being raised by his young brother and an ad-hoc family of “greasers” who try to protect each other from the constant petty crime and classist violence of the streets.

No teen reading list is complete without the legendary Judy Blume. Like many of her books, Tiger Eyes deals with adult themes  (this time it’s grief and alcoholism) as experienced through Davey, a young woman grappling with her father’s sudden death.

For teens who are interested in fantastical settings, The Hobbit is rich in imagination and allegories of heroism and personal growth. It is the perfect entry way into the mystical world of Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, dwarves, and Misty Mountains.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is the story of Junior, an aspiring cartoonist who knows exactly what he wants. To pursue his future career, he transfers from his school on the reservation to an all-white farm town high school. It’s a hilarious, sad, and an amazing coming of age story.