The winter cold is setting in and our Teen Services Committee has compiled a list of winter reading suggestions for Young Adult literature to chase the chill away.
Be sure and sign up for our Winter Reading Program and log the books you read. We have set a goal of 500 books read among all participants by the end of February!
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
Laura Dean, the most popular girl in school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and so cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.
Genre/Themes: Graphic Novel, Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQ+, Love/Relationships
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as an orphan in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery — magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath chains. After an act of sabotage releases her library’s most dangerous grimoire and Elisabeth is implicated in the crime, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy.
Genre/Themes: High Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Magic
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. But it’s hard when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So she pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral … for all the wrong reasons. Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation.
Genre/Themes: Contemporary Fiction, Rap/HipHop, Family, Social Issues
My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins
A countdown to midnight on New Year’s Eve. Feeling isolated in a new town during the holidays. Romance blooming in the quiet calm of winter. These twelve stories, from some of the hottest authors in YA fiction today, explore relationships, love, and friendship during the holiday season. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there’s something here for everyone.
Genre/Themes: Short Story Anthology, Holidays, Romance, Contemporary Fiction
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Darius Kellner is half Persian and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life. Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they’re spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city’s skyline. Adib Khorram’s brilliant debut is for anyone who’s ever felt not good enough—then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.
Genre/Themes: Mental Health, Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQ+, Family
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
This is the story about two boys, Ari and Dante, who must learn to believe in each other and the power of their friendship if they ever are to become men. Dante is articulate and self-assured; Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself. But when Ari and Dante meet, they bond. They share books, thoughts, dreams, laughter. And they discover that the universe is a large and difficult place.
Genre/Themes: LGBTQ+, Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Coming-Of-Age
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