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Young Adult
 

I think it goes without saying that I love young adult books. The first book I ever wrote is YA, after all. But I really do love them. I know I'm an adult, but it doesn't matter. They're fun and light reads that entertain, so what does it matter that they're intended for a high school audience?

 

And no, it's not because I loved high school. It was hell on earth and an experience that you couldn't pay me enough to relive. I won't even go to my high school reunions. I broke free of that mess years ago and have no interest in going back, thank you very much.

 

To be honest, it's not so much that I particularly care about the high school politics or the requisite love triangle in these books, but I do like the fact that most of the time, I know I'm getting a clean book. Some may call me a prude, but I like that most YA are fairly clean. I don't care for cursing and really don't like sexual content in my books, so it's nice to have a genre that is fairly safe on both counts. It's not a guarantee, unfortunately, but it's safer than a lot of adult books.

 

And as this is really more of a reading group than a genre, I'm going to break down these recommendations by genre.

 

Urban/Contemporary Fantasy

John Cleaver by Dan Wells

Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong

Sense Thieves by Corrine Jackson

Shifters and Seers by Tammy Blackwell

Timber Wolves Trilogy by Tammy Blackwell

Warriors of Ankh by Samantha Young

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

See Me by Wendy Higgins

 

Traditional/Historical Fantasy

The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy by Jessica Day George

Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede

Shadowmagic Trilogy by John Lenahan

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Bartimaeus Series by Jonathan Stroud

 

Sci-Fi

Penryn and the End of Days Series by Susan Ee

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Ultraviolet Duology by R.J. Anderson

The Unwind Series by Neal Shusterman

The Sycthe Series by Neal Shusterman

 

Drama

The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

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