As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am once again a round one judge for the Cybils Awards this year!! This time around, I am reading YA fiction. Last year, I read non-fiction (across age groups) and learned so much. One of the wonderful things about being a round one judge is discovering and reading books I normally would not have read by myself. This certainly broadens my horizons, and I love that part of being a judge. This year is no different and I want to share this list of great YA books you need to read.
That being said, I have to admit I am still only 1/10th of the way through the list but hope to get a couple of weekend readathons to speed it up 🙂 However, I can still say that these promise to be great reads, because, well, they have been nominated for this wonderful award!!
The Great YA Books List…
So as for the book list itself, here it is… If you want to download it, you can do so here. And do check out other Cybils 2021 nomination lists (For other categories, I mean) over at the Cybils website directly
| A Better Bad Idea Devore, Laurie | A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow Namey, Laura Taylor | A Lesson in Vengeance Lee, Victoria |
| A Pho Love Story Le, Loan | Ace of Spades Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah | American Betiya Rajurkar, Anuradha D. |
| Angel of Greenwood Pink, Randi | Between Perfect and Real Stoeve, Ray | Beyond the Mapped Stars Eves, Rosalyn |
| Bluebird Cameron, Sharon | Brown Boy Nowhere Sheeryl Lim | Can’t Take That Away Steven Salvatore |
| Concrete Rose Thomas, Angie | Counting Down with You Bhuiyan, Tashie | Dangerous Play Kress, Emma |
| Darling Ancrum, K. | Don’t Hate the Player Alexis Nedd | Drawn That Way Sussman, Elissa, illustrated by Jovellanos, Arielle |
| Eyes of the Forest Henry, April | Fadeaway Vickers, E. B. | Fat Chance, Charlie Vega Maldonado, Crystal |
| Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun: A Novel Garza Villa, Jonny | Firekeeper’s Daughter Boulley, Angeline | Fresh Wood, Margot |
| Gerald Ribbon and the Bird in his Brain Maxwell Bauman | Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating Jaigirdar, Adiba | Hello (From Here) Baker, Chandler and King, Wesley |
| How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe Gilliland, Raquel Vasquez | In the Same Boat Green, Holly | In the Wild Light Zentner, Jeff |
| Indivisible Aleman, Daniel | It Goes Like This Moreland, Miel | Just Ash Sol Santana |
| Kate in Waiting Albertalli, Becky | Kisses and Croissants Jouhanneau, Anne-Sophie | Kneel Buford, Candace |
| Last Night at the Telegraph Club Lo, Malinda | Like Home Onome, Louisa | List of Ten Gomez, Halli |
| Love & Olives Welch, Jenna Evans | Love is a Revolution Renée Watson | Made in Korea Suk, Sarah |
| Malcolm and Me: A Novel Farmer, Robin | Meet Cute Diary Lee, Emery | Never Saw You Coming: A Novel Hahn, Erin |
| Not My Problem Smyth, Ciara | Not Our Summer Bazay, Casie | Off the Record Garrett, Camryn |
| Once Upon a Quinceañera Gomez-Hira, Monica | One Great Lie Caletti, Deb | One of the Good Ones Moulite, Maika and Moulite, Maritza |
| Perfect Place to Die, The Bryce Moore | Playing with Fire Henry, April | Pride and Premeditation Price, Tirzah |
| Raven Creek Therese Pautz | Rent a Boyfriend Chao, Gloria | Rise to the Sun Johnson, Leah |
| She’s Too Pretty to Burn Heard, Wendy | Shipped Tate, Meredith | Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet Kemp, Laekan Zea |
| That Weekend Thomas, Kara | The F Words Barbara Gregorich | The Forest of Stolen Girls Hur, June |
| The Girls I’ve Been Sharpe, Tess | The Hollow Inside Davis, Brooke Lauren | The Ivies Donne, Alexa |
| The Jasmine Project Ireland, Meredith | The Lucky List Lippincott, Rachael | The Mystery of the Lost Will Jack Yerby |
| The Night When No One Had Sex Miller, Kalena | The Number on My Father’s Arm / El número en el brazo de papá (English and Spanish Edition) Rodolfo Alvarado | The Obsession Sutanto, Jesse Q. |
| The Problem with the Other Side Ivery, Kwame | The Project: A Novel Summers, Courtney | The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling Chim, Wai |
| Tokyo Ever After: A Novel (Tokyo Ever After, 1) Jean, Emiko | When the World Was Ours Kessler, Liz | When We Were Strangers Richards, Alex |
| Why We Fly Jones, Kimberly and Segal, Gilly | Words Composed of Sea and Sky George, Erica | XOXO Oh, Axie |
| Yolk Choi, Mary H. K. | Zero O’Clock C.J. Farley |
And Now, the End of This Post
Dear reader, what is your favorite genre of books? If you do read YA, which is your favorite one of all time, and for this year? Have you read any of the books in this list? Do let me know your thoughts on them.
I am an old lady, sorry, I don’t YA, I read Women’s Fiction and Thrillers.
Have you read all these books? The list is long and comprehensive. I don’t read YA often unless someone recomments a title specifically. I have several favorite genre, literary fiction is probably my favorite along with memoir and poetry. I also enjoy “easily consumable cozy romance” as a quick read for entertainment and self-care. I also started to listen to cozy mysteries (and I like the ones that take place in bookstores LOL) because my friend narrates audiobooks. 🙂
That’s a fabulous list of books. And, DJ, I’m old, too, but that’s no reason to stop me or anyone else from reading YA! Lol.
So much to choose from here!! Thanks for the suggestions! I personally read mostly nonfiction/spiritual texts.
Thanks for sharing.
That’s a long list! I confess. I haven’t read YA since I was one. But I do enjoy light romance novels. I had a goal to read a Harry Potter but haven’t started one yet. I do have J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults – The Casual Vacancy. I better start it soon before it’s overdue. It’s a library copy.
THAT is an extensive list! See you in three weeks when you finish the tomes.