CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

To print a CCBC booklist, click on a list below and then use your browser’s “Print” command.

Sophisticated and Substantial Books for Teens

Compiled by Madeline Tyner Freimuth

The YA books on this list have been selected for their rich subject matter, literary excellence, and sophisticated writing styles.

While they are divided into broad genre categories, the titles are wide-ranging in subgenre (romance, thriller, horror, fairy tale retellings, dystopian, high fantasy, and more) and format (graphic biography, novel in verse, poetry memoir, a "play" script, short stories, illustrated novels, and more). They are set in various time periods and locations and depict a great variety of lived experiences. They raise questions, explore complex issues, shed light on the past, and play with form.

As different as these titles are from one another, though, each invites deep, careful reading and has the potential to provoke thoughtful discussion.

Historical Fiction

We Are Not Free
by Chee, Traci
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. 384 pages. Age 13 and older

Adventures of Mary Jane
by Jahren, Hope
Delacorte/Random House, 2024. 441 pages. Age 11 and older

Out of Darkness
by Perez, Ashley Hope
Carolrhoda Lab, 2015. 402 pages. Age 14 and older

Amber & Clay
by Schlitz, Laura Amy
Illustrated by Julia Iredale. Candlewick, 2021. 532 pages. Ages 10-14

Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady
by van Rijckeghem, Jean-Claude
Translated by Kristen Gehrman. Levine Querido, 2022. 419 pages. Age 13 and older

A Sitting in St. James
by Williams-Garcia, Rita
HarperCollins/Quill Tree, 2021. 460 pages. Age 16 and older

Contemporary Fiction

The Poet X
by Acevedo, Elizabeth
HarperTeen, 2018. 361 pages. Age 12 and older

Firekeeper's Daughter
by Boulley, Angeline
Henry Holt/Macmillan, 2021. 494 pages. Age 14 and older

Patron Saints of Nothing
by Ribay, Randy
Kokila/Penguin Random House, 2019. 323 pages. Age 14 and older

Frankly in Love
by Yoon, David
Penguin Random House/Putnam, 2019. 406 pages. Age 13 and older

Fantasy and Speculative Fiction

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
by Anderson, M. T. and Eugene Yelchin
Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Candlewick, 2018. 483 pages. Ages 10-14

Munmun
by Andrews, Jesse
Abrams/Amulet, 2018. 404 pages. Age 12 and older

Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard
by Brown, Echo
Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt, 2020. 294 pages. Age 14 and older

Dig
by King, A. S.
Dutton/Penguin, 2019. 392 pages. Age 13 and older

Enter the Body
by McCullough, Joy
Dutton, 2023. 318 pages. Age 14 and older

The Magic Fish
by Nguyen, Trung Le
Random House/RH Graphic, 2020. 229 pages. Age 11 and older

Man Made Monsters
by Rogers, Andrea L.
Illustrated by Jeff Edwards. Levine Querido, 2022. 315 pages. Age 14 and older

The Art Thieves
by Rogers, Andrea L.
Levine Querido, 2024. 384 pages. Age 13 and older

Greymist Fair
by Zappia, Francesca
Illustrated by Julia Iredale. Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2023. 314 pages. Age 12 and older

Biography and Memoir

Apple (Skin to the Core)
by Gansworth, Eric
Levine Querido, 2020. 339 pages. Age 14 and older

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption
by Gibney, Shannon
Dutton/Penguin Random House, 2023. 237 pages. Age 14 and older

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien
by Hendrix, John
Illustrated by John Hendrix. Abrams/Abrams Fanfare, 2024. 217 pages. Age 14 and older

Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story)
by Nayeri, Daniel
Levine Querido, 2020. 368 pages. Age 12 and older

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.

Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.