YALSA's Top 10 Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2025Like this list

13 items

• Every Time You Hear That Song

  Voris, Jenna,

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  Seventeen-year-old aspiring journalist Darren Purchase has been a lifelong fan of country music legend Decklee Cassel, who's as famous for her classic hits as she is for her partnership with songwriter Mickenlee Hooper. The same Mickenlee who…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Last Dragon on Mars

  Reintgen, Scott,

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  Thirteen-year-old Lunar Jones was born on Mars, with every day a struggle, until he stumbles into a restricted military zone where he learns dragons are real and a new dragon has chosen him as a rider--a role he needs to embrace quickly because this…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Homebody

  Parish, Theo,

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  In their comics debut, Theo Parish masterfully weaves an intimate and defiantly hopeful memoir about the journey one nonbinary person takes to find a home within themself. Combining traditional comics with organic journal-like interludes, Theo takes…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Poemhood, Our Black Revival

  History, Folklore & the Black Experience: a Young Adult Poetry Anthology

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  Featuring contributions from an award-winning, bestselling group of Black voices, past and present, this powerful poetry anthology elicits vital conversations about race, belonging, history and faith to highlight Black joy and pain.

• That's Not My Name

  Lally, Megan,

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  Told in two voices, a seventeen-year-old battered and bruised girl struggles to remember who she or the man claiming to be her father is while seventeen-year-old Drew stops at nothing to find his missing girlfriend.

• A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants

  Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds

  Hirsch, Rebecca E.,

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  A must for fans of science and history-and also armchair detectives-this entertaining and informative illustrated compendium delves into nature's deadliest plants and their fascinating histories as implements of medicine, warfare, and foul play.

• Even If It Breaks Your Heart

  Hahn, Erin,

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  As he attempts to fulfil a list left behind by his deceased best friend, nineteen-year-old Case meets eighteen-year-old Winnie, a hardworking ranch hand with aspirations of her own, and together they embark on an unexpected journey as they chase…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Ghost Roast

  Gibbs, Shawnelle,

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  Fifteen-year-old Chelsea, daughter of a paranormal specialist, risks her hard-won popularity and more when she is drawn into a paranormal romance after discovering her own ability to communicate with ghosts.

• The Enigma Girls

  How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II

  Fleming, Candace,

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  You are to report to Station X at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, in four days time ... That is all you need to know." This was the terse telegram hundreds of young women throughout the British Isles received in the spring of 1941, as World War II…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Aisle Nine

  Cho, Ian X.,

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  Even though the world is filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons pop out of them on the reg, Jasper spends his days and nights working as a check-out clerk at the Here For You discount mart. Sure, there's even a hell portal in aisle…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• That's Not My Name

  Lally, Megan

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  eBook

• The Last Dragon on Mars

  Reintgen, Scott

  Add The Last Dragon on Mars to your for later shelf

  eBook

• Ghost Roast

  A Graphic Novel

  Gibbs, Shawneé • Gibbs, Shawnelle

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  eBook