Best of 2024 & Award Winners (YA)

Created on December 5, 2024, 1:51 pm

Last Updated December 5, 2024, 5:31 pm

https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/children/2024/#book/book-1 https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2024/12/aicls-year-in-review-2024.html https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/books/barnes-nobles-best-books-of-2024/barnes-nobles-best-young-adult-books-of-2024/_/N-29Z8q8Z30ta https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/readers-favorite-ya-fantasy-books-2024 https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/readers-favorite-ya-fiction-books-2024 https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2024/?cat=ypl https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/teens?year=2024 https://www.slj.com/story/best-graphic-novels-2024-slj-best-books

Author

Notes

2024 Southwest Books of the Year

Description

"As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert that will take him from Mexico to the United States. That is until he's caught by the Border Patrol only moments after sneaking across the fence in the dead of night. Escaping their clutches comes at a price and, lost in the desert without a guide or water, Mateo is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat that is sure to...

Author

Series

Notes

NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Description

Day 1 Gotta get up. Gotta keep moving. This map – it says I have to cross over here. Wait, what's that…? And so begins a graphic novel story unlike any other: 49 Days. In Korean Buddhist tradition, a person must travel for forty-nine days after they die, before they can fully cross over. Here in this book, readers travel with one girl on her journey, while also spending time with her family and friends left behind. Agnes Lee has captivated...

Author

Series

Notes

NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Formats:

eComic, Graphic Novel

Description

"A powerful coming-of-age graphic novel about three generations of mothers and daughters passing down and rebelling against standards of gender, race, beauty, size, and worth, for fans of Mariko Tamaki. Sixteen-year-old Roz is preoccupied with normal teenage stuff: navigating high school friendships, worrying about college, and figuring out what to wear to prom. When her estranged Por Por abruptly arrives for a seemingly indefinite visit, the already...

4) All this twisted glory

Author

Series

This woven kingdom volume 3

Notes

Goodreads Favorite Young Adult Fantasy Nominee

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

"Determined to escape Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, Alizeh, heir to the Jinn throne, realizes Cyrus may be the key to fulfilling her own destiny, while in Ardunia, Kamran finds a magical way to finally get to Tulan and rescue Alizeh"--

5) The Art Thieves

Author

Notes

American Indians in Children's Literature honor book

Description

TO: Angel Wilson FROM: Stevie Henry Thanks for coming to see me; but by the time you read this, it will be too late. No one will have started to panic, yet; but in less than two months nothing will be the same. What came first, The Chicken or the Egg Flu? I wish it mattered. But let's just say, maybe go back to wearing a mask, bathing in sanitizer, and avoid birds and eggs for a bit... I did not kill my brother. I did quite the opposite, really. It's...

6) Between the pipes

Author

Series

Between the Pipes

Notes

American Indians in Children's Literature honor book

Formats:

eComic, New Graphic Novel

Description

"In this engrossing graphic novel, teen hockey player Chase learns more about himself and his identity in the face of prejudice and homophobia. Thirteen-year-old Chase's life and identity should be simple. He's the goalie for his hockey team, the Eagles. He's a friend to Kevin and Jade. He's Kookum's youngest grandchild. He's a boy. He should like girls. But it's not that simple. Chase doesn't like girls the way that the other boys do. It's scary...

7) Bright red fruit

Author

Notes

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2024, NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Description

"Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet--until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of anolder, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she's keeping a bigger secret than ever before--one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place...

8) The Brightwood code

Author

Notes

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2024

Description

A cryptic message forces eighteen-year-old American Edda to investigate what secrets followed her across the ocean, even as she tries to make sense of her time as a telephone operator on the French front lines of World War I.

Author

Notes

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2024

Description

An exciting teen coming-of-age epic from author Samuel Teer and debut graphic novel artist Mar Julia, Brownstone is a vivid, sweeping, ultimately hopeful story about navigating your heritage even when you feel like you don’t quite fit in. Almudena has always wondered about the dad she never met. Now, with her white mother headed on a once-in-a-lifetime trip without her, she’s left alone with her Guatemalan father for an entire summer. Xavier...

10) Call me Iggy

Author

Aguirre, Jorge Augusto

Notes

School Library Journal Best Graphic Novels 2024

Description

"Ignacio "Iggy" Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito...

11) Celestial monsters

Author

Series

Sunbearer duology volume 2

Notes

Barnes and Noble Best Books of 2024

Formats:

Description

"Teo never thought he could be a Hero. Now, he doesn’t have a choice. The sun is gone, the Obsidian gods have been released from their prison, and chaos and destruction are wreaking havoc on Reino del Sol. All because Teo refused to sacrifice a fellow semidiós during the Sunbearer Trials. With the world plunged into perpetual night, Teo, his crush Aurelio, and his best friend Niya must journey to the dark wilderness of Los Restos, battling vicious...

12) Chronically Dolores

Author

Van Wagenen, Maya

Notes

NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Description

"Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn't life threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life. Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative...

13) Clock Striker

Author

Galadima, Issaka

Notes

School Library Journal Best Manga of 2024

Description

"Cast dreams of being a SMITH, and though she's rather handy with her tools, no one in her small town ever realizes their dreams. Besides, these legendary warrior engineers haven't been seen in years and were never known for having female members. Fortunately, Cast meets one surviving member named Ms. Philomena Clock, who agrees to take her on as her apprentice, or striker. Now Cast is thrust into one deadly adventure after another! From cybernetic...

14) Clock Striker Vol. 1: "I'm Gonna Be A Smith!"

Author

Galadima, Issaka

Series

Notes

School Library Journal Best Manga of 2024

Description

Clock Striker, now in graphic novel format, follows Shonen manga's first Black female lead hero, Cast, in her quest to become a member of the SMITHS, the legendary warrior engineers. Cast dreams of being a SMITH, and though she's rather handy with her tools, no one in her small town ever realizes their dreams. Besides, these legendary warrior engineers haven't been seen in years and were never known for having female members. Fortunately, Cast meets...

15) The color of a lie

Author

Notes

NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Description

In 1955, a Black family relocates to the suburbs where they must pass for white, but dark secrets about the town and its inhabitants threaten their new home.

16) Compound fracture

Author

White, Andrew Joseph

Notes

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2024

Formats:

eBook, Kindle, New-Book

Description

After being nearly beaten to death for evidence he holds against the corrupt sheriff, sixteen-year-old transgender Miles joins his fellow townsfolk to end the blood feud and oppressive politics that plague his town. "On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek:...

17) Crash landing

Author

Li, Charmaine Anne

Notes

NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Description

"This YA debut is a searing ode to queer identity, growing up in an immigrant community, and carving a place for yourself in the world with the help of your friends. Jay Wong is spending the last languid days of summer 2010 trying to land a kickflip and begging for something (anything!) to make her senior year different--to finally give her some stories worth telling. When she meets Ash Chan, it seems like she's getting what she asked for. Ash is...

18) The darkness within us

Author

Levenseller, Tricia

Series

Shadows between us volume 2

Notes

Goodreads Favorite Young Adult Fantasy Nominee

Description

Chrysantha Stathos has won. By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has gathered important secrets, earned her father’s constant care, and become a wealthy duchess—all by age nineteen. Now, she is only one elderly, dying duke away from having all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted. Or so she thought. Turns out her little sister somehow snatched the true victory away from her:...

19) Death at Morning House

Author

Johnson, Maureen

Notes

Goodreads Favorite Young Adult Fiction Nominee

Description

"The fire wasn't Marlowe Wexler's fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist. With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that's how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter....

20) Death's country

Author

Notes

NYPL Best Books for Teens 2024

Formats:

Description

After drowning and making a deal with Death for a new life, Andres Santos starts over in Miami where he forms a polyamorous triad with Renee and Liora, but when Liora ends up in a coma, Andres and Renee embark on a journey into the underworld to retrieve her spirit and reunite it with her body before it is too late.