It’s difficult to pick favorites among the many amazing YA and MG titles in print, but here are some recommendations:
Young Adult:
Marcelo in the Real World – Francisco X. Stork
Tell the Wolves I’m Home – Carol Rifka Brunt
I’ll Give You the Sun – Jandy Nelson
Rules of Survival – Nancy Werlin
We Were Liars – E. Lockhart
Feed – M. T. Anderson
The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass – Meg Medina
The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Emily M. Danforth
Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
Lovely, Dark and Deep – Amy McNamara
Story of a Girl – Sara Zarr
Another Brooklyn – Jacqueline Woodson
Still Life with Tornado – A. S. King
We Are Okay – Nina LaCour
Middle Grade:
A Single Shard – Linda Sue Park
Okay for Now – Gary D. Schmidt
Rules – Cynthia Lord
When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
The Tiger Rising – Kate DiCamillo
Wonder – R. J. Palacio
The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
The Giver – Lois Lowry
The One and Only Ivan – Katherine Applegate
Counting by Sevens – Holly Goldberg Sloan
The Higher Power of Lucky – Susan Patron
A Crooked Kind of Perfect – Linda Urban
Savvy – Ingrid Law
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson
Walk Two Moons – Sharon Creech
“never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – lemony snicket