--- description: With a panel of celebrated authors, TIME presents the most compelling, enlightening and influential YA books of all time, dating back to the 1800s title: The 100 Best YA Books of All Time image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd132fc1381ea27b0/698a1bd022fb854fd0e2c6a8/best-YA-books-featured-image.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  Illustration by Colin Verdi for TIME # The 100 Best YA Books of All Time With a panel of celebrated authors—Elizabeth Acevedo, Kacen Callender, Jenny Han, Jason Reynolds, Adam Silvera, Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon—TIME presents the most compelling, enlightening and influential young-adult books, in chronological order beginning in the 1800s [Read More](/6085061/how-we-chose-100-best-ya-books/) ## YA Book Intro *  [Jason Reynolds: YA Books Make Us Feel Safe to Be Who We Really Are](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6085059/jason-reynolds-ya-books/) byJason Reynolds ## Young Adult Books *  [Little Women](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084576/little-women/) by Louisa May Alcott byTIME Staff *  [Anne of Green Gables](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084495/anne-of-green-gables/) by L. M. Montgomery byTIME Staff *  [A Tree Grows in Brooklyn](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084473/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn/) by Betty Smith byTIME Staff *  [Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084493/anne-frank-the-diary-of-a-young-girl/) by Anne Frank byTIME Staff *  [The Catcher in the Rye](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084675/the-catcher-in-the-rye/) by J.D. Salinger byTIME Staff *  [Lord of the Flies](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084580/lord-of-the-flies/) by William Golding byTIME Staff *  [To Kill a Mockingbird](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084717/to-kill-a-mockingbird/) by Harper Lee byTIME Staff *  [From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084538/from-the-mixed-up-files-of-mrs-basil-e-frankweiler/) by E.L. Konigsburg byTIME Staff *  [A Wizard of Earthsea](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084477/a-wizard-of-earthsea-ya-book/) by Ursula K. Le Guin byTIME Staff *  [I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084561/ill-get-there-it-better-be-worth-the-trip/) by John Donovan byTIME Staff *  [Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084497/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/) by Judy Blume byTIME Staff *  [A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6082943/a-hero-aint-nothin-but-a-sandwich/) by Alice Childress byTIME Staff *  [Forever](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084536/forever/) by Judy Blume byTIME Staff *  [Tuck Everlasting](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084719/tuck-everlasting-ya-book/) by Natalie Babbitt byTIME Staff *  [Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084603/roll-of-thunder-hear-my-cry/) by Mildred D. Taylor byTIME Staff *  [A Swiftly Tilting Planet](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084471/a-swiftly-tilting-planet-ya-book/) by Madeleine L'Engle byTIME Staff *  [The Westing Game](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084713/the-westing-game/) by Ellen Raskin byTIME Staff *  [Homecoming](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084550/homecoming-2/) by Cynthia Voigt byTIME Staff *  [The House on Mango Street](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084695/the-house-on-mango-street/) by Sandra Cisneros byTIME Staff *  [Weetzie Bat](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084730/weetzie-bat/) by Francesca Lia Block byTIME Staff *  [The Giver](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084683/the-giver/) by Lois Lowry byTIME Staff *  [Ella Enchanted](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084524/ella-enchanted-ya-book/) by Gail Carson Levine byTIME Staff *  [Holes](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084549/holes/) by Louis Sachar byTIME Staff *  [If You Come Softly](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084565/if-you-come-softly/) by Jacqueline Woodson byTIME Staff *  [Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084491/angus-thongs-and-full-frontal-snogging/) by Louise Rennison byTIME Staff *  [Monster](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084588/monster/) by Walter Dean Myers byTIME Staff *  [Speak](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084659/speak/) by Laurie Halse Anderson byTIME Staff *  [Stargirl](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084664/stargirl/) by Jerry Spinelli byTIME Staff *  [The Princess Diaries](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084706/the-princess-diaries/) by Meg Cabot byTIME Staff *  [A Step from Heaven](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6082945/a-step-from-heaven/) by An Na byTIME Staff *  [Rainbow Boys](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084601/rainbow-boys/) by Alex Sanchez byTIME Staff *  [The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084709/the-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pants/) by Ann Brashares byTIME Staff *  [Before We Were Free](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084502/before-we-were-free/) by Julia Alvarez byTIME Staff *  [Feed](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084533/feed-ya-book/) by M.T. Anderson byTIME Staff *  [Persepolis](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084597/persepolis/) by Marjane Satrapi byTIME Staff *  [How I Live Now](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084551/how-i-live-now/) by Meg Rosoff byTIME Staff *  [Code Talker](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084512/code-talker/) by Joseph Bruchac byTIME Staff *  [Elsewhere](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084525/elsewhere/) by Gabrielle Zevin byTIME Staff *  [The Book Thief](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084673/the-book-thief/) by Markus Zusak byTIME Staff *  [The Lightning Thief](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084700/the-lightning-thief/) by Rick Riordan byTIME Staff *  [American Born Chinese](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084485/american-born-chinese/) by Gene Luen Yang byTIME Staff *  [Copper Sun](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084514/copper-sun/) by Sharon Draper byTIME Staff *  [Tyrell](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084721/tyrell/) by Coe Booth byTIME Staff *  [Graceling](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084547/graceling/) by Kristin Cashore byTIME Staff *  [The Hunger Games](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084697/the-hunger-games/) by Suzanne Collins byTIME Staff *  [Ship Breaker](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084652/ship-breaker/) by Paolo Bacigalupi byTIME Staff *  [Akata Witch](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084479/akata-witch-ya-book/) by Nnedi Okorafor byTIME Staff *  [Daughter of Smoke & Bone](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084518/daughter-of-smoke-and-bone/) by Laini Taylor byTIME Staff *  [Legend](/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084572/legend/) by Marie Lu byTIME Staff The 100 Best YA Books of All Time ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/"},"headline":"The 100 Best YA Books of All Time","description":"With a panel of celebrated authors—Elizabeth Acevedo, Kacen Callender, Jenny Han, Jason Reynolds, Adam Silvera, Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon—TIME presents the most compelling, enlightening and influential young-adult books, in chronological order beginning in the 1800s","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/","datePublished":"2026-03-17T00:08:35.582Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T00:08:35.257Z","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156}},"mainEntity":{"@type":"ItemList","numberOfItems":101,"itemListOrder":"Descending"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd132fc1381ea27b0/698a1bd022fb854fd0e2c6a8/best-YA-books-featured-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/","name":"The 100 Best YA Books of All Time"}}]}] ```