The best YA novels for adults

There is a stereotype that books kept in young people’s literature are not for adults. That if a story is suitable for children, then it should be only be suitable for children, or that if it contains elements that children should get over—fairy tales, magic, coming-of-age stories—there is nothing there to enrich the mind of someone who is really matured

This is nonsense, of course; you’ll find books with familiar plots, thin emotions, and light prose in every genre that humans are capable of inventing. But it does mean that books written specifically for a YA audience, and books lumped together with YA because of their subject matter, can be overlooked in search of a story that really knocks your socks off or offers meaty ideas to chew on.

In that spirit, Polygon has compiled this list: childhood favorites that will surprise you with the depth they have to offer adults, hugely influential books that will give you a better understanding of their wider genre, and a new wave of stories various ones that expand on the usual coming-of-age narrative.

If the movie is all you know The never ending storyyou don’t know at all. The 1984 film adapted only the first half of German writer Michael Ende’s novel, displaying all the tropes and none of the subversions.

Ende, the son of an artist considered “degenerate” by the Nazi regime, tore up his papers and joined an anti-SS sabotage movement the moment he came of age. His The never ending story it is a blazing, interrogative work of fantasy. It’s not just a story within a story, but a novel that pushes the format of the medium itself, with elements like a magical artifact determining the reader’s point of view. And woven through it all The never ending story i must say it is a treatise on how a lonely, self-loathing young man is radicalized into fascism through his love of fantasy and the perilous journey he undertakes to de-radicalize himself. — Susan Polo

Of course, Leigh Bardugo’s first set of Grishaverse novels suffers from Bad YA Fantasy tropes: a totally normal girl who’s secretly a Chosen One, a love triangle, and a Big Bad that needs to be foiled. But there was potential in her Imperial Russian-inspired fantasy world, and Bardugo took all of that and really wowed with the Six of Crows books.

The duology follows Kaz Brekker, a criminal mastermind (who, yes, is seventeen, but lets teenagers have their fantasies) who is recruited to pull off a dangerous heist. He calls on some allies – old friends and unlikely newcomers. Each character is magnetic, their relationships compelling. And the world building is awesome, written perfectly through the book to the point where you don’t even need to read the first three books to understand anything (although some cameos in the second book will make more sense if you do).— Petrana Radulovic

Ursula K. Le Guin, 1968-2018

Before the Boy Who Lived went to wizarding school, there was Archmage Sparrowhawk, the central figure of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earth Cycle. “Wizard books” conjure up a certain image these days, whether it’s old white men with beards or bespectacled pickaxes — but Le Guin’s fantasy series, unsurprisingly, bows to very few genre standards.

Even in 1968, she approached her publisher’s suggestion of a children’s fantasy novel from a reactionary point of view. Dragons, yes, but swords, almost never. A dark-skinned protagonist in a society where this was the norm, a distinct lack of dark lords, and a characteristically Le Guin-ian interest in the mundane lives of the people in her fantasy settings. She returned to Earthsea throughout her career and, taken together, the series is a tour of the changing strengths and interests of a towering talent, from her first book to gain a wide audience to some of her latest works before death. — SP

Haters will say that John Green only writes books about sad nerdy boys and manic dream girls. Those haters are wrong (that’s the subject of another article though).

Nothing proves this more than his latest YA novel. It starts with some stock John Green elements: an anxious protagonist (in this case, named Aza), a strange and compelling hook (in this case, a missing billionaire), and a most peculiar friend (in this case, she writes Chewbacca x Rey fanfic). But it is a raw and unflinching look at a young woman’s struggle with OCD. Turtles all the way down is John Green’s most personal novel and it shows in the way he writes about Aza’s mental health struggles. The book never shies away from the darker edges of Aza’s illness, but Green also portrays it with great care and empathy. — Fr.

The story of Bilbo Baggins’ journey there and back is Tolkien in a distinctly different way from The Lord of the Rings. A recorded version of the bedtime stories Tolkien improvised for his four children, The Hobbit it’s unpretentious, relentlessly jokey, and unconcerned with world-building consistency or internal plot logistics. Less an epic and more a “New Chapter, New Monster” travelogue of Bilbo’s strange experiences, it was never intended to connect with Middle-earth’s capital R romantic fantasy until after it was completed and published , but it remains. the quoted foundation of the genre.

If you want to understand how we got to this kind of knights in shining armor, magic spells and heroic deeds, you should see where it all started: with an unlikely, nonconformist (dare we say coward?) little freak living in a hole . — SP

Terry Pratchett, 2003-2015

If you’re a Discworld fan who’s overlooked the young adult books set in the universe, fix it right away. Tiffany Aching, star of Witch in Training Wee Free Men and its sequels, is one of Terry Pratchett’s most accomplished protagonists, standing shoulder to shoulder with characters such as Granny Weatherwax and Commander Sam Vimes.

Tiffany’s five book sub-series is full of Discworld cameos, naturally favoring Pratchett’s wizard characters in the biggest roles, but they stand alone for any new reader following her pre-teen adventure (including a few not-so-subtle digs at that. other Brit-fantasy series about witch school) to her responsibilities as a young practicing witch.

There is an extremely obvious sense of love and care in the way Pratchett writes this pragmatic, smart, good-hearted girl from childhood to first loves to first jobs, and that sense permeates everything else about the books. They keep his love of English farming communities on full display, measured, as in every Discworld book, by his frustration with conservatism and prejudice and his keen understanding of human nature. — SP

Okay, so I started this piece by talking about the tropes that John Green accidentally became known for and how that’s not really true – but I have to say I kissed Shara Wheeler it’s basically like a gay redux of him Paper citieswhere a popular girl disappears weeks before graduation, leaving behind only a few cryptic notes for three people she kissed in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Except instead of a sad boy realizing it’s not okay to put pretty girls on pedestals, it’s about a queer community coming together in the south. Casey McQuinton’s YA debut is filled with the same warmth and spirit that made their adult novels so appealing. I kissed Shara Wheeler it’s deeply funny, but also deeply hopeful. (Also, I just have to knock this house – Red, white and royal blue It is NOT a novel for young adults!) Fr.

Benjamin Alire Saenz, 2012

Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s strange coming-of-age story is painful and beautiful. Set in the 1980s, the novel is narrated by Aristotel Mendoza, a Mexican-American teenager who forms a fast and deep friendship with a boy named Dante. Ari’s narration anchors the entire book. He’s the kind of protagonist who thinks beyond himself, and the result is a book that really captures the psyche of a particular character. And Ari’s narrative often twists like a knife as he struggles with self-doubt and ultimately his sexuality and repressed feelings for his best friend. It’s beautifully written, with enough misery to ground it and enough hope to make it worth the pain. — Fr.

Maggie Stiefvater’s atmospheric books will draw you into their settings, no matter your age. Scorpion Raceshowever, it is the most timeless story of all her novels: at heart, it is a book about horse girls. And horse girl books stay with you forever.

In this case, though, most of the horses are man-eating equids rising from the sea – that’s a point in the “taming a dangerous beast” category. A deadly race takes place on this small island every November and it’s a girl’s chance to win prize money and save for her family. But while she’s a great rider, all she has is her scrawny pony. As the first girl to ever do this, the odds are stacked against her. She managed to befriend the reigning champion, a troubled boy who is really only into her because he loves his horse so much.

Admittedly, my plot description leans a little too heavily on tropes, but I really can’t do justice to how beautifully written this book is, how rich and dynamic the characters are, and how vividly you can imagine the tiny island of Thisby as the gray waves crash rocky shores. — Fr.

Peter S. Beagle did not write The Last Unicorn for children. Which isn’t to say kids won’t enjoy the inept wizard and menacing King Haggard, but most of The Last Unicorn they will fly over their heads at best and look confusing at worst.

Beagle writes for an intimate audience versed in fantasy tropes, but not as satire: The Last Unicorn it’s a fairy tale where everyone is gender-savvy and no one is happy with their roles. Its elegiac quality extends not just to the world, but also to the characters, almost all of whom struggle with the idea that they’ve missed their chance. Kids might not understand why Molly Grue cries in pain and rage when she meets the Unicorn, but for any adult with a twinge of regret for what could have been, it’s one of the most powerful scenes in the genre . — SP