The Best New YA Novels For Tween and Teens in 2019

What it's about: "Will Daughtry is a late bloomer — at least, that's what everyone tells him. On his 16th birthday, Will is just shy of five feet, and he is bitterly resigned to being tiny forever. His only comforts are his best friend and stepbrother, Drew (6'3"), and their pal Monica (5'10"), the girl Will's been quietly pining for since fifth grade. Everyone else literally overlooks him. But with them, he feels whole. That is, until things take an unexpected turn, and he realises he's really and truly on his own.

That's when he starts to grow. And grow fast. Astonishingly fast."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 to 17

Buy it now: XL ($12)

What it's about: "When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favourite flicks, Jack knows he's falling — hard. Soon she's meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. But then Kate dies. And their story should end there.

Yet Kate's death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate's there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn't sure if he's losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate's death, he'll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he's willing to do to save the people he loves."

Ages it's best suited for: 14 and up

Buy it now: Opposite of Always ($12)

What it's about: "They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. A classical pianist from London, a British would-be architect-turned-soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite, who must spin the tale or face judgment on Mount Olympus, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it's no match for the transcendent power of Love."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 to 17

Buy it now: Lovely War ($13)

What it's about: "17-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she's, in fact, one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead. "

Ages it's best suited for: 13 and up

Buy it now: Four Dead Queens ($11)

What it's about: "It's the perfect idea for a romantic week together: travelling across America by train.But then Hugo's girlfriend dumps him. Her parting gift: the tickets for their long-planned last-hurrah-before-uni trip. Only, it's been booked under her name. Nontransferable, no exceptions.

Mae is still reeling from being rejected from USC's film school. When she stumbles across Hugo's ad for a replacement Margaret Campbell (her full name!), she's certain it's exactly the adventure she needs to shake off her disappointment and jump-start her next film.

A cross-country train trip with a complete stranger might not seem like the best idea. But to Mae and Hugo, both eager to escape their regular lives, it makes perfect sense. What starts as a convenient arrangement soon turns into something more. But when life outside the train catches up to them, can they find a way to keep their feelings for each other from getting derailed?"

Ages it's best suited for: 12 and up

Buy it now: Field Notes on Love ($13)

What it's about: "There is something Poe Blythe, the seventeen-year-old captain of the Outpost's last mining ship, wants far more than the gold they tear from the Serpentine River.

Revenge.

Poe has vowed to annihilate the river raiders who robbed her of everything two years ago. But as she navigates the treacherous waters of the Serpentine and realises there might be a traitor among her crew, she must also reckon with who she has become, who she wants to be, and the ways love can change and shape you. Even — and especially — when you think all is lost."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 and up

Buy it now: The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe ($13)

What it's about: "Here is what happens when your mother dies. It's the brightest day of summer and it's dark outside. It's dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart. That's how it feels for Tiger. It's always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger's mother dies. And now it's Tiger, alone. Here is how you learn to make friends with the dark."

Ages it's best suited for: 13 and up

Buy it now: How to Make Friends With the Dark ($10)

What it's about: "Abbi Hope Goldstein is like every other teenager, with a few smallish exceptions: her famous alter ego, Baby Hope, is the subject of internet memes, she has asthma, and sometimes people spontaneously burst into tears when they recognise her. Abbi has lived almost her entire life in the shadow of the terrorist attacks of September 11. On that fateful day, she was captured in what became an iconic photograph: in the picture, Abbi (aka "Baby Hope") wears a birthday crown and grasps a red balloon; just behind her, the south tower of the World Trade Centre is collapsing."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 and up

Buy it now: Hope and Other Punch Lines ($13)

What it's about: "Echo Alkaev's safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf — the same creature who attacked her as a child. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: if she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realises. In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 and up

Buy it now: Echo North ($11)

What it's about: "It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 to 18

Buy it now: The Gilded Wolves ($13)

What it's about: "Fall in love, break the curse. It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 and up

Buy it now: A Curse So Dark and Lonely ($12)

What it's about: "A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself. A prince in danger must decide who to trust. A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings. Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war. In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light."

Ages it's best suited for: 13 and up

Buy it now: Wicked Saints ($11)

What it's about: "On one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley Langston's life changes forever. At a party she discovers her boyfriend, Mike, hooking up with her younger sister, Audrey. Furious, she abandons them both. When Mike drunkenly attempts to drive Audrey home, he crashes and Audrey ends up in a coma. Now Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her now ex-boyfriend has a drinking problem. So it's a surprise that she finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbour and childhood friend who's recently out of rehab and still wrestling with his own demons. At first Harley doesn't want to get too close to him. But as her sister slowly recovers, Harley begins to see a path forward with Raf's help that she never would have believed possible — one guided by honesty, forgiveness, and redemption."

Ages it's best suited for: 16 and up

Buy it now: The Art of Losing ($11)

What it's about: "Weekends are for partying with friends while trying to survive the mind-numbingness that is high school. The countdown to graduation is on, and Skye has her sights set on escaping to art school and not looking back.

But her party-first-ask-questions-later lifestyle starts to crumble when her mom rekindles her romance with the man who betrayed Skye's boundaries when he was supposed to be protecting her. She was too young to understand what was happening at the time, but now she doesn't know whether to run as far away from him as possible or give up her dreams to save her little sister. The only problem is that no one knows what he did to her. How can she reveal the secret she's guarded for so long?"

Ages it's best suited for: 15 and up

Buy it now: The Art of Breaking Things ($13)

What it's about: "Cameron Bright's reputation can be summed up in one word: b*tch. It's no surprise she's queen bee at her private L.A. high school — she's beautiful, talented, and notorious for her brutal honesty. But when she slips up in front of her crush, Andrew, any affection he may have had for her quickly fades. To win him over, Cameron resolves to 'tame' herself, much like Shakespeare's infamous shrew, Katherine. If she makes amends with everyone she's ever wronged, Andrew will have to take notice. Thus, Cameron begins her apology tour with Brendan, the guy whose social life she single-handedly destroyed. At first, Brendan isn't so quick to forgive, but slowly he warms to her when they connect over a computer game he's developing. To Cameron's amazement, she actually enjoys hanging out with Brendan; he appreciates her honesty in a way Andrew never did, and she's left wondering: maybe you shouldn't have to compromise who you are for the kind of love you deserve."

Ages it's best suited for: 12 and up

Buy it now: If I'm Being Honest ($12)

What it's about: "A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes — because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.

An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb's teacher, who won't stop reminding the class how 'bad' Muslims are.

But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn't bad. She's angry. When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt's house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break . . . Then her path crosses with Adam's. Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam's stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things . . . Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals."

Ages it's best suited for: 14 and up

Buy it now: Love from A to Z ($13)

What it's about: "Set in a horrifying near-future United States, 17-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim-American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards."

Ages it's best suited for: 13 and up

Buy it now: Internment ($11)