Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest LinkedIn YouTube TikTok
    • Home
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Advertise
    • Mentorship
    • Editing Services
    • About
    • Contact
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest TikTok
    The Children's Book Review
    Subscribe
    • Books by Subject
    • Books by Age
      • Ages 0-3, Infant and Toddler
      • Ages 4-8, Preschool to Elementary
      • Ages 9-12, Preteen and Tween
      • Ages 12+, Teen and Young Adult
      • Books for First Grade Readers
      • Books for Second Grade Readers
      • Books for Third Grade Readers
    • Favorites
      • Diverse and Inclusive Books
      • Books About Activism
      • Best Books for Kids
      • Star Wars Books
      • Board Books
      • Books About Mindfulness
      • Dr. Seuss Books
    • Showcase
    • Interviews
      • Growing Readers Podcast
      • Author Interviews and Q&A
      • Illustrator Interviews
    • Kids’ Book Giveaways
    • Directory
    • Podcast
    The Children's Book Review

    The Best Young Adult Books of 2019

    Bianca SchulzeBy Bianca Schulze16 Mins Read Best Kids Stories Book Lists Novels for Kids and Teens Teens: Young Adults
    A-Curse-So-Dark-and-Lonely-by-Brigid-Kemmerer-Book-Review
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    The Children’s Book Review

    We know a good YA book when we see one. In 2019, we saw 14 of them that we’re happy to call the best young adult books of 2019!

    Lets Go Swimming on DoomsdayLet’s Go Swimming on Doomsday

    Written by Natalie C. Anderson

    Publisher’s Synopsis: Forced to become a child soldier, a sixteen-year-old Somali refugee must confront his painful past in this haunting, thrilling tale of loss and redemption for fans of A Long Way Gone and What is the What. 

    When Abdi’s family is kidnapped, he’s forced to do the unthinkable: become a child soldier with the ruthless jihadi group Al Shabaab. In order to save the lives of those he loves, and earn their freedom, Abdi agrees to be embedded as a spy within the militia’s ranks and to send dispatches on their plans to the Americans. The jihadists trust Abdi immediately because his older brother, Dahir, is already one of them, protégé to General Idris, aka the Butcher. If Abdi’s duplicity is discovered, he will be killed.

    For weeks, Abdi trains with them, witnessing atrocity after atrocity, becoming a monster himself, wondering if he’s even pretending anymore. He only escapes after he is forced into a suicide bomber’s vest, which still leaves him stumps where two of his fingers used to be and his brother near death. Eventually, he finds himself on the streets of Sangui City, Kenya, stealing what he can find to get by, sleeping nights in empty alleyways, wondering what’s become of the family that was stolen from him. But everything changes when Abdi’s picked up for a petty theft, which sets into motion a chain reaction that forces him to reckon with a past he’s been trying to forget.

    In this riveting, unflinching tale of sacrifice and hope, critically-acclaimed author Natalie C. Anderson delivers another tour-de-force that will leave readers at the edge of their seats.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 12-18 | Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | January 15, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0399547614

    Book ShoutShout

    Written by Laurie Halse Anderson

    Publisher’s Synopsis: A New York Times bestseller and one of 2019’s best-reviewed books, a poetic memoir and call to action from the award-winning author of Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson!

    Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Described as “powerful,” “captivating,” and “essential” in the nine starred reviews it’s received, this must-read memoir is being hailed as one of 2019’s best books for teens and adults. A denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts, SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice– and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 15+ | Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers | March 12, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0670012107

    Book Patron Saints of NothingPatron Saints of Nothing

    Written by Randy Ribay

    Publisher’s Synopsis: A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder.

    Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.

    Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth — and the part he played in it.

    As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 15+ | Publisher: Kokila | June 18, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0525554912

    Ink Knows No Borders- Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee ExperienceInk Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience

    Edited by Patrice Vecchione and Alyssa Raymond

    Publisher’s Synopsis: This collection of sixty-four poems by poets who come from all over the world shares the experience of first- and second-generation young adult immigrants and refugees. Whether it’s cultural and language differences, homesickness, social exclusion, racism, stereotyping, or questions of identity, the Dreamers, immigrants, and refugee poets included here encourage readers to honor their roots as well as explore new paths, offering empathy and hope. Many of the struggles described are faced by young people everywhere: isolation, self-doubt, confusion, and emotional dislocation. But also joy, discovery, safety, and family. This is a hopeful, beautiful, and meaningful book for any reader.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on Amazon

    Ages 12-18 | Publisher: Triangle Square | March 12, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1609809072

    The Weight of Our SkyThe Weight of Our Sky

    Written by Hanna Alkaf

    Publisher’s Synopsis: A music loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.

    Melati Ahmad looks like your typical movie-going, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied.

    But there are things that Melati can’t protect her mother from. On the evening of May 13th, 1969, racial tensions in  her home city of Kuala Lumpur boil over. The Chinese and Malays are at war, and Mel and her mother become separated by a city in flames.

    With a 24-hour curfew in place and all lines of communication down, it will take the help of a Chinese boy named Vincent and all of the courage and grit in Melati’s arsenal to overcome the violence on the streets, her own prejudices, and her djinn’s surging power to make it back to the one person she can’t risk losing.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on Amazon

    Ages 12+ | Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | February 5, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1534426085

    A Curse So Dark and LonelyA Curse So Dark and Lonely

    Written by Brigid Kemmerer

    Publisher’s Synopsis: In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

    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.

    Break the curse, save the kingdom.

    A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 14+ | Publisher: Bloomsbury YA | January 29, 2019 | ISBN: 978-1681195087

    King of ScarsKing of Scars

    Written by Leigh Bardugo

    Publisher’s Synopsis: Face your demons…or feed them. The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war―and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

    Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried―and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 14-18 | Publisher: Imprint | January 29, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1250231185

    HeroineHeroine

    Written by Mindy McGinnis

    Publisher’s Synopsis: An Amazon Best Book of the Month! A captivating and powerful exploration of the opioid crisis—the deadliest drug epidemic in American history—through the eyes of a college-bound softball star. Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a visceral and necessary novel about addiction, family, friendship, and hope.

    When a car crash sidelines Mickey just before softball season, she has to find a way to hold on to her spot as the catcher for a team expected to make a historic tournament run. Behind the plate is the only place she’s ever felt comfortable, and the painkillers she’s been prescribed can help her get there.

    The pills do more than take away pain; they make her feel good.

    With a new circle of friends—fellow injured athletes, others with just time to kill—Mickey finds peaceful acceptance, and people with whom words come easily, even if it is just the pills loosening her tongue.

    But as the pressure to be Mickey Catalan heightens, her need increases, and it becomes less about pain and more about want, something that could send her spiraling out of control.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 14-18 | Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books | March 12, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0062847195

    Song of the Abyss coverSong of the Abyss (Tower of Winds)

    Written by Makiia Lucier

    Publisher’s Synopsis: They came in the night as she dreamt, in her berth, on a ship sailing home to del Mar. After, they would be all Reyna thought about: two carracks painted scorpion black. No emblem on either forecastle, no pennants flying above the mainmasts to hint at a kingdom of origin. Never a good sign.

    As the granddaughter of a famed navigator, seventeen-year-old Reyna has always lived life on her own terms, despite those who say a girl could never be an explorer for the royal house of St. John del Mar. She is determined to prove them wrong, and as she returns home after a year-long expedition, she knows her dream is within reach. No longer an apprentice, instead: Reyna, Master Explorer. But when menacing raiders attack her ship, those dreams are pushed aside. Reyna’s escape is both desperate and dangerous, and when next she sees her ship, a mystery rises from the deep. The sailors–her captain, her countrymen–have vanished. To find them, Reyna must use every resource at her disposal . . . including placing her trust in a handsome prince from a rival kingdom.

    Together they uncover a disturbing truth. The attack was no isolated incident. Troubling signs point to a shadowy kingdom in the north, and for once, the rulers of the Sea of Magdalen agree: something must be done. But can Reyna be brave enough to find a way?

    Buy the Book

    Buy on Amazon

    Ages 12+ | Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers | August 27, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0544968585

    Book Stay by Brittney MorrisSlay

    Written by Brittney Morris

    Publisher’s Synopsis: Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give in this dynamite debut novel that follows a fierce teen game developer as she battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther–inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for Black gamers.

    By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the Black man.”

    But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for “anti-white discrimination.”

    Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 14+ | Publisher: Simon Pulse | September 24, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1534445420

    Book With the Fire On HighWith the Fire On High

    Written by Elizabeth Acevedo

    Publisher’s Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright.

    Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

    Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 15+ | Publisher: Quill Tree Books | May 7, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0062662835

    Book On the Come UpOn the Come Up

    Written by Angie Thomas

    Publisher’s Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.

    But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral . . . for all the wrong reasons.

    Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

    Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 15+ | Publisher: Balzer + Bray | February 5, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0062498564

    Book Lovely WarLovely War

    Written by Julie Berry

    Publisher’s Synopsis: Read the novel New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network Kate Quinn called “easily one of the best novels I have read all year!” A critically acclaimed, multi-layered romance set in the perilous days of World Wars I and II, where gods hold the fates–and the hearts–of four mortals in their hands.

    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.

    Hailed by critics, Lovely War has received seven starred reviews and is an indie bestseller. Author Julie Berry has been called “a modern master of historical fiction” by Bookpage and “a celestially inspired storyteller” by the New York Times, and Lovely War is truly her masterwork.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 14+ | Publisher: Disney-Hyperion | June 5, 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1484790625

    Book DigDig

    Written by A.S. King

    Publisher’s Synopsis: A surreal and searing dive into the tangled secrets of a wealthy white family in suburban Pennsylvania and the terrible cost the family’s children pay to maintain the family name.

    The Shoveler, the Freak, CanIHelpYou?, Loretta the Flea-Circus Ring Mistress, and First-Class Malcolm. These are the five teenagers lost in the Hemmings family’s maze of tangled secrets. Only a generation removed from being Pennsylvania potato farmers, Gottfried and Marla Hemmings managed to trade digging spuds for developing subdivisions and now sit atop a seven-figure bank account–wealth they’ve declined to pass on to their adult children or their teenage grandchildren. “Because we want them to thrive,” Marla always says. What does thriving look like? Like carrying a snow shovel everywhere. Like selling pot at the Arby’s drive-thru window. Like a first-class ticket to Jamaica between cancer treatments. Like a flea-circus in a double-wide. Like the GPS coordinates to a mound of dirt in a New Jersey forest. As the rot just beneath the surface of the Hemmings’ precious suburban respectability begins to spread, the far-flung grandchildren gradually find their ways back to one another, just in time to uncover the terrible cost of maintaining the family name.

    With her inimitable prose and keen insight into teenage experience, A.S. King explores how a corrosive culture of polite, affluent white supremacy tears a family apart and how one determined generation can save themselves.

    Buy the Book

    Buy on AmazonBuy on Audible

    Ages 15+ | Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers | March 26, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-1101994917

    The Best Young Adult Books of 2018: For more of the best new young adult books for teens, follow along with our articles tagged with New Books for Kids, Best Young Adult Books, and Books for Teens and Young Adults.

    What to Read Next:

    1. 13 of the Best Young Adult Books of 2019, So Far
    2. The Best Young Adult Books of 2017
    3. The Best Young Adult Books of 2018
    4. Best New Books for Teens | September 2016

    *Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links that share some commission. Rest assured that these will not affect the cost of any products and services promoted here. Our team always provides their authentic opinion in all content published on this site.

    A.S. King Alyssa Raymond Angie Thomas Balzer + Bray Bloomsbury YA Brigid Kemmerer Brittney Morris Disney-Hyperion Dutton Books for Young Readers Elizabeth Acevedo G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers Hanna Alkaf HMH Books for Young Readers Imprint Julie Berry Katherine Tegen Books Kokila Laurie Halse Anderson Leigh Bardugo Makiia Lucier Mindy McGinnis Natalie C. Anderson Patrice Vecchione Quill Tree Books Randy Ribay Salaam Reads Simon Pulse Triangle Square Viking Books for Young Readers
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleThe Best Kids Chapter Books and Novels of 2019
    Next Article Mirela Roznoveanu Discusses A Magic Journey to Things Past
    Bianca Schulze
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)
    • LinkedIn

    Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    TCBR Supporter
    Recent Articles
    • Timmy the Gifted Bunny, by Daniel Stabler | Dedicated Review
    • Squid in Pants, By Kaz Windness | Book Review
    • The Rejection Collection: Allie Millington’s Journey to Publishing ‘When You Find a Hope’
    • Armando and the Amazing Animal Race | Dedicated Review
    • Armando and the Amazing Animal Race | Awareness Tour
    TCBR Supporters
    sponsored | become a TCBR supporter today
    sponsored | become a TCBR supporter today

    sponsored | become a TCBR supporter today
    sponsored | become a TCBR supporter today
    Discover Kids Books by Age
    Best Books For Kids
    Media Kit: The Children's Book Review
    Author and Illustrator Showcase
    SEARCH
    BOOKS BY SUBJECT
    Archives
    Professional Resources

    Book Marketing Campaigns

    Writing Coaches and Editing Services

    Mentorship

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest YouTube LinkedIn TikTok
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Policies
    • Advertise
    • TCBR Buzzworthy Mentions
    • About TCBR
    © 2025 The Children’s Book Review. All rights reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.